Desert Math Rock

I keep going back-and-forth on whether to include fake drumming on future recordings. Right now I'm leaning away from it.

I Googled "desert math rock" and got nothing. I'm surprised. I think that's what I want to do now, but with acoustic guitar accompanied by electric licks and bass lines, which will be played on my guitar and tuned down an octave with software. Very much inspired by Last of the Juanitas but without drums, and with the acoustic up front. I'm kind of obsessed with that band now.

Live performances would be just me and my acoustic, but instead of the typical singer/songwriter, they're gonna hear something as close to post-hardcore math rock as you can get with just that instrument, full of time-signature changes and lots of stops and starts. And I think the lyrics will be obviously about God. That's easier to get away with in a secular setting when your music is crazy, and then I can play it for Christians, too. Delaware, OH, has never heard the kind of stuff I'm dreaming up. And neither have I.

More Thoughts On My Future Songs

Thinking about a softer theme once I finally get back to writing lyrics. Instead of arguing with Darbyites, maybe I'll just write songs about the introduction of the kingdom in the first century, with a focus on the destruction of Jerusalem. Dark, dark days leading to a glorious future that has yet to be fully realized. The hope of resurrection. The kind of stuff only a postmillennialist would write songs about.

But if I change the words to my most recent song, I think I need to keep the line "They'll go after anyone / but the one who holds the lamp to light the way." I like that one.

Also thinking about open-mic nights. There's one within walking distance on Thursdays. I can play my one and only mathy composition pretty well on acoustic guitar, and it has an awesome math country/cowpunk vibe that I've never heard anywhere, especially when I sing along. Singing and playing that song at the same time is going to take a lot of practice. But if I could come up with two more songs like it that I could play live as a set and do it well, it would be pretty awesome.

Then I'd have to decide how to record it...do I go with layered, distorted electric guitars, bass, and sampled drums, or do I strip it all down and just play it on my acoustic? Maybe I'd try both, shop it around and find out which sounds better and has more impact. I think either way would be a good expression of myself and my art. I could always have an electric version and an acoustic version of an album--now that would be sort of unique!

Be a sampler

Decision time for percussion: Be more than a beats programmer; be a sampler. I haven't seen anyone combining sampled, sped-up beats with mathcore. Might as well be a Jesus freak that does it first.