- The essential stories behind the tunes -
(in among all the non-essential nonsense)
The Gouger
(From EP3)
Once again, here's me playing a little bit of the song...
The tune is from my 3rd EP of cover versions of songs by US band Thee Oh Sees, so I thought we could start with a game of...
Spot The Difference !
(Part One)
See if you can tell them apart:
Their version of the song
My version of the song
Starstruck Excruciations
Before going any further, I thought I'd mention my one Oh Sees encounter. It was one of two occasions in my life where I became properly star-struck. Both were embarrassing moments:
The First Occasion
On a ferry to France while in my mid twenties, I suddenly found myself in front of Fairport Convention's original guitarist Richard Thompson having his breakfast. I'd only just been in our kitchen singing along with one of his albums a couple of hours before and the coincidence rendered me both speech and motionless for longer than was obviously comfortable for Richard, or for myself.
(For any Thompson aficionados reading this - he wasn't wearing his human fly outfit that morning unfortunately)
The Second Occasion
The next time was during my mid thirties when I'd hoped any potential for teen-like idolatry was long behind (and beneath) me.
However, at my first Oh Sees gig I discovered my central nervous system was completely unprepared for the idea that the band would actually be entering the building.
I won't go into details of my brief interaction with front man John Dwyer. I'll just say I did my best to look casual afterwards while mopping the flood of sweat my nerves had generously provided my brow, as my girlfriend Kate asked me why I'd suddenly transformed into a 13 year old.
The Band - John's on the left hiding his face in a way I would have liked to have done at the time.
Never mind.
I’m pleased to say my embarrassment largely dissolved after a couple of swift drinks, and the gig turned out to be one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever experienced.
Kate, just mentioned in the previous section, had the great honour of singing on one of my other Oh Sees cover songs, bringing us to another round of...
Spot The Difference !
- Part Two -
See if you can make out which voice belongs to Oh Sees Brigid and which one is Kate's in the audio clip:
Why I Love Thee Oh Sees
While there's much I could write about this, it's perhaps best I don't. Let's just say that, although I like a lot of music, it's not often I come across a band I fall completely and utterly in love with.
Although that love has waned in recent years after various line-ups, name changes, and a number of albums I’m not so keen on, they’re still a huge inspiration - particularly band leader John Dwyer who's one of the few to find the holy grail of making a full-time living doing whatever he likes without needing to repeat himself artistically.
(And by all accounts he's a nice bloke as well)
Ripping Off Their Music
It's fair to say, I’ve tried ripping off Thee Oh Sees more than anyone else when making my music. Fortunately I've failed every time, making it easier to pretend all song ideas are purely my own.
I won't bore you by listing all my favourite tunes, their significance and which bits I've tried to steal. Instead I'll just mention 2 important Oh Sees lessons, without which I may never have recorded, released or performed any of my own songs.
Want to know what they are?!
If so, click on each lesson title below to find out...
- Vocal Abilities -
Early on I came across an interview with the band who were asked why they added so much distortion and echo to their vocals. They said their singing wasn’t very good and it made them sound much better.
"Hey - my singing’s not very good either!" I thought, which led me to start singing through a plastic funnel and using distortion effects which I thought made my voice sound pretty magnificent:
I stopped using the funnel after my first few performances as it caused horrendous amounts of feedback on stage, but it was an important step towards being able to sing shamelessly in public.
- General Musical Abilities -
An early album release of theirs was an album called ‘Zork’s Tape Bruise’ which is full of awful demo recordings.
Although largely unlistenable I found it hugely inspiring as some of the tunes on there are early versions of my all-time favourite songs.
“Some of my recordings sound as bad as these!” I thought, convincing me that with a little (or a lot) more work, something appalling may have the potential to eventually sound stupendous, or even just listenable.
And I've been living in hope ever since.
The Lyrics
Like many Oh Sees songs I can't make most them out so I just sing anything that sounds similar, even when they're not proper sentences, or actual words.
If you know what the real ones are do get in touch.
I'd be interested to find out if I got any of them right.
One More Thing Before We Go...
Spot The Difference !
- Part Three -
I wasn't going to bother with this but while we're at it, we might as well compare my EP cover with Thee Oh Sees' Floating Coffin album art which inspired it:
Floating Coffin
EP 3
OK! That's your lot.
Thanks for reading!
