I came up with the concept of the 12 Brothers EP while doing some weekly reading that I tend to do. I happened upon a particular story, one that is very familiar and that I had read many times before. But this time it struck me in a way that it hadn't before. The deeper feeling and implications lying beneath the surface events got me thinking about a way to bring this story to a musical outlet.After a few days of thinking over the events of the story and doing some dreaded research I quickly began to jot down the first song. It flowed so smoothly and everything was clicking. Keep in mind that it has been quite some time since I have done anything creative at all. The songs that make up the Schoolyard EP were the result of my last creative burst and that feels like years ago.
Over the course of the next few days I penned three more songs (for a total of four) and felt that the story was pretty well covered, though it was missing one element. No problem. I just dipped into the vault and decided the corner-piece of the EP would be a cover of Bad Larry's Anti-Global Rotation. It was remarkable to see how well this song would fit in with the rest. A few minor lyrical changes later and voilà. Like Nextel, I was done.
Although some have called into question the quality of the lyrics (Angie?) and the content of the story, I have an overwhelming sense of pride in the final product. Perhaps one day it will actually get made and you will all get to hear it.
That's where Joshua comes in. It was a pleasant surprise to hear some audio notes on the song Business, and I was very pleased with Joshua's guitar work and melody. Now its time for Joshua to roll out the rest. Granted, I know he's extremely busy with Jeffrey L. Allen right now (he is, right?), but it would still be great to let some demos loose for the world to judge. How about it, Joshua?
In the meantime, I leave you with some minor excerpts from my 12 Brothers.txt file.
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12 Brothers
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-----------------Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Chapter Listing
3. Characters
4. Tag Line
5. Moral
6. Story
7. Lyrics
------------Introduction
------------
This album is based on a true story.
12 Brothers is a story of jealousy, betrayal, and redemption within the family arrangement. It is ultimately a tale of the long, difficult journey from disloyalty to forgiveness.
The lyrics for this album were written by Jeremy Provost and are subject to change at a moment's notice.
---------------Chapter Listing
---------------
1. Inheritance2. Business
3. Sunsets
4. Investment
5. Balance
----------Characters
----------
It is important to be familiar with the characters that make up this story and how they connect to each other.
Narrator This is the omnipotent storyteller that guides us through our story.Father This is the proud father of the 12 brothers.
Son This is our protagonist.
Brothers This is the collective of the remaining 11 brothers.
Mothers This is the collective of all the different women that were mother's to the 12 brothers.
Boss The son's boss at his new found job outside the family business.
--------Tag Line
--------
Twelve brothers. One passion.
-----Moral
-----
Forgive and be forgiven.
-----Story
-----
...
Hopefully that has whet your appetite.
10 comments:
Ouch, what a tease. You set it all up and don't drop a single lyric (except what can be ascertained through the audio file)?!
Yes, I am doing the final mixdowns, mastering, and MP3 conversion on JLA as we speak. Sounds great. What was actually the most help was the list of influences for each song that we wrote up. It helped me to take some risks and make some major changes to help each song have it's own identity and give the overall a little more variety.
Are you ready for the great swapdown tonight?
I really can't wait to hear this. I just hope that I'm not disappointed.
I have been working on Sans Hands a bit, though I'll be honest and tell you that I'm not done. But progress is progress, so don't knock it.
Chapter 10 now includes valuable information on the word "bastard," however I would like you to look it over and give me your opinion on it. Its very difficult to just pick up writing something like this when its been sitting on the shelf for 3 years. I also made my edits to auditory orifices.
I feel we should enlist someone else's help on grammatical issues. If I didn't catch them the first time through then I probably won't catch them this time through.
The only things that leaves is editing for artistic reasons and fine tuning the use of "This is normal." This will require a little more time.
I've done my best to keep up with my end of the bargain, and I have failed miserably. Now we will see the true nature of your character. Will you be a man of your word? Or will you break it because of the failings of a fragile man?
The ball is in your court ... and I'm not talking about Coolidge.
So let me get this straight. I'll be judged on whether I hand over the complete JLA album I've been working on, despite the fact that you will not be handing over the commplete Sans Hands edit?
See, it's about leverage. If I give up mine, you'll never finish yours. Get to it!
You make it seem as though you've completed JLA, when in fact I know you have not. There are still no female vocals on 1.04. No television sound on 1.07. These are extremely important parts of the album.
Get to it!
NICE COWS!
www.wherecowsfly.com
First of all ... ban. I don't think there should be any advertising on this site except for by Joshua and I. Who thinks we should delete Auntie Lori's post? She's getting to be like that Donkey character.
Also, does anyone get the cow reference? Why did I put a picture of cows in this post?
The smaller cow looks kind of hungry! ;-) He just might eat that bigger cow. Mmmm, cow.
Very perceptive! Or had Joshua already told you about it?
He did, but I think I would've figured it out.
Yeh, I think Gabe knows a bit about the subject, too. Hello!
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