DIE NACHT IST LEBEN PART 1

In celebration of Sound Of Music I would like to share an anatomy of a song and that song is called Die Nacht Ist Leben off our upcoming album. It will require a number of blogs. The song took about two years to accomplish from when it was first conceived at my lonely (typical) studio one night in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I was playing around with the Korg MS20 and Minilogue and came up with a very simple synth melody that I thought warranted further attention and even lyrics of some sort (more on that subject on another update) so I brought this small audio file to our next ZXE rehearsal to see what Tony and Pietro thought of it or could do with it. 

I don’t know how many of you reading this are in bands or are someone that creates work but it is always a difficult moment when you first present material to other bandmates or whoever you trust for feedback. I’ve learned that the moment something I present to ZXE isn’t working is when Pietro lays his guitar down and goes into the other room to smoke a cigarette. Usually he rolls it in my presence, nice and slow, then steps out to smoke it. I’ve also learned that this particular gesture doesn’t necessarily mean that the material I brought is bad. It just means that it won’t work in the context of ZXE. Maybe that’s the reason I am in six other musical endeavors. But this time Pietro turned up the volume on his guitar. 

Anyway, the MP3 attachment is two synth stems and some various percussion added at the end. This little bit is what I, hesitantly, brought to a ZXE rehearsal for Tony and Pietro to add their artistry too. My original desire was to keep it synthy, airy, and simple. But I’ve learned that what I desire is not always what happens. I’ve also learned to let the music go where it wants to go and not try to intercede which may be the definition of collaboration. What my first intentions are or what I imagine is oftentimes thrown out the window the minute Pietro plugs his guitar into his amp and Tony explodes some bizarre guitar sound. 

So below is the very first notion of an idea that turned into a 20 minute monster. 

Richard Sylvarnes