Bridge To Forever
"Bridge To Forever," for the record, is one of my favorite songs I've ever recorded. Also, for the record, none of my friends agreed, lol...but such is often the case with art and artists. My friends that didn't care for it each gave different reasons for not caring for it. For my part, I can say it came out nearly exactly as I intended it to. The only flaw in it for me personally is that the vocals could have come out clearer in some places--especially near the beginning. No excuses, but the reality is there are two reasons for this: 1. I was still finding my Atomic Honey voice at the time (this was recorded in the semi-early days of the project), and I lacked the confidence at that point to let my voice overpower the music beneath it. 2. I still hadn't purchased the pre-amp and proper microphone I was saving up for.
Most of my friends that didn't care for it didn't seem to really know why...I know some were put off by the electronic style drums I was using on it (which is something in particular I wanted to experiment with on the song). I also believe the production changes at the 3:08 mark were off-putting for an outside listener...it IS an extreme change in tone and feel, and I went away from the electronic drum part there as well. More than a few of my friends mentioned not liking the guitar tone I used for the guitar solo. Again, this was exactly as I intended...it was a secret shout-out to my days as a teenager. I spent an entire night trying to mimic the tone from my Crate combo amp I used to have when I was 17. And, in my opinion, I nailed it! I also used some chord changes beneath the solo that were similar to the very first real recording, which I made on a Fostex 4-track in my bedroom when I was 17...using a Casio keyboard for the drums of course, lol! And yes, I do have that original aforementioned recording. Perhaps I'll share it next.
As to the lyrical content of the song, it is a Twillerbee song (some of you will know what that means...others will find out over time). And yes, Twillerbee was another one who didn't really care for it lol! There is some autobiography in this song, but I have to keep much of that to myself for artistic reasons, and also for the sake of Twillerbee's privacy. Ultimately, it would fall into the category of what I call Gliridescetan songs, which tie in with fictional stories between vampires from outer space (another part of my imagination from another time). Some of you will know Twillerbee as Princess Mydnite, who came from the planet Gliridesceta and "glitterized" me...i.e. made my character a "Glampire"...a "glitter vampire" from outer space. This will come up in many of the songs I'm going to share here over time.
As to conscious influences in this song, I don't really recall any other than the secret shout-out to my 17-year old self. The ending of the song is based loosely on a song structure and style used occasionally by Gerry Rafferty, who has long been a strong influence of mine. People often mistake that sound for The Beatles, but I am only ever influenced by them indirectly by Gerry Rafferty, ELO, Cheap Trick, etc. No disrespect to The Beatles, they just were never really my thing. Over the years, many have also commented that they hear a lot of Pink Floyd in my sound, but that is a coincidence if it's true at all. I have enjoyed a lot of Pink Floyd's music over the years, but as with The Beatles, I was never consciously influenced by them. And again, no disrespect to Pink Floyd.
I want to thank all of you who have ever been a part of my journey. I love you.
And a special thanks to @Starlaxoxo on Twitter who twisted my arm enough to convince me to create such a page :D
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"Bridge To Forever," for the record, is one of my favorite songs I've ever recorded. Also, for the record, none of my friends agreed, lol...but such is often the case with art and artists. My friends that didn't care for it each gave different reasons for not caring for it. For my part, I can say it came out nearly exactly as I intended it to. The only flaw in it for me personally is that the vocals could have come out clearer in some places--especially near the beginning. No excuses, but the reality is there are two reasons for this: 1. I was still finding my Atomic Honey voice at the time (this was recorded in the semi-early days of the project), and I lacked the confidence at that point to let my voice overpower the music beneath it. 2. I still hadn't purchased the pre-amp and proper microphone I was saving up for.
Most of my friends that didn't care for it didn't seem to really know why...I know some were put off by the electronic style drums I was using on it (which is something in particular I wanted to experiment with on the song). I also believe the production changes at the 3:08 mark were off-putting for an outside listener...it IS an extreme change in tone and feel, and I went away from the electronic drum part there as well. More than a few of my friends mentioned not liking the guitar tone I used for the guitar solo. Again, this was exactly as I intended...it was a secret shout-out to my days as a teenager. I spent an entire night trying to mimic the tone from my Crate combo amp I used to have when I was 17. And, in my opinion, I nailed it! I also used some chord changes beneath the solo that were similar to the very first real recording, which I made on a Fostex 4-track in my bedroom when I was 17...using a Casio keyboard for the drums of course, lol! And yes, I do have that original aforementioned recording. Perhaps I'll share it next.
As to the lyrical content of the song, it is a Twillerbee song (some of you will know what that means...others will find out over time). And yes, Twillerbee was another one who didn't really care for it lol! There is some autobiography in this song, but I have to keep much of that to myself for artistic reasons, and also for the sake of Twillerbee's privacy. Ultimately, it would fall into the category of what I call Gliridescetan songs, which tie in with fictional stories between vampires from outer space (another part of my imagination from another time). Some of you will know Twillerbee as Princess Mydnite, who came from the planet Gliridesceta and "glitterized" me...i.e. made my character a "Glampire"...a "glitter vampire" from outer space. This will come up in many of the songs I'm going to share here over time.
As to conscious influences in this song, I don't really recall any other than the secret shout-out to my 17-year old self. The ending of the song is based loosely on a song structure and style used occasionally by Gerry Rafferty, who has long been a strong influence of mine. People often mistake that sound for The Beatles, but I am only ever influenced by them indirectly by Gerry Rafferty, ELO, Cheap Trick, etc. No disrespect to The Beatles, they just were never really my thing. Over the years, many have also commented that they hear a lot of Pink Floyd in my sound, but that is a coincidence if it's true at all. I have enjoyed a lot of Pink Floyd's music over the years, but as with The Beatles, I was never consciously influenced by them. And again, no disrespect to Pink Floyd.
I want to thank all of you who have ever been a part of my journey. I love you.
And a special thanks to @Starlaxoxo on Twitter who twisted my arm enough to convince me to create such a page :D
XX