Josiah's songs & writing

[Lady Serpent]

"One Step Behind"

Once again, a fantastic melodic intro.  Very folky and easy to pick up.


I read the first accidentally as 'holes in my skull', actually.

Yum... that music bit after the first two paragraphs was tasty.

A similar musical interlude could go between 'across the aisle' and 'my heart hit my throat', and it wouldn't kill any puppies.

That last 'back at me' was nicely slowed.

Great story told; nice meaning.  The final line is also split up effectively.  It almost seems like the last sentence blurs a bit so it's a bit difficult to decipher exactly what's being said without the lyrics, and that part could be split and slowed a little more to give that final effective hit that would be great for a song of this story-like nature; could give a bit stronger of an impact.

Lovely to hear your stuff again; it brings back a lot.

-LS

[Josiah]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Always great hearing your thoughts...

"Arson":

The lyrics are drenched in meaning.  As always, I find myself curious as to the actual thoughts that inspire the words.

It's kind of convoluted in this case... three different and somewhat obscure metaphors tangled together into this bizarre kind of meta-world where they interact. It makes a strange kind of sense once you know the meaning, though I don't think I'd be comfortable or adept enough to describe it in text...

Untitled slam poetry:

Jesus christ, man, that's powerful.  I'm in the state to be appreciating what you're speaking of, what you're vocalizing into language, because it's a massive part of this human struggle and holy hell, can one relate.

Thanks, I'm really glad you can appreciate this one (I somehow thought you might). While the song is about a general sort of feeling/situation and can be applied to a few different things, after I wrote I looked at some of the lines and thought "Y'know, that sounds pretty Sephren-ish."
But yes, very glad you can relate. I put my all into the words and performance of it, knowing someone 'gets' it is fantastically relieving.

EDIT: Also, "...and it wouldn't kill any puppies" is definitely a new favorite of mine, haha.

[Lady Serpent]

"Solvent Soul"

Dammit, Josiah; you're making too much sense again.  Speaking to my brainmatter and making things make sense.

That chorus is beautiful and could easily be part of a radio song.  (Not the shitty pop stuff; just something that's great to listen to and also has some meaning.  This track particularily, if 'cleaned up', could be thrown on the radio, no problem!  Jango?)  I like the distortion but as far as marketability goes, you would potentially have to tone it down a bit and just have the noise appear in effective parts, like those higher notes of the instrumentals on occasion.

She has no idea.  She just digs it.  The meaning speaks.

The intro comes into full volume nicey.  These are notes from a re-listen.

The small beats leading up to the chorus are fantastic.  The whole chorus, in fact, is a medley of great beats and listenable tunes; meaningful lyrics that can be interpreted.  I love the lighthearted sound of this one.

"it's the first coat of paint
from before you were told
that you can't say that,
that you have to grow old

That line's interesting..  This whole song is speaking to everything right now.  I realise that sounds odd, but perhaps some of our philosophies, or at least inner thoughts, are worth disussing in more detail sometime.  Perhaps we share a part of this human experience that's worth discussing.

---------

"Multi-instrumentalist improv"

This is groovy.  Awesome to see you jamming with yourself.  One could imagine you'd keep good company that way.    Excuse the demons every now and again; they're trying their best to exist like the rest of us.

-------

"Blues Rocket Meltdown"

Bitchin!

Love the way this progresses.  When it gets heavier, it sounds fantastic.


Whew, that whispered bit is pro!  You sound like you've been progressing.  Perfect blend of different vocal styles!  The emotion and heft in the voice is great.  The crazy instrumentals after the second whisper are nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. Fantastic!  Best to listen to for me, so far.  Lots going on here.  

Wow, that last 'I could show it fear' and the laugh, is very fitting.  Sounds like it shouldn't end yet!  That laugh suggests it should carry on in some bitchin' instrumentals for awhile, just to give that strong lyrical change a chance to take it's full impact before the song finishes.

Nice, man.  This stuff is really prime.

-Sephren

[Lady Serpent]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback.

Haha, that's funny.  I meant to post in sections, but got carried away with typing and listening so it all came in one post.

The calgary instrumental bit is playing now.  Some great feeling in the slower bits.  Lots of variety.  Damn, Rodent friend, you've got some skills.  I hope you never forget that, and continue carrying it forward into something beautiful as you seem to be doing quite effectively already.

No worries on comfort level; public forums generally aren't the place to get heavy into the metaphysical meanings in things.    I'd love to discuss life and things sometime, if you're prepared and fully concious.  (Although, half-awake works, too.)

Hahaha, it's funny that you thought that about that last one. 

-LS

[Lady Serpent]

EDIT: Also, "...and it wouldn't kill any puppies" is definitely a new favorite of mine, haha.

Hahahaha.

That's how it gets sometimes when it's late and we're all restless with creativity. 
-LS

[Lady Serpent]

But yes, very glad you can relate. I put my all into the words and performance of it, knowing someone 'gets' it is fantastically relieving.

Funny how that works, eh?  It's like 'Damn.. somebody's listening' in the true, unfiltered sense of the word.  Usually it's only our own minds that get to debate with themselves these inner thoughts.  When we truly relate, it's probably one of the most powerful human emotions that exist, flying under the radar.

This is why we don't need drugs.

-LS

[Lady Serpent]

Might as well post again and make it a four-in-a-row.  I just realised that I'm mass-replying to myself.  We think too fast (or perhaps realise practicality too slow?) to put it all into one post coherently. 

[Josiah]

Wow, thanks, I didn't know you were going that far back.

"Solvent Soul"

perhaps some of our philosophies, or at least inner thoughts, are worth disussing in more detail sometime.  Perhaps we share a part of this human experience that's worth discussing.

Definitely -- I'd love to. By the way, there is a newer, 'cleaner' version of this song on the last page... it's been polished even more since (the snare stands out much better) but I haven't gotten around to uploading that version just yet. The newer version will likely appear on an album of this material I'm working on, though I'll probably end up using the old (noisier) one at some point too.

Awesome, I'm so glad you dig Blues Rocket Meltdown -- you're the first person to be enthusiastic about it. It's always been a favorite of mine since I wrote it. Everything came out of nowhere and I remember being extremely excited that I just, somehow, put it together.

I can't properly say how much it means to hear all your thoughts on these songs; it's very encouraging (but of course that word isn't enough, as most aren't by themselves). I feel very humbled and a little bit proud that someone is getting this much out of my musings and ramblings. And yes, absolutely, we should discuss life and things sometime... maybe there'll be a moment or two at the FurBQ or afterwards.

The calgary instrumental bit is playing now.  Some great feeling in the slower bits.  Lots of variety.  Damn, Rodent friend, you've got some skills.  I hope you never forget that, and continue carrying it forward into something beautiful as you seem to be doing quite effectively already.

Thank you... again. I'm really glad you are listening.

Speaking of which --

Funny how that works, eh?  It's like 'Damn.. somebody's listening' in the true, unfiltered sense of the word.  Usually it's only our own minds that get to debate with themselves these inner thoughts.  When we truly relate, it's probably one of the most powerful human emotions that exist, flying under the radar.

Yeah, no kidding. I would say it's the sole driving reason that I write music, the satisfaction and excitement of having someone relate completely (or even just partially). I would probably say music (as well as language) is my drug.

Yeah, things are moving fast in here. I don't mind, though.

[Lady Serpent]

maybe there'll be a moment or two at the FurBQ or afterwards.

I imagine there'll be many moments of varying degrees.  I'll be fairly tied up making sure things run smoothly and all anthropomorphically hungry bellies are satisfied, but certainly afterwards, and probably sometimes during, there'll be time for such things.  When are you taking off on the Greydog afterwards?

Everything came out of nowhere and I remember being extremely excited that I just, somehow, put it together.

Ah, that's beautiful.  Brilliant when things come together like that and just flow so well.

You're welcome, and of course, thank you.

it's very encouraging (but of course that word isn't enough, as most aren't by themselves).

  The great human tragedy, I think.  Inadequate fabricated words; they at once mean far too much and desperately too little depending on the moment.

Yeah, things are moving fast in here. I don't mind, though.

  The best kind of movement.    Glad to see you're still out there dancing.

-LS

[Josiah]

maybe there'll be a moment or two at the FurBQ or afterwards.

I imagine there'll be many moments of varying degrees.  I'll be fairly tied up making sure things run smoothly and all anthropomorphically hungry bellies are satisfied, but certainly afterwards, and probably sometimes during, there'll be time for such things.  When are you taking off on the Greydog afterwards?

I'm unsure, actually... I was thinking of just winging it and buying the ticket home whenever I happen to head back (as opposed to buying a return ticket in advance). Do you think you might have some free time after the event?

And yes, words... sometimes I think about inventing my own but then I usually just jam existing ones together into song instead.

[Josiah]

[edited, decided not to post this one after all, it's a little too rough around the edges]

[Josiah]

Don't think I've posted these yet, but I'm not sure...
Sometimes I'll write little bits of "fragment fiction" (I'm not really sure what else to call it); narratively-vague short stories, with very sparse context and small surreal touches that anchor them to some alternate world. Really, they're more like snippets of scenes from other places and times that sometimes come into my head, carried by words. Most of the time I don't know what they're about when I start writing them.

Anyhow, I generally don't upload many of them, but I recently wrote a new one that I think wants to be shared. It's called Homeland, you can find it here along with two others:

http://www.josiahtobin.com/writing.html

Again, the vagueness of the narrative is very intentional. I feel it would ruin the entire point and feel if I elaborated any more on the context of the fragments.

[Josiah]

I wrote most of this song in a tent in the Okanagan this past week. I would really like to insist that the meaning is ambiguous, but it isn't -- perhaps I shouldn't post it, I'm not really sure. I'm really proud of it though, so here I am... Hm.

This is a very rough demo and not mixed particularly well. The drums are also VSTs (read: programmed) since I no longer have my drum kit with me.

http://www.josiahtobin.com/music/misc/hope_2011_roughdemo.mp3

Lyrics:

last night I had a dream you weren't there
your name meant nothing to me, I swear
and I found I could function just fine
and you were not even on my mind

but you're still here
yeah, you're still here

I didn't feel cornered or meek
I didn't even know I was asleep
and you'd be proud of how much I spoke
I talked to everyone, smiled and joked

and afterwards I caught the greyhound home
went back to my old job and didn't feel alone
and everything was perfectly okay
no strong emotions in me, I was not affected by your name

and I don't have the words
to tell you what I mean
I'm just another soul
trapped inside a dream

I don't have the words
to tell you what I mean
I'm just another soul
chasing down a dream

on and on

and when I woke up it seemed so real
it's hard to say how it made me feel
I'm sorry if it sounds kind of weird
but when your name came back it brought tears

cause you're still here
yeah, you're still here
you're still here
you're still here

The melody and pacing of the "you're still here" lines were sort of borrowed from a song written by my friend Seth recently where he says the same thing. (the melody is slightly different here, though) Credit where credit is due.

[blue-vulpine]

I replied to this elswhere, but I will reply here as well:

FANTASTIC! I was looking forward to hearing what you'd do with that tune at FurBQ. 

-Tj

[Josiah]

Thanks TJ! Really appreciate the comment. Yeah, it kinda just built itself when I got back. I'm really happy with the structure of it (aside from the transition back into the quiet part at the end, which is a little sloppy right now).

By the way, d'you know what your plans are like for Tuesday yet?

[blue-vulpine]

Probably will be bringing Kennie with me, and hopefully will be there earlier in the day so we can check out those record shops and get some jamming in. Aside from that, don't really have a set plan, should know more when its closer to the day. :3

-Tj

[Josiah]

Cool, sounds good. Just show up whenever, I'll be here.

Finished this one today after I got back from Parksville, where I was staying for the weekend. Got even more mental wires to un-cross now but at least I got a song out of it, so...

No Return (rough demo)

No bass guitar yet, and it was mixed pretty hastily (the drums are also programmed again and mostly thrown together). I've been demoing a lot of songs like this lately just to get them out of my head, then going back and making them more polished later.

Lyrics:

my actions terrify me
this is not what I was made for
my body just defies me
regret that I cannot ignore

sex/love separation, there is too much information
I don't understand, this is not who I am

I have got this feeling and I can't let it go
like one mistake was all it took to dig this hole
I stare at all the pieces of me on the floor
this feeling is not what I was ever waiting for

the fear just keeps expanding
there is now too much to repair
my mind is overloading
please let this be just a nightmare

sex/love separation, there is too much information
I don't understand, this is not who I am

I have got this feeling and I can't let it go
like one mistake was all it took to dig this hole
I stare down at the pieces of me on the floor
this feeling is not what I was ever waiting for

please let me turn back the clock
I don't know where I am
I just know where I'm not
regret so strong I can't stand
my head falls to my hands
I don't know where I am
I try to run but I can't
get away from my actions
and mistakes at all

I have got this feeling and I can't let it go
like one mistake was all it took to dig this hole
I stare at all the pieces of me on the floor
this feeling is not what I was ever waiting for
but now it's stuck in my mind and I can't let it go
one mistake was all it took to dig this hole
I stare down at the pieces of me on the floor
this feeling is not what I was ever waiting for

[Lady Serpent]

There's a lot to see, and a lot to listen to, here.  I'm off to Burning Man and the states for the better part of September; looking forward to taking this in and putting thoughts forward.  It'll be long past due by then, but there's no time left here.

-LS

[Josiah]

It'll be long past due by then, but there's no time left here.

-LS

Perfectly alright. Everything will still be here.

[Josiah]

I don't think I ever posted this one here... Wrote and recorded it in January, right before all my gear up and died on me. It has more of a narrative than I usually work with, trying to extrapolate feelings into fiction as opposed to directly addressing them.

Hospital Signs