OVERHANG

There's talk in the band about whether or not we're actually making two albums because we seem to have two, maybe three sets of songs going--the heavy rock stuff, the pop stuff and the gospel stuff. Here's an example of one of the gospel-type songs that might make it on an album at some point.

The Water Will Be a Sign (Demo).mp3

"The Water Will be a Sign" was written for some friends at the baptism of their baby. The church where the baptism took place is mostly African-American and OVERHANG is the unofficial rock band there so we've been learning how to make old blues and gospel songs our own. We've done many covers but Grant decided to try to write an original himself in the rural gospel-blues-country style (when white people play the blues, it sounds like country). Grant sang the song by himself at church and recorded this demo. The band has a version too that is still in the works, but you can get the idea from this recording.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night was day two of our recording set-up. We finally got to do a little mic placement. Recording is a very tedious process. We spent a couple of hours moving microphones in and out of the kick drum and listening to the different sounds. We also set up some overhead mics that promise to make Jeff's toms sound great. We will continue to build our sonic landscape tonight and tomorrow and maybe get a track or two down soon.

We would like to record the following song, the band version of a Latin-flavored thing we've been working on, very soon. We're not settled on the title yet. We call it "Leaving This Time" or "As Long as There's Still Time" or "That Time Song" but they all are about time in some way. Anyway, here is the live band version from a rehearsal two weeks ago. Hope you can hear the potential beneath all the noise from the rattling laptop.

Leaving this Time (Band) 2.mp3

Can you hear the flamenco clapping we threw in? This is a very fun song to play, a latin-inspired rock song that doesn't sound anything like the later Santana :)

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a little break from all the loud rock stuff.

There are a slew of pop songs coming out of me lately, especially when I write music on the piano. The following came out of a song Joel was working on. I had a different idea for it, which turned into a whole new song.

04 Take Me Out of Here.mp3

The first verse was written on a plane during a panic attack. I was very sick at the time and full of anxiety and the thought of continuing in that present moment was unbearable. Surprisingly, many of the songs that were started in this period of sickness came out with a sense of comfort, relaxation and even joy. I guess the music was therapeutic for me in some way.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are two versions of what we're hoping will be a new OVERHANG single someday. It's a fun song that turns ominous. Just when you think you're dancing and singing along to an orgiastic celebration of revenge, the chorus becomes a confession. It's based on one of the oldest recorded songs in the world, a war song sung by Lamech (the grandfather of music) in the book of Genesis. This is what Lamech says: "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."

href="http://blog.overhangonline.com/Beat%20Them%20to%20Hell%20%28Band%29%202.mp3">Beat Them to Hell (Band) 2.mp3

02 Beat Them to Hell.mp3

This will be the first song we record, probably on Tuesday. Since we spent all day Saturday setting up our recording space we didn't get to any mic placement or actual recording. We got a little video of the set-up, which is as exciting to watch as someone moving into a new apartment, but maybe we can make it look exciting somehow with the magic of editing!

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OVERHANG is spinning on 25 radio stations across the country now with the single "Until It's Arrived". While that is going on, the band has been busy in their rehearsal space solidifying their parts for recording the new album. Nate is finishing the modifications on recording equipment and the band is planning to do its first session this Saturday. We will try to capture some of the sessions on video. We also thought it might be fun to let our listeners follow the progress of these new songs from the roughest recordings to the final ones by putting them here on our blog.

The first installment for today comes in two forms--live performance with the band and a previous recording with beats made by Joel. The live performance is from last week when the band ran through a couple of the louder rock songs and recorded it on GarageBand through the computer's microphone. Despite the low-low-fi sound, the energy of the band came through quite well. Every time Nate's bass comes in the whole lap-top started shaking but the distortion doesn't get in the way of feeling the music. We suggest you don't listen to the tracks on lap-top computer speakers since the bass doesn't show up at all.

The song we're putting on the blog today is slated to be the first track on the new album. It is currently called "Wide Open Space" (Wide Open Space.mp3 ). And here is an earlier version done before the band came along to give the sounds life (01 Wide Open Space.mp3). These two versions are great compare and contrast examples of the difference between the use of machines to make beats and the use of a human being (aka Jeff).

Let us know what you think and stay tuned for more...

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)