Season 5

Trio: Season Five, Suite #4!

November 17, 2006 by krisis

Trio: Season Five, Suite #4:
Songs on the Topic of Things Left Unsaid:
Not So Bad, Regrets, Under My Skin

Trio – the original singer-songwriter web session – returns for its fifth season featuring my own DIY music. This season each trio of songs will have a loose topic to connect them, which I will discuss between songs.

A sample of what I had to say in this Trio…

Re: Things Left Unsaid
The point is that they were all written about feelings I was having (romantic (or otherwise (in some cases))) about somebody that I didn’t feel comfortable expressing to them face-to-face. I guess in that way songwriting is an ultimate form of passive-aggressiveness.

Not So Bad
At the same time that it’s a little bit scathing to somebody else, it’s a little bit of a pep talk to myself. I used to think things were so bad … and now, not so much. Although, I still get very drunk on the sound of my own voice.

Regrets
It’s another one of those wonderful examples where I named a song something that isn’t in the lyrics at all. But, I think you’ll understand why it’s called “Regrets.”

I’ve actually written a number of songs about that same person … but [“Regrets”] truly exercised her. She’s not in my head anymore.

Under My Skin
If you’ve listened to me at all through my collegiate career then you’ve definitely heard this song. … It’s so dumb simple. It’s so dumb, and so simple. … But, what it is is a very honest portrayal of an emotion. I think that’s why maybe people liked it. I don’t know – maybe they just heard me play it a lot.

You can download the entire Trio , download the single of “Under My Skin,” or start from a past suite:

Trio: Season Five, Suite #3!

November 16, 2006 by krisis

Trio: Season Five, Suite #3:
Songs on the Topic of Hindsight:
Other Plans, This Long (Angry Song), Couldn’t Keep It

A sample of what I had to say in this Trio…

Re: Hindsight
The topic was actually going to be a specific person who I have a lot of hindsight on. … She’s somebody who occupies a lot of negative space in my life, and I couldn’t justify giving her a whole trio. … Even though I’m always going to have these songs about vortex of negative energy girl, I don’t need to group them together and celebrate how negative that time was.

Other Plans
A couple months ago I ran into the person that it’s about … and I came home and I was – of course – singing “Other Plans.” And I was thinking, wouldn’t it be funny if there was actually a tango when I talk about a tango?

This Long (Angry Song)
It’s all about looking back into a relationship and maybe recasting some of the things that happened in the light of – now – the new you that’s remembering.

You can download the entire Trio , or download the single of “This Long (Angry Song).” Or, start from Suite #1: Identity or Suite #2: Elise!

Trio: Season Five, Suite #2!

November 7, 2006 by krisis

Trio: Season Five, Suite #2:
Songs on the Topic of Elise:
Little Love, Wilted, A Little Bit, (and a secret cover!)

A sample of what I had to say in this Trio…

Little Love
There’s a point of some dispute because one line in the song is about somebody else, and the whole rest of the song is about Elise. … The whole conceit of it (if I can say that about one of my songs) is that it’s about the purest form of butterflies in stomach. It’s about having a crush on somebody just like third grade … more than anything you just want to be near them, and share time with them, and share your experiences with them.

Wilted
Being in a very successful relationship … you have to be careful how you pull from it because that song is going to continue to exist, and so is your relationship. And you have to be careful what you’re disclosing to the other person – and what you’re disclosing to the listener – because it might not be any of their business.

A Little Bit
Elise was having a laugh at my expense earlier, because I kept saying all of these songs were the quintessential Elise song, and I finally arrived at this one and she was surprised … What this song came out of is that I was in the last two weeks of college, I was under the gun for everything, and I was up all night … packing to move out of my college apartment and into my first apartment with Elise. I was so frazzled, and everything was difficult, and I had all this school work to do, and I just couldn’t handle it.

So – in the middle of all the craziness – I just stopped and I wrote a song, because that’s how things happen in my life. It’s fun.

You can download the entire Trio , or download the single of “A Little Bit..” Or, start from Suite #1.

Trio: Season Five, Suite #1!

November 3, 2006 by krisis

Trio: Season Five, Suite #1:
Songs on the Topic of Identity:
Hyperbole, Apart, Seams

A sample of what I had to say in this Trio…

Re: Trio
It started out with me in my bedroom with a shitty guitar and this tiny little pinprick of a microphone on the top of my computer monitor. … It’s still very do-it-yourself … it’s no science. The sounds that come out are the sounds that come out.

Hyperbole
What you can’t know from just hearing it is that song was written with and always performed with my often-times co-writer Gina Martinelli. It’s a song that holds a lot of meaning for me, and for a while I had given up doing it by myself. … I discovered in the same way that I can cover a song by The Supremes, I can do a song that’s a me-and-gina song and just own it, and fill in those spaces (or not fill in those spaces) with something that’s uniquely me.

Apart
It illustrates … that sometimes I just can’t help but let in the opinions of other people, and for a long time I didn’t really know what to do about that.

Seams
It’s very different from my other songs, and I feel like it really actually says something about me.

You can download the entire Trio , or download the single of “Seams.”