Sifting Sands

Sifting Sands (MMT)
Written and Recorded 2011
Sifting Sands Revised
Arranged and Recorded 2012

 This one takes was written at the tail end of our time in Baraboo when I was getting ready to start up the Miss Misery Trio. The first version is a mishmash of influences. It still has massive focus on the bass part but is starting to incorporate Fleet Foxes-esque harmonies. This one helped us realize that this style was not going to work out. One thing I've really latched onto over the years is how important it is to realize what doesn't work and acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses therein.

• This song's lyrics are based off a book called "Soon I Will Be Invincible." I can't remember a lot of the details, but it's basically a novel about superheroes and villains. One of the perspectives it is told from is supervillain. I thought it'd be interesting to write from the perspective of the bad guy. Feels unnatural to me, which is probably a good thing.
• The vocal harmonies are too much on version 1. They overpower the overall simplicity of the song. They work much better when I changed it to lyrics instead of "ooos". It's definitely more in line with the more bluegrass style of version 2.
• It took a long time to figure out how to adapt this song from versions 1 to 2. Because the chords are so simple, it almost left me with too much room to explore. Sometimes I feel my options are limited because of chord progressions or melodies. Restrictions tend to spurn creativity for me, so no restrictions made this one difficult.
• The structure and key on these are identical, but the stylistic change is so important. A word I think of when I hear version 1 is "sleepy." It's very lethargic, but there is power that comes in at the end when I hit the overdrive on the bass. That dynamic change comes way too late.
• Changing to a bluegrass style for this song was band-aid. I was able to add quite a bit more contrast in different sections, but I was never convinced that this song was that good. Definitely not a terrible song, but it misses the mark in many ways.
• The second version has some issues coming out of the solo. I miscounted and didn't bother to fix it. I believe it caused some problems when rehearsing and subsequently performing this song a few times. In the last year, I've made a real effort to make my demos as accurate as possible.