The Revolution Has Begun

NOTE: IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE BACKGROUND INFO, SKIP TO THE END OF THE POST FOR THE MP3 FILES

Remember that demo CD that I've been talking about for months? Guess what?

IT'S FINISHED!!!

That's right. The official Suspended Agitation demo is complete, and we decided to make it available to anyone who wants it. It didn't cost anything to record, so we figured it wouldn't be right to sell it. In any case, you loyal readers get to hear and download all 8 tracks from SIT. But first, as usual, a bit of background:

As you know if you've been reading the blog for a while, Suspended Agitation began back in March when an old high school classmate named Ryan found some of my music stuff online and asked about doing a collaboration. From there, we spent the next couple months throwing ideas around and sharing our various recordings. In June, we started writing and practicing songs, and we've spent most of the summer working on a demo. Now, two days before I have to go back to school, we finally have the finished product.

A little more information for those who may be new: Suspended Agitation is a grunge-metal band. Our music is influenced by everything from Metallica and Nirvana to Breaking Benjamin and Sevendust. We like to think that we have a somewhat original sound. Our lyrics (mostly written by me) are semi-political, although we prefer to look at the songs as more anti-idiotarian than right-wing. I play drums, Ryan plays the guitars (all of them), and we both do the singing...for now.

As for the demo, we were originally going to record it in a semi-professional studio, but the owner had personal issues to deal with, so we were forced to self-produce. Luckily, the guy did let us borrow his Tascam portable studio, so we were able to make it sound somewhat profesional. My dad helped out a lot with the recording and production (he teaches music, so he knows what sounds good).

The majority of the recording was done in my basement, and we only had 2 microphones for the drums, so we had to be creative. Luckily, with the exception of "Chainsaw" (in which the drums are barely audible because one of the mics was screwed up or something), all the drumming sounds good. We used direct input for the guitars, so they're pretty much studio quality.

The vocals were recorded in my family room with professional quality mics, so the sound itself isn't a problem. However, keep in mind that neither one of us has had any vocal training, and we had to throw everything together in about 3 days, so the singing is not stellar. It's better to focus on the lyrics themselves than the way they sound.

If you want to know who's singing what part, remember this: Ryan has the higher-pitched voice, and mine is slightly lower. Also, due to time constraints, I ended up singing a lot of parts that Ryan was originally going to cover, so I sometimes go out of my range (like the chorus of "Chainsaw," for example).

If you end up becoming a big fan of Ryan, you'll enjoy "What's Up." He wrote the lyrics and guitars for that one, and he sings it by himself. If you're more a fan of my style (and who isn't?), then check out "Ransom." I wrote more of that song than any others, and I sang it by myself. Most of the other songs are a mixture of both our ideas.

Don't worry, there are songs posted here eventually. I just have to explain all this crap, since we've been working on it for months. Anyway...

About the songs themselves: There are seven original tracks, each with its own style and subject matter. No two songs sound very similar, and there is no filler whatsoever. The eighth track is a cover of "Rockin' In the Free World" by Neil Young.

...I know what you may be thinking. "Why would a right-wing band cover a song that attacks conservatives and was recently given new life by Michael Moore?" Well, I'll explain: We're both in this more for the music than anything else, and no matter what your political ideology, you've gotta admit that Rockin' is a kickass song. So that's basically it. We wanted to play a cool song, and we did. I also think the irony of playing that particular song will help keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. As far as possible legal issues...call me when the RIAA comes after Michele and all the emo kids who put copyrighted songs on their Xangas on a regular basis, and maybe I'll give a crap.

We went through a lot to make this thing happen, and a few times, it seemed like we weren't going to get finished (like when the water heater in my basement overflowed while we were recording). But we did. Ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, I give you the official Suspended Agitation demo CD:

1. Chainsaw
2. Ransom
3. Fake and Inaccurate
4. What's Up
5. Growing Down
6. Useful Idiot
7. Rockin' In the Free World
8. Insane Inside

I expect all commenters on this post who said they would check out some of this stuff to at least give it a quick listen (seriously, even if it's negative, I want your opinion). If rock isn't your thing, I understand, but we worked really, really hard on this, and it's one of the main reasons I haven't been posting much.

And, if it's any consolation...I'm going to start blogging regularly again in about two weeks. Yay.

FINAL NOTE: You can find more band info here, and if you want to see the lyrics, go here and check out the "music" section.

Posted by CD on August 17, 2005 01:45 AM | TrackBack
Category: Music