gschmitt song: One More Day
July 12, 2008
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
One More Day (lyrics) – gschmitt discusses this song from The Year in Pictures
“I wrote this song after meeting my [not yet] wife, spending a year with her, and knowing that she had to go back home afterward. It was just enough time for me to realize that she was all I wanted and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how it was going to work after she left. “Am I just giving her away?” was the primary thought in my head in the weeks before she left. It’s the closest thing to a straight love song I’ve ever written, honestly.
Musically, it’s also the simplest song I’ve ever written. It’s just three chords, but what made it so appealing to me was the dynamic contrast between the verse and chorus. That was very much on purpose. I was going for “weak/sad/lethargic” in the verses and “pissed off/frustrated/cathartic” in the big “wall ‘o guitars” chorus. The first few mixes of it didn’t pan out exactly that way, but after I told Bob St. John that I felt Smashing Pumpkins “Siamese Dream” guitars were the most appropriate, it happened. My favorite part of the tune is the second electric guitar that comes in at the end . . . . rockin’.”
- gschmitt
gschmitt song: Castles
July 11, 2008
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Castles (lyrics) – gschmitt discusses this song from The Year in Pictures
“People ask me what this tune is about all the time. More accurately, they ask me if it’s autobiographical. It’s actually an homage to the couple in the first verse of Jimi Hendrix’s song, “Castles Made of Sand”, with a slightly different twist.
The song has gone through a few different recordings and it was the centerpiece of a demo I put together with me playing all the instruments. I gave it over to Isaak Sakko, good friend and owner of Redemption Studio and he said “Let’s record this . . . I’m playing bass.”
I think I owe this albums existence to this tune. The distorted guitar part is still one of my favorite parts of the album.”
- gschmitt
gschmitt song: Muddy Water
July 11, 2008
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Muddy Water (lyrics) – gschmitt discusses this song from The Year in Pictures
“This tune started out with the chorus. The line, “A personal messiah who could turn your muddy water to wine“, jumped out at me and was quickly put to the guitar groove.
The tune itself is about how some people wear faith in God on their sleeve as if it was a fashion statement and dedicate themselves to it for a limited time, only to eventually lose interest and change focus.
I wasn’t even sure if I would include it on this record until I sat down with Ariel Cedeno to try and flesh out a drum part. That day in the studio was magic, man. After one or two run-throughs, I was convinced it had to open the record.”
- gschmitt
