gschmitt song: This Imperfect World

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.

This Imperfect World (lyrics) – gschmitt discusses this song from The Year in Pictures

“I love the groove on this song. It’s a great example of how enchanted I am with the rumba clave and the tumbao of latin music. I originally recorded it myself with a HEAVY cascara drum pattern taken right out of a Robby Ameen drum book. When I showed it to Enrique the percussionist, he flipped. (Funny sidenote: I had to look up his name to see what it was for my album credits . . . to me and everyone else he works with, he’s not “Enrique.” He’s “Quique [pronounced “kee-kay”] Conga.”) I think Rai Torres showed what a monster he is on this song, too. Besides recording it in one take (again), he did a beautiful job of mixing the latin bass beat in the kick drum with the rock backbeat. He let Quique take the clave and it came out so much better than my original idea because of those two. This song was fun to record.

Lyrically, I was writing to the idea that very few things in life are really that controllable. In fact, the only thing you can control is yourself and the quality of the commitments you make. This song is me committing.”

- gschmitt