Chernobog

It’s time to have the conversation about our general creative process. I hope this makes sense. I doubt it will. Welcome to my brain. 

First and foremost, I’m a tinkerer. Not be nature but by necessity. What does that mean for our creative process? Great question. 

One, I’ll often name something way before it should be named. I’ll name an album or an EP or a song way before it has any meat on the bones. It allows my brain to pull it apart, think of new angles and push it around to see if it works. For example, LP2 was gonna be “Common Flowers” or “Portrait of a Common Flower” but it never fully clicked for me. The letters, the tone, the phrasing. Even saying it out loud. It didn’t muster up the right feeling I wanted. I moved “Common Flowers” to “Portrait of a Common Flower” back to just “Common Flowers,” mulled around a couple variations and then just ditched it. JJ from Idle Threat said I was copying Devil Wears Prada, which I wasn’t but didn’t want that association either. The album name has been picked. Not sure if I mentioned it here. Will try not to for a little bit.

Another example is one of our upcoming singles… might be titled “Facts.” If you’ve seen us play it live recently, you may have heard me call it “Dumb” - the demo title. Or “Facts Machine.” Or “The Facts Machine.” I think I’ve come around to just “Facts.” Something quick. Easy. Simple. Could be Fax. What are Facts these days anyways? 

I apply the same concept to lyrics. I’m always writing. Always jotting down phrases or thoughts. And then will apply them to a song that we’re building. Right now (as in Monday night), we’re going to record vocals on a song called “Chernobog” Chernobog is the big demon from Fantasia. The demo title of the song is called “Save Yourself A Headache.” I just rewrote the lyrics this weekend to include a phrase like… “You are the demon upon the mountain top” which ties in the songs title/reference to the Fantasia demon, obviously. I’m not totally convinced a song title needs to tie into the song lyrics but every once in a while, I like to link them. The song’s lyrics changed a bit too because I was struggling with the POV of the writer. When I write lyrics, I’ll focus mostly on cadences that works with the riffs. Once the cadence and feel has been determined, I can insert different lyrics. In this case,  the chorus lines weren’t fully connected to the verse/bridge lyrics. It’s helpful to record the song too. The ability to listen back on the recorded lyrics really assist my process.

Tinkering is probably annoying but I believe nothing is set in stone until it’s RECORDED. Even once it’s recorded, I can change it in the liver performance as well. I try not to change stuff once it’s recorded but that’s how it works for me… sometimes. 

Another big aspect of writing for me is always allowing my brain to be creative. Its why I watch a lot of movies and TV. why I listen to a lot of music. I’m pinging my brain for different creative sparks. Someone says a line a certain way (jot it down). Phoebe Bridgers says something a certain way (jot it down).

I’m also VERY NOT shy about using my references. Bands that hide their references are weird.

I could go on forever. I love the creative process. I’ve got notes and notes and notes on my phone. Little stupid phrases. Song titles. Album titles. Most will never see the light of day.

UPCOMING BAND STUFF: We’re sticking to our schedule right now. Nothing planned will November 6. Trying VERY HARD to keep it that way so we can make some proper headway on writing and recording. 

But then, hopefully, we can hit the ground running. We’d really really really like to release two songs on or around October 28. Followed by: 

Friday, November 6 - Chattanooga, TN - The Boneyard

Saturday, November 7 - Charlotte, North Carolina - The Milestone Club

Sunday, November 8 - Greenville, South Carolina - Poe Mill Music 

Monday, November 9 - Jacksonville, Florida - TBD

Tuesday, November 10 - Atlanta, GA - Reverb Room

Saturday, December 5 - Corona, CA - DBZ

Then more music early 2027. And more shows, hopefully. 

Exciting times, to be honest. Hope you stick around. 

MOVIES/TV - no new movies to report on this week. But here’s the reminder that Mother Mary was sick and it’s streaming on HBO whatever now. I always started and caught up with a show called “Furious,” on Hulu/Disney Plus. Worth your attention, in my opinion. Week to week, I’m doing Reacher, Silo, Furious and Lanterns. Did I miss anything???

MUSIC - it was a Barbarians weekend for me. I have nothing to say. Album rules. 

MERCH is still on sale. There’s very limited quantities on a couple of items so take a look. 

Song of the Week - posting this one even though I like Really Really Rad more.