November 29th, 2007

[Hoblit]

Wow I had some incredibly strange dreams last night. Vampires, coins... demon dogs, amusement parks with 'job interview' rides, rotting melons, my brother, radio stations, ex-coworkers...malls, songfight lives...ex girlfriends... crazy stuff.

The Funeral Dazies have a gig in downtown St. Petersburg tomorrow night around 10pm'ish. Might be our last gig...might not be...I don't know, but it seems to slowly be slipping apart. Our last gig for a month, that much is certain. We might record four more songs. At least three of us four want to record those songs.

I am personally swamped with things at work and on the side. Projects here and there and everywhere. All I want to do is work on specific stuff but I get sidetracked too easily. SO, what I do in these situations is listen to my favorite and most inspiring songfight artist. (the whole 'they make great music, so I want to make great music' mind frame)

QOTD: Who is your most inspiring songfight artist? (not necessarily your favorite) Who is the one that gets your motivation juices flowing, which ones help you get out of bed in the morning if you are just that depressed, which one gets you through that 'tough period', which one makes you feel the most romantic?

My answer: Brad Sucks.

Frankie Big Face is a very very close second. Actually at times they probably switch.

Strong third: There is no strong third...just a huge pile of great songfighters that inspire me each in their own way.
<font size="1">I've always wanted to be more like ADD but I simply don't do what he does.</font>

[roymond]

QotD: Glenn just inspires by his shear energy and endless output. Frankie just writes great songs. Max is just so sincere.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

What an oddly appropriate question (with deadlines looming and all ).

So, for the ego surfers out there, heh... QOTD: They come in pairs for me, depending on mood and (level of) motivation. King Arthur & Caravan Ray are damned tight and playful. WreckdoM & Neil Thrun are chaotic and handy for the mental resets. # & Klownhole for reminding me that damnit, music is fun. And then there's me, where I can hear what I'd wanted to achieve and need/want to work on, regardless of what was actually recorded, heh.

These are off the top of my head. Time to stop procrastinating and get to work now.

[j$]

Mainly i am inspired by people who's music I don't like, or whose online personalities come across worse than mine. no, I am serious. nothing gets me going better than frustration. But naming names on that front is pointless. Too many to mention!

That said, the following people are awesome for their music and boundless enthusiasm for the concept of SF, and support of the commmunity: (INPO) Hell Yeahs, Jack Shite, Niveous, #, Andy Balham, Starfinger, Heuristics Inc. There are others as well, but I only got 2 hours sleep last night and my brain is screwy...

[Billy's Little Trip]

QOTD: My moods change so much day to day, that I couldn't choose just one. There are so many musicians here that write and perform so good, I enjoy listening to them regularly. I will admit that if a song isn't submitted as a whole package, IE: written, performed, recorded and mixed well, there is a good chance it will get over looked, which is a shame. I have heard some awesome stuff that Ive picked out of low quality songs that makes me like a particular artist and makes me want to listen to their future stuff. That actually happens often.

Here is my list in order of a song that I like:
#1. The intro has to get my attention
#2. The drummer and bass player have to be tight
#3. Guitar player has to be loose, flexible and soulful.
#4. Vocal melody needs to be luring. It doesn't matter if the vox are screaming or just talking, but it has to pull me in with some sort of interesting melody, even if just in the chorus.
#5. Song must change my mood as I listen from start to finish. If a song is the same pace from start to finish, It will bore me and I will probably never listen to it again.
#6. The song must groove me at some point. If I listen to a song, and a part of my body doesn't move to the beat, then it didn't groove me.
#7. If the lyrics are good, fun, interesting, clever, deep, its a huge plus.
#8. If the lyrics are completely stupid, the song better rock hard for me to listen again.
#9. If I'm listening to a song on my headphones, car, living room, etc. a good rounded mix is a must.
#10. I like a song with a somewhat contrasting bridge. It seems to make the second have of the song feel like an old friend that came back to visit.
#11. I like a good ending that is fitting to the song. I hate it when a musician doesn't know when to end a song. Its different if its live, but in a quiet listening environment, I like a good exciting and exiting outro.

edit: I have no idea why I felt compelled to make a list of the things that make me like a song, when the QOTD was asking which SFer inspires me. But that was too much typing to erase at this juncture of the game. So get out there and make a song according to the BLT 11 steps to making a song that Chris likes to hear, lol.

[Hoblit]

QOTD: My moods change so much day to day, that I couldn't choose just one. There are so many musicians here that write and perform so good, I enjoy listening to them regularly.

This question isn't so much as to who is your favorite artist as much as it addresses which ones that inspire you.

For example, some of my favorite artists on here are great for listening to. Love 'em. MC Frontalot puts out gold and there have been great songs by individuals here and there. Real gems.

BUT it's Frankie Big Face and Brad Sucks that really get me going or help me get through times when I'm not feeling so great about music or whatever else may be going on in my life.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ah yes, inspires. My answer remains. I get inspired by the tiniest little tid bits. My list would be so damn long, and I used up my daily list quota on my stupid 11 step to a song I like list.
...my quotation key is missing.

[jimtyrrell]

So get out there and make a song according to the BLT 11 steps to making a song that Chris likes to hear, lol.

I'm gonna try to do just that. Having read the list, every one of those points had me thinking 'yeah, that's a quality worth working towards (toward?)'. So I'm gonna try to compose something with these ideas firmly in mind. No promises though.

QotD: Inspiration is a loaded term 'round here. I'm likely to think of it as musical inspiration, in which case the works of Abominominous, Jim Of Seattle, Hostess Mostess, Dylan Nau, Frankie Big Face, and Glenn Case are most likely to invoke the urge to compose.

And upon thinking about it, if I'm looking for some kind of general kick-in-the-ass motivation music, my own songs work best, I think. Nothing gets you out of bed quite like having had a reason to do it before, maybe. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a conceited bastard. But I like to think I'm above that, frankly. 8)

[king_arthur]

Well, I'll put in a plug for Wages, just because I think he has really figured out how to make use of songfight to improve his own music - both through collaborations, and through listening to review critiques and actually working on making stuff better because of them. The last person I remember who made such good use of the site was Generic (although he was gone for quite a while and, as I recall, was quite improved when he returned... nonetheless, while he was originally busy 'round here, he got noticeably better over time).

Jim Tyrrell is kind of inspiring, just in the sense that he's somebody who is doing something with his music, building a career while carrying on a normalish life.

Charles (KA)

[fodroy]

Holy crap. Today has been the best day in a long time. No details. I just wanted to state my exhiliration.

qotd: Luke Henley's songwriting and lyrics make me want to start a million different bands.

[sausage boy]

Its a tad hot here today. No idea on the exact temp, but the top layer of the plastic on my chair has heated up enough that, when my arms come into contact with it, I come away with black marks.

QOTD: WreckdoM, Blind Mime.

[Reist]

QOTD: Deshead and King Arthur - they're both very inspiring artists for me.

[Mostess]

QotD: Stateshirt, hands down. Always a gem of an idea. Always something worth stealing.

[Billy's Little Trip]

So get out there and make a song according to the BLT 11 steps to making a song that Chris likes to hear, lol.

I'm gonna try to do just that. Having read the list, every one of those points had me thinking 'yeah, that's a quality worth working towards (toward?)'. So I'm gonna try to compose something with these ideas firmly in mind. No promises though.

welp, if ya follow my 11 steps, I'm sure you'll have a hit on your hands. *Barney Fife sniff*.

[HeuristicsInc]

i think it must be j$, his combination of prolific and quality is inspiring. also, he's darn fun to work with.
-bill

[fluffy]

Still felt a bit sick but I went to work, boss told me I looked like crap and to go home, I stayed for another 15 minutes then realized I actually felt like crap too, went home. Ugh.

qotd: I love everybody.

[Reist]

I just started learning "In Black and White" by Sonata Arctica. I love that song. There are definitely better song on Unia, but they're totally beyond my abilities (I still love learning them, but it's nice to be able to play songs up to speed). I've learned all the concepts up until the guitar solo.

[jack]

a qotd that makes me think!

for sheer mind blowingly good production:
dylan nau, deshead, josh woodward, TAFKAP (the artist formerly known as puce), the redcar guys (all you guys individually) makes me shake my head and drop my jaw.

for sheer volume of good work and seemingly ease of creating it:
glenn case, king arthur, phil redmon, ken, melvin are giants among us common folk.

for sheer lunacy and brilliance in lyrics and songwriting:
johnny cashpoint, starfinger, caravan ray, octothorpe, wreckdom, stuyem, future boy (where did you go?)

and sam douglass, otherwise known as lunkhead, i have to say is a pretty good inspiration for me. consistently, sam creates great music on his own, as part of his many groups such as loyalty day and merisan, and to this day plays the best friggin devo cover i've ever heard (beautiful world)

[Ross]

I think I'll have to say Niveous - largely because of his energy for Nur Ein! which I have found really pushed me. I find that he has great ideas - I should be listening to every song of the year, too.

When I was first here I wanted to be like Boltoph. Prob'ly still do.

Also, I find my brother's presence motivational.

[Billy's Little Trip]

a qotd that makes me think!

and sam douglass, otherwise known as lunkhead, i have to say is a pretty good inspiration for me. consistently, sam creates great music on his own, as part of his many groups such as loyalty day and merisan, and to this day plays the best friggin devo cover i've ever heard (beautiful world)

Damn, that really is a great cover! Good job Sam.

[j$]

future boy (where did you go?)

A very good point.

[Steve Durand]

QOTD: Jack Shite

Jack was inspiring to me in my early songfight days because he often had positive and encouraging things to say about my songs. He was also a big promoter of doing reviews which is what a lot of people value here more than the votes.

Thanks Jack!


Steve