Video - Debris of a Brainstorm

To continue with the song explanations, here's Debris of a Brainstorm. This is off of my debut album, Deconstructing the Temporal Lobe, along with one of the earlier videos, Ice Mountain.

The idea behind Debris is that it's sort of how most of my compositions have been written; that is, phrase by phrase, pieced together. So often in the process there are tons of little experimental licks that don't make the cut. Most of the time those are lost. And I don't care. I believe that the best licks, the best songs, the best albums are those that you remember. Those you forget? You lose them. So what?

This song is a culmination of parts and ideas that weren't quite lost. It's in a different tuning from anything else I've written (C-G-C-G-B-E), but really builds off of ideas from previous brainstorming sessions, primarily those from Horse in the Clouds. If you're familiar with that one, it was my first lap-tapping song and is the first track on the debut, largely inspired by the movie, August Rush.

While writing Horse in the Clouds, I had lots of ideas and just no great way to cram them into one song. So I went back and forth between the two different tunings and worked on them simultaneously, really only intending on finishing one piece. After Horse in the Clouds came, when a second tune came, it was obviously the "debris" of the "brainstorm."

Because nothing else I've written is in this tuning, it doesn't get much play time these days... But I do really enjoy playing it and usually, I like to think, other people like it too.

Enjoy!

Video - Muscle Memory

So this one has actually been up for a while... But I want to give stories behind all of my work, ya know, make them a little more real. What better way than to explain the song and give you a point of view of me playing it? I'm convinced that it would be easier to learn to play guitar this way, but that's not what this is about.

This is actually one of the songs that will be on album 2, but one that's familiar enough to throw up here for everyone. As a matter of fact, this almost made it onto Deconstructing the Temporal Lobe, my first album, but it wasn't in a polished form at that point. And actually, this had a different name at that time as well.

So how did it make it to the second album and get a new name? It started roughly a year after the first album, when I went back for another recording session with Jeremy Bentley at MR.STUDIO. I recorded the song in that session and ...that was it. Fast forward a year and I'm thinking about the next session and a full album. So I go back to listen to what I already have ...and have no recollection of this song?

It was bizarre. I had a general idea of what tuning it was in, but that's it. So I had to basically deconstruct the whole song and reteach myself. It was difficult, but eventually I remembered the shapes I was using, how I was plucking the strings, etc. Hence, Muscle Memory.

It's nothing technically dazzling, super complex, or obtuse like much of my work. Instead, it's just a well rounded, very agreeable composition. Easy listening without needing to think to appreciate it. Hope you enjoy!

Video - Ice Mountain

Kids! I did youtube! Finally!

See, I snowboard. Like, hardcore. I'm not the best. No backflips or huge jumps (though I think I hit a 45' once ...which is pretty big), but fast and steep. That's what I do. So when helmet cams came out a few years ago I was thinking that'd be pretty awesome to document some trips and whatnot. Well, originally, they were like $1000  ...which is a bit unattainable, seeing as how I also have other hobbies and, at the time, didn't have that kind of money to spend.

Fast forward a few years and you can get a helmet cam that shoots 1080p for under $200. Find it on steepandcheep and it's even better! So that's what I got for Christmas, just in time for the Vermont trip.

Unfortunately, the conditions weren't too great when we had the cams out on the mountain, so we didn't get any great footage. What I did get was used to adjust settings and whatnot.

But after getting back from Vermont and not having any more snow, I figured out how I could still make use of the cam w/out the snow - guitar stuff!

So here's the first installment - Ice Mountain.

Hello, 2012.

...and I'm pretty new to this youtube thing, but I think you can subscribe to my channel or something like that? Check it - www.youtube.com/alexbrubakerguitar 

Video of Me Opening for Caleb Hawley

Sometime last week I posted on the Caleb Hawley B-Sides concert. Check out the review here.

In the review I mention opening up for his song, Gone For Good. Well, a youtube video has surfaced with this. I'm playing my Caleb Hawley inspired song, Doppelganger.