Matt Sanford
Obvious (lyrics, cello by nico) Matt says he doesn't know where the lyrics came from. I think this song is a gift from Love. This song probably has one of the best lyrics about falling in love (well, I guess for some, falling for physical attraction) with that special someone. Matt always complained that there were too many words in April Fools -- I'm glad he came up with the lyrics himself! This is really a beautiful song and Nico's cello part adds to the elegant simplicity of the song.
Eyes of a Child This is a personal conversation between an adult and God. The adult is asking God why things have become more complicated compared to the past childhood. This is a very honest song.
April Fools (lyrics) This is the 1st original song collaboration and this song basically started this musical journey. One day in March of 2004, Matt started playing a riff in the background and once I heard it I knew it was going to be the hook for a song. That riff ended up becoming the chorus of April Fools. I asked Matt to play the riff again and I took over the guitar to try to figure out a verse. I played the same chords but instead of strumming the parts, I was plucking the strings. This naturally gave way to a different rhythm for the chord changes and Matt liked it -- so we got a verse and a chorus. Over the next few days, I would play the verse and chorus and people liked it, except for Javier, he wanted a bridge! I never wrote a bridge for a song and I was already 28! How do you do these things? Javier talked about the tricks of making a bridge for a song (something about going up to the 6th and if you were coming from a minor chord, go to a major chord). So I tried the first bridge chord and the rest of the bridge basically wrote itself. The lyrics for the song were basically written on April Fools Day 2004 at around 3AM. I was talking to a friend about the hardships of breaking up with someone, but that someone doesn't know how to let go. I've had a similar experience and I wanted to sleep that night, so I needed to let go of the emotional baggage by writing my thoughts down.
Shawn McDonald
Not You Back in the day, I was part of a band with Shawn and Rodney. We never could find a drummer so that band (Blue Echo) disbanded. This is one of Shawn's songs and we're just trying to collaborate in the studio instead of getting gigs. Um, Oscar, where is the drum track???
Andy Ygona
I Feel Better (piano & saxophone duet) Andy has too much talent... too much!
Against The Grain
Dark Highway (recorded live) JP, the bass player, came up with the chord progression for the whole song -- including the crazy break 3/4ths into the song. JP doesn't write bridges over troubled waters, he just comes up with superfast chord changes since he's the bass player and he only playes notes! I got smart and decided to play lead guitar on this one.
It's Over (recorded live) Adrian came up with the chord progression for the whole song. He played it and Cho just picked one of the lyrics he has already written. This song was done in one night!
Distance (studio version) This is the same four chords over and over. Adrian just changes the strumming pattern during the chorus.
It's Over (studio version)
Joseph Laurino
Broken One (lyrics) Damien Rice is one of my favorite artists. One day, I was playing the guitar part for his song, "Cannonball", and I decided to write a song with the capo on the sixth fret just like "Cannonball". Lyrically, I tried to write about the dark times during a breakup from an intense relationship. Those times feel like the end of times and all one can do is talk to their friends and pour your heart out. This song is like one of your friends who is trying to point you to the light.
Alive (lyrics) I got really tired of writing yet another love song so I came up with Alive. Also, this is the first song where I used the cut capo technique. I never tried cut capo before but after playing around with it, I came up with this riff right away.
My Point of View (lyrics) Have you ever met someone that changed your point of view? It's amazing how this person can make you look at the world in a completely different way. You start analyzing your past and say, "What was I thinking???!!!"
Love Take My Hand (lyrics) This riff was made up by Andy and I back in February 1996, a few days before Valentines Day.
Test nothing fancy, I just started playing along to the drum loop...
"distance", "obvious" and "april fools" recorded at alexis' studio (prospect studios)
"alive" recorded at oscar's studio
drums on "april fools" by alexis
enjoy!
-joseph
