Canal Song W/Photo

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Sep 072011
 


Canal Song W/Photo
Canal Song is from the 2000 CD “Schoolboys Charm”. The title of the CD is taken from an American Analog Set song of the same name. The title to me now seems rather Twee. I’m not even sure what it was meant to imply besides the fact that I listened to American Analog Set. Possibly the result of being in college too long.
I took a series of photographs of my studio on Locust St. in Denton with a Polaroid camera. There are several bands I had seen do this, including Steely Dan and Love Child.
Schoolboys Charm was the first album I recorded on 4-track. I had been resistant simply because that is the way I am. Also I felt like my dual tape deck live-dubbing situation sounded less muddy regardless of it’s tracking limitations. I had Chef digitally transfer all the tapes to Wavs and the technology back then was lacking so the result was quite hissy.
Canal Song W/Photo is one of my many Syd Barrett derivatives. Obtuse lyrics involving a loose narrative about nothing in particular attempting to evoke some sort of ethereal what-not. The Radio Shack reverb unit I frequently used made everything have more of a karaoke delay than an actual reverberation. I liked it because I knew very few people used it and after a while it became recognizable as a style. Canal song is one of the better songs on the CD which seems now to me to be heavily affected with British folk-rock tropes.

The X Record Store

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Aug 132011
 


The X was the name of the only good record store in Denton from about the end of ’96 till 2000 or so. It was run by Trinidad Leal who moved to Denton, I believe from Lubbock. I’m not 100% sure it was Lubbock but either way it was some Texas college town. While in Denton, Trinidad played in the space-rock-prog band Light Bright Highway who hosted after hours acid parties at The Argo. Trinidad currently sings and drums in the stoner-metal band Dixie Witch.
The X was the place that solidified the scene in Denton. Every band consigned at The X and most everyone seemed to sell stuff. Trinidad was a huge proponent of the scene at that time. He knew about all the local bands and was always excited to tell you something-or-other when you came in the store and always very supportive of whatever the local bands were doing.
The X hosted shows regularly throughout it’s existence. Solo nights weren’t any fixed night but rather just whenever someone asked Trinidad if they could put one together. Solo nights probably happened every week for the last couple of years at their Fry Street location. Record release shows were also frequent. During 97-2000 The X had it’s own indoor stage for the Fry Street Fair which was always an “unplugged” affair. Cavedweller played three of those years. Cavedweller also did a lot of Solo Nights there. There weren’t actually many “Solo Artists” in town at that time. Every year it seemed to increase exponentially. Ultimately “Solo Artist” came to mean any person or group of people who did not play loudly.
This top flyer was a rare show I did with Wanz Dover from Mazinga Phaser and later Falkon Project. This was also one of Lo-Fi Chorus’ first shows. I recently saw a guy in Brooklyn wearing a Lo-Fi Chorus t-shirt and asked him if he was from Denton and of course he was. If I am not mistaken, John Freeman designed this flyer.

I made this flyer for a Transona 5 7″ release show they asked me to play. They were by far my favorite band “in town” even though they claimed to be from Dallas. Dallas didn’t have nearly as good of a scene as Denton and bands like Transona 5 were usually regarded as a “Denton-Style” band, ie “Spacerock”.

This was another flyer I made. After a While I started making attempts to imitate John Freeman’s band-fonts, only by-hand and hastily drawn. This was an early show for my brother’s project, Fishboy. I don’t actually recall anything about this show. I’m sure it went well. I also bet there were problems with the PA system.

Dr. Shivad

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Jun 132011
 

Dr. Shivad was written during the month Cavedweller went on tour in support of the Sugary Glue and A Bow of Bees album. It’s a standard country-folk style I had been using for a while. The subject matter involved my poor experience with doctors and insurance companies in conjunction with a job I had at the time at a call-center wherein one of the polls I was conducting was soliciting doctors about law suits and insurance claims and the general state of healthcare, which at the time was poor most everywhere. While these subjects are rich with complex issues I strained to find a tone that appropriately reflected the urgency of the
the subject matter. I chose to exclude much of the details which resulted in a bit of an ominous foreboding tone. I played this song live a few times but ultimately I left it off of “Gloria” and allowed it to gather dust.
Dr. Shivad

Badger

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May 102011
 

“Badger” originally only available on a 3 song cassingle I passed out at the 1997 Fry Street Fair in Denton, TX. Later that year I stuck it on the “Special Education” full length cassette after receiving many request to play it live. More cryptic lyrics dealing with submission and death. Also I use to read the comic book “Badger” and I remember that had something to do with this song.
Badger