The Music of Horror-Punks Volume 3

A couple months ago I joined a web-based community called Horror-Punks. Right away, I liked what I saw. It's a community for horror-music artists and fans. I consider myself to be both.

I uploaded my song "Living Dead Blues" and was curious to see what the response would be. I know damn well that the actual "sounds" I've been creating is a far cry from punk-rock, even if my heart isn't.

The song became a featured track on their website. A few days later it was picked up by the Horror-Punks radio station. And today the song was released on the Horror-Punks compilation album, THE MUSIC OF HORROR-PUNKS VOLUME THREE.

I'm very excited to have a song included in this release. This is the first time one of my solo tracks have been in a project of this nature, and it's great first step for me and my horror music project to join the larger horror-music community.

The album is HUGE - three discs. Better yet, it's currently available as a free download, so be sure to grab a copy while the grabbin' is good!

I should thank the guys that run Horror-Punks: Marquis DeBlood, Shane Hahn, Josh Haney, and Shane Diablo. They've welcomed me into their community with open arms.  

Here's the music of Horror-Punks Volume 3 track list:
(Get your copy HERE.) 

Song #5 - Freddy Concedes

This song was a bitch to record (And it's a free download... go on... take it!). Wait a minute... didn't I already say that?

Yep. Of course I did. Because when you're recording songs with no bandmates the songs are always a bitch to record. At least, that's my experience so far.

Still... you hear the drums? Hear the guitar?

No. That's because... wait for it... after we spent hours upon hours recording them, we tossed them in the garbage! I wanted to cry into my pillow that night, but I think it was the right thing to do. After much thought we decided that the drums and guitar were acting as the rhythm section, moving the song into a musical no-man's land and destroying whatever emotional value the piano line was adding.

Does it sound like I have my head up my ass? Sorry about that.

I'm well-aware that songs about Freddy Krueger don't have much 'emotional value'. But that's the funny thing about this song. I tried to make a ridiculous topic serious. The idea came to me one night when I was driving home. A song came on the radio: Don Henley's The Heart of the Matter.

Song #4 - Vampire Slayer

This song was a bitch to record.


(And right now it’s a free download – so take it!)


The drums sound pretty simple, right? That’s because they are pretty simple. But it wasn’t easy to get there, that’s for sure.

I’ve honestly lost track of the amount of false starts we had with this song. Not because I would play the drums poorly, but because we would discover – after the fact – that the drums weren’t really working.


When we record a track we do it like this:

Song #3 - The Walking Dead

My Song The Walking Dead - as I'm sure you can figure out - was inspired by the television show. I actually wrote it while watching Season Two.

(It's currently a free download, so please - dig in!)

Musically, the song is really far away from the first two tracks that were completed. It doesn't sound dark, or moody. It actually sounds nice, which might be the wrong way to go for horror music. But then again, I follow my instincts, not a preconceived notion of what I should be doing.

The bass line has a whole lot of Ben E. King's Stand By Me in it. We noticed this while we were recording the song. Ron, my producer, wasn't too sure about the line but I liked it.

The end of the song is very Pink Floyd. If you like Floyd this might be a good thing, but some people don't. Personally I love them. The Wall blows me away.
 
I guess I should point out that Ron actually wrote and played that bass line, making 'The Walking Dead' the first song I've shared that didn't have me playing every instrument.