Steve is on a bit of a progressive rock kick right now, and that is the style he envisions for Dog Assassin. So, I am digging into my musical past for inspiration on this one. I grew up on progressive rock with bands like Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Styx and of course my favorite in that genre, Jethro Tull.
Having gone off on blues, experimental and world music tangents in recent times, it has been years since I listened to those classic albums of the 1970s era very closely. It is nice to revisit that material after going off into other areas. The movement seems to be going strong, despite the many stigmas that it has. Odd time signatures, tend to now be pop friendly… bombastic instrumental layers and songs maxing out at 10-minutes don’t make hits these days (even if the iPod has made song length a moot point).
It is particularly fun (and still challenging) to compose/record in the progressive rock style with today’s recording technology. We’re just in the pre-production stages now, with a retreat in the works for the summer. Most of the work is being done on a MacBook with Reason and Record, and maybe some GarageBand later.
It’s not clear if this will turn into an album of its own, but if the initial scraps of ideas are any indication it probably will since I am putting a lot of thought into it. Steve’s intention is to have live musicians perform the music, so that brings extra challenges. So here’s to a new adventure!
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