Nicholas Lutsko
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Week #11 Update + 'Punchline' Demo + AMA!
🕑 Added 2024-01-13 22:09:47 +0000 UTCHappy Saturday to all who celebrate!
I'm in the mood to spill some beans today, so I'm sharing a new song I finished last week called Punchline. I'll also be posting a 6 minute long video for Triple Taxers that has 20-25 second snippets of each of the new songs.
Lyrics for Punchline below and Triple Tax Demo Reel coming shortly. Now on to the weekly update:
I spent this week working on a new song that I wrote on Eric's acoustic bass. The bass line has similarities to other songs I've written on bass like Sideshow, ALL SHOOK UP, and Sometimes, but the song itself has a more mellow feel to it (probably because it's an acoustic bass). I laid down some slide guitar that gives it a bit of a post-Beatles George Harrison vibe. The lyrics are heavily under construction. I'll likely rewrite the lyrics that are included on the Triple Tax Demo Reel. I'm happy with what is there, but I'm feeling like its verse and chorus are a bit at odds with each other.
I plan on continuing to write until at least the end of February. Then I'll take inventory and figure out which songs are going out into the world + when and how to release them. Feels like an insurmountable amount of work still lies ahead. Good news is, the band is meeting for the first time this Monday to discuss a plan of attack and start working through the new music.
You are welcome to AMA (AKA ask me anything) in the comments!
TTFN,
BN
Punchline Lyrics:
Break me into pieces
And put me together again
High from the adhesive
My body begins to ascend
I fly so close
I build my home
On top of a cloud
And wake up all over the ground
Rolling out of bed and
Falling into the abyss
Landing on a sunbeam
That’s pouring out from an eclipse
It finds the holes
Inside my soul
I’m flooded with light
But the cold still returns in the night
Is there a path?
Is there a purpose?
Is there a payout?
Do we deserve it?
Is there a power that I can interpret?
Is there a punchline?
Laughing ‘til I pass out
On a rooftop in LA
Sleeping in my backseat
Looking for places to play
I drove all night
The morning light
Led me home to you
Just as it continues to do
Dancing in our first house
When the baby started to sing
Lost in different countries
Looking for vanishing places to eat
We find our way
Despite the maze
It may never end
And who knows when the cold will relent
Is there a path?
Is there a purpose?
Is there a payout?
Do we deserve it?
Is there a power that I can interpret?
I don’t need a punchline
To make it all worth it
Is there a path?
Is there a purpose?
Is there a payout?
Do we deserve it?
There is a power in every person
To hell with the punchline
Everyone’s pieces are
Scattered beneath the sky
To hell with the punchline
Break me into pieces
And put me together again
High from the adhesive
My body begins to ascend
I fly so close
I build my home
On top of a cloud
And wake up all over the ground
Comments
Great one NL
Rob Blake
Another wonderful song. Been coming back to listen to it daily. Loving the tone of the new music. Can't wait to hear it all.
Nicholas Lutsko
Great question. Might be a bit of a cop out, but lack of theme was sort of the central idea. I wanted every song to be distinctly different from each other. I was a big Ween fan and loved their themed albums (Mollusk, 12 Country Greats, White Pepper) but Etc was channeling energy from Chocolate & Cheese and Quebec which are mixed bags of sounds and styles.
Friday
Another Lutsko banger 🔥 A question thats been on my mind for ages: Your albums tend to have a strong through line or sense of cohesion with either a theme, like the bizarre apocalyptic tales of Heart of Mold, Swords' reincorperation of themes and motifs (also s words) and (M)SotC's current events/narrative connection. But ive never been able to tell if Etc. was meant to have a grander point or meaning to its assemblage. Was there a central idea you either set out with when making the album or found in the process of putting it together?
Nicholas Lutsko
Jon speaks the language better than I can and had this to say! “I would classify this as 12/8 but you could get away with feeling it in 4/4. although that might throw a listener from time to time. Also, in the more stripped down bookends (without the drum set) it might be a little tricky to feel a solid 4/4 through out. Especially considering you are kind of hiding beat one and starting your melody in the middle of the bar on beat 2 in 4/4, or beat 4 in 12/8.”
Rachel
Is there a word for what's going on with the rhythm? Like, it's 4/4 but also sometimes maybe not? I often can't anticipate where the 'big' beat comes so my brain can't relax into the rhythm of the song. It keeps my full attention.
