Walking the fine line of earnest sincerity and mischievous irony

The Perfect Pitch

Ok, so this week is all about finding the perfect pitch. Trying to find a way to convey your sound so that it peaks someone’s interest was much more difficult than I expected. When I looked at some of the examples in the book I was really cringed out.

Mostly it was the ones that used metaphors containing an assortment of bands to demonstrate… something. When I was in punk bands in the 90s whenever someone described their band it was always something like “The Meat Puppets meets Fear on acid.” Always “on acid”. Always. I get that we are trying to spark interest in our music, to get someone to click on “play” or for a reviewer to not through the CD into a Maybe Later bin. However, there has to be a way for the statement of who we are to not be so…well… bad.

I woke up many nights to scribble an idea down, would call my home from my cell while I was out on a walk with my dog Ruby to leave a note on revision. When I posted it on the Mastermind forum that Ariel set up I got a couple responses and it was Tobias Tinker who made me re-evaluate what I was doing. Originally I put this out there as my final draft:

“The sincere irony of 80′s electro pop meets the dissonant beauty of 21st century dream pop.”

I tend to go on so I decided to shorten it to “80′s electro pop meets 21st century dream pop“.

I was really trying to veer away from name-dropping (sound-alike) in any way shape or form. Not that I think I’m creating a new genre or something. I’m not at all. I just wanted to stay away from what I would potentially make fun of if I heard it. I happened to like what Tobias wrote about his sound. It made me want to hear it and he was dropping Sigur Ros, Keith Jarrett and Brian Eno all in the same sentence but, and here’s the catch, it made me laugh. I could tell he wasn’t taking himself too seriously which I highly respect.

So then I thought of a couple brand new possibilities and shot them off to Tobias for some feedback:

“If Oingo Boingo only played on Halloween and the Postal Service only shaved once a week you’d get Older Than Hours.”

OR

“A darker Oingo Boingo hold Depeche Mode riffs hostage while making a futuristic 80s mixtape for the Postal Service.”

The first one made him laugh but when I sat with it I wasn’t satisfied. As Ariel says in Chapter 2 about creating your perfect pitch, “Do you love it? If you don’t, then don’t use it.”

This became the thermometer of how I tested whether the pitch had staying power or not. Luckily I am usually full of ideas, too many in fact. What about…

“If a method actor split his vocal duties between the Postal Service, Oingo Boingo and …. (hmmm…need a band that has a great vocalist like Thom Yorke but NOT Radiohead)”

“Beautifully layered vocals (OR Multiple personality vocals) (OR   ironically nod at 80’s electro-pop (Depeche Mode, …) (Oingo Boingo) while upping the ante of  the aching melancholy of the Notwist, Postal Service and For Carnation.”

I include the notes I made (the ones in parenthesis) to myself to give you a taste of how crazy I was making myself.

“Vocal driven electro dream pop a la the Notwist and the Postal Service envelop personal politics and a punk aesthetic.”

Ok finally I was getting closer (sort of) to what I wanted. I kept dragging my wife Sharon into the office. “What about this…?” She was very patient and very honest. Finally after much trial and error I landed on this:

Older Than Hours: Captivating vocals lead gorgeous and twisted electro dream pop à la the Notwist, Postal Service and of Montreal.

I liked it. Did I love it? Yup. Could I live with it for a few years or more? Yup. Good, done.

All I can say is this is a process but well worth it. People for years have asked me what I sounded like and I would say electro pop and leave it at that. I couldn’t stand trying to come up with something witty. Sharon would always pipe in “Well, really the vocals are the strength of Seth’s music…” Luckily that came back into the fold as I found this pitch.

I don’t personally believe in perfection but this pitch is pretty friggin’ close to it as far as describing my sound. Satisfaction achieved.