Video | Formats | Crommunist

0 Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People cover)

One thing that I like about covers is that you can take a song that people know, and do something very different with it. You can re-make the song to reveal a new emotional palette, allowing the listener to simultaneously experience something familiar and something novel. This tune, originally by Foster the People, is a perfect illustration:

The song is about violence in youth culture, and has a very upbeat and “pop” feel. Such a juxtaposition is actually quite interesting – it was the same thing that made the movie Natural Born Killers so affecting. Sadly, there appears to be a real tendency for people to skip over the lyrical content in favour of the fun nature of the song, resulting in people bopping along merrily while singing the words “all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, outrun my gun” – not exactly a happy sentiment.

I have been looking at ways of expanding my own musical arsenal. With that in mind, I tried to do a few things with this song. First, I put down the pick and tried to use the guitar as a sound board rather than a strummed instrument – the delay effect really helped with that. Second, I used my voice in a new way, trying to build intensity with breathiness rather than volume. Finally, I split the viola solo into two parts, giving the song a lot of time to breathe.

I’m very happy with the result. I hope you are too!

0 What is Love? – Haddaway Cover

I originally started playing a cover of the classic Night-At-The-Roxbury 90s dance anthem What Is Love? back in my acoustic days. It appealed to my sense of humour, especially since nobody really recognizes the song until the chorus kicks in. I pictured audiences exchanging puzzled looks for amused ones. However, the more I played the song, the more I realized that it’s only the campy electro-pop back beat that makes this song humorous. Underneath, it’s actually pretty soulful. So I stopped playing it.

Then, a couple of months ago, I thought of taking another look at it – to put a serious spin on the song to turn it from something funny into something beautiful. This was the result:

I think this is among my better covers. It’s definitely among my better recordings, as I slowly figure out how to make live recordings that are both watchable and listenable. Let me know what you think!

3 OneRepublic – Too Late to Apologize

When I was 15, my parents bought me a viola. I had been playing on a borrowed instrument before then (and violin before that), so this was a big deal for me. It wasn’t too many years after that that I began to study with a new teacher, who pushed my playing to a new level. He, and the conductor of my youth symphony, and pretty much anyone with ears told me many times that I had outgrown the instrument and needed something better. It was around that time that I made the decision not to pursue music professionally, and it didn’t seem worth the expense to shell out thousands of dollars for an instrument I would only play occasionally.

Fast forward to this past year, and I was once again confronted with the sonic limitations of my old viola when I entered the recording booth. The viola sounded muddy and strangled. It was a battle to coax a steady and pleasant tone out of the old fellow, and there was only so much that production trickery could fix. Ultimately, I needed a new instrument. I began salivating over a carbon fibre instrument made by a New England luthier team called Luis and Clark. Every time I went to Long & McQuade, I’d take a trip upstairs and ask them if I could play it.

Basically, I was Mike Myers in Wayne’s World:

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought the damn thing.

“Apologize” is one of the first tunes I worked into my solo set. It’s got a great hook, and perhaps best of all I can play a pretty decent-sounding version without even touching a guitar. You get to hear my viola as a bass, as a string quartet, and as a high floating descant – all at the same time. I don’t play it live much anymore since moving to the electric viola, but I still have a great affection for this song. Hope you enjoy the cover!

0 Frank Ocean – Thinkin’ Bout You

A few months ago, I started listening to streaming music using a service called “Songza”. It lets you listen to playlists curated by music afficionados, without having to do the hard work of seeking out new artists. I’m not what you would call a “fan” of R&B, but periodically I’d hear a song that would make me say “wow, that’s really great”. Almost without exception, when I’d check the artist of the song I was unexpectedly enjoying, it was Frank Ocean.

This is my take on one of my favourite songs of his:

0 Ordinary Man (Christy Moore cover)

This cover was arranged and performed for Brian, who sponsored me on Patreon at the $6/song level. As the reward for that level of sponsorship, Brian could request any song he wanted, and he chose this anti-capitalist protest anthem from Irish folk singer Christy Moore.

If you want to contrast with the original, you can watch it here.

I recorded the live version of the song in my living room (obviously), and then added the rest of the instrumentation (percussion, bass, fiddle) later. I tried to go with a ‘stripped-down’ feel, to stick to the simplicity and earnestness of the original. Christy Moore has an inimitable style – his voice sounds like he’s sitting next to you at a pub or a party telling you the lyrics rather than singing them. I figured it would be insulting to try and mimic him, so I didn’t.

Lyrics:

I’m an ordinary man, nothin’ special nothin’ grand,
I’ve had to work for everything I own,
Well I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got,
Enough to keep my family and my home,
Now they say that times are hard & they’ve handed me my cards,
They say there’s not the work to go around,
When the whistle blows the gates will finally close,
Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down,
Then they’ll tear it down.

I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay,
For 20 years I served them best I could,
With a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget,
Loyalty through the bad times and the good,
The owner says he’s sad to see that things have got so bad,
But the Captains of industry won’t let him loose,
He still drives a car and smokes a cigar,
And still he takes his family on a cruise,
He’ll never lose.

Now it seems to me to be such a cruel irony,
He’s richer now ever he was before,
Now my cheque is all spent and I can’t afford the rent,
There’s one law for the rich, one for the poor,
Every day I’ve tried to salvage some of my pride,
To find some work so’s I might pay my way,
But everywhere I go, the answer is always no,
There’s no work for anyone here today,
No work today.

And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man,
Like thousands beside me in the queue,
I watch my darlin’ wife tryin’ to make the best of life,
God knows what the kids are goin’ to do,
Now that we are faced with this human waste,
A generation cast aside,
For as long as I live, I never will forgive,
You’ve stripped me of my dignity & pride,
You’ve stripped me bare.

0 June Music Update (Heard It Through The Grapevine)

Lots of stuff going on this month. What this video doesn’t mention is that I’m also playing with a couple of local bands, with a couple of other offers on the table. Things are picking up!

0 Sideways (Citizen Cope cover)

I decided to roll the dice and buy an electric viola off the internet. You can get reliably good ones from trusted retailers, but you pay for that assurance. I poked around and found one that resembles my electric guitar Shannon, and was cheap enough that I was willing to take the risk of it being terrible. That’s how I wound up owning my new viola, Michael.

Michael is named for my best friend in high school. The guy is a great musician, and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. He and I used to collaborate doing prog/rock/classical duets with viola and bass or piano. Working with him is where I burnished a lot of my improvisational chops, so it just made sense to give a funky and experimental instrument his name.

Here’s me, in the company of Shannon and Michael (see the resemblance?) doing a cover of Citizen Cope’s “Sideways”

As I mention in the video’s intro, you can now sponsor me directly on Patreon.com. The way it works is pretty simple: you pledge a few bucks (the minimum pledge is $1). When I write/record/release a song (this happens once every couple of months, on average), your account gets charged, and the money goes into a fund for me to book some professional studio time. You directly support me producing some professional-quality music – no middle man, no hassle.

But that’s not all! Depending on the amount you pledge, you will also receive a reward for being a sponsor. The $1 pledge, for example, gets your name listed in the liner notes of the EP you helped fund. The $5 pledge gets you that, plus a digital copy of the EP, plus a hand-written lyrics sheet. If you pledge $10 for each song I release, you’ll get a physical copy of my next album, plus digital copies of anything I ever release in the future.

So you, for a pretty small investment (starting at between $5-10 a year), can help me get my songs out of my apartment and into the world. Plus you get bonus gifts. Plus you don’t have to pay anything until and unless I write the songs you’re helping to fund! Everybody wins!

Anyway, as always, if you like the video please share it with your friends and help spread the word.

0 April music update (f. Jamiroquai)

I thought I’d update people on what’s happening with me music-wise.

I just released a new song a few weeks ago
I bought a brand new 5-string electric viola, which has proven to be a steeper learning curve than I thought
I’ve been working with Sonya-Jean Bruneau, a very talented local musician
I’m going to start busking this weekend

And I throw down on one of my favourite Jamiroquai tunes, Virtual Insanity.

Don’t be shy about subscribing to my YouTube channel. I expect to release a new acoustic cover every month.

1 ‘Cherryblossom’ on Youtube

April 3, 2014
by Crommunist
· Media · Music · music videos · Originals

I thought it would be fun to create a music ‘video’ for my song ‘Cherryblossom’. The pictures were all taken by me at various points during the year. Vancouver is crazy beautiful, and I hope that you can see, through the images, why I was so inspired to write this song.

0 Don’t Stop BeliVIOLA – a Journey cover

In what might be the nerdiest I’ve ever done, I have arranged and recorded another all-viola cover. This time, I took on another classic, “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey.

This video also allowed me to address one of my pet peeves about the song: “South Detroit” is Windsor, Ontario. Downtown Detroit is right on the rover, south of which is the border to Canada (it’s weird, I know). So there.

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