Under the helmet (Fantasia II)

Robot visions (Fantasia I)

"It's not a stretch, it's wintry-themed."--Mr. Weebl  (again)  

As you can tell by the thumbnail image (which I took from my backyard back in 2008--have I mentioned that I'm an old?), I'm having a Blue Christmas-Eve...and so, I'm sharing this rather sad bleepy-bloopy slow song about winter loneliness as today's Interbay track.  

The song has nothing to do with Christmas or Christmas Eve, really.  And I can't even claim ownership of the lyrics (though, I can claim the transformative nature of cutting, pasting, and processing the words of others--and hopefully that's enough to keep Icarus alive.  There was an "original" version that was basically a cover of the source material, but as I learned on "Walk"--robots do not like covers.  Again, might be something that ends up on Patreon, if I ever start one.  

I came up with the music first.  I kept it as simple as I could--some pianos, some arpeggiated analog synths, some sort of occasional drums.  It was pristine...like cold winter air.  

...and that inspired my choice of borrowed and Burroughs'd vocals.  

In 2002, between the sample source and my friend Robb's band Dear John Letters' second album, anyone shopping at Orpheum Records in Seattle when I was pulling a floor shift might not have heard anything BUT those things during the busy holiday shopping season.  I was going through some heartbreak, and those albums expressed how I was feeling better than I could ever.  (It was my last Christmas working there--not because I'd driven customers away with my limited selection of in-store music...but because the store closed.)  

My heart healed, I moved on...I met someone, we got married, we had a kid...and four years ago, on the morning of Christmas eve...I had to call 911, as she was in a great deal of pain.  The ambulance came and took her to the hospital (I couldn't go with her due to Covid lockdown protocols)...and the last thing I said to her was a reference to a silly Brian Regan joke.  

...and I never got the chance to talk to her again (though the hospital did let me break protocols to see her, starting on Boxing Day.)  She passed away on the evening of December 29th, 2020.  

And since then, this holiday week has been even tougher for me emotionally than even back in 2002.  But, the source material for the samples in today's song remains as crystal clear as the ice on the roads in that song.  And it felt like a good idea to incorporate it into this crystalline and rather icy music that I'd written.  

Not trying to bring you down--but I've always been someone who has loved Christmas, loved Christmas music, loved the feeling of giving the perfect gifts to people I care about.  And this year, my kid and I have stopped pretending...stopped putting the effort in.  We have a tree up in our living room--the same tree that we put up on Christmas eve in 2020, when we assumed that my wife and their mom would be coming home in a couple of days.  We left the blinking lights on that tree, never taking it down or turning it off, for the past three years until this summer when the lights burnt out.  

We both decided not to bother buying a new set of lights.  I'm pretty sure neither of us are getting any gifts, nor did we send any to anyone.  

"Tonight, let's stay inside."--Blake Schwarzenbach   
(I am SUCH a big fan. Consider this an homage!)

I am one who believes in wallowing, turning your emotions up to eleven and really feeling them, rather than denying their existence.  

And this track, which I still really like (though the original version would be even better), is me doing that on this day, this year.  And maybe it might mean something to you, too.  

(...and, if you could, do all the things:  listen, like, share, repost, comment, playlist and follow.  That would be the best Christmas present I could hope for.

Hopefully, I'll have a proper Christmas treat for you tomorrow.  

"December Endings" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

phut hon phonk x electric guitar

2 Phut Hon Funk

2 Phut Hon Funk [ Ultra Slowed ]

Stream on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/4uDfBI68t1uLF6xjO3ayJ3?si=e4d6f61740434ebc

2 Phut Hon - Funk

(If you didn't give yesterday's Interbay track, "Discontinuity", a listen--go and do that now.  It's worthy of your attention--and this song will still be here when you get back.  Thanks! pg)

"Now I dream of you...passing by..."  

This track is the 398th song posted in the Interbay music project since mid-January 2023.  (This is the 258th straight day of posting tracks here on SoundCloud and before that, 140 tracks--with videos--were posted on Facebook.)  And this is the first time that I think I've created something truly distinctly original.  I don't know of anything else that sounds like this.  

Granted, I always say that no matter what I'm trying to sound like, it always sounds like Interbay more than anything else--but when I use the tag "mutant pop" to describe nearly every Interbay song...in THIS case, I can't think of a closer description.  

Go ahead, hit play...and read along as I'll try to catalog the combination of elements that I'm not sure has ever come together like this before.  

You've got singing on this track.  Lots of it.  While all Interbay tracks posted here to SoundCloud, there will be a vocal element--but often, it is in the form of dialogue or spoken word.  Occasionally, there's some singing--but this track is silly with it.  

You've got a female vocal line--very ethereal and dreamy (reminds me a bit of the slept on Interbay track "Selfishly"--go check that one out, it is deep in the back catalog.)  You also have a male vocal line with a more complete narrative, singing about a girl that he seems to both admire and, perhaps, feel intimidated by...at the same time that he doesn't worry about saying something negative about that same girl.  The interplay between the two creates the central tension in the song.  But then there's a bunch of wordless vocal adlibs...soaring into space and surrounding the entwined narrative elements.  

The first instrumental element you'll hear sounds like a synth sound you might have heard from a pop trance song of the late 90s early 00s, but it's actually a piano...the hammers hitting strings without the cabinet resonance.  It sometimes gets buried by other sounds, but it is, I think, always there throughout the song.  Add to that an insistent and occasionally relentless drum pattern-- that can best be described as "rest-kick-kick-kick" (though there actually is a rimshot on the 1, it blends in with the first note from the piano so you might not notice it.)  And don't forget some crazy hi-hats propelling everything forward.  

This track has guitars.  You've got an almost Spanish style guitar playing minor arpeggios, you've got another guitar playing palm muted plucks, and still a third guitar--an acoustic playing rather punk-like down struck chords.  

The bass has a nice bounce that counterplays with the guitars well.  There's some synths, subtle and grainy, a few times in the track...

What else?  Oh...you've got big 80s orchestra hits (what?) and something that sounds like a duck. (WHAT???)  

If this isn't mutant pop, I don't know what is.  (Otherwise, I'd have to come up with a word that means "Electronic indie trance pop 80s 90s spanish rock midtempo house jangle alternative rave up."  I'm pretty good with words, but I'm not THAT good.  

So, if you're up for an adventure into the world of mutant pop, the world of Interbay...then you'll get into "Passing By" in a big way!  

...and, as always, it would help if you listened, liked, reposted, shared, added to a playlist, left a comment, sent a message...but MOST IMPORTANTLY, give this page a follow as new tracks are being posted EVERY SINGLE DAY (258 days straight so far!)  

...this also means there is a DEEP back catalog for you to explore at your convenience.  There's some really good stuff in there that you'd like, I'm sure!

"Passing By" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

Let me try this one more time:  The Interbay track "Listen (Aylala)" has been unfathomably ignored by the algorithm--it deserves more than only 4 listens.  Even if it turns out you don't like the grindy sort of club industrial music that song is...you should hear it to decide for yourself.  Please--go give that track a listen (it is from earlier this week, so it isn't too hard to find) before coming back and giving today's track its own attention.  Thank you!  

OK--on to the SoundCloud Exclusive Interbay track for March 28, 2025...and THIS may be a first.  

As you know, Interbay tracks can sound like anything--it could be electronic dance music, singer-songwriter indie pop, disco, new wave, drum & bass, ska...whatever is the sound that's in my head is going to be where that day's production takes me...BUT, as I've said in these descriptions many times, whatever genre or style I might be aiming at...it all ends up sounding like Interbay (more than anything else, including the intended genre or style.)  

...but THIS one?  I think I nailed it.    

I wanted a 60's style Motown-vibed pop R&B/soul track.  Horns, guitar, a fluid bass, a strong male vocal lead, background singers...and that's what this is!  

I wanted that 60s pop song structure--introduction, chorus, verse, repeat, fade out...and that's what this has!  

It isn't a slave to the retro-vibe, though.  I didn't add any vinyl noise, any dust or scratches.  The claps sound a lot more electronic than they would have been back in the day (though, not enough that I felt justified in adding the "Electronic" tag that most Interbay songs earn--so, if you see me in the next few days begging you to check THIS track out, it's because it might not be recommended to the people that normally get Interbay songs recommended to them...)  

Could this be a modern retro-styled throwback to those days?  I think it could.  Like, I could imagine Bruno Mars doing this song--but in a video where it looks like he and his band are performing on the Ed Sullivan show (or something similar.)  

As those of you who have been paying attention, the motto for this crazy Interbay music project is "Learn by doing, make your mistakes in public"--and THIS might be a sign that lessons are being learned, that I have improved enough to at least hit the target I'm aiming for...for once!  

I hope you give this a listen and embrace the spirit this song has been crafted to be.  Give it a like if you do.  Repost it so others can enjoy it.  Share it so your friends hear it.  Add it to a playlist so you can keep it in rotation.  Leave a comment--especially an encouraging one--so I know I'm on the right path.  And, most importantly, follow this page so you can catch every new track dropped here--as a brand new, never-before-heard, Interbay track is posted here EVERY SINGLE DAY (so far!)  

(And listen to "Listen (Aylala)" too!  Please!  Thank you!)

"Kick Off Your Shoes" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

CR-X

There are times when I think that I look forward to reading these descriptions (that I write) so I can understand what it is I just made and why I made it.  

Somehow, I seem to have the power to baffle myself.

For example, today's Interbay track, "Can't Escape It", started off as a simple repetitive riff that fell somewhere between dark afrohouse and a housier version of phonk (maybe?)  And somehow that simple riff turned into this synth pop industrial tech house radio track?  (How did this happen?  No, seriously, i want to know.)  

Where did the "(I Just Died) In Your Arms" by Cutting Crew" style keyboard chords come from?  Why did I think that was the missing element in a track that sounded nothing like that?  How about the oddly dissonant bass sweeps or the comet trail synth fx or the nasty distorted factory sounds?  

...and for all of these rather disparate and unexplainable ingredients, the end product is surprisingly sweet and tasty--if yesterday's track, "Falling In and Out" was one of the more pop-focused Interbay tracks ever, "Can't Escape It" sure feels like another one.  (Am I learning? Am I gaining skills?  Will tomorrow's track be nearly unlistenable?  ;) )  

Now, you may be wondering about the thumbnail image (me too!)  The vocal samples each came from different royalty free sample packs and didn't have anything to do with each other--one being pop, the other having an afrobeat feel to it...but, and I didn't notice this until I started thinking about what a good thumbnail image might be--as much as I'd LOVE to claim this was all by design, it is just one of a billion happy accidents that Interbay has been blessed with--the lyrics could be interpreted as being a retelling of (at least one of the versions of) the movie Blade Runner.  

I'm sure these aren't the actual lyrics being sung, but if you squint your ears, you can convince yourself that you're hearing "Want more life, want more time"--which sure sounds like what Roy Batty came to earth to ask Dr. Tyrell for...  And then, the main hook (the poppy vocal), it feels like Roy accepting his fate--that when they're all alone, they can't escape it.  

Again, I'd love to take credit for this as having been planned--but, I must admit that it wasn't.  

Anything else?  Well, be warned--some of the bass in this track goes very low, indeed.  (In my head, I sounded just like Michael Caine just then.)  I produce in headphones so I don't know for sure, but if you play this through speakers...keep an eye on your woofers and subwoofers to make sure you're not damaging anything.  (Or just turn the damn music down--though, I know you won't...and neither will I.  ;)  I'm sorry, what???)  

All the usual requests:  Please listen!  Give this a like, a repost, a share, a comment, an add to a playlist...and follow this page for even more Interbay, a daily shot of unexpected, unexplainable, and sublime accidental brilliance shared just for you!

"Can't Escape It" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

Can a song be deep, minimal AND tribal?  

I'm not sure, but I may have created that very thing with this latest Interbay track, "Planetarium."  

I tried my best to reign in my maximalist tendencies to let this track breathe on its own.  

That's not to say that it isn't easily identifiable as Interbay--this thing has M1 organs, synthflutes, baby scratches, a thick staccato lead, five different tops, heavy processing on some of the vocals, etc.  

I didn't try to win the loudness wars with this track either--though the bass is pretty thicc on this track, so watch your speakers if you feel like you want to turn up your volume early on.  

Give "Planetarium" a listen and a like.  (You could also repost it, share it, add it to a playlist, and/or leave a comment on it as well.)  

And follow this page for more Interbay madness.  Remember, even I don't know exactly what I'm cooking up in the Labs...and the best way for you to keep up with discovering for yourself is to follow this page and check in every day, as there has been a new Interbay track posted here on SoundCloud for well over a year now!

"Planetarium" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

Hi there,
All the music on this page is original, produced, mixed and mastered by Dashwood616. Hope you like it and thank you for listening. YOU can find my new album on band camp.