*This song is definitely not in my usual wheelhouse... but I found myself humming the little synth part while it was playing on the radio & thought "why not do a rock version of this!". So here is the fruit of that labor... the song is very simple in terms of composition & chord structure. In that regard it was very easy to transpose it over to "rock" guitars. I also tried using a dual bass approach. One bass is distorted/dirty & the other is clean. You can hear this at the very beginning before any guitars come into the mix. Of course I can't sing anything like these modern auto-tune pop stars do, and that's fine. I wanted it to be grungy/alt rock. Oh yeah... this is my 1st recording with my new PRS Standard SE 24 that I just bought this past week! I'm digging that guitar! Enjoy.

Save Your Tears (The Weeknd/Ariana Grande Cover 2023) 2nd Mix

When I posted my cover of "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd, my buddy Justin suggested that I do more covers of modern hit songs but with my alt/grunge style take on them... and of all the songs I could've done I picked what I figured to be the hardest one to transpose from pop to hard rock (not to mention highly unlikely given my musical tastes). Toxic. To be fair other bands have covered this as well & have done it justice. A Static Lullaby is one, but there's others too that really rock it out. My take is a bit different than all of them. I really enjoyed figuring this out & recording it, so I may stick with the modern stuff for a minute. As per my usual, all music, vox, instruments are all by me EXCEPT the drums. Those I patched together using a couple tracks from Arnaud Krakowka's youtube channel. I hope ya dig my rockin' version of "Toxic" by Brittany Spears!

Toxic (Brittany Spears Cover 2023)

Every guitar player knows THIS song here is the coolest most bad-ass song ever. The movie Pulp Fiction made it famous, but it was recorded back in 1962 by "The King of Surf Guitar" Dick Dale. My Dad had his albums & when I was a little kid and my sister & me would play them on a big old console record player in our Grandma Swinderman's living room. Dick Dale & his Del-Tones, the Ventures, Beach Boys, The Surfaris, The Trashmen, Chet Atkins... such was my Dad's taste in music when he was a teenager. It's all killer stuff too. That it all had an early influence on me & why I play guitar... I have no doubts. This song in particular is heavily embedded into modern culture & it's primarily what people automatically "hear" in their mind when they think of "surf guitar". I've been playing it almost since I learned to play guitar... just not very well back then. But I had the fundamentals of the Mid-East flavored scales in the song. So, finally, at age 48... here is my somewhat extended cover of Dick Dale's "Miserlou". This is for my Dad. Also... R.I.P. Dick Dale. He passed away on March 16th 2019 & I was not aware until tonight. (It was absolute murder on my hands to play this... but I'm grateful I got it done.)

Miserlou aka the Pulp Fiction Theme Song (Dick Dale Cover 2023)

This is such a great song! But... it didn't start out that way. When Naked Eyes released this tune in 1983 it was a cover. It was written in the early 60's by Burt Bacharach & Hal David... recorded in '64 by Dionne Warwick and a few others also recorded it in the 60's... & let me tell you... the original versions are TERRIBLE! That's my opinion of course, but I invite you to give them a listen & tell me I'm wrong. They are so weird & awkward. Naked Eyes deserves a ton of credit for making this song such a great 80's anthem. I have no idea how they ever heard those earlier recordings and decided it was a good idea to cover it! Anyway... I had a ton of fun recording/mixing this song & even most of the vocal parts seemed to come easy to me. I used a "grunge" drum track from "Mr. Drum's" youtube channel & figured out the rest myself. Enjoy! (3rd & final mix posted 3/25/23.)

Always Something There To Remind Me (Naked Eyes Cover 2023) Final Mix

Delta Spirit is one of those bands for me where I either love their songs or they kinda irk me. They aren't the band for me to pop in an album & listen to it straight through, but some are better than others. This song is from their 2014 album "Into the Wide" & it is one of their best along with their 1st album "Ode to Sunshine" & 2nd "History From Below". The other 3-4 albums they've put out do nothing for me. But, back to this tune... it is one of my all-time favs. I remember when I first heard it actually... it's THAT important in my personal musical lexicon. I was going to add synths but I decided not to. There's already so many tracks I didn't want to lose the feel of what I already had. I have recorded this before with the synths, but that effort was bogged down with shitty drums & poor overall recording quality... & horseshit vocals I might add. I'm glad I gave it another whirl as this recording is sooooo much better than that first one. It's such a great song, you should get on youtube & listen to the original!

Hold My End Up (Delta Spirit Cover 2023)

My cover of "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford. I heard it on the radio one day and when I heard the pre-chorus synth part I thought "that would ROCK with heavy guitars!". To be fair there are guitars in the Lita Ford version too, but not enough. I also added synths to mine but they aren't as pronounced. There's another song called "Kiss Me Deadly" that really is more up my alley... Generation X (Billy Idol's 1st band) also has a song with that title, & I have always really liked that song, but... Like I said though, that synth hook got me. That's why I started my version full throttle outta the gate with that riff whereas Lita starts a slow build up on the 1st verse. As per my usual, all vox & music are me except the drums which are from Arnaud Krakowka. Enjoy!

Kiss Me Deadly (Lita Ford Cover 2023)

There's this guy on Youtube named Andre Antunes who does a cover of this song "in the style of Muse" & I gotta say... it is most excellent! His cover is far superior to mine, but he's the reason I wanted to cover this song in the 1st place. I've been pondering the Beatles for a while now. I have never covered them & they have stuff that I think would translate to grunge really well. I may do some more? I am really stoked with how this one came out though. I feel like I'm finding my voice after all these years! Also, this is my 1st song using my new Fender Starcaster semi-hollow body guitar I recently bought. It's the only guitar used in the whole song. Drums are from Arnaud Krakowka as per my usual. I hope you enjoy!

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles Cover 2023)

My 2nd Beatles cover. This one was a bitch to get to come together... but I guess I'm pretty happy with how it finally came out. I nixed the opening vocals & opted for a heavier guitar intro. I also added a little "solo" after the 2nd chorus that isn't in the Beatles song. Anyway... here's another Beatles cover that translates into grunge/punk rather well. Drums are by Arnaud Krakowka & all other instruments & vocals are by me... enjoy!

Help! (Beatles Cover 2023)

I covered this song once before utilizing a "backing track" because I couldn't find drums for it. That backing track also had the bass & horns in it, so it wasn't really "me" covering it... it was just me on vox & guitars. I decided to give it another go using Arnaud Krakowka drums while grunging it out a bit more. I also decided to try & keep that 60's flavor as much as I could, mainly by keeping the background vocals prominent. It's such a great song... everyone on the planet likes "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes!

Be My Baby (The Ronettes Cover 2023)

Mix #2 of my cover of Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo. I couldn't get the vocals right and I had already put like 5 days into this recording... musically I was very happy with it so I went on Youtube & found Olivia's isolated vocal track, transposed it down a 1/2 step & carefully laid her voice into my music. I love the result. Her vocals go great with heavier guitars! I was toying with back up vocals & it was showing some promise, but in the end I liked her voice too much to tamper with any further. I chopped up like 5 drum trax to form this (thanx Doom Tones & Arnaud Krakowka!) and the rest is all me on guitars and bass. Hope you enjoy my grunge version of Vampire featuring Olivia Rodrigo on vocals!

Vampire (Olivia Rodrigo On Vocals Cover 2023) 2nd Mix

This song has slowly become my favorite original I have ever written. I guess that's why I keep trying to perfect it through re-mixes & additional vox & guitar trax. I'm quite proud of it though... the music, composition... even the lyrics/vocals! Given that, I am going to put down the lyrics here (mainly for my sister to follow). It's something I have been wanting to start doing anyway & there's no time like the present. This song is basically about a guy who is pining away for his love to be reciprocated by the girl he fell in love with... & she isn't.

EVER Lyrics
Verse 1
I wanted to see you again
But you said we're not lovers we're just friends
To say what I already know
Why not give this thing a shot but take it slow
Your beauty is shining tonight
Give me this one chance to make things right
You're starting to lead me astray
I do not want to go but I can't stay

Verse 2
This infection is starting to show
Every time that I say stop then you'll say go
You're afraid to start feeling again
Yet I see it shine through every now & then
I can't figure what happens to me
Now you're here & now you're gone so let it be
I never wanted you to go away
Can we please just end this game why won't you stay

Chorus
I can never ever ever let you know
I'm at the end of my rope
I can never ever ever let it show
That I can't take anymore
(X2)

Bridge
I'll find you tonight
Make everything alright
Forever
For ever

Chorus X 3
End

That's the lyrics to EVER!

EVER (Re - Mix 12 - 3-23)

(Re-mixed on 6-1-2025) I will begin by saying I used ALL NEW EQUIPMENT recording this song. My Enya Carbon Fiber Acoustic, my Schecter Elite Omen, my Gretsch Short Scale Bass, my Shure SM57 Mic was ran through a new audio interface into a new computer & an updated version of Audacity. The only "old" equipment I used was my Line 6 amp. This is an astonishingly beautiful song from Mastodon. It's on their album "Emperor of Sand" & I was hooked from the 1st time I heard it. Most of Mastodon's stuff is really hard to cover... they are very technical & write complicated riffs, have one of the best drummers on the planet (as well as lead guitarist!) & finally, they boast 3 Lead Singers, any one of them could front their own band! This song is definitely among their simpler ones, yet it's still very powerful. Brent's guitar solo is killer! I can only do a pale imitation, yet I still tried. (The "II" in the title is something I found on youtube, it basically just repeats the 1st portion of the song & doesn't go into the other 2-3 parts on "Jaguar God"... I only learned the 1st part so... I hope you enjoy!)

Jaguar God II (Mastodon Cover 2024)

My 3rd Beatles Grunge Cover... "Yesterday" from their 1965 album HELP! I really like the other 2 covers I have done (HELP! & While My Guitar Gently Weeps) so I wanted to do more Beatles covers. Turns out I am very picky about the song selections... I am down to just a few I am interested in doing. I tend more towards the early stuff. I used an array of new guitars to record this... an Ibanez Art120, my B.C. Rich ASM-1 & the Schecter Omen Elite! As per my usual I combined a few different drum tracks from Arnaud Krakowka for those killer 210 bpm drum beats! The vocals were hard for me to nail down though & it's not my best effort... hope you enjoy!

Yesterday (Beatles Cover 2024)

Ugh... this one took forever. I recorded it twice actually. The 1st time it was too close of a rendition to the original & not "herd rock/grunge" enough for me, so I exported my drums to a new file and started over again. I was also having severe latency issues while recording and it can sound muddy in some parts as a result. I tried to fix it as I went but... what a slog! Anyway, this song is always playing on the radio or on the house music at work & it grew on me. Dude can sing & compose, that's for sure. Time will tell if I end up liking this cover. Right now I'm just too over it to really listen in relax mode. I truly hope it turned out good because it's a few weeks of my life I'll never get back. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my grunge take on Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things".

Beautiful Things (Benson Boone Cover 2024)

A brand new post-rock original song I finished on 1/11/2025. It's an instrumental song that I do not intend to add any lyrics to. There was a youtube vid reviewing guitars & equipment that caught my ear & provided the inspiration for this song, but I wrote & composed it all from my head afterwards. The equipment I used was an LTD H-200 guitar, an Ibanez High Performance RG guitar & a LTD spalted maple bass guitar that I adore to play. My Line-6 Spider III was used for all guitar parts & I added the Keeley Parallax Spatial Generator pedal for the staccato guitar leads throughout the song. I ran my bass through my Positive Grid Spark 40 amp & mic'd all of it using a $3 computer microphone I found at Goodwill. I "programmed" (cut & pasted snippets according to my compositional needs) the drums using Arnaud Krakowka's drums "Easy Metal Drum Track 85 bpm" from his youtube channel. It's a beautiful song that is sometimes quiet & pretty, sometimes heavy & dramatic... but I find it to be very inspiring & empowering & it has an awesome groove. Enjoy!

Rebirth of Spring (2025)

This song was gonna be great! It's all about sexual innuendos & the lyrics are quite clever. I had sirens & a girl moaning in the throes of ecstasy for the "solo" segment. However, soundcloud wouldn't let me upload it saying I was infringing on someone's copy righted sounds. I'm assuming it was the chick moaning lol. Oddly enough I had to remove the police sirens too before it finally allowed my upload. The only sample left in the song is the cougar roaring when the chorus begins. Anyway... I put all this effort into it that I still wanted to upload it and share it... orgasmic moaning or not lol. I used drums from Doom Tones & my Solar guitar as well as the red Ibanez. Bass was my LTD. I also added significant distortion to my vocals to better match the song vibes.

Song lyrics
(Verse 1)
Come on over tonight, oh God you look so pretty.
We're gonna rumble all night, making these clean sheets dirty.
A simple twist of your hair, you lick your lips wearing leather.
You got me down on my knees & I'm begging for pleasure.
(Chorus)
ROAR! Your arms! Your legs!
You're really revving up my libido!
My heart! My head!
I didn't catch your innuendo...
(Verse 2)
...You got begging for mercy.
After plowing the field, I'm exhausted & thirsty.
Understanding the signs has become my obsession.
I think I'm ready tonight I'm gonna learn my lesson.
(Chorus X 2)
(Verse 3)
Feel the crack of the whip, my nerves are frayed & they're screaming.
I can't believe what you said, I think I gotta be dreaming.
You got your hand on the pump & now you're working the lever.
How can you not understand? You should never say never.
(Chorus X 2)
...I didn't catch your innuendo.
(End song)

Innuendo (2025)

This song could've been 2 different songs. There's the 1st part which lasts about 6 minutes. This part is about coping with loneliness after losing a loved one. Then there's the ending which lasts a little over 4 minutes. This part is the actual "requiem" of the lonely. It's a beautiful little guitar riff that gets epic in it's intensity all the while my vocals cry out over & over "Oh no, oh no, oh please don't go. Don't go, don't go, leave me alone.". So yes... at 10 minutes 30 seconds long, this could've been 2 songs! I used my new Jackson Pro Series Monarkh for the 1st half of the song. For the 2nd part I used my ESP/LTD EC-1000 guitar. Both are "Les Paul" style guitars & both sound great! I wrote this from scratch over my 50th birthday & as per my usual, when I need something dark or intense to write about, I usually end up at losing my pet girl Catastrophe & the complete heartbreak it caused me to lose her after 20 years. I still am not over losing her even after 2 1/2 years... I don't ever want to get over her either. Her & Gidget both will be in my heart until the day I die. Enough of the sad stuff though... enjoy the song! The 2nd part begins at the 6 minute mark if you are finding the beginning not to your liking.

Requiem of the Lonely (2025)

"Let's search the sky, for a while, you & I. Collide like 2 stars, for a while, you & I." This is my 2nd mix of my new cover of Loathe's "Is It Really You?". A band I had never even heard of until the Youtube algorithm put it in my ears. I think of them as the Deftones of England. This is the song that introduced me to them & I knew right away I would cover it. It has been a real challenge though. The guitar player is in a different tuning & plays wildly irregular chords that made it very hard for me to interpret. I am not playing what he plays... at all. It's my best guess using 2 guitars... 1 in standard tuning concert pitch (Jackson Monarkh) & the other tuned a half step down in drop (the Solar). Then there's the vocals... this band has not just 1, but 2 excellent singers. They actually sound eerily alike in this song. But as we all know, I am not a singer. At best I am a back-up vocalist. But, if you're gonna do the song, you have to sing it too. The verses actually came out alright, but the chorus was daunting. I just kept adding more & more vocal tracks to try to nail the feel. It's everything in this song & if I can't do it, then there's no point. I didn't get it to where I wanted it to be... I just can't do it. However, after all the work I put into this, I think it's okay. But just barely! Either way, go check out Loathe!

Release date:
25 March 2025


Is It Really You? (Loathe Cover 2025)

My sister wanted to try her hand at recording a song. She sent me numerous songs she wanted to try & I chose this one to cover. It has some hard rocking moments in it, but the original by The Naked & Famous used acoustic guitars for the quiet parts. I used electrics throughout & my drums are quite different as well... so while it is easily recognizable as the song "No Way", it does sound quite different. I will re-post once she adds the vocal tracks! The song is 130 bpms & I used my Hartwood semi-hollow guitar, my Schecter Omen & the Parallax Spatial Generator pedal for the clean parts. I used my Line 6 Spider III amp for all guitars. For bass I used my LTD Bass ran through the Positive Grid Spark amp.

No Way (The Naked & Famous Cover 2025) Music Only

My cover of "No Way" by The Naked & Famous. My sis requested this one so here ya go! Vocals & all!

No Way (The Naked & Famous Cover 2025)

An idea that ballooned into this song. I don't really know what to do with it vocally? I really dig the groove though, so I filled it out with a bunch of guitars and bass! Guitars used were my new Jazzmaster, my Schecter C-1 Platinum, my Solar Tele & my Jackson Pro Monarkh. All guitars were ran through the Keeley Parallax Spatial Generator pedal. The bass was the ESP LTD spalted maple. Even though it's not my style & feels quite different than most of my stuff, I feel it's a worthy addition to my discography.

Bouncy Post Reggae Song (2025)

A new original song! Love this style of dramatic, post rockish, bad ass feeling riffs that could be inserted in a western movie during the final showdown between gunslingers! lol. I mainly used my emerald burst Schecter Platinum w/EMG pups as well as my red Ibanez RG w/the burl top finish. Bass was the LTD spalted maple of course & I heavily used the Keeley Parallax Spatial Generator for ALL clean guitars. To be different I also used the Boss Katana for the rhythm cleans too... it sounds great! I may add lyrics down the road... I may not. Hope you enjoy!

Ghost of a Memory (2025)

I wrote this song outta nowhere one day & kept adding to the core riff until this whole piece came about. I really dig it! Using the Phrygian scales there's an obvious "Arabic" flavor to it... not unlike "Miserlou" by Dick Dale. For all the guitar parts I used my ESP/LTD EC1000 ran through the Keeley Parallax Spatial Generator pedal for all the clean parts. The amp I used was my brand new Vox Cambridge set to the classic Vox130 for all cleans & the Double Rectifier for the distortion parts at the end. For the drums I mixed up like 5 different tracks, the 2 main ones are from Guitar Maps Drum Tracks... the Middle Eastern drum tracks were 3 random ones I found while searching & I hate to say, but I can't remember the channels I found them on. As for the title... I kept thinking of stuff like "Storm of Arabia" or "Sands of Arabia" & it all sounded pretentious, so I just decided to cut out the 1st word & go with "Of Arabia". I have always appreciated this kind of music. It can be wildly creative & unique... but I doubt I will attempt to revisit it anytime soon. I got my tune down finally & it was a very long week of trial & error & re-recording & re-mixing.... I'm happy to be done so I can move onto other ideas. For what it's worth though, I am very proud of this song & I hope you can rock it out and enjoy it as I do!

Of Arabia (2025)

My grunged out cover of Voices Carry... the classic 80's song from Til Tuesday. Aimee Mann recently performed this song again with the O.G. members of the band & it made me want to re-visit my cover from 2023. It didn't need much done to it, but I did some vocal separation, added a new vocal track & did some other mixing like bringing the bass up a bit in the mix. I have always enjoyed this take... I feel it's one of my better efforts at a cover song done differently than the original. Enjoy!

Voices Carry (Til Tuesday Cover 2025)

One of my favorite covers I have done over the past few years. This song really does translate well into a punk/grunge style cover tune! I re-mixed a few things & added a couple vocal trax to fill it out a bit. Enjoy!!!

A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Procol Harum Cover 2024)

One of my favorite cover tunes I have ever done! This one here & "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are 2 glorious Beatles covers I have done that I am super proud of! Give them a listen & see how well the Fab Four can translate into punk/grunge. (I also really dig my cover of "Yesterday"...)

Help! (Beatles Cover 2023) Re-mix 2025

Another Beatles cover that I am very proud of! I hope you dig my punk/grunge take on this awesome Beatles tune!

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles Cover 2023) Re-mix 2025

An original punk song I wrote that utilizes other punk greats' song titles, band names & noticeable lyrics as the lyrics in my song! It's pretty cleverly written if I do say so myself. You will find references to the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, NOFX, Misfits, Black Flag, Nirvana, Social Distortion... even Ministry & Metallica among others. I dig the riffs, guitar work & the bass sound as well. For this version I lowered the overall volume, brought up the bass & little guitar solo & added the lyrical refrain at the end (I always regretted not doing this for the original mix that's been posted for over a year now). Enjoy!!!

A Good Old Fashioned Punk Song (2024) Re-mix 2025

My 3rd Beatles cover that I am very proud of! "Yesterday" done ala punk/grunge at 100 mph. For this remix I did some EQ on the bass & brought it out more in the mix, I increased the volume of the lead guitars, and lastly... I added an isolated vocal track of Sir Paul McCartney to sing along with me on the final refrain at the end. He also does the little humming thing at the very end. We'll see if Soundcloud allows it... as always, I hope you enjoy my super-fast punk cover of "Yesterday" by the Beatles!

Yesterday (Beatles Cover 2024) Re-mix 2025

4th test mix of my new unfinished song... I just added some distortion guitars at both chorus parts & the ending. I also fiddled with the drums a bit. I used the H.P. Ibanez & the LTD H-200 for the guitar parts. Rhythm parts were ran through the Vox Cambridge & the "leads" were ran through the Line 6 amp. Both used the Keeley Parallax Spatial Generator pedal. Bass used was my LTD bass ran through the Positive Grid Spark amp.

Another Sad Lullaby (2025) 4th Mix

*2nd Mix. I did a cover of this song around 4 years ago or so. Back then I was ecstatic that I learned it & made a decent recording of it... or so I thought. It actually sounded pretty shitty. So, I decided to give it another go! The music turned out great. The vocals??? I guess that's for you to decide. I'm not a singer. I will say this new version sounds miles better than the old one in that regard. It's such a great song & it's a blast to play. Guitars used were my Jackson Monarkh & my ESP/LTD EC1000 ran through the Line 6. I used the Keeley Parallax guitar pedal sparingly. For bass I ran my LTD bass through the Spark amp. Drums are the original isolated drum tracks. I added a little hand clap during the bridge, but otherwise I kept the same composition as the OG song. Enjoy!!!

Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears Cover 2025) 2nd Mix

I have played guitar since the age of 14 (around 1990 give or take) & I still play to this day... only now instead of playing live or seeking to be in a band, I record my own music at home! I use Audacity software (free!) & basically use a mic to record my guitars, bass & vocals through my various guitar amps. Drums I "program" by downloading tracks from youtube & chopping them up to suit my needs. I write my own music as well as record covers. I'm not a singer & all of my vocals are achieved by doing multiple vocal tracks to create a harmony that is otherwise lacking. Sometimes the results are ok, sometimes it sucks. Either way, making music & taking care of my cats are the 2 main reasons I am on this Earth. I hope you enjoy some of my stuff!

Jeff Swinderman 4

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