Society Glue

This song started out as a way to explore modes of communication from the long past to now and think about what has changed but also remained the same and the impact that may have had on humanity. Looking in the mirror for humans has been a tool to gauge reality, although not always accurately, going back 8,000 years. 

 

As the thousands of years have gone by, that search for truth has constantly changed, some might say it’s more complicated today than ever before. We started out being able to talk to each other with grunts and eventually words, then our technology evolved and we could communicate over time and distance. That distance shrunk again when that ability became instant and virtual too. 

 

As all of our ability to communicate grows because of our technology, it becomes more glaringly clear and sometimes dangerous where we lack it. Which sources can we trust? It becomes less clear as more sources need to be questioned and can be hard to vet. Where do we get our news, how do we know it’s true? The details matter but it’s harder to discern what’s correct. It could be something our life depends on or a silly piece of misinformation that simply inconveniences us. 

In this confusion, our instincts guide us to rely on what we can see. Even though it has been proven that eyewitness testimony is utterly unreliable, it still feels solid because that’s how we work. Ironically when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see the most intimate and distorted reality. That’s why it’s important that no matter what we do in that moment, we calm ourselves and say, it’s ok to not be ok.

Buy on Bandcamp

Hanging On OK

Winter (demo)

Demos 2016 - 2018

Hills

hello

His demons were well known. Maybe much more than they should be.
But that’s the price of fame, so they say.
And sure, you can focus on the would be’s and the could be’s, 
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

If Chrissy had lived, if Cass had survived,
But that’s the price of death, so they say.
And sure, you can think about just how he could have done better
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

CHORUS
Stephen took the melody, and Graham was soaring high.
He would find the middle ground and  fit in perfectly.
If life was a song, he might have been the king 
You must admit, he sure could sing.

He never found his true place, unless out on the water.
But that’s the price of fame, so they say.
And sure, you can speculate ‘bout lines he drew on the table.
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

CHORUS
Stephen took the melody, and Graham was soaring high.
He would find the middle ground and  fit in perfectly.
If life was a song, he might have been the king 
You must admit, he sure could sing.

He Sure Could Sing

21 minutes of de-construction, eclectic, avant-jazz? who knows, but there is a whole lot happening here and it's beautiful.

Douglas Wilkerson composition, drum set and other percussion, vocal reprise / Michael Grimes, composition, synths, piano / Paul Richards, composition, guitars /Michael Billings, vocal reprise / Kyle Fraser modular analog synth magic / Colt Kraft, vocal reprise

Mixed and Produced by Doug Wilkerson and Michael Grimes (Dh8R's)

Flipping the Script

Preliminary mix produced by David Gans and Jeremy Goody & engineered by Jeremy Goody at Goody Sound.

Personnel:
David Gans - guitars
Robert Wade - bass
Javier Navarrette - percussion
Lorna Kollmeyer - vocals
Christian Crumlish - electric ukulele and vocals

All I Know
© 2021 At Swim-Two-Birds

If I were a magician
I’ll tell you what I’d do.
I’d conjure up your future
And show it all to you.

My magic’s all illusion:
Water bottle, plastic flower.
All the things that you will make
Will unfold in their own hour.

All I know is you should know
I’m out here looking out for you.
Everything you’ve ever wanted
Soon will come your way.

No one does it solo only.
Everyone gets sad and lonely.
Don’t forget that out here someone
Loves you every day.

If I were a time traveler
I know just when I’d go.
Back to the place I first met you.
I’d tell you all I know.

But when I built my time machine
It turned out to be fake
And left me with a craving
For your famous pirate cake.

If we could both be pirates
My eye patch would be cool
We’d go right through the book and challenge
Each and every rule

But I’m no jolly roger
Never sailed the seven seas
I never went to Narnia
Nor met the Pevensies

If I were a mixer,
You know that I would be
A stand mixer, fully charged
With electricity.

’Cause you deserve a mixer
That’s magical and fine,
Sent to you in a time machine
From 1959.

Words and music by Christian Crumlish.

All I Know (preliminary mix)

Layers of Meta