Cast of Characters:

Computart – @computart – guitar, vocals/whistling, composition

Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – mix and production 

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums and percussion

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –-four string fretless bass and mandolin

This song started as a recording of Computart playing the guitar and singing/whistling to a metronome, which you can find raw on his page. Having worked together before on a song called The Shining, the Frenchman reached across the pond again and asked me, the Yank, if I would like to add anything to this. This style of music being one of my favorites, I jumped at the chance. Of course, I got Ken involved right away because every great song needs a great drummer. I came up with a bass line, to which Ken added drums, to which I in turn redid my bass line, as is our usual process. I then added the mandolin. Then, Ken added the hand drums to put the icing on the cake. Tez was generous enough to produce and mix this for us, and we feel like he got it to sound like we were all playing in the same room together. 
  We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed putting it together. You can find more of Computart's music, as well as this one, for sale on his BandCamp page, which is right here.computart.bandcamp.com/track/plaisir

Plaisir (The Eclectic Collective with Computart)

Cast of characters:
Surfers Like Us– @user-411502040 –Artur–composition and foundational rhythm guitar
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–guitar solos choruses, mix, and production
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell –electric piano, synth, and intro composition
K2 and the Three [and the Four]-- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez–Guitar solo in the verses
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –four string fretless bass guitar
 
This song began with Artur composing the entire skeleton, and recording it against a mechanical beat. He presented it to Josh, who immediately shared it with The Eclectic Collective. Ken first replaced the metronomic beat with a real, rocking drum sound. Josh promptly added his fretless bass to it, to complete the rhythm section. Soon after, JJ added his electric piano magic, including a short solo, to the stew. Once the rhythmic framework was laid down, Stephen got to work on the choruses, coming up with solid, melodic lines for them. Then, it was Tez's turn to light up the verses with his monster guitar. When we had it mostly completed, Artur asked JJ if he'd do an intro to it. JJ came up with the whole psychedelic intro in response. 

  When it was finished, we asked Stephen if he would mix it for us, which he did with his typical mastery and attention to detail. We all really enjoy making music with Artur, and have been fans of and collaborators with him for almost a year now. If you like the sound of this song, you would do well to go check out his page, too, as he has a bunch of gems on there. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Tell Me The Truth - (Eclectic Collective w/ Artur)

Cast of Characters:
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez–bass, composition, mix, and production
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell –electric piano, synth
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –synth
Beats by YonkomoFlaction123 via Looperman
This is really a creation of Tez, who put it together from a mix of JJ's and my parts on the high end. He was kind enough to share it with JJ and me, and have us be a part of this psychedelic whirlwind. Tez gave JJ and me a bass line attached to a house beat. We both came up with parts that were wildly different than what you hear. But that's just one example of Tez's magic. He can bend sounds and parts to his will and create something totally different from the original, new and exciting. We all hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.

Replicant Boogie (The Eclectic Collective)

Cast of Characters:
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell –electric piano, synth and original seed 
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen–guitar, mix, and production
K2 and the Three [and the Four]-- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez– Guitar
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –five-string fretless bass guitar
The Eclectic Collective – composition

This song began with JJ, as many of our songs do, who composed the outline on the keys, drums, and bass. He then let everyone else in on it immediately. Ken was first up to bat by laying his always cunning drums in there. After he had a beat to work with, Josh used his tree trunk of a five-string fretless bass to complete the rhythm section. Soon after, Tez and Stephen both laid their magical guitars in there. Once we had it all in the can, Stephen used his powers of production to give us a great mix.
  This one came together relatively quickly, which is a good sign that we're all enthusiastic about what we're creating. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.

Mellow Travels (The Eclectic Collective)

Cast of Characters:
one man verity show – @one-man-verity-show – Scotty – melodic guitar, lyrics, vocals
cgmaness-- @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – guitar intro
J.J. Terrell– @j-j-terrell –electric piano, synth  
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen – guitar solo and e-bow guitar
K2 and the Three [and the Four]-- @k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez– textural guitar, mix, and production
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –five-string fretless bass guitar, original seed
The Eclectic Collective – composition

This song began with me coming up with the fonky-ass bass line and sharing it with everyone else. First up to bat was Ken, of course, who really matched the idea I had for the bass perfectly and gave it some flavor, too. Once we had a rhythm section solidified, Tez jumped in with the Kruangbin inspired arpeggios, and really gave the whole thing the flavor that it ended up with. Scotty followed soon after with his melodic/rhythmic leads that match his awesome vocal melodies. Next up was Stephen, who laid in the fiery solo towards the end, as well as some really trippy e-bowed guitar throughout. Then JJ came along and lit it up with his electric piano and synth. Finally, Chris came forward and added the distinct, exciting guitar intro. 
  Of course, we needed someone to produce and mix it, so we asked Tez to handle this one, which he did with his usual high wizardly magic. It is very gratifying to all of us to have Chris back in the mix on this one, as well as some upcoming releases, as well. This was the first time any of us has collaborated with Scotty, and we are thrilled that we finally got a chance. He's a creative, driven, and very agreeable musical partner, who's willing to work with us until we all get it right. We all hope this is just the first of many with him involved. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. 

Original lyrics by Scotty:

Can't obtain no fucking mortgage. 
And I can't pay no fucking rent.
I would rather you probe me 
than get fucked by our government
who attempts to control me 
and put nonsense in my head.
Who would rather see me
livin' in debt or end up dead.
Come and take me away.
Beam me into space.
Fly me to a planet
where there exists no hate or greed.

Take me to Utopia.
Teach me all your ways.
Save me from dystopia.
It's time to turn the page.
Something better must exist
out there beyond the stars,
where everyone can love and live,
unlike what's become of ours.

Utopia (The Eclectic Collective with One Man Verity Show)

Cast of Characters:
~Mark F-- @mark_fosella -- bass guitar, composition

Llanpsych -- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar

cgmaness-- @user-419254289-15129531 – Chris – guitar

TexMex Shaman–@texmex-shaman –Stephen–  production, and mix

J.J. Terrell–@j-j-terrell –electric piano, organ, and synth

K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara -–Ken–drums

Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)–@josh-clary-1 –-electric madolin

This song originated with Mark creating a bass line to a metronome, and sharing it with Ken. Ken immediately added his driving drums, and invited the rest of the EC to join in. JJ was first up, laying in his foundational organ, and e. piano magic in the first half, and the cosmic synth melody in the second part. Batting second was me, who established the melody in the first half with my electric mandolin, and mirrored the melody in the second half with the same. Next came Tez, who laid in the funky guitar right after the first break, all the way to the end. Batting clean up was Chris, who laid in the psych guitar in the first section, as well as the high guitar part in the second movement. Of course, we needed an expert producer to mix this for us, so we turned to Stephen, who always gets it exactly to everyone's specifications. That in and of itself is quite a skill, and I don't know how he does it, but everyone is always satisfied with his work.
  This is the second song we've done with Mark, who is a tremendously talented bass player, and delightfully creative songwriter. If you aren't familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and hop on over to his page for some delicious bass music. We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed making it.

The Adventures of Stefan Ortèz (The Eclectic Collective with Mark F)

Cast of Characters:
mistermark-- @user-432503709 --Mark-- horns and shakers
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– guitar, production, and mix
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ—organ and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums, vocals, composition, and mix
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez– guitar 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four-string fretless bass 

This song was written by Ken and a dearly departed friend and former bandmate named Chris Bennett about the latter's divorce that he was going through at the time when their band was also breaking up. Ken had a good demo of the two of them fleshing it out, which the Eclectic Collective used as a template for the song. Josh was first to add his unique slide bass line to the song. Next up was Tez, who added the fiery solo you hear at the end. Stephen came in not too long after with the rhythm guitar, complete with the intricate fills you hear throughout. Around the same time, Mark added some really innovative, genre-bending horns and shakers to it. Ken then completed the song with his stellar vocals. 

  Of course, every great song needs a great producer, so Ken turned it over to Stephen for an objective mix, although Ken was still heavily involved in the process, too. This is the first time Ken has sung lead for an EC song, and we were all very impressed with his skills on this one. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.


Original lyrics by Chris Bennett:

I once believed in happy ever after
Now I’m convinced by tears instead of laughter
There’s not much good inside that’s left to do the things for my survival

If I relied on you to make it better
I’d die a 1000 times, before we get together
All that is bad inside will rise back to the top
With your arrival

Burn down the doorway
Run down the hall
Scream out my name
But I may never hear you, never hear you
Drive down the highway
Until you’re gone
I may never hear you call

I still believe that someone’s always watching
Each time I turn around, I never hear them talking
All that is bad inside will never fade away with your arrival

Burn down the doorway
Run down the hall
Scream out my name, but I may never hear you
Never hear you
Drive down the highway
Until you’re gone
I may never hear you call

Na Na Na  Na Na Na
Na na na

Happy Ever After - The Eclectic Collective

Cast of characters:
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – rhythm and lead guitar, seed idea
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ and synth
Mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark –  piano, harmonica, VST fiddle, vocals, lyrics, mix, and production
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– layered guitar parts and fills, mastering
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums and percussion
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – mandolin and four-string fretless bass
Composition – The Eclectic Collective

This song started as a guitar skeleton that had been a twinkle in Tez's eye several years ago. He'd been hanging on to it in hopes of finding a suitable home for it. When he introduced it to the Eclectic Collective, we all jumped on it. First up was Ken, laying in his dynamic, powerful drums and percussion. Then Stephen laid down some fiery fills as well as a solid comp part on his guitar. Inspired by the Stones sound of the guitars, Mark added some piano, harmonica, and VST fiddle, then got to work on some lyrics and vocal melody. Josh was atypically late to the party, but managed to get his bass in there, too, thus completing the rhythm section. JJ was next up with his splendid organ and synth to fill in the sound. 
  By this time, Mark had written and recorded some throat shredding vocals, which he added to the mix. We all decided that it now had a Rod Stewart/Faces vibe to it, so we tried to amplify that flavor. To this end, Josh dropped in a mandolin part, as well.
  At this point, the song needed a dynamic push to close out the song, so the decision was made to amp up the crescendo at the end. Ken summoned his best Keith Moon energy, and Tez laid down a killer solo, while Stephen added the big Townsend chords. 
  Mark had been editing and mixing the whole time, and did such an excellent job with it, we decided to go with his mix from the group project. Stephen did master it masterfully before we put it out here, too, though.
  This one got done in a really quick turnaround, and we're really proud of it and hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thanks for listening!

--- --- ---
ORIGINAL LYRICS BY MISTERMARK:

Never was one for being sociable
but lordy knows how I tried 
every time I tried to talk to a girl 
she would always run away and hide

Nobody told me 
nobody cared
nobody told me 
the girl was scared

Back at the party you asked me to dance 
but I didn’t know what to do 
my two left feet had me runnin’ round in circles 
so I always came back to you

Been so long since somebody held me 
made me feel i’m gonna win
but drinkin' that jug o’ juice gonna help me 
when I’m takin' it on the chin

Nobody told me 
nobody cared
nobody told me 
they never dared

another party you ask me to dance 
and I don’t know what to do
my two left feet got me runnin’ round in circles 
and I'm still comin’ back to you...

Nobody Told Me (The Eclectic Collective)

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – Initial composition/seed idea, foundational acoustic and electric guitars, distorted electric guitar
Mistermark – @user-432503709 – Mark – vocals, lyrics, high organ, toy piano, percussion, sound effects, production, editing, mix
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– 5-string banjo solo, electric rhythm guitar
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- low organ, piano, synth flute, sound effects
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums, percussion 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – 4-string fretless bass
Composition – The Eclectic Collective

This song began as a haunting guitar chord progression that Tez came up with and shared with the rest of us. He also did an additional accoustic accompaniment and that crunchy distorted guitar once some of us started adding parts. Ken was first up, adding his reggae-tinged drums, then later his pots and pans percussion. As he was doing that, Josh was coming up with his bass line, and they did their little dance of back and forth until the rhythm section was set. Mark then came up with some dark lyrics and added his unique, Tom Waitsian vocals. He also added the high organ during the banjo solo, followed by a toy piano which you can faintly hear right after the solo. Also for the solo he created a clanky percussion arrangement, blending in elements from Ken's percussion sound too. Stephen followed shortly after with the atmospheric reggae-style guitar chords, and also came up with the amazing banjo solo you hear around the middle. Last, but not least, JJ came in with his trademark organ sound and paired up a piano and flute track to seal the deal with some melodic ambience. Then he and Mark added the cool creaking door & rain storm effects that open and close the song, and in other spots. Mark filled the main production duties on this one. He has proved himself to be a masterful editor, producer, and mixer, and we are lucky to have him as part of the team. Both Ken & Stephen provided a choice of mastering options to choose from… a nice gesture to put a bow on this one. 
This song is an homage of sorts to the great Tom Waits - we're all big fans, and tried to do something in his unique style. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
 
ORIGINAL LYRICS BY MISTERMARK:

I got something hidden in my closet 
that I don’t want you to see 
a little like a shady deposit
and it’s bound to incriminate me

Well now some might call it a skeleton 
like a raincoat filled with bones
see I been hangin’ it there since I don’t know when
and I just can’t leave it alone

Me and Bill rolling bones in a gambling hall 
I threw snake eyes but Bill counted three
I took his accusation just a little too far 
then everybody went quiet as they stared at me

Now the finger bone’s connected to the trigger
and the hand bone’s connected to me
and every day my secret’s gettin’ bigger
soon enough I’ll be swinging from a tree

(swing it boys)

Coz I got something hidden in my closet 
that I don’t want you to see 
I done made a shady deposit
and it’s bound to incriminate me

Well now some might call it a skeleton 
like a raincoat filled with bones
see I been hiding it there since I don’t know when
and I just can’t leave it alone
(repeat)

Bones (The Eclectic Collective)

Cast of Characters:

J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ, electric piano, and seed idea
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – electric guitar
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– electric guitar, production, and mix
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – 4-string fretless bass and synth theremin
The Eclectic Collective -- composition

This song began, as so many of ours do, with JJ coming up with the skeleton of it on his electric piano, organ, and synth during one of his Saturday night jam sessions. He originally laid down a bass line for it, too, which might be better than what I came up with, But he was kind enough to let me in on it, too, adding my four string fretless bass on top of Ken's intricate, lively drums.
  Once the rhythm section was complete, it was time for Stephen and Tez to add their guitar magic to the mix, too. They both laid down some thrilling guitar lines throughout. Lastly, I added the spooky synth theremin you hear throughout.
  When it was all finished and in the can, we asked Stephen to mix it for us, which he did in a professional manner. He also added the creepy sound effects you hear throughout, as well. 
  This song is an example of how the Eclectic Collective can take a idea from one of us, and make it grow into a monster. Speaking of monsters, we decided to release this a day early to coincide with the holiday. Happy Halloween from The Eclectic Collective! We hope you enjoy listening to this song as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Melon Jelly (The Eclectic Collective)

I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar, and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, last summer ('23) I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), and Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. 
  The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Grateful Dead, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, and Sean Lennon, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music. I welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recordings, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

Psych sounds, dub vibes and a whole bunch of FX in operation
SoundCloud collabs most welcome. Remixes, guitar bashing, conceptualising (a big word for a guitar player, I know) or whatever you have 😎

Member of the transatlantic music machine that is The Eclectic Collective

Member of Mid-Wales’ premier cheezepunk band The Recursives - watch us get down and booogie!!
https://youtu.be/NilRLxx6D8E 

Logo and cover art by Marianne

You may wish to check out my older dub based stuff here 
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/TwJYv9QgWsDdKNvu9

New tracks tagged #Eclectic Collective