The Quest for the Holy Dumpling is the second concept album from the Smoking Trout, a SoundCloud collaborative band started by me, Stonerjazz (Jeff), and Uziel in 2021. We build these albums by releasing one song at a time, so the story is a work-in-progress. This is the first track on the new album to contain words/lyrics so it's really kind of launching a new tale that we'll continue to develop over the next year or who knows how long! In addition to Jeff and Uziel, we were fortunate to be joined by TexMexShaman (Stephen) and Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches (Jo Richter). For me, this was a really rewarding collaboration and perhaps one of my favorite tracks I've been involved with. Thank you so much to all who contributed. See below for more detailed credits (in chronological order of when each person contributed to the track) and to read Jeff's fantastic lyrics.

If you're interested you can find our first completed album, the Land of Zed by going to the 'albums' tab on my page or by looking up 'the smoking trout' on BandCamp. 

Stonerjazz (Jeff) @user-911083679 
Lyrics, Lead vocals, bass, and cowbell percussion

Tea R. Sea (Terry) @tea_are_sea 
Synthesizers, quirky percussion hits, production

Sonic Structures and Silent Stretches (Jo) @sonic-textures
Additional drums and percussion, especially on second half

TexMex Shaman (Stephen)@texmex-shaman
Guitar

Uziel @user-455619833 contributed
Background vocals, fluttering and modulated clarinet sounds 


lyrics:

you may have heard the creaking noise and tiny footsteps n the darkened corridors
that stretch to the southern boundaries of the unpolluted parts
where souls are living with total disregard for the nature of the Holy Dumpling
floating on the cosmic stew that simmers horizontally to your soul ln your heart

Traveling with the HOBO CYBERPUNKS, l learn a thing or two from the leader of the band Cosmic Stu who n a wild tangent and a Rant, described a different spot
a flthy plot, lnvaded by tribe of bots, who stank of superficiality
an opportunity that he lost

The teachers teach ln empty auditoriums to pupils lost ln 4 inch screens
sequestered ln squalid scenes, that go unnoticed as useless lnformaton ls gobbled up and gobbled down ln every home and every town
Put the monster down and walk away He sald
lron John ls not afraid of the queen
and even though the prlnce ls doomed
the purpose doesn't change

let me introduce you to some members of the band
there's Sally and Roberta who play the clarinet with beauty and with Grace
who plays the violin and Viola who makes the Djembe
bounce around the brain
with subliminal referrels to her pleasure and her paln
The horns are played by the twlns
Maurece and Nostradamus, their trumpeting sublime

the accordlan of course ls played by Johnny who you might remember from the land of Zed, He did eventually get out of bed and sald
Ths reminds me of a time when thngs were real and l could feel the rope of
hope wrapped firmly around and round my throat
before l knew the truth about the Lle
before l knew the meaning of goodbye

Now Stu he claimed to know or knew the whereabouts of the holy condiment that grew only
just outside his windowsill (and was essential to the Dumpling's flavor)
where he lived ln another life with Mary-Ann his ex-wife
who left hm for a guy named Sid who was a maestro on guitar
and had a band that traveled wide and far
including Mary Ann, and Larry too

Looking for that very thing
Hoping for just one bite
of that heavenly delight
before the turning of the light

The Holy Dumpling

The Smoking Trout is a SoundCloud collaborative band that released the LAND of ZED concept album in 2021-2022: https://soundcloud.com/tea_are_sea/sets/land-of-the-zed ... and is now developing this new work-in-progress follow-up project, the QUEST for the HOLY DUMPLING: https://soundcloud.com/tea_are_sea/sets/quest-for-the-holy-dumpling 

The SMOKING TROUT is:

Stonerjazz (Jeff) -- Vocals, lyrics, concept/story ... @user-911083679 
Uziel -- vocals, special effects and production magic during end section ... @user-455619833 
TexMex Shaman (Stephen)-- guitar and artwork ... @texmex-shaman
Sonic Structure and Silent Stretches (Jo)-- lyrics/poem and orchestral soundscape ... @sonic-textures
Tea R. Sea (Terry)-- drums & bass, synth, production ... @tea-are-sea

-----------

Lyrics, by Stonerjazz and Jo Richter

I just wanted to get out of the house for a day or two
I got my little backpack out of the closet
and put It on
put my thumb out on the road
and I was gone
And the next thing that I know
I'm standing In the middle of new Mexico
one thousand miles and two months down the line
Along a two lane blacktop ln the desert sun-
A bus A bus
with a destination of infinity
comes by and stops right ln front of me
and as l board, l begin to spout a verse of poetry that l know nothing about
and lt does not belong to me 
ln someone else's voice
l did not seem to have a choice--
(The poem, by Jo Rlchter)
------
To feed the foodless
you require fire
but how do you nourish 
those wanting a mind of their own?
do you mess up their lives
with Olympian lre
or serve them a dish
of the altered kind-
The old one who spoke made pause dramatic
then asked the question
ln a very low voice
or would you invoke
an old myth cathartic
to force into action
To colour each cholce
The divine assembly
all nodded their chins
and sald "Sanat Kumara"
you've got what lt takes
We'll teach some Hag ln Albuquerque
The ropes of how the dumplings begins
and these guys will come from near and far
to taste the wondrous dish she makes
------
Stu sald: Turn this Bus around
we're Albuquerque Bound
This guy just sald
there's a dumpling cooking ln that town
You may ask why some of us are looking for another paradigm
Trying to stop the world for just a moment
searching quietly as l think
Pessimism ls completely underrated
lt's lt's own worst enemy
as emotions go
There's just the wind ln the windows
Remlnlcent of distant overlapping chatter
of souls that came before and after
as we're all staring ln disbelief 
at the panorama through the Stink

New Mexico

The Smoking Trout collaborative is back with another installment in the story of the Quest for the Holy Dumpling! On this one, me, Jeff, Uziel, and Stephen are joined by Tot for the first time. He sent us an awesome beat to serve as the rhythmic backbone to this new song. Then Stephen totally funkified it with guitar, Uziel gave a stellar performance on vocals with some original lyrics, and Jeff and I contributed just the right amount of weirdness. Hope you will enjoy!

* Uziel @user-455619833 -- Vocals, Lyrics, and Vocal Production

* TexMex Shaman @texmex-shaman -- Bass & Lead/Rhythm Guitar funkiness

* Stonerjazz @user-911083679 -- Modulated Guitar & Vocaloid melodies

* Tot - @tot-beat -- Beat & Drums

* Tea R. Sea -- Synth, Sound Effects & Production

-------------
Catch up with the first 5 tracks of our work-in-progress concept album, Quest for the Holy Dumpling: https://on.soundcloud.com/FR63a

Listen to the Smoking Trout's first album, The Land of Zed (2021-2022): https://on.soundcloud.com/WB34q
-------------

Lyrics:

All those normal little things... pass us by, pass ussssssss
mirage of migrant, trucks full of food tiny boutiques nose up looking down
street dancers, performers, the arts little stalls selling fruit

and the bus tumbles through

HOWEVER GUS, You remember Gus? The driver of this bus...
Regretfully informs us that our engine food is at the edge of E, and the only thing we'll be running on soon is fumes

And as we approach, We can hear
A dusty massive heart beating city industry eldritch being and foreboding
Sitting atop his sky scrapers gloating
"Hungry enough yet?" It's beastly maw cries! "It's 10 for 5 and the price only went up 6.7%
Nothing to you, you're worker bees and you can make more honey, can't you?"

While yes that's true
We are the life blood that flow through
But people like me and you
Can't afford it

Fortune cookie flavor our journey
It's the last I got
I'm looking for the old woman
The gate keeper to the other side
Where we have the wholly divide
Away from this hellish relish
And Instead:
Dumpling soup, dumpling plump, fried in foie gras butter perhaps?
Holy condiment burns through fiery on your Thai chili adjusted tongue,

BUT THAT'S JUST ME! It tastes different for everyone

"OH, I can't help it!

We are all starving, the bus is outta' gas, and spewing smoke, Gus is cussing up a storm, Roberta's lighting up her last swiff... I think Larry's getting water?... but we're all outta food"
said Jimmy to Sally and Stu

All digging through our pockets to get the last crumb or two
Looking forward to what we have to share
But it looks like
It's not a lot

Dumpling Stew

Here is the next song in The Smoking Trout's epic series, The Quest for the Holy Dumpling! After featuring 7 musicians on our last track this one feels pretty stripped down to the core elements of me, Jeff and Stephen. Came together rather spontaneously 

Stonerjazz (@user-911083679) --- Words, Vocals
TexMex Shaman (@texmex-shaman) --- Guitar 
Tea R. Sea (@tea_are_sea) --- Beat, Synths, Production

Catch up on the Quest for the Holy Dumpling: on.soundcloud.com/FR63a
Listen to the Land of Zed, Smoking Trout's debut album: on.soundcloud.com/WB34q


LYRICS:
Took some money from a monkey
looking for some information
he got funky at a party on a planet
where we landed after launching
from Oaxaca
on a Monday in December
I remember needing fuel for the fission
in the belly of the bus
The monkey wanted Mushrooms
and we had a Kilo
and the recipe for the holy dumpling

Now Stu he started singing
a country song that he'd been working on
That went like This--

i'm pretty sure she loved me for a minute
so delicious in the moment we were in it
when she left me, I was so broken
by the cruelty of the loss
I sought solace in the bottom of a bottle
but I guess i'm better for it
and mostly now, the pain, I ignore it
anymore there's nothin left to do for it
but forget it--

The Monkey

* Stonerjazz @user-911083679 -- Vocals, Lyrics, Original Idea, Acoustic Guitar, and Artwork

* Uziel @user-455619833 -- Vocals 

* TexMex Shaman @texmex-shaman -- Electric Guitar & Bridge

* Tot - @tot-beat -- Beat & Drums

* Tea R. Sea - @tea_are_sea -- Synths & Production

-------------
Catch up with the first 10 tracks of our work-in-progress concept album, Quest for the Holy Dumpling: on.soundcloud.com/FR63a

Listen to the Smoking Trout's first album, The Land of Zed (2021-2022): on.soundcloud.com/WB34q
-------------

Lyrics (by Stonerjazz):

We all chose it, we arrived here at this self-same place
he liked to think that he had earned it
but that simply not the case.
He just dreamed it up one sunday afternoon
while drowsing and lounging in the Ether
where the US resides
while living on a Proton Banished
to the outskirts of a single Atom
In a single Universe-
It was a wicked Curse, specifically designed for him
A scorcerer, Albert Rufus Smith
Stole a Rocket ship and he took it to Uriah
He was a rascal and scoundrel and a liar and a thief
But he had a magic knife that he had won in a game of dice
on a stormy night in a corner of some ruins
in the desert in december by the fire light with some other witches from Oaxaca
where he'd Spied Roberta picking magic mushrooms naked in the moonlight
with her brothers and her sisters and some others from the Bus-
It seems that Albert Rufus Smith Was Smitten

The eternal now is Wow
When we wonder why we wander
where we will
while walking walking walking to fulfill
the contemplated vacancy
Beyond the vast Horizen

Alberts knife was sliver with a handle made of Amber
when he held it high above his head
it gave off a blinding light
and on that night on the planet of Uriah
when Gus and all his jolly happy hopeful holograms arrived
on that Beat-up Bus
That formulated plan in Alberts wicked head
appeared to be on Track
had he not been messmerized by Roberta's perfect presence and physic
he might have pulled it off, that dirty rotten little sneak--

Sid and Larry caught him and his Cronies
trying to steal the bus and Abduct
Sally and Roberta too, Who
were sleeping on the bus in the back together as they always do,
And Gus was not Amused-
Albert seemed to be confused until he held his Magic knife up high
and blinded ever bodies eye
and in a frantic flight he escaped into the distant night--

Albert Rufus Smith

Hey friends, check out the "Smoking Trout on BandCamp" link below to get your own copy of the now complete Smoking Trout saga, The Quest for the Holy Dumpling!

New album Audio/Visual is now available on Spotify and for sale on BandCamp, features my favorite tracks from 2024-25. Releases to Spotify and other platforms on September 30th!

My genre influences include electronic, downtempo, lofi, experimental, rock, blues, indie, prog, post rock, ambient, synthwave, trip hop, and hip hop. 

My recent tunes are produced using Ableton Live, FabFilter suite plugins, and often feature synths like Pigments, Microfreak, and Minilogue XD. I'm also beginning to incorporate guitar a lot more!
 
Some of my major artist influences include Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, DJ Shadow, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, M83, Godspeed you Black Emperor!, Mogwai, Animal Collective, Nicolas Jaar, Dirty Projectors, Massive Attack, Björk, Dan the Automator, Del, the Gorillaz, Reggie Watts, Ween, Neon Indian, Tycho, Ott, Shpongle, Danger Mouse, Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo, Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd, Modest Mouse, the Books, and too many others to list here.

New tracks tagged #QuestForTheHolyDumpling