zest (noun):  
1.  a piece of the peel of a citrus fruit (such as an orange or lemon) used as flavoring
2.  an enjoyably exciting quality : piquancy
3.  keen enjoyment : relish, gusto
  
This is the meaning of the word 'zest' as I know it--but my teenaged kid tells me that the word has a different meaning for their generation, and that it is considered a negative epithet used to mock gay men.  

...let me be clear, that is NOT what it means to me, nor is it what this song is about.  

(Perhaps, if I'd talked to my kid about this a little earlier, I wouldn't have already been done with today's track...)  

To me, zest is a good thing.  Someone can have a zest for life, zest for a hobby, or even Zest for a shower.  

And few things suggest what I know the word "zest" to mean more than an uptempo house track.  And this track is beyond zesty, it is zestful.  It is imbued with zestfulness.  

Now, this is one of the more straight forward dance tracks that I've made in awhile (though, trust me, there are still plenty of things about it that make it sound VERY Interbay.)  

Originally, there was a chance for this song to be under four minutes long.  There was a natural stopping point and I was tempted to lock in the project right there...but, I also realized that for this to be a proper house track, it needed time to breathe...it needed parts where I didn't color in every empty spot.  It needed to groove a little.  

Hopefully, I got the balance right.  Let me know what you think.  Give "Zest" a listen, a like, a repost, a share, add it to a playlist, leave a comment on it.  

And follow for more Interbay--did you know that a brand new track gets dropped EVERY SINGLE DAY (so far!)???  It's true!  

"Zest" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

"You need to stop eating the wrong lozenges."  

That's good advice.  

Also good?  Today's Interbay track.  Over 7 minutes of mayhem--a manic energy filled romp, skirting the edges of drum and bass and hard house.  Choppy edits, tons of processing, and a relentless push forward--this is the kind of dance music that still excites me.  

No rules.  Just everything...thrown into a blender...and hit puree.  

...and it is sealed with a kiss.  

Nothing to it but to do it--so give this track a listen (though, you may want to make sure you've got some THROAT LUBRICATION first...as. like the best rollercoasters of the world, this one is certainly prone to making people scream their silly little heads off.  

(And of course, it would be wonderful if you not only listened to this latest Interbay track, but also reposted it, shared it, added it to a playlist, commented on it...and if you could follow this page, that would be great too!  New Interbay tracks are dropped EVERY SINGLE DAY--so far!  It's like an advent calendar for all year long!  What will tomorrow bring?  Even I don't know--so, let's discover it together...every day!)  

LET'S GO!

"Lozenges" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

The thing with Interbay is...it's not just one thing.  

It's not just various styles of electronic dance music, house, techno, trance, rave, big room.  It's not just post-punk or darkwave or shoegaze.  It's not just retro, synthpop, new wave.  It's not just power pop or pop punk or alternative rock or synthpunk.  It's not just trip hop or indie pop or jazz.  

It's all of those things and more...and sometimes, even in the same song.  (...very Interbay.)  

This is bad for branding and marketing, but good for my personal creative spirit...and good for the open-minded and open-eared adventurous listener.  

After dropping a couple of fairly straight ahead (for Interbay at least) dance bangers recently, I thought it might be a good idea to remind everyone that there's always a chance for whiplash when listening to the latest Interbay track.  

This is definitely a far more mellow and far more pop sound than what you may have heard from Interbay recently...but it is still, definitely (and defiantly) Interbay.  

So, this track includes precious and fragile sped-up female vocals, joined by a shouty sort-of Psychedelic Furs like male vocal...over a very minimal midtempo (possibly even downtempo) electronic drum and prominent fretless bass.  Melodically, this track is dominated by a cello ensemble, a reverb-laden piano arpeggio, and both a piano-esque synth and a nylon guitar fed through an effects processor called "Weeping Wall" that turns what gets put into it to unpredictable droplets of water dripping down the window.  

In my notebook, I wrote down that "this song sounds like the reflection of a beautiful, but wistfully sad, young woman, in the rain drizzled window on a blue-ish gray day."  

Listen to "Vale of Tears" and see if you'd agree with my description.  

(...also, like, repost, share, comment, playlist and follow.  please. thank you.)  

PS--Is anyone else surprised to learn that the phrase isn't "veil of tears" but is vale (as in "valley") of tears...and that the phrase is religious in nature?  

Interbay.  Always different, sometimes educational!  

"Vale of Tears" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

...this one came together quite nicely, I think.  Perfect house track for a Friday night (at least, as far as I remember what "Friday night" used to mean. ;) )  

I wanted to craft a house track in the style of those early Chicago, New York, and London tracks that I first heard in the late 80s.  And, since so many of those tracks seemed to have the word "jack" in the lyrics (and possibly the title), used as a verb to indicate a twitchy style of nearly possessed looking dance style that one could best do to classic house...I thought I'd start there.  

...the word "jackhammer" then popped out of the dictionary at me, which gave me the key to focus this track on (and gave me Green Velvet sort of vibes--Green Velvet has "Percolator" and now Interbay has "Jackhammer."  

I had the genre, I had the title, and yes, cheekily, I've even dropped in a sample of an actual jackhammer on the track (but I only dropped it sparingly so you won't get sick of it.)  What else could I do for this track?  

Well, let me tell you the story of Martin and Beth.  Beth was a 27 year old low level desk worker at a technology firm--and way overqualified for that job.  She wanted to work in pure science to do research and discover things, but it didn't look like the ladder upwards wouldn't come down to her level.  

At work, Beth meets Martin.  He's socially awkward, a bit shy, and he is doing pure science in his own lab, squirrelled away in a restricted part of the building.  Beth, who has been around the bock a time or two, thinks she's being played--there's no way that someone could be this innocent and yet so charming.  

Martin has pretty much lived in laboratories his whole life, so he hasn't had much opportunity to socialize or even to get accustomed to other people.  He had a dog--loved that dog--but he's been alone since the dog...well, the less said about the dog the better.  

Eventually Beth lets herself believe that Martin is who he seems to be and they fall hard for each other.  Beth is surprised, but not put off, by how inexperienced he proves to be--and she's perfectly happy to guide Martin into manhood.  

Which is, a bit early, considering that Martin is only five years old.  When I said that he'd pretty much lived in labs his whole life--he has.  And his lab has been wired with hidden cameras to watch his insane development into a fully grown man in just five years.  

You see, Martin's father, Seth left Martin's mother before Martin was born.  He left when he became a fly--The Fly, really--and the leader of the tech firm that funds his lab believes that Martin will soon become The Fly, too.  

...and one of the creepy guards who makes sure that Martin can never leave the building has watched, from the secret cameras, the night that Beth and Martin first hooked up...and, later, taunts Martin by telling him that he's watched them on tape.  

What was I talking about?  Oh yeah, "Jackhammer".  It's a really good house track.  

I think you should listen to it.  I think you'll like it.  I think it would be great if you reposted it or shared it or added it to a playlist or left a comment on it...or ALL of those things.  

And, as ever, a follow earns a follow back!

"Jackhammer" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

(So, just to be clear.  Nobody liked yesterday's Interbay SoundCloud Exclusive track, "Jackhammers"?  I thought it was really good--possibly one of my best tracks yet...but I guess I'm alone in that impression.  I'm not trying to change anyone's mind-I'm just surprised.  If you haven't had a chance to listen to "Jackhammers" yet--you might like it, and I encourage you to give it a listen, at least.   And with that out of the way, let's talk about TODAY'S Interbay posted track.)  

I think anyone, around the world, has to be troubled by what's happening in the United States at the moment.  (Of course, I say that full well knowing that enough people here voted for Orange Man Bad to elect him president...twice.  But even those people have to feel a little shame or remorse this time.  Right?  Right???)  

As always, Interbay allows me to indulge in both sharing my own feelings about things AND imagining how other people might feel about things--so, it is hard for me to say that this song is a perfect representation of how I feel about current events.  Hard--because it's not...  I'm not someone who fears that he'll be rounded up and sent overseas with no due process...well, not yet.  (Perhaps this song puts me on a list somewhere?  I don't think it will--it's not incendiary or anything.)  

The story behind the song, as it tends to be with Interbay, is one decision informing the rest of them.  I'd had an unfinished project labeled "Junkyard Disaster" that had some really trashy drums, including some pots and pans, and some industrially harsh sounding synth sounds.  As followers of Interbay know, one of my rules for posting tracks on SoundCloud (which I do EVERY SINGLE DAY, so far--so FOLLOW to see what comes next!) is that every track needs some sort of vocal element...no instrumentals!  

So, I found a couple of royalty free vocal snippets--one of them an authentic African tribal voice call...and the other from a heavily processed future bass pack.  Neither of them did I understand what, if anything was being said.  

...but I heard the word "chokehold" towards the end of the Future Bass vocal sample...and I ran with that.  Roped in Carlos to drop some bars on it and here we are...from junkyard disaster to biting social commentary...all over a cheesy, noisy, retro synth pop with sharp edges sort of tune.  

Some of you first timers might be confused by the jumble of ideas and sounds, but those of you who have been here before...it's just Interbay.  

Please give it (and if you haven't yet, do the same for yesterday's track, "Jackhammers"--a classic piano jack house tune that I think deserves a little more love) a listen...and a like.  Consider reposting, sharing, commenting on, or adding any Interbay track to a playlist.  

...and we'll catch you back here tomorrow for more Interbay!  :)  

(Posted from Phantom Laboratories West's mobile recording system, currently in PDX.)

"Chokehold" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

(...in the description to yesterday's Interbay track--"Quixotic"--I mentioned that Interbay tracks could be anything...any genre...any mood.  It could even be jazz.) 

The first lesson for today:  don't doubt me about Interbay things.  ;)    

"To tell someone one that they are bad, in jazz, is a compliment."

Ever wanted to know what jazzbos were talking about, but you couldn't dig their lingo?  Well, Interbay is here to drop a vibe on you to make you aware.  

"One Cat's Bread" is a melange of different jazz styles--guitar based, with horns (including a runnning sax)...the track still feels more electronic to me than jazz, proper...  More like one of those mid-80s UK-based jazzy pop...maybe like a more aggressive Everything But The Girl from their first album, mixed with a mellowed out Rip Rig & Panic?  (Hands up if you get either of those references...just me?  Sigh.)  

If you took away the jazz pretension of this track, you'd end up with a pretty cool chimey guitar track...but the jazz pretensions are sort of the point.  

Enjoy this for yet another Interbay left turn track.  Enjoy it for what it is.  But, give it a listen...like it, if you do...repost it or share it if you think others might like it.  Add it to a playlist so you have access to it.  Comment on it if you have something to say about it.  

Follow for more musical hijinks--as a brand new Interbay track (which could be in any style or genre--but is usually either some sort of electronic dance music or post-punk darkwave) gets dropped EVERY SINGLE DAY (so far!)  

Dig?  

(posted from Phantom Laboratories West mobile recording studio, Portland Oregon)

"One Cat's Bread" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

(I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised that many of you liked yesterday's track, "One Cat's Bread".  Yay!  I'm surprised, because every other time that I've posted something even remotely jazz-related, it has struggled to get listens--much less likes.  Even my KID said they liked what they heard of that track...though, they didn't feel compelled to listen to the whole track. ;)   Thank you!)  

Today's track is a very much more standard straight ahead electronic dance track.  It's a bit tech house, a bit trance, a bit synthwave...and, adding some vocal snippets from a movie, a television show, and from one of my favorite comedians...it seems quintessentially Interbay.  

Not much to say about this track--though, I do have a funny story about its creation.  I had the title first.  And I wondered what I might possibly have to say about something universal.  Living where I do, the concept of "universal health care" is a regular topic of conversation (shame that it isn't elsewhere in the United States, but the radical left coast can only do so much!)  

So, as I was making the music for this track--I wondered if there was any possible way to express my opinions on universal health care WITH the music.  

...and the answer to that turned out to be...no.  

Not really.  I grabbed a snippet of a friend of mine's comedy--just to use the word "universal" from it (which, if any of my comedy friends were paying attention to my music production, they probably could guess who's been sampled...because who ELSE would it be?)  

...and then I fell back on the more expected use of the term...being space related.  (Though, I thought ever so briefly about making it about the new Epic Universes land opening at Universal Orlando.  I gave up on that idea when I realized that, in order to sell out, I'd have to sell...any.  Haven't done that yet, so the eventual turn towards commercialism in a late capitalist society will have to wait.)  

The space-y samples are fairly identifiable--processed though they are, someone wanting to make Icarus plummet to his death could easily do so.  (Please don't.  Icarus deserves to fly!  And live!)  

I'd put this track on a mixtape.  I'd put this track in a dj mix.  I'd play this song a few times on SoundCloud and I'd give it a like, too!  If I hadn't posted it myself, I might have reposted it.  I might have even shared it with friends, if I had any.  I'd leave a positive comment like "Good going, Interbay!  You're so clever.  And even handsome for your age!".  Might even add it to a playlist (actually I might do that...)  

It would be awesome if YOU did a couple of those things too--in addition to following along with this crazy Interbay music project!  A brand new track is being dropped EVERY SINGLE DAY (so far!) and I hope you'll want to find out what the NEXT one will be like!  :)

"Universal" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

For this track, I used a drum machine I'd never used before--but it certainly reminded me of the drum machines I played around with in the late 80s...and I think that's why this track came out rather distorted, noisy and nasty.  

I'd call this industrial--in the same way that Pretty Hate Machine is industrial (though, there aren't any guitars on this Interbay track.)  It certainly reminds me of tracks I used to dance to in big cavernous clubs, painted black, filled with smoke, and minimal strobe lights.  

I think, what I personally like about this song--beyond the nostalgia (and you know I loves me some nostalgia!) is that every instrument is played by me--the only samples here are for the vocal snippets and the gun fx.  And there's more than you might expect going on, soundwise, at least from your first listen.  For what it is, I think it holds together quite well.  

If you're looking for something aggressive and nasty, but still danceable...this might be a great track for you--and I hope you check it out.  (And, as I suggested in the paragraph before this, you might want to give this a couple of listens just to check it all out.)  

(And, yes--it would be awesome if you gave it a like, reposted it, shared it, added it to a playlist, left a comment on it, and if you could give this page a follow...that would be sweet and helpful as well.  New tracks posted every single day--so far!--you know!)

"Volley" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

Before Interbay, my songwriting process was based around the words I write.  Those words would provide the song structure and I would craft the music around those words either by myself or with a songwriting partner, banging the words into shape as the music develops.  Then, most of the time, I would then be the one singing those songs--on stage or in the studio at the original Phantom Labs.  

Interbay has been different.  So far, my Interbay process usually begins with a musical idea.  (It's as close as I've ever come to "jamming".)  There are times when my process begins with a word, and then I see where that takes me musically.  I have not yet done an Interbay track by starting with a structured lyric.  (Sometimes, structure and lyrics gets baked into the track later...but it never "starts" with that.)  

Part of that might be my continued reluctance to sing on Interbay tracks.   (So far, with over 300 SoundCloud Exclusive tracks, only two of them have my voice on them.  BONUS INTERBAY POINTS IF YOU CAN NAME THOSE TWO TRACKS. ;) )  It is still the plan that I start voicing these tracks myself...but, for now, all vocals (and it is a rule that ALL SoundCloud Exclusive tracks have some sort of vocal element) are either royalty free samples (true for today's track), or spoken word text to speech (numerous programs giving me different options there), and occasionally Icarus-threatening "found sounds"--snippets from movies, tv, (checks Icarus current situation) and occasionally other sources.  

I like working with vocals.  It is the way I had been used to working--but the new normal is to create a vocal from various elements...to construct a narrative out of some odds and ends--because you rarely get to use a full song's worth of words, structure, or singing...  (I don't know any singers to come down to Phantom Laboratories West to collaborate.  Another thing I'd like to do someday.)  

Today's track is one of those style songs, where you're hearing a song built around three royalty free vocal samples.  "Out There" was the first one--and for a change, I "un-darked" it (and yes, I know that "un-dark" is not a word...or is it, now?).  The full lyric was "There is Evil...Out There."  The music ideas I had weren't happy, but they weren't "evil" either.  From the same sample pack, but a different collection of songs, came "Truly waiting."  The last vocal sample, "I'm Lost Without You" came from a completely different sample pack, by a different artist.  (OK, there's also some "percussive grunts" in the track too.  Oh, "Percussive Grunts"--good band name, if anyone needs one!)    

What kind of narrative can be built from "I'm Lost Without You, Out There, Truly Waiting"?  And yet, when I heard those samples in connection to the music I made for this track--my imagination filled in all of the details.  I'm hoping that YOUR imagination will do the same when you listen to it.

I kept the arrangement simple--but this is Interbay, nothing is EVER truly simple.  Somehow, I managed to take a synth sound and make it sound like a heavily processed psychedelic guitar...AND I took a guitar sound and made it sound like a bleating trombone.  (It might be a stretch to tag this with shoegaze or darkwave, but those elements are in there.)       

This is a groove.  A vibe.  And, a nice change of pace from the energetic noisy stuff that I've been putting out lately.  I hope you like it.  (...and do all the things I always ask you to do. ;) )

"Lost Without You (Out There)" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

"Do you ever feel like someone is watching you?"  

(BEFORE TALKING ABOUT TODAY'S INTERBAY TRACK:  Please go and check out yesterday's track, "Lost Without You (Out There)".  Once again, the algorithm is being randomly unkind to a track that deserves more ears.  So far, only eight listens have been noted for that track...and I think you'd like it. Thanks! pg)

"Would it make your day if I found the voice to say that you're still worth wanting, at least from what I can see?"  

So, my intention with this song was to make a song that sounded like the 80s new wave rock group The Fixx.  (Spoiler alert:  This song sounds NOTHING like The Fixx.)  

I don't often use Kontakt--I'm not a fan of using a separate program to use a different program.  I'd rather just use a VST plugin and work directly in my DAW.  (And the growing trend is for every music software provider to design their own proprietary "engine" for their programs to work in...which means learning a different work flow for each individual company--and, frankly, I often can't be bothered.)  

BUT...I knew that I owned (but hadn't used) a "80s New Wave" library for Kontakt and I was hoping that it wouldn't just be synthwave presets.  (Nothing against synthwave--I love synthwave and the synth pop that it is an imperfect homage to...but I was looking for something more guitar centric--not in a punk sort of way, but the chimey 80s sound...of, for example, The Fixx.  ;) )  

Well, I found something in that library that worked...not exactly the way I wanted it to, but as any creative will tell you, limitations are often the key to making effective creative solutions.  And this track is a result of me working with the limitations I had...  

What results is something that doesn't sound ANYTHING like The Fixx (told you!  By now you should know that ANYTHING that I make that is trying to sound like something specific will end up sounding mostly like Interbay, than anything else.)   But, it does have enough of the 80s new wave club sound to guide this track into what it is... 

The narrative for this track is a bit of author wish-fulfillment.  I'd like to believe that somewhere out there, even at my age, there might be someone who sees me and finds me attractive...but doesn't share that with me.  I know that I've had many crushes that either I never let them know that I was crushing on them or I knew that they knew, but I never got any sign that such attention was wanted by them, so I never acted on it.  

Working in the Labs, as I do...every day...and every night, I'm not around other people as often as I used to--in the before times.  The isolation is something I'm not used to and there is definitely that growing sense that this is how it will be from now on. 

I also took some inspiration from the "two slit experiment" that suggests that light will act like a wave unless it is being observed and measured, when it will behave like particles.  There is nothing in science (yet) that explains this phenomenon--where somehow a basic elemental force like light can change what it intrisically is, based on whether someone is observing* it or not.  

(*) I'm simplifying this...a lot.  

So, I imagined someone who worries that the person they've observed and think they like might change their behavior if that person might learn that they're being watched.  

...which, honestly, could have been the subject of the narrative of the lyrics in a song by The Fixx.  (See!  I got there eventually.)  

Listen (to this and yesterday's track, "Lost Without You (Over There)"--they share a certain sensibility, despite being very different tracks) and like and repost and share and comment upon and add to a playlist...and follow.  New Interbay gets posted EVERY SINGLE DAY (so far!) and I'd love for you to want to check it out from now on!

"Objects Under Observation" *SoundCloud Exclusive*

Indie, electronic, and mutant pop in various styles (seriously!)--new tracks being posted daily (so far!)

Interbay is the new project of Peter Greyy (previously of Cremation Dance and DangerScience).

New tracks tagged #mutant pop