New Album Master

Mice '17

The title and opening track of my new album, Cul De Sac was born out of my frustration at our inability to learn from our past, as demonstrated by recent events in my home country and indeed, around the world. It also marks a return to a rawer, grungier sound. Recorded in my home studio, the track features one of my favorite effects, the Digitech Whammy pedal on the lead track.

Cul De Sac

Disease makes me angry. And when I’m angry, I sometimes drop the low E string down a full step and come up with riffs like this one. This number already featured on Fixfire’s set list in 2014. The guitar solo was actually supposed to be a first scratch take but came out so good that it made the final mix, warts and all.

So Wrong

Most of this record was made while we were expecting our daughter. I already had the guitar and bass tracks recorded from a couple of years ago and and the idea for the words came after one of the ultrasounds examinations. The vocal melody I initially had in mind ended up becoming the keyboard solo as the lyrics called for something different.

Mountain Song

I was watching the coverage of the devastating 2017 hurricanes in the Caribbean. I just imagined what the storms would say. The world is not here for us, we have to take better care of it, you know? The song is a a straight ahead rocker, 4 chords and a message. I was really excited about how the synth track came out, I managed to stumble upon a pretty nice texture. The song ends on an extended single chord jam, something I always loved to do. The actual recording goes on for another 5 minutes, but I faded it out here, as it becomes a bit too much once you've heard it a couple of times.

Running

Meantime was built around the odd meter bass riff. The words are self explanatory, no deep philosophical meanings to be unearthed in this one. Sammy Hagar would be proud. I really like the nice circular riff in the middle part and the guitar solo, which was a lot of fun to play.

Meantime

I came up with the backing for Solstice while playing guitar to amuse my little baby girl. The shortening December days provided the inspiration for the lyrics. I already released a version as my traditional Xmas single, so some of you may have already heard it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6DA5m_DZmc

Solstice

On Again is the 7th song on Cul de Sac. This one didn't come easy, I've recorded about five versions of it and ended up changing the key, the vocal melody and the lyrics before it all finally came together. It's a little horror story, vague enough so you can fill in the blanks. I love it for the vocal harmony in the chorus and getting to play that reverb drenched lead guitar part.

On Again

Shine is the 8th song on Cul de Sac, and my favorite number. I'm a great fan of J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. and always wanted to write a track where I get to let loose with a major pentatonic solo.

Shine

What It Means is the closing track on the album. The lyrics were inspired by an article I read about how information is overwhelming us and we might end up living in parallel realities. As for the music, it was a pretty interesting journey. It was one of those songs that changed a lot during the recording process. The sound for the main riff (eventually played using an EHX Key9 pedal for an electric piano sound), the bass line and the middle 8 (with the faux Gregorian chants) all came about through experimenting in the studio. I had lots of fun working on this song and I hope you'll enjoy it too. :)

Peter Varkonyi