So upon wandering around during my free time after school today, I looked into the harmless, blue sky and saw pigs flying. I knew what must be done, and I immediately ran home and recorded TWO videos for fecies and chuckles to throw on YouTube, LaptopSessions, and my new site mikefusco.com that actually has a shot of seeing the light of day! I’m so excited about it and it dawned on me that I must get more content of me on the web for your viewing pleasure and listening displeasure. : )
So I’m starting off easy. This is a new song from this past summer called “Do You Have A Sister?” and it sort of described my luck. You go through a terrible relationship, you find (or long ago found) someone who’s perfect for you, and of course they have a boyfriend. And of course he happens to be a close friend. And of course he doesn’t care about her and complains all the time and of course it becomes a huge mess. And it begs the question- “Fine..i get it… you’re taken…do you have a sister?” Though I knew she did, this song has deeper meaning than its upbeat tune implies. Here I have this guy friend telling me how I’m soooo lucky because I don’t have to try and one night at work I got three phone numbers and it made him so mad….meanwhile he’s “Stuck” with this perfect girl that deserved much better. And it made me want to wake both of them up. Her and I would hang out til 6 am in the summer and it was just…a nice escape back to innocence again after a terrible ending to a terrible period in life.
I know fate has a certain role in the world, but I believe it takes into account our ambition and relies on who we are to take us the rest of the way there. So to “Pam”, or anyone else who’s not happy where they find themselves, there’s always still time. Each day is a choice.
and for the love of God…somebody call my iPhone…i just got a new white 3G! =) ciao all.
Welcome to my first Original Wednesday original acoustic song music video for the year 2009! It’s Jim Fusco here with a great song that we chose to kick-off our (and by “our”, I mean the band Masters of the Universe, or MoU) second album, “Homestead’s Revenge”. The song is “Only A Dream” and it’s a chorus I wrote the tune to, but never did anything else with.
I remember the day very vividly. It was one of our band songwriting sessions and I remember finally fleshing-out the chorus with the help of Chris, Mike, Becky, and Cliff. Then, I ran over to the piano and started to work out chord progressions for the verses. I came up with the very interesting Em7 to Bm chord progression and I really love the tune that goes along with it. I remember sitting there working and hearing Becky and Chris deciding on words to go into the chorus of the song.
I took my ideas over to the rest of the band and we worked out the words. We came up with this image of a man in a jail cell. The conversation went something like this: “How about a man locked in a jail cell that’s dreaming about getting out?” “Oh yeah- like he’s locked in there!” “Okay, let’s see- ‘Locked in solitary confinement…’” “No, that doesn’t work with the tune…” “Locked in solidarity…” “That doesn’t make sense, though.” “Oh, but it does! The guy is locked up AND he’s all alone!” “Perfect!”
And that’s how the writing session went- we scrutinized everything but were able to paint a very realistic image of the idea we were getting across. Why don’t you just listen and find out what that message is?
I also remember Mike returning from the back room, playing his middle-8. I love that part of the song and it leads right back into the chorus very well. He did that on “These Streets” from the same album. The lyrics are great on the middle-8 to “These Streets”- we were thinking about that kind of great fast-paced life you think you have in high school and threw in, “Live like it’s 1999,” because I was a freshman/sophomore in 1999.
Also, I was very excited when we all did the vocals. On the original (which you can hear by going to MoU’s Official Website), you’ll hear double-tracked vocals from each of the five members of the band on the choruses and backgrounds, PLUS the lead vocals.
Some fun facts: Chris, Cliff, Mike, and I recorded our vocals together and we dubbed Becky’s much softer voice later on two other tracks so I could handle it better in the mix. It isn’t easy blending a female voice into four other male voices. But, my voice must not be too far off from a female’s voice, which made it easier to mix. Why do I say that? Well, on the middle-8, you’ll hear the backing vocals come in. I love that part. Well, on that section, Becky doesn’t sing- it’s just Mike’s lead, then Mike, Chris, Cliff, and I on backing vocals. I sang the high part (doing my best Becky impression) because we seamlessly wove the backing vocals around Mike’s lead, allowing us to use only four other backing vocal harmony parts. I remember doing those backing vocals that night with the boys and we were all so incredibly excited. After we finished each good take, we’d get so stoked about it. The greatest backing vocals I think I’ve ever heard are during the second half of the second verse. The way that some of the vocals move around and some stay the same…it’s really a stroke of genius on my part! 🙂 Want to hear just the vocals-only section? Click HERE and you’ll go to the Albums page on the MoU website. The clip of only the vocals from that section will play in the background. Click around to the other pages on the site and you’ll hear more rare vocals-only clips from the album!
Well, I hope you enjoy this great original song. It was truly a collaborative effort- a great, catchy song- that was the perfect album-starter. Until next Tuesday, I hope you have a great week. Make sure to come back tomorrow for your Jeff Copperthite Thumpin’ Thursday acoustic cover song music video!
Hey there! Well, it’s Original Wednesday, and Original-ly this post should have been Jeff! But he was nice enough to call me and offer the spot to get back on blogging. So, out from the bullpen I come, (hopefully more effectively than the Mets bullpen!) with this original acoustic laptop session for you to enjoy. I remember everything about writing this song- I remember being embarassed by the oddity of the tune. But, as some of you may know, songs come to me. So I don’t really have control of the style or genre or tune…and most of the time the words! It hits me like a sack of bricks. So what you get are raw and honest tunes, with simple lines that end up being my favorite.
This song has a spanish-feel to it, and the middle where chords ring out is very Dennis Wilson sounding. Some of my favorite lines are “She’s easy to love, and you can bet she’s so good lookin’…but in this case there’s more than meets the eye…” All of these words were auto-biographical, and you can hear it in the lyrics, like you’re a fly on the wall for these interactions- “And sometimes when I look in your eyes, I see confusion”… “When she sits across from me”…”Sometimes when I sleep, your eyes- they look so deep,..and in them I can see nothing but love”.
It was about the stress of romance and the meaning of dreams (where this song was written) and how during the day, facades can be put on, but at night, your conscience isnt always there to protect you from talking in your sleep. One of my favorite lyrics, in its simplicity, is “And somehow I know that I’ll never stop loving you”. The last verse, after a pause- was a joke in music form… when people think it ends, I hop in saying I wasn’t through speaking (hope i got you on it!) I remember playing it for Jim when it was recorded, saying “Wanna hear this stupid, weird song I just did?” and when he finished listening to it, he kept the headphones on and said, “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?…that’s the best song you’ve ever written” =)
oh jim, this is for you… you’ll be the only one that gets it.
Well, it’s been months since the show, but I’ve finally gotten around to posting the photos from our amazing “trip” (five minutes down the road) to see TNA wrestling live in Wallingford, CT at the Chevrolet (formerly Oakdale) Theater.
Obviously, my favorite part of the night was climbing in the actual six-sided ring and getting a photo taken with Kurt Angle. He was a nice guy and I even made him laugh! And, no, he wasn’t just laughing at how weak I look…I think…
Well, here are some great photos from that night:
Jim Fusco and Jeremy Borash
Tomko vs. Samoa Joe
Rhino and Traci Brooks vs. James Storm and Jacqueline
