Another Wednesday means another new original song acoustic music video here on the Laptop Sessions music video blog! The site is more popular than ever and I’m very happy to have my new original music featured in front of so many eyes and ears.
In the midst of working an eight hour day and another almost full-time night job, I got a minute to record this video. I’ve been working on my new album, “Halfway There” for almost two years now and it’s been a whole four years since my last effort. Well, we did have a band in the middle there, so that’s where all of my creativity went for a couple years.
This song actually branches off of that sentiment. The band was a great idea in theory. We were even great on stage. But, when everyone in the band is close to each other friend-wise, then it makes it really difficult to mix work with it. If I had met the other band members at a job somewhere, it probably would’ve worked out better. Tonight’s original song is one that tells the story of the night that signaled the end of the band as we knew it.
I’m not angry. I’m a bit more ashamed, as I say in the song. I really wanted the band to work, but realized it wasn’t working and really couldn’t work with the personell we had. I felt ashamed because I always finish what I start and never got that satisfaction with the band. We even released an album that was credited to the band last year, but in actuality, it was a compilation of what each member was doing at the time. When I think of what might have been…
On my new album, this song is probably the most rockin’ out of the 11 tracks. It’s short, but there’s a pretty cool guitar solo in there that always makes people’s eyes light up whenever I play it for them. I guess they never pegged me as the Guitar Hero type. Well, it’s off to work for the rest of the night- I hope you enjoy tonight’s video. I still want to remix and remaster four songs because I want this one to be as near-perfect as I can get it. See you then!
Yes, that’s right- a world premiere tonight here on the Laptop Sessions music video blog!
My first solo album in four years — “Halfway There” — was in the works. I can’t believe it’s been that long. And, with the production value and songwriting skills, you’ll realize that I’ve grown in many ways over that time. I’ve seen a band come and (essentially) go in that time. I’ve produced and written songs for two albums while in that band. “Homestead’s Revenge” is truly a great album and I can only hope that “Halfway There” can top it.
I hope to create some sort of buzz for the new album. I spent so long making it and I’m so proud of it that I wanted to wait until the Laptop Sessions got popular to release it. Maybe now, my collegues here on the site will realize why I’ve been pushing them so hard to find better avenues for popularity here on the music video blog…
This song, “Halfway There”, is obviously the title track, but it doesn’t appear until track 10 on the 11 track album. It’s funny- my last album was 13 tracks and this new album is longer with two fewer songs! The songs on this album are well-thought-out and complete. The songs on this album take their time and don’t sound too rushed. The songs on this album are the songs I always knew I could make, but never really had the time or the resources to complete. You can see why I’m so proud of it!
Of course, this album has a theme. When you see the album cover, which is awesome, by the way, you’ll get more of the theme’s meaning. I’m having a great painter named Ben Quesnel paint the cover. In exchange, I’ll be making him a website for all of his artististic work. It’s a great trade-off and I know we’ll both be very happy in the end.
Tonight’s song really sums-up the whole concept of feeling “Halfway There”, hence it’s place towards the end of the album. I give examples of what I’m trying to say throughout the album and finally give it a nice summary towards the end.
The tune came to me while driving back home after our usual trip to my parents’ house on Thursday nights for TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV. I knew the title of the album long before I wrote this song. Thinking of the album and its title, I started to sing to myself in the car: “Halfway there…halfway there…halfway there…I’ll always be halfway there…” I proceeded to drive home much faster than usual and fleshed-out the song a bit more.
Actually, I made a YouTube video of how I developed this song- here it is below. Then, you can watch tonight’s Laptop Session Original Wednesday version and get a better feel for the finished product.
Of course, the REAL finished product has literally ten of my vocals on the chorus- it sounds so cool! Again, I finally have the techniques and everything down to make productions like this possible…and sound good, too! But, for now, I hope you’ll enjoy the first newly-released track off of my upcoming album, “Halfway There” on acoustic guitar for tonight’s Original Wednesday music video.
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!
Well, never let it be said that I was entirely original when I first started writing songs. This song is proof positive that I had a lot of emotions that needed to be expressed, but that I had a long way to go before I could release songs and not be embarrassed of them. For instance, take the title of tonight’s original contribution, “My First Song.”
Anyone willing to guess when I wrote this song?
As you may have guessed, this is the first song I ever wrote. Now, I had written poems and stories, and I had even written lyrics for which I had tunes in my head. Some of those I would even go back to later on and add music. But, at the time, this was the first song I wrote as a complete piece.
I clearly recall that afternoon, sitting in front of my sister’s keyboard and awkwardly positioning my fingers on the keyboard, playing with chord progressions and lyrical possibilities. On this particular afternoon, I was particularly consumed with conflicting feelings of obsession and revulsion for a girl who I spent the better part of four years idolizing. Now, the lyrics may be simple and the words may be even simpler, but it was true. It was from the heart. And, for better or worse, it was probably the most openly honest I have ever been — or ever will be — in a song.
If you pay attention, the lyrics are subtle but have interesting aspects. For instance, the first verse ends, “I know that you want-“. This abrupt ending is deliberate; I meant to give the feeling of being cut off, perhaps to invite the girl who is the subject of the song to be curious. To want to find out what I know and if what I know is indeed what she wants.
The second verse is somewhat enigmatic. From where I sit, pushing seven years after I wrote this song, I’m not sure if I meant what I think this line means: “I feel that you want something that will get you there.” My question now is, where is “there”? For that matter, what did I mean by “something” rather than “someone”?
Regardless, I had a lot of fun dusting this classic off. Thanks to the Chris Moore Songbook, I was able to recall the chords and lyrics to this song, as well as several others that I played as part of a “tour down memory lane.” I hope you enjoy this brief and simple, but landmark (for me!) tune.
As a final note, because I’m posting today, Jeff will be taking my place on Friday. I know you’ll enjoy Jim and Jeff’s work in the coming days (and I certainly will, as I now have the weekend off!), so I’ll see you all on Monday.
