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MAXEL TOFT27 (Taft)
2012-2018 This is another collaboration with Andy Deitrich. See 37. I wrote the songs at least 7 years before they were released so finally getting them out was anticlimactic. Andy and I were trying to put together a full album (or even EP) and it just wasn't working out with our life circles so we gave up and released these so they would at least be out there and we could move on. I am happy with the outcome even though this is another case of not wanting to give up control when I am so used to doing everything myself. Everyone else seems to love it when Andy produces my stuff so it makes me want to do more even though I always have some issues . . . It was originally recorded at Maestro-Matic possibly in 2012. We redid the vocals in 2017 since I should have been better after 5 years of practice. Right? A person could keep redoing tracks forever. I would have liked to redo the acoustic guitar. But I don't usually operate like that or I would never get anything done. I am not an accurate enough performer so I usually tend to leave the mistakes in there. The lyrics for Digging In started out as a response to Andy's daughter needing a lot of heart surgeries. It ended up going a different direction in my head because of wordplay and rhyming etc. but it seems to have multiple interpretations so it is a keeper. I remember being critical of the digital piano. Andy tried some different sounds and I was like I mean a "real" acoustic piano that is maybe even out of tune. However, I do like what is being played on the piano and I am sure that all the listeners are happy too. Then years later he added the "real" accordion so now we are even. I wrote Grow Restless for an topical art project based on a couple passages in scripture. The lyrics are on the border of cheese with all the matching "mustard" sounding lines but it is easy to ignore when listening. I actually like all of the added music to this song and have no problems with the sound of the arrangement. However, Andy took a couple parts out of the final mixdown and now it doesn't make sense lyrically. It is supposed to go A+B, A+B+B'+A', bridge, B'+A'. The final version of A+B, A+B', bridge, B'+A' loses the symmetry. But that is why there are songwriters and producers. I have no idea how much time Andy spent on producing and mixing. It is nice to have someone else push the buttons. |