Burn Up

October 11th, 2008 Posted in Music | 2 Comments »

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Do what you love and the money will follow!

Who thinks about money more than anybody?

Think about it…

I will tell you who, poor people. They are obsessed with money, this is why they buy lottery tickets and pawn things and purchase liabilities.

Rich people are rich in “spirit” first. They follow their heart and they are unreasonable and take risk. One of my favorite examples is the professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Now here is an “unreasonable man” Imagine when your high school counselor ask you what you want to be when you grow up and if you said “I want to be a professional skateboarder”

You would be scolded and told you were “unreasonable” and you would need something to fall back on”. The sad thing is if we are simple and accept this diagnosis this is exactly what we get…

This story illustrates an example of the message behind this song. My goal in this tune was to inspire people to follow their hearts and live the life they want to live. Better to “Burn Up” than burn out.

A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice—we win, or we perish!

They won.

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a BURNING DESIRE TO WIN, essential to success.

George Bernard Shaw hammered my whole philosophy of this song brilliantly is this quote:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

I love that quote and another good friend of mine Carl Finch from the Polka band “Brave Combo” captured the attitude of this message as well as anyone in his song “Do Something Different”

I am a huge fan of “Dancehall Reggae” a lot of people do not know that the origins of “hip hop” lie in Reggae. The DJ’s at dancehalls is Jamaica used to talk over records and introduce the tracks.
This developed into a style and made it’s way to New York and spawned a revolution with guys like “Sparrow” and DJ “Cool Herc” leading the way. The beat on this track was influenced by “Sly and Robbie”

Jimi Tunnell my producer and a great vocal mentor to me sang the chorus on this track. He is an amazing vocalist and all around musician. When I heard his chorus “I got goosebumps”

The first time I ever “made out” with a girl it was while we were listening to “Purple Rain” the Prince LP. When I found the beat I wanted to use on this song Prince just came to mind. He is a great guitar player as well.

I grew up in the 80″s and all my favorite music is from that era. Prince, U2, Depeche Mode, ZZ Top and Peter Gabriel. All these bands embraced “technology” yet still made timeless music. That was my goal here, to do just that!

Burn Up!
Eric

Words of a Song

October 11th, 2008 Posted in Music | No Comments »

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I believe that music is the international language.

I also believe that no matter what your mood and what your going through in life somewhere at sometime someone wrote a song about it.

If they haven’t yet and you can’t find a song to relate to then I believe the “universe” is compelling you to write a song that will speak your truth and share your feelings with the world.

You see music is what our feelings “sound like”. Music has been such a big part of my life that it has carried me through everything. Even my Grandmother’s funeral. I was an altar boy at her funeral
and at that time I was an unhappy rebellious teenager that could count the times I smiled on one hand. One of my cousins commented that I had the perfect disposition for a funeral. I kind of resented that but it was her perception and kind of true. What she could not see though was what was going on inside my heart. I hid it really well.

At the funeral the choir sang this haunting Czech hymn “Boze’ Cos Racil” when I heard it I got goose bumps all over. I loved my grandmother very much and i still do. I remember like yesterday the feeling that came over me when I heard that tune at her funeral. I had heard my mom sing it before but not in this intense of a context. That day I learned the power of music in a way I never had before and it sent chills down my spine. Still does.

I remember thinking that day that I would record that hymn and I did in 2004 almost 20 years later. That is how long it stuck with me. It ended up being the last track on my debut album “Wake Up”
What was “weird” about all of this is that I sang it in Czech and my mom says I nailed it. My mom speaks Czech better than anyone and I don’t speak Czech that well so that was a compliment coming from her.

So many people that bought my album commented on how they love that song. Even my girlfriend at the time and none of these people spoke Czech or even understood the lyrics. This just reinforced my belief in the power of music.

In Tianmen Square when the Chinese students were revolting against the oppression of the Chinese Government. The students stood in front of the tanks and held hands and started singing “Imagine” by John Lennon.

When I saw that I was a little older and wiser and no longer a rebellious teenager. I can count the times I have cried in my life on one hand and man oh’ man that one got me and it got me good. Once again “goosebumps”

My friend Stephane Hemon says “goosebumps” are God’s way of telling that Truth is present and love is in the air. I believe him and this is what I wrote “Words of a Song” about.

One of my favorite singers and songwriters is my friend Paul Schmaus. When he heard this song he told me he loved it and thought that there was some kind of “divine intervention” in me writing it.
That was an incredibly nice thing to say and I was very humbled to hear that from someone I respect as much as Paul about something that I wrote. When I listen to the lyrics of this song I feel I have to agree with Paul.

It feels like something greater than me simply used me as a vehicle to release this song to the world. I heard Eddie Van Halen say that once about his music. He said it “I just sit down at the piano and it comes to me, I don’t know who they are, but they send it” The greek word “muse” is where we get the word music from. The Greeks believed that the muses were angels that sent us music. Ii think they were on to something.

There is a funny story behind this song. Originally when we were recording it we had this jazzy kind of R&B drum groove we were using. Once these lyrics “came to me” Jimi Tunnell my producer had me come over to the studio and sing it. When he heard the vocals against the track he called me in from the vocal booth and said. “Nah man, we have got to change the drums, this is not happening, it’s too cute”

He ended coming up with the tribal “Lion King” boom that this track needed and the rest is history. I am very proud of the lyrics of this song. I made it the first track on my debut album because I feel it set the tone and balanced the hymn I sang for my Grandmother as the last track.

Here are the lyrics. have a look at them before you listen and i feel you will relate on a much deeper level.

Hakuna Matata!

Eric

The Words of a Song

When people sing
I will dance
Into the earth
In a trance

I travel far
And emerge
In the words of a song

When you arrive
At this place
And stare god
In the face

You will find
Who you are
In the words of a Song

I have loved
And I’ve lost
In my pain
Born the cross

I have seen
No greater cure
Than the words of a song

As above
So below
In the depths
Of my soul

I return
To the earth
In the words of a song

(Chorus)

When you are alone
And the world is your stage
What will you sing
In your song

The one who would be master
Is the servant of us all
You will find your answer
In a Song

(Eric Keyes/Fang Tooth Music BMI)

Love Rules

October 11th, 2008 Posted in Music | No Comments »

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I love the band Steely Dan. Growing up in the 80’s I listened to a lot of FM Radio and these guys were the Kings of Great Radio songs.

The songs were jazzy and hip and always had the best arrangements and absolutely the best musicians around on every album.

My good friend Clint Strong showed me this George Benson tune “Sunny” that had this great chord progression that was so smooth.

It reminded me of Steely Dan and just stuck in my head for days. It was so bad I had to finally sit down at my piano and work out a melody.

I played through the chords a couple of times and the chorus just came to me out of nowhere “Whatever they say to you, the opposite is true”

That phrase I have to attribute to another great friend and mentor the always brilliant Dr. Blase Harris M.D. Blase pointed out to me once “did you ever notice that whatever someone says to you, often the opposite is true?” I thought about it and the more i thought about it, it just sunk in and the more I noticed it was true.

For example you go on a date with someone and they say. “Well you know, I am not really the jealous type”? or “I don’t really drink that much”

You better watch out!

Or look at politicians; Donald Rumsfeld, “This war is not about oil”

George Bush Sr, “Read my lips no new taxes”

Bill Clinton, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”

And the list goes on and on.

Once I had the chorus it was just a matter of laying it down and filling in the cracks “the verses” I wanted to push myself vocally on this track as well.

Another good friend of mine Chris Sacco from the band Dune TX had given me a copy of the Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” I had been listening to it in my car constantly.

All of the back ground vocals on this track where influenced by the amazing vocal arrangements on that album and I was proud of what I came up with and how 3 of my closest friends, whether they knew it or not were collaborators on this track. Inspiration is the best spark for me when it comes to writing and I love hanging around inspiring people.

I am excited about a recent development that happened with “Love Rules”. My drummer John Carruth brought this real cool cat named “Damascus” to rehearsal a few days ago.

He is a poet and and MC from Dallas and he has an amazing way with words that wakes people up and makes them think. He wrote some verse to accompany this track and I am going to release it as a “remix” very shortly so stay tuned.

Of all the emotions in the world, i believe “Love Rules” so the message of this song is quite clear and straight to the point.

Love Rules,
Eric