We were supposed to record the last 2 vocalists last week, but everybody involved got sick the day before, so we’ve rescheduled and it’s happening tomorrow. The album is set to release in early October. Make some noise. This is a major rock opera, 90 minutes, 3 acts.
It is inspired by the Balkans, and anybody from eastern europe or familiar with eastern europe will recognize numerous tropes happening on a number of levels. For those unfamiliar with the Balkans and want a tie in to the New Albion world, it takes place in an unnamed land east of NA and is the story of the Monk’s youth. As in, the Monk and Gambler… that monk. This is her… origin story? Tale of her youth? For those unfamiliar with New Albion (which is unlikely to be anyone reading this blog), don’t worry about it. This is a stand alone tale with only the most cursory tie in.
There were a number of challenges i set for myself, one of which was limited instruments. This is piece is a band album. It uses 6 instruments: Drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, accordion, and violin. There is some coloring using ethnic balkan instruments, but even those are playable by the keyboardist in live performance. This album is completely reproducible live by 6 musicians. I would like to see a live performance take place, and we will be working on funding to put it up here in the balkans for a few shows. That is down the road, however. My immediate concern is the album. It has some of my favorite last 15 minutes of any work i’ve made. (If i had to list top 3 endings, i’d put down Dieslepunk Opera, Miss Helen’s WW Cabaret, and this, although this isn’t about surprise endings, it’s just about nailing the landing perfectly during the final 2 songs.)
I will try to remember to record some footage of the sessions tomorrow. I’ve forgotten to do so thus far, so we’ll see if i can do so tomorrow.
Let's connect! Here is where you can find me:
! ! !
Well I’m stoked for the ending then. From the demos, I really loved the intro bits. Especially the bar song / One More Round. It’ll be awesome to see how the show has changed from concept to execution, and that’s a really interesting restriction on the instruments.
As far as your endings, I’m always biased towards whatever work I’m currently obsessing over, but as I think about it, Dieselpunk and Cabaret both had incredibly strong finales.
All in all, I’m stoked to the goats and am looking forward to it. I’m also excited to hear what local Balkan talent sounds like. You always pick outstanding casts so I’m sure they’ll rock and rock hard.