FAWM: "Martyr"

Martyr

Liner Notes

Came up with this riff in January. There aren't enough heavy grunge/powerpop songs with that kind of swing/glam/shuffle beat (which one is it? I can never remember).

It's not one of the slightly humorous protest-style powerpop tunes I've been mostly writing so far this FAWM - sometimes I revert back to old me and get all early '90s, rather than, err, mid-to-late '90s? This one is kind of about a particular struggle I've been going through over the past year, but it's all rather abstract and sometimes you've just gotta let the word salad flow, eh?

Anyway. I initially recorded this with a typical stereo hard-panned guitar but wanted to try something a bit different, so just left one guitar channel in, slightly panned, then used the upper frequencies of the bass to fill out the stereo field. It's a trick I heard on a Cheap Trick song. No pun intended.

It's funny, I worked so hard in January on setting up the template this song used for quick production, but have come to realise lately I really do prefer the sound of an actual miced-up amp, even my crappy little one, to any amp sims. They are bloody convenient though! This uses the UAD Paradise Guitar Studio sim and a gloriously OTT '2000s rock' drum preset, slightly tweaked to my liking.

My thought is perhaps this demo/arrangement is too heavy for the song, particularly in the verses. Doesn't leave much room to expand in the chorus. Thoughts?

#punk #poppunk #indie #grunge #protest #powerpop #swing #glam #newwave

Gear used: Guitar: Artist 'Grungemaster' through Paradise Guitar Studio Bass: Kontakt Prime Drums: Kontakt Icon Classic Rock + a random clap sample Synths: UAD FM8 + Minimoog, Kontakt Analog Dreams Vocals: Shure Beta 58a, Replika, Echoboy, Butch Vig Vocals (phone sound)

And plenty of processing plugins! Abbey Road, UAD stuff mostly.

Feel free to download. For my proper, finished stuff: koshrecords.net

Lyrics

you call me a martyr, so disposable forever be falling right back in the hole you call me a martyr, but i'm just out of order all broken apart

deep in the hole, living life on cruise control

we're deep in the hole, under thought patrol living life on cruise control

don't be a downer, it's better to drown her in wine

but i'm not, the saviour you're hoping, the martyr you're looking for

don't be a downer, the brain it remembers the bad times

but i'm not, the saviour you're hoping, the martyr you're looking for, no

you call me a martyr, so respectable there's nothing to celebrate when you're vegetable you call me a martyr? i'm barely a father

all broken apart deep in the hole, living life on cruise control

could happen to anyone, but it happened to me could happen to anyone, but i'm a freak could happen to anyone, but god likes to have fun

deep in the hole, under thought patrol living life on cruise control

they call me a martyr, they couldn't be wronger don't call me a martyr, makes us both look dumb they call me a martyr, they could not be wronger

all broken apart living deep in the hole, under thought patrol living deep in the hole, under thought patrol living deep in the hole, under thought patrol living life on cruise control

Comments

@dbishopbliss 2d

Sounds great, very polished. I have Paradise Guitar Studio, gonna have to try that patch. Catchy riff too.

@danxduran 2d

Thanks! It's the 'brown' version of the Lion amp, V30 speaker, plus some EQ and then processing with CLA Guitar,

@anthonykapfer 3d

i like that it’s heavy through the song. BUT if you really want to have more of a quiet loud thing, it could be cool to briefly have the guitar drop out for a short section. like a verse or a part of a verse. but the way it is now is cool because i almost feel like it’s all chorus. i’m listening and im like “what verse? there is no verse. only nonstop hook”

@danxduran 3d

Haha, yeah, the verse is catchier than the chorus. Wait, what chorus?

@nahlej381 3d

The swing hits. God damn dude you fuckin rule all the ass. If Bruce Campbell was a band it’d be you…that’s the highest compliment I’m capable of giving. O and I kind like that this songs dynamics are only 9 and 10…it kind of adds a bit of urgency without any relief-no time to catch your breath it’d work well on an album where this one is all the tension ratcheted all the way up.

@danxduran 3d

Thanks again! The only good album I can think of which is 10/10 intensity the whole way through is Killing Joke's 'Hosannahs...'

@nahlej381 2d

It’s maybe closer to 9/10 the whole time but big blacks “songs about fucking” is pretty great too

@mhol 3d

Must admit that while I only had my speaker volume really low I had to turn it down even more not to disturb the neighbours (thats a good thing btw) I love the energy this is insane!

@danxduran 3d

thank yoU!

@mattwdunn 3d

Awesome riffs. Guitars tones are perfect. Love the phone sound processed vocals to add some variation. You are on fire this FAWM

@bxphane 3d

Wow, that's heavy! Damn the audio production is simply perfect! Terrific guitar sound! The synth is a great addition !

@mace66 4d

I don't think it's too heavy, while there isn't a big build to the choruses, they are still defined by the cadence shift in the 'They call me a martyr' phrase.

Can definitely hear that 90s indie influence...and why have I never used the word 'wronger' in a song before - love it.

@powerstars 4d

I agree with the premise of combining these things, it's almost like a "Womanizer" type beat and I think the synth accentuates that nicely. Rocks hard, chorus almost sounds like mid-career Muse and I'm also picking up a smidge of Green Day or The Network. I see what you mean about the arrangement not leaving the chorus room to open up and I think that could be nicely developed in a second pass later, turning some of the verse's kinetic energy into potential. Groovy stuff though, I dig this!

@danxduran 4d

I had not heard that Britney song before, haha! I think Muse have done that beat a lot to be honest. Probably where I got it from - maybe where they did too. Green Day, I like a lot of their stuff - not my usual go-to, but their production and tunes are top-notch.