Ep. 68: Song Challenge with Tom Brinton “The First Time I Heard The Strokes”

For this week’s episode, I’m joined by Tom Brinton. We challenged ourselves to “write a song about another band.” We ended writing a song about the first time Tom heard The Strokes and appropriately titled the song, “The First Time I Heard The Strokes.” Listen to our conversation writing the song and the process of recording it in this podcast.

For the recording, we started with the drum machine sound from a really old, cheesy keyboard. To give it a little punch and keep it in line with the Strokes sound, we added some light distortion to the recording. I added acoustic guitar and organ. Tom laid down two electric guitar parts, bass and tambourine.

Last came vocals. During the verses, Tom and I sung in unison and during the choruses, I sang an octave higher. We added distortion to once again pay homage to the sound of the Strokes.

I’m pretty excited with how it turned out. It’s one of the most fun and quirky songs I’ve ever recorded and I hope you like it.

Lyrics:
Morning bell, I hear it ringing and it’s time for school,
They got the TV on, it’s turned to channel one,
I turned my head around and heard a brand new sound,

I thought my life was going fine but I was wrong,
Thought it was perfect til I heard it in a song,
When something comes along to change your mind,
You’ve been missing something you can’t define,
You can make a bad day turn around,
Anytime you hear it, Tell me did you hear it?

Heading home, I cranked it up and now my speaker’s blown,
Back to my driveway and I’m pulling in,
I’m in my car and I’m still listening,
My mom’s banging on the door,
But I just want some more,

I thought my life was going fine but I was wrong,
Thought it was perfect til I heard it in a song,
When something comes along to change your mind,
You’ve been missing something you can’t define,
You can make a bad day turn around,
Anytime you hear it, Tell me did you hear it?

Visit Tom Brinton’s Website, Space Venture Coalition, and The Song Club.

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