Silk Screens: Idiot Glee - “Pinkwood”
Posted under: Lexington, Kentucky’s James Friley aka Idiot Glee gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Pinkwood”, the lead-off single from his forthcoming EP, Life Without Jazz (out February 26th via Atelier Cisieux/BureauBureau).
In 2011, as Paddywhack was about to come out, I got pretty hooked on Fleetwood Mac…’Tusk’, ‘S/T’, ‘Rumours’, ‘Mirage’, etc…it was my next discovery after the Beach Boys‘ ‘Smile’ and ‘Pet Sounds’ albums. Couldn’t get enough. Some Lindsay Buckingham stuff, too. Check out ‘Trouble’…I think I must’ve been listening to it the day I wrote “Pinkwood”.
Haha…this is how “Pinkwood” began.
It was midnight the night before I was heading out on a European tour to support the album. I’d recently re-united with my ex. I found a good beat to sample and put it in my loop pedal, started playing around with some chords. I was supposed to be practicing for my gig the next night in London…now that I think about it, that gig wasn’t very good. But at least I got this song out of it. I had a bunch of gibberish for the verses, but the chorus came to me immediately. “I Finally Got A Loverrrr”. I kept singing it over and over again. It seemed a little off lyrically, but the timing was right.
I remember when I first played with a Casio SK-1. I was at Robert Beatty’s recording “I Did It Sober” for the Resonant Hole compilation. Going through the sounds, I came across human voice. I remember him laughing and saying, “that one’s awful, you shouldn’t use that one”. I ended up using it…and again and again over the years. I think it’s beautiful. Especially the deeper tones. That’s the echoey back and forth lead part from “Pinkwood”. It fit right in, I had to include it.
Also…
…uses only human voice sound.
I played my early version of “Pinkwood” a few times on that tour, and then started layering more and more over time…more harmonies, real lyrics. Then my gf and I split again. I never felt comfortable with the way the chorus sounded. When I write lyrics, often I put more time into making sure the sounds of the words fit the song than I do the meaning of the lyrics. It’s always been like that.
So, bummed that she and I split, I tried out “I think I need a lover.” Man, it SOUNDED better. So much better! And the lyrics in the verses fit right in, too. Most of the time I’ll write a song, all of its parts, and be done in a day. A week. Maybe a little longer. This one took a while to get right…
Curated by Speaker Snacks.
