Tear it Down
A Demo a Day: Day 7
A blade, a blunt, a loaded gun, a reason…
This genre-hopping piece is a stew of counterculture personae and tropes: raves, the Occupy movement (or now Antifa), defund the police, burn it all down. As Marshall Law quite publicly pushes for consolidating power and the rule of law, Peter and his band of anarchists plot to fuck shit up. The wealthy and powerful control so much, and they always want more: it’s time to turn the tables.
The Scene
The song is set in a nightclub and divided into three distinct successive parts: a dance section, set in the early evening hours, with Peter and his crew plotting over the music as the patrons stream in, culminating in a loud rave with a large crowd of dancers; a gritty funk/hip hop bit, wherein Peter makes the case to whoever will listen that we’re not going to take it anymore; and a hard guitar rock ending with Peter’s gang and the patrons going wild and trashing the club.
The Demo
I have to say I had SO much fun recording this demo!
The dance section is a bit pro forma and I know we can do better for the record. I really want to get a Deee-lite type of house groove happening; you can see where I’m trying to take it with the Motown horns toward the end of this first part. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the demo recordings have multiple goals, one of which is to lay out the entire story, supporting development of the stage production. This part works fine to that end: we’re in a nightclub and the music builds as the place gets more crowded. Then, the fun begins!
The second section is Rage-style guitar funk in that saddest of all keys, Phrygian dominant mode, with a white boy hip hop rant on top. This bit was rattling around in my head for over a dozen years and I was never sure I could pull it off, but I did. And while I’m no Tom Morello I think I was able to whip out a nice Jungle Boogie type of guitar riff and a solid bass groove to go with my already decent drum and keyboard chops. And I love the menacing keyboard line if I do say so myself.
And of course, there’s part three. It’s a Highway to Hell of an ending. Rock falsetto, Angus Young-inspired guitar lead and a rollicking bass line. Achievements unlocked!