The PenIs Mightier

Hello everybody and welcome to HAIR IN THE AIR, The Official Blog of 3D In Your Face.  Before we get into this weeks blog I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support last week.  Together we helped raise a little over $2,700 for The Sunshine Kids Foundation.  That right there is positive action at it's best.  The 3D In Your Face Army has always surprised me but this outpouring of generosity hits me right in the heart.  Thank you again from all of us.  This week we are begining to pick up steam towards the spring and summer tour.  This Friday, Feb 27th at The 21st Saloon will be the last show in February and will be the last show of the winter tour.  After this we start gearing up to make the move to outdoor shows, festivals, and bike rallies.  To be honest with you I can't wait.  Earlier this winter I bought a brand new bass amp and I haven't even been able to turn it up past three yet.  Come on summer.  This week we are teaming up with our good friends at Pink Shugar Gourmet Candies to bring you our official last show of winter.  These fine candy gurus will be spinning cotton candy and introducing us all to some of there new lines of tasty sweet treats.  Prepare for sensory overload (That's those zip-up masks right?).  HAHA.

Last Friday during our load in at The 21st Saloon I took a call from a record company that is potential interested in signing 3D In Your Face to their roster of bands.  I don't want to say to much yet because there is nothing set in stone.  That being said we are currently working on our follow up to "Midnight Devils".  Writing songs is something that doesn't really come as easy to me as it does I feel to others.  There is no magic voodoo that makes the words fit into the song.  But then again I believe that every songwriter creates in his or her own style.  Mine happens to be long hours spent toiling over a few words that I need to tie a verse or chorus together.  The pressure is there and I often push myself to get a song finished so I can bring it to the rest of the band in order to start the next step. Much like everything else in band life there is a process or chain that you need to go through in order for a song to see the light of day.  For me this is how the process unfolds.  First you need an idea or a phrase that you feel sums up an emotion that you wish to express.  Then I simply write down the idea and work on putting a melody to that idea.  This part gets a bit tricky because you have to be able to show the rest of the band musically what it is you want them to play.  I then begin writing ideas and words on a single piece of paper, cutting them down to the exact lyrics I want to use in the song and that also fit within the music.  Confused yet?  Below is a picture of the original "Forbidden City" lyric sheet.

Currently I am working on a song that is kind of a narrative, it tells a story about my life.  I was challenged to write a short story about what it was like for me coming of age in Fremont, NE.  The sights, the sounds, the feelings of 18 years old and no place to go.  I am taking the lyrics for the song directly from the story and placing them in order in the song.  There is a beginning a middle and an end.  This is a very different style of writing than I am used to but the process has been very enlightening.  Instead of searching for words that I think sound good, the words are already there I just have to arrange them to fit the music.  The songs is very heartfelt and means quite a bit to me and yet it's only just words written down on a piece of paper.  I only hope that the emotion carries through when I present it to the rest of the band.  Not only is the song about me but it's about everybody that grew up in a small town listening to Rock N Roll music.  I think that each and everyone of you will be able to relate to this song.  Most of all I hope my friends that were around at that time realize that I tried to document our struggle during those formative years and how it shaped the rest of our lives.

ALWAYS LOUD
FOREVER PROUD

Sam Spade