Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

hi everyone, nice to be on the forum. Hope you're all well.

I am singer/songwriter with acoustic/folk-rock band Fake Gods from central Scotland. We recently recorded album of demos entitled ‘Wine To Water’ which can be streamed or downloaded for free in its entirety at www.fakegods.bandcamp.com ‘Wine To Water’ also features 3 of our own compositions along with covers from many other favourites such as The The, Son Volt, R.E.M, Richard Shindell, James Grant and the Tragically Hip.

Our website www.fakegods.com has a short biography explaining who we are, what we do, our influences, etc. We have begun to write for our first album proper, and we intend to book studio time and work with a producer on this project in due course (recording everything ourselves was just too much hassle and distraction). We are always on the lookout for gigs or other bands/artists to play with so if you know of any opportunities, we would be delighted to hear about them.

I would really appreciate any feedback whatsoever, good or bad as this is our first foray into the world of writing and recording. Bear in mind though that these are just demos!

Cheers,
Alex
alex@fakegods.com

I like "The Courier" a lot. I think it could build a lot more, though.

"The 28" - the xylophone is odd in this, & the song is much weaker than "The Courier"

"Scared" - too wordy/preachy for me...it's like you're too involved with making a message, so much so that you lose me (a personal failing, I fear)

"Shattered" - the intro is out there. I don't like the elect guitar work here...interesting thing, though...the arrangement could be better

"Wine To Water" - these rhyme schemes are too constant to continue to be interesting, & your music is becoming too predictably slow & pretty

"Love Is..." - it's okay, but it's sounding like all the rest

So far, I wouldn't put more than one of these in a collection, cuz they're too close in overall feel. It might help if you produced them differently. You have a nice Train-kinda feel to your vocals, but there's no excitement, no real power. It's all coming off a lil wimpy after the first 2 or 3 songs, to me. It's pleasant enough, but kinda bland. The electric guitar work is kinda amateurish in content. It needs to have more power, & more defined melodies, rather than wandering aimlessly like this.

"Next Best Western" - more of the same...I'm skipping along now...you're losing me (again - my failing?)

"Lips Like Ether" - I like the opening line a lot - "You slipped into my bloodstream through a severed vein" - great line, & well worth printing out right here (I dunno if this is a cover or one of yours), but it doesn't fit the mood of the piece, which is, once again, a wimpy wandering little melody that seems to have little real direction, but only follows where the chords take it, rather than LEADING the chords. That, imho, is one of the hardest part of songwriting - to make the melody pull the chords, rather than the other way around. The chorus starts to give me a stronger melody, but the overall feel is so similar to the other tunes that I must move on again...

"Windfall" - again, more emphasis on wordiness than melody, which comes off as weak, same feel as the rest...

"Country Feedback" - nice feel, but again, too similar, & like the lyric says - "it's all the same" - which I could feel at the first guitar strum.

Overall, I must say that your sound is really okay, even pleasant, but too much sounds too much like too much of the rest, for me. You need to open up a bit. Get some power in there. I'm sure these songs reach you on some deep level, but if you applied your abilities to something a little stronger, & put a little more effort into your arrangements & productions, you would be something to hear.

If this is what you're working toward, you're doing it very well. But for me, I look for more depth in a collection, & more versatility. Any of these could be removed or traded for another, & few ppl would notice the difference, I'd wager.

Hope I'm not coming across as too negative, but I gotta tell ya the truth.

Have a good day, & welcome to the forum.

Thank you for taking time out to comment in detail, this type of feedback is genuinely useful to us in trying to build our sound and direction.

I feel that much of the sameness you mention is down to the way the album was recorded. We laid down rhythm guitar tracks for each song which were far too similar in nature. Thereafter, the recording process was seriously fragmented and it resulted in a bland overall feel which doesn't do the tracks justice. I will cut us some slack though as it was our first attempt at recording and we've learned quite a few lessons.

We are conscious of the need for more power and more convincing delivery and we'll be addressing that next time around. I should also say that since making the album we've dropped most of it from our live set as many of the songs were covers we had played for a long time and were keen to record. In hindsight, many of them weren't suited to us.

Again your feedback is greatly appreciated and we will hopefully be able to put it to good use when we undertake recording again.

fg - take the time to create a vision of what you want each song to sound like before you start to record. Look at it, not as parts coming together, but as a whole. Analyze what you hear in your head when you think of the tune. What does each piece need to emphasize the lyric? Where should the sweeteners go? What arrangement would sound best for this piece? Where do the harmonies need to go? What instruments will blend the best for the feel of the song? How should you apply your dynamics after a crescenco? How should it build? Are more instruments called for? Some of this, the producer can help you with, if he's any good at all, but you should have some idea of the direction you're headed in before you even choose a producer. Work closely with the producer to see that your vision is still being carried out, or if it needs to be changed for the betterment of the song.

Chart the whole thing out, then go to the studio. A recording process can be useful for writing & arranging, but the demo or the final product should be "finished" before it ever starts to be recorded, in the respect that you have all the various parts written, & you have a complete vision of what the final result will sound like. All the various parts played should be rehearsed ad nauseum before you start the final recording, as well. That will solve the "aimless noodling" on the guitar (& save you countless dollars in studio time). As you work on your demo, you'll definitely hear what's working & what isn't, & you can make necessary adjustments there as you go.

Take care not to fall into certain traps, like in the song order on your CD; the songs should vary from tune to tune, as in not having three songs in a row in the same key or the same tempo or the same arrangement style. Mix things up.

You have established that you have a "sound." Now, the challenge is to make it work in ways that don't become old hat by the 4th song.

Best of luck in your project. I look forward to hearing more.