Johannes Schult

This one was inspired by NealMorse.com. I had a hard time to come up with the lyrics because there are so many things you might want to bring along “just in case”. Once I had the lyrics written I struggled finding the appropriate musical style. Polka? Country? Pop? In the end I went with a some kind of contrast: quiet chords versus monkey lyrics. Go figure. (Oh yeah, I filmed myself when I recorded the track.)

#23 Do You Have a Spare Monkey?

There are some things that you never know
When you’re going to need them
Like if you see ducks in Idaho
What are you going to feed them
Yeah sometimes it takes more than a towel
So better be prepared

So get ready while you can
And learn the words to “Mandy”
And you never know just when
A flamethrower might come in handy
Yeah sometimes it takes more than a towel
So better be prepared

Do you have a spare monkey?

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is one of my more pointless songs. I wrote the lyrics on a plane approaching Ljubljana. I did not paint the interior of the aircraft, mind you. In fact, don’t try this at home or in any aircraft, at least not without appropriate permissions.

The two guitar tracks are both first takes. Not that the chord changes are difficult or anything. I’m just glad this weekly song thing is good for something. I’m also still amazed how bad I am at adjusting the drum volume. The rhythm is usually very loud while I’m recording in order for everything to be in time. Eventually, I try to level the other tracks up to match the drum volume. Still, every time the drums remain much too loud. I force myself to lower their volume until I momentarily think the mix is ridiculous. That’s usually when the sound balance is almost good. (The bass became pretty prominent and I’m not sure this is a good thing.)

#22 Painting the Plane

I’m sitting here for hours now
I’m bored and we are still not there
But I have a Biro
And some paintings I want to share

So now I’m painting the plane from inside
As we’re flying through the night
Circles and frames and famous people’s names
I’m painting the plane from inside

So now I’m painting the plane from inside
As we’re flying through the night
Circles and frames and famous people’s names
I’m painting the plane from inside

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is yet another instrumental track with a title that has little to do with the music. I like how surface tension sometimes appears to be fragile, especially on bodies of water on a windless day. Floating was another thing that came to my mind while working on this track.

I wrote the music right after getting out of my bed on the morning of May 14, 2010. The dialogue between the acoustic and the electric guitar wasn’t exactly what I was aiming for in the first place. Still, I’m quite content with the track and its dynamics.

#21 Surface Tension

This is a piece I’ve recently written for Manticess. I don’t know yet if it will end up in one of our songs. I had made a scratch recording with improvised German lyrics. Eventually, I added some grammar and decided to turn it into a 52-second song. It’s just two acoustic guitars and my voice. It suits the lyrics, I think. Susanne will certainly sing it much better, but you get an idea what our music sounds like in the early stages.

#20 Die Fremde

Langsam wird es Abend.
Die Sonne ist verbleicht.
Langsam kommt die Dunkelheit.
Sie rennt nicht, nein, sie schleicht.

In der Nacht kommt der Schatten.
In der Nacht kommt die Angst.
In der Nacht kommt die Fremde,
Der du nicht entfliehen kannst.
In der Nacht kommen Geister
Und sie singen ein Lied.
In der Nacht kommt die Furcht,
Dass es kein morgen mehr gibt.

In der Nacht kommt der Schatten.
In der Nacht kommt die Angst.
In der Nacht kommt die Fremde,
Der du nicht entfliehen kannst.
In der Nacht bist du einsam
Und du kommst nicht zur Ruh’.
In der Nacht kommen Träume
Und du ahnst, die Fremde bist du.
Die Fremde bist du.
Die Fremde bist du.

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is what happens when I come up with a song in a hurry. I started out with nothing and ended up with this dark story. The title was a rather arbitrary choice. I didn’t even know whether there is a Lincoln in Texas. I just checked: there is one.

#19 Lincoln, TX

Jane is talking to the red old barman
Stalking me out like a roaming son
Here in the desert of Lincoln, TX
Promise me heaven outside the door

I can see there’s a man in the shadows
And I know I have seen him before
He turns around and says, I’ve been waiting to meet you once again

I return to Jane and the barman
I say, I’m sorry for the mess I made
I drink my whisky and I head for the front door
Leaving the body and a bribe behind

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is yet another instrumental piece. It’s merely a quick combination of chords and notes. But then again, most songs are. I took the chance to play on the piano, even though I only had my digital camera to record the audio. So the sound is crappy, but you can watch me playing. I wrote and recorded the track last Sunday, after two days of heavy metal at the Keep It True festival. Please excuse minor timing problems. After all, I had to guess the tempo in order to make the song 52 seconds long. So I did have a slightly better version recorded, but it was a couple of seconds too long. The version you hear here is actually has a bit a silence appended at the end to make it long enough. I know that’s cheating, but I rather have it like this than with the additional noises you can hear on the video (which does reach the 52-second mark).

#18 The Time We’ve Lost

This is a song in German about a shopping list. It deals with the everyday encounters at the supermarket. Thankfully, I had to stop at the 52-second mark. Otherwise the song would have ended with red cabbage being the last item on the shopping list.

#17 Einkaufszettel

Ich sah noch aus dem Augenwinkel, wie sie im Aufzug verschwand.
Ich nahm mir ihren Wagen, der vorne in der Schlange stand.
Für einen Euro Pfand gehörte er vorübergehend mir.
Da entdeckte ich ein kleines Stück Papier.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Sie brauchte ihn jetzt nicht mehr.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Und ich vermisse sie so sehr.

Dabei kenne ich sie gar nicht, weiß nicht mal ihren Namen.
Doch was sie einkaufen wollte, lässt Großes erahnen:
Buchstabensuppe und Möhrensalat, Cornflakes und Bio-Käse,
Eine Packung Taschentücher und zwei gezeichnete Küchengefäße.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Tomatensauce im Doppelpack.
Es war ihr Einkaufszettel.
Sie hatte ganz klar Geschmack.

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is a little homage to WatchTower, written in anticipation of their show next Friday.

Eleven years ago I wrote a song called “Golden Future” for From Thy Ashes (my band back then). It was an attempt to combine a whole bunch of complicated parts. The result wasn’t very impressive. But I figured back then that the ideal unit for writing such material wasn’t a couple of bars; much rather does it boil down to chunks of maybe three or for notes. If you have a big simple thing and start adding details, the music just gets weary. So this time I didn’t really bother with the big picture and concentrated on making every single note count.

I started out with the drum track, programming some wild, odd bars of hectic noise with only very vague ideas of guitar riffs in my head. I have little (meaning no) advanced harmony knowledge, so I just played what I’d never play in an ordinary e minor setting. Half-step runs? Yes, please. I wrote pretty much every single note by trial-and-error as I went along, recording the tiniest bits separately, one by one. I was baffled how flawless it all sounded once I stuck everything together. I played the bass on keyboard, as usual. At that point I was close to keeping the song an instrumental. Most of you probably wish I had. But then I figured I could mirror the title of WatchTower’s third album, Mathematics, by singing about my profession: statistics. I dare to say that it all made sense in the end. At least to me. I know, I sound somewhat ridiculous when I try to channel Alan Tecchio’s vocal style. Still, I’m very happy with the overall outcome!

#16 Statistics

When I say what I do for a living
The response is silence
Statistics: misunderstood and ignored
Statistics: valuable and powerful

I love data
I love Stata
Statistics: misunderstood and ignored
Statistics: powerful and valuable

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is just a quick experiment with distorted keyboard sounds. I have no idea how Targorian beings are marching, but I imagine them having enough legs to warrant the 5/4 beat of this track.

#15 Targorian March

This is probably the most annoying song I’ve ever made. I could pretend that there is a deeper meaning behind the lyrics. But it’s really just a trip on memory lane back to when school children had electronic pets that were as annoying as my falsetto vocals. If you want to translate the situation to today’s portable devices with their apps and cameras, do so at your own risk. The main reason for even publishing this is it lowers the bar even more. At least it was a good exercise to play all the synthesizer parts. I corrected almost no notes and I wouldn’t even know how to digitize the tracks to the beat.

#14 Feed Me

Feed me, need me, keep me closer
Love me, touch me now
Please me, tease me, take me with you
Tell me all your secrets
Take good care of me in the morning
Keep me in your sight
Dream of me while you are sleeping
Hold me close at night

(words and music by Johannes Schult)