The Journey Continues

Life happens in hyperspeed when you travel to the far reaches of outer space. 

I remember standing in a circle after practice and sharing that I needed some time off to sort some things out.  There was acceptance and processing there in that circle and at the end we agreed to a hiatus with no strings attached.  Everyone was free to pursue other projects and we would see what the future held. 

A year and a half later, the four (super)humans that are SANOMA are making our way back into the surf western mesosphere that we descended from that night after practice.  The time on terra firma was what I needed.  My IV is out now and recovery is in a new and strengthened stage.  It’s time to load up the protein packs and astronaut ice cream for space exploration again.

What are the odds that four guys with families, full-time jobs and numerous other responsibilities and pursuits would be able to regroup and pick up where we left off?  Is it by chance that we have this history chronicled in surf western rock & roll songs and that we can blast off again without a hitch?  Even things like a place to practice (loudly), gear that sounds great and families that support us is amazing.  The journey continues and that is a source of wonder, gratitude and stoke for me.  Like space travel, there are seemingly endless possibilities.

Guitar Names

Sometimes names for guitars just happen and it works.  One night at practice, we were joking around about the Stratocaster I was playing and it was christened Tri-Klops in the moment.  3 pickups – 3 knobs - 3 eyes.  Mythic, ominous, primordial and gigantic tone. On top of that, Tri-Klops is Skeletor’s gammavisionary henchman in Masters of the Universe.  He can see through solid objects, has night and dista-vision, and can shoot energy bolts from his eyes. 

It’s also fun to brainstorm names.  Feel free to add to the list, specify what kind of guitar the names would best match, and/or cast your vote for the best names:

Yeti

Blood Moon

No Quarter

Kraken

Neptune

Ghost Rider

Sunset

Phantom

(Billy) Bones

Black (gray, red) beard

Poseidon

Sikanda

Rhindon

Glamdring

Power Sword

Stormrider

Magma

Greataxe of Shifting Worlds
Godzilla
Artax
Atreyu
Falkor

Headless Horseman

https://sanoma.bandcamp.com/track/headless-horseman

Imprinted on my mind from childhood are the cartoon images of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  A headless horseman terror galloping a massive black Clydesdale through the haunted woods in villainous pursuit of the poor sap Ichabod Crane.  At some point, the flaming jack-o-lantern explodes into a wall of flames and a Skeletoresque cackle erupts and echoes out into the darkness.  Ichabod was never seen again.

I didn’t read Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow until this past Halloween and I couldn’t put it down.  The Disney caricatures paved the way for this spooky short story to further capture my imagination.  The song had been written and recorded by this point, so the inspiration was mainly the image of a decapitated night rider and the sound of the hoofs of a raving red-eyed specter horse pounding the cold, dead earth.  The mood and boom-chicka tempo of the song make room for the humor found in the animated interpretation. 

This was a fun song to record.  There are multiple whistling tracks, ominous group ah’s, and we hit a mallet against a metal sheet to get the clap of thunder/rifle fire noise.  The guitar influence of Travis and Dallas Good (Sadies) comes through on the solo and Nick’s trumpet carries the melody of an epic night chase through Sleepy Hollow.

Tribute

That reverb tank suspended from sci-fi cables

Rattling, Splashing, Blasting, Exploding

The golden worn glitter and American flag

The sword of a southern California guitar man

That resplendent wall of sparkling grille cloth

Shimmering like the Pacific in the blazing sun

Heat waves, tidal waves or lasers of sound

Soaring decibels that shaped me

And I sat in my room at 14 and tried to figure out

Your Lebanese harmonic minor scale reverb drenched

Like a Bengal tiger on the prowl and onstage with me

Ever since

Skulls, crossbones, motorbikes, leather jackets

Symbols of the soundtrack that started on the 101

Caricatures that come alive in our imaginations

Every time your records are on

Your reverb splash will send concentric circles of sound

From the far reaches of space to Davy Jones’s Locker

They will ricochet like gun fire at high noon and return

Ghostly echoes in the sky

 

SANOMA

Left to Right - Nick, Cory, Nate, Luke

Drakes

Drakes was inspired by two surf trips to the Hollister Ranch on the central coast of California.  Privately owned, this spot is coveted by surfers around the world, and many pay a lot of money to have the chance to surf here.  I remember crawling into the back of a faded grey 4-runner packed with surf gear.  Grey-bearded and wearing drug store sunglasses and tattered shorts and t-shirt, my dad’s friend Chris picked us up from my parents’ house.  We loaded up the boards and drove the 101 to the winding road that led to the gated entrance.  Chris stopped to report he was bringing visitors and we all checked in. He bought a small plot of land years ago solely for the surfing rights.  Many surfers did the same.  He told us stories about what it was like before very many people knew about it.  Land was a lot cheaper, and it was a little more rugged of an experience to get there.  We drove more winding road and out onto the beach in the surf buggy, and we ended up just a few feet away from the surf.  As the afternoon sun sank towards the horizon, we, along with the pelicans and the seals, were the only ones out. The break we surfed was called “Little Drakes”.  I used this same name for the song at first.  As it continued to take shape, I thought “Drakes” sounded better.

Drake is another word for dragon.  I didn’t know this when I wrote the song, but I think it was meant to be.   The mood and energy of the song can be likened to the brooding, scaly, fire-breathing creature.  The explosion of the 6/8 sections of the song highlight a Hammond organ melody line reminiscent of early British Invasion keys sections of the Animals and Kinks. Also distinctly British, the image of a Hobbit frantically dodging dragon fire on a mountain of gold is a fitting one.

For me, my dad and Chris, it wasn’t gold we were hoarding, it was the waves and the good times spent together in a beautiful setting experiencing God’s gift of the ocean.  Rather than causing us to shut off the world and become callous and scaly, we experienced and shared the goodness of this world.  In doing this, we became more human rather than more like Smaug, Eustace and other dragons we find in our favorite books. “Drakes” subverts the dragon as a character while keeping the ominous imagery and vibe.  It’s all-out rock & roll when we play it live, and I think we captured this same explosive energy on tape.

Great Whites

I have always thought sharks were scary.  I remember as a kid getting an intensely ominous feeling whenever I watched the sharks lazily lurk in the tank at the aquarium.  I would imagine being in the tank and recall documentaries that showed sharks thrashing, swarming and snapping in reaction to blood or attacking the camera cages.  Hammerheads are creepy looking, but great whites are enormous and have no rival.  They can reach 5,000 lbs and grow to nearly the length of a school bus.  When they choose to attack, whatever they zero in on is doomed.  I also heard stories of sharks attacking surfers.  When my wife and I were on our honeymoon, a great white fatally attacked a swimmer at a nearby beach.  She still reminds me that I went surfing the next day.

These sharks lurk in dark, cold water, circling and stalking prey.  They wait for the vulnerable and attack blindside.  Dead, black eyes, and gaping razor-toothed mouths show no emotion.  The great white has the sole purpose of self-preservation.  Many have skin and fins marred by fights with other sharks.  No matter how injured, the countenance of a great white does not change.  They are cold creatures of the deep sea, and no work of fiction could create a more foreboding, ghostly, and underworldly image.

Acts of cruelty and abominable perversion litter the news daily and make me ask why.  Why do such wicked things exist?  People can be so set on self-preservation that, like predators of the deep, they are given completely over to a callous heart consumed by self.  Whatever their senses tell them to do, they obey, and an evil idolatry forms and leads to unthinkable pain for others and eventually for themselves.  This has been the vicious cycle of sin in the world. 

It may take a while, but people reap what they sow.  God’s sun shines into the darkest places and will expose the secrets of the human heart.  Only grace can intervene and cause someone to honestly seek forgiveness and truly change us and pardon each wrongdoing we’ve done so we can live in peace.  Jesus’ death on the cross secured forgiveness for those who will seek it. 

At first, I shied away from these lyrics.  I have never liked songs that sound like they vaguely accuse.  At first listen, it might seem that Great Whites does just that, but I’m learning to live with the tension  knowing that it isn’t accusatory, but rather meant express my processing the immense evil that confronts each person on earth.  There aren’t easy answers, but in the midst of pain caused by evil Jesus’ cross and the grace he secured offers hope in forgiveness and perfect justice.  He has suffered for us and suffers with us when evil seems to overcome.  In his grace, victims are healed, criminals are pardoned and seek restoration.  Redemption is an unstoppable process in the lives of those who love God no matter where they have been.  

This song has been well received.  A music writer in Greece deemed it the best unknown song of 2012.  The spaghetti western riff evokes lonely wastes, deserts or sea floors.  The drums are steady and create a shoegazer hypnosis as the guitars increase in noisy, frenetic energy.  The Wurlitzer adds dark texture throughout.   This is the backdrop for considering the themes of evil, grace, redemption, healing and judgement.