Monday, April 27, 2009

Fighting the Manufactured Teen Pop Star (part 2)

So, quick update since I realized it's been a while since I mentioned this project. This is for the very good reason that it has slipped my mind. So, current thoughts on it. 

First of all, the band I'm in, The Scratches, has a different orchestration than is normally heard in this sort of song (we have piano, cello, violin, acoustic guitar/mandolin). So that's slowed me down on coming up with a melody and arrangement. 

Then there's the problem of the singer. The mainstream teenage pop song is only homosexual when the band or singer wants to make a big deal of how open-minded they are and/or be controversial (i.e. Katy Perry). So this song has to be sung by a guy. Although all the other members in The Scratches are guys, I still have a problem. The male pop star's voice is very specific, he has to sound young, is more likely to be a tenor, and possibly have a slight whine in his voice. Listen to the voices of the singers of Cute is What We Aim For, All-American Rejects, and Fall Out Boy for an idea of the stereotypical voice. Don't they all kind of sound the same? (I realize these bands are not classified under pop, but the voices of the singers are good examples.) Josh's voice is really deep, and sounds much older than the manufactured pop star does. I was told Hunter sang in the gang vocals for one of the songs we are currently recording (the backing track and gang vocals were recorded before I joined the band), but try as I might, I can only hear Josh and Shane (who is no longer in the band). As far as I can tell, he's a bit reluctant to sing. And Dan refuses to sing anything when he is not alone in his car. So, thinking this over, I came up with the idea that I could do the same sort of thing that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did with their version of the song "Don't You Feel My Leg". That is, come up with a spoken intro of meeting someone, and the actual song consists of relating what the other person said.

Okay, yeah,  that's where I am now. I need to come up with a good intro in the character of the stereotypical popular high school girl. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas on the intro (or the song), feel free to comment with them.

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