Blog

Covid 2020 in Cologne, it's been such a confusing time. Haven't played in a band in a while, at that point 2019 was the last time I've been on a stage and in the studio with Foyle, Sinatra died in late 2018 and Tourist dissolved some time around 2017 I believe. Been hanging out and jamming with Octo for a while, but though personally it's been a match we didn't really vibe on an artistic level I suppose.
When lockdown hit I was kind of excited about being 'allowed' to live as the recluse I felt I was anyway, the years before have been kind of extreme regarding daily life tempo, I felt somewhat burnt out, though I'd discover that 'BURNT OUT' will reach new heights later in the future. I set up shop in my bedroom and set myself a straightforward goal - take a week and write and record a release in that time.
"Make this release a demonstration of what you find exciting in music and how you feel atm!"
I was collecting riffs, the initial riffs were mostly being kept for further editing after maybe 1-2 tries, simple beat, taking the MicroKorg, find a sound and add texture and spice, move on and repeat. As soon as I felt the core idea of the 'songs' were portrayed in a fulfilling fashion I'd jump to the next track. I didn't have a mic at hand, so I used my phone and transferred the voice files to the computer, which actually took the most time in the whole process. I know that more practical possibilities were at hand, I had a SM58 in my studio, but I kind of cherished the impracticability.
Same goes for the ground noise I experienced throughout the making of dbc - just add stuff and call it a sound, whatever.
The editing and sequencing gave the release a whole new level of eclecticism - hard cuts, audio pop cultural references from my upbringing left and right made this whole project sound like a surreal dream radio being sucked into a bright pink void, sometimes bordering into a sad purple, receiving all kinds of information and static and waves and such. At some point the information overload takes the reign and all that's happening is the listener being washed away by bursts of jangly riffs and bleeps and bloops and sounds that evoke images and tastes, even though it might come from someone elses memory. The release encapsules the confusion I felt at that time in a fitting fashion. It's been so important, at the same time I feel like it's been the beginning of a very hard road which I'm still on to this day. When I embraced the hermit situation Lockdown 2020 brought along a switch was flipped in me that would make it much harder for me in the future to engage with people in an emotional manner. A part of me is still stuck in that bedroom recording short pop tracks with bad grounding and the curtains closed for 5 days in a row.
Though drive-by crush existed in a different style beforehand this was the true birth of the project. I still operate in a similar mode with every release that came out of the project since then - similar equipment, same narrative/conceptual approach like creating an overall idea before starting to get things done, similar vibe though the sounds broadened and went different directions it's still some sad ass music that drive-by crush does. Gear used: Fender Mustang, Squier Bass VI, cheap Yamaha western guitar, MicroKorg, Korg Volca Modular, 2i2 non isolated Focusrite (lol) and an old ass laptop.