September Update

Show Tomorrow at the Warehouse

We will be playing at the Warehouse tomorrow night (Saturday night) with Bit Collector and Fantome. If you are in the area, you will not want to miss this show! We will have good sound as well as a great show planned out for all involved, all for only $5! Grab a beer (or other frosty beverage) from the room next door and sit down (or stand up, or dance) while your ears are lovingly caressed by the sweet sounds emanating from the speakers. If you come early (8ish) you can hang out with the bands in advance.

Limited contest

The first two people that can sound off lyrics from any Icarus Aquanaut original song will receive a free CD at the end of the show. (Lyrics must be more than indefinite articles or the title to a song.)

Debut of new material

We will be debuting two new songs at this show--one as our opener. If you like what you hear, tell us afterwards!

CD Sales: Pay What You Can

We've had our album out for a couple of years now. We'd like you to own it. Pay us what you think it's worth (but do pay something, at least). Feel free to burn a song for a friend, but tell them who we are.

How Icarus Aquanaut Writes A Song

I don't think we've officially documented our songwriting processes for the general public. We've had three years to grow as songwriters and arrangers of material, and almost nine or ten months to grow together in this configuration of the band. A curious person might begin to ask questions of his or herself about how this works for writing new material. "Self," you might inquire, "How do you think Icarus Aquanaut manages to do this, what with five people in the band with different musical tastes?" If you get an answer other than silence or "maybe you should be asking the band that question," perhaps you should skip the show to re-enact one of your own within the confines of your mind (and a strait jacket).

• Lyrics and concept: One of the band's lyrical writers (usually John Moss or Hananel Mavity) brings out one of their inventions for perusal. In almost every case, these songs are constructed with at least the full lyrical content of the song, as well as the general melodic bent of the piece.


• Drop in the parts: A lot of work goes into the construction of a vehicle--the same is true for the construction of a collaborative work in music. In most cases, the original songwriter gives leave for each band member to come up with their own part to the song. For my part, I usually add a bassline, tweak it, and adjust it again before I come away with my part's finished product. As for the singing, we've come up with unspoken and unwritten (and pretty much unofficial) rules: If it sounds good, add it. If it doesn't, don't sing it. Make sure the words are clear. Make sure the parts are defined. Project as much as necessary.


• Arrange the piece: This part takes the most time, as it affects parts and the concept of the song. Oftentimes, the songwriter brings in their work, and leaves with a piece that would not be possible without the rest of the band's input. A recent example would be "Drowning Tomorrow," one of our most complex pieces written yet. John Moss wrote the lyrics and the original concept. We all added our own parts. Then, through different band suggestions, we added a riff beneath the "solo" part of the song. (After all, you're not listening to an Icarus Aquanaut song unless there is some kind of instrumental solo in the song. This is basic science.) This part of the song is written in 6/8, with a riff that encompasses two measures of 6/8 followed by one of 3/8 (in improper notation I suppose it would be written as 15/8). Translation for the non-literate in music: It's hard to play, but fun to listen to. Chris and John later wrote an outro that transitions into an Irish/Celtic-influenced reprisal of the chorus.

There you have it: now you know the work that goes into an Icarus song.

Recording

I know, I know. We said we were going to start recording. Due to interference by this nagging little thing called "real life," we have all had difficulty meeting up in one place to begin recording. We'll make it up to you by blogging the recording process in more detail than we did last time.

Finally, an old picture of Icarus playing outdoors at Railroad Square before we got shut down by the cops:

-seth, IA