DKS LP2 - 12 page digital booklet by Damian K Sheiles

EMPIRE FIR CROS THE NEW D YOU ARE A STORM. THE STATION M STA OPTI PULSE. C DOWN 11:11 T

RE TOWN SSROAD DIVISION WINTER E SPACE MYSTERY ARDUST IMYSTIC COMING TUNNEL

LP2 is performed by Damian K Sheiles. All songs written by Damian K Sheiles 2008 - 2011 Additional vocals 2, 5, 8 and 10; Melinda Kinnane. Drums: Total Drumming Mick Fleetwood (drum loop library). Cover art, photo & design :: DKS art & design THANK YOU To Melinda K for all her support and lending me hear ears and voice.

Empire Fire Town I’ve got to get back to the town. That I love the most when I’m down. I’ve gotta get back there before I’m found. It’s been too long since I saw my town. It better not be empire down Empire down – fire town It better not be empire down Fire town – empire down Now I’m going back to the town. That I miss the most when I frown. I’m leaving this place and all these clowns. With all their ghosts underground. It better not be empire down Empire down – fire town It better not be empire down Fire town – empire down The inferno in my belly - It won’t burn out. The hive alive in my mind - It wants out. Shift into overdrive - I can’t stop now. Not until I reach my destination now. In empire town they say it’s the best. So I was stunned to learn that you’d left. No where to be found here of there Simply vanished into fire town air. Far away from empire town) Fire gone – empire down Far away from empire town Fire gone – empire down That inferno in my belly - It starts to fade out And the hive alive in my mind - It got out Down shift to second - slow down now Thank you for visiting empire town Keys turn ignition and my foot to the floor It’s time to head off on a brand new course Now that I know its empire down I can finally leave this fire town CrossRoad That’s pretty sick and wicked bad It tastes like something you’ve never had There’s some for the taking, none that you know And one to keep you walking this road That’s pretty far beyond your reach Your destination, the clouded beach Except for the knowing, the chosen few

Being dragged along the road with you That’s pretty dirty for those crossed fucks You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen enough You’ll put them down, one by one With morals damned, coming undone That’s prettay close for your comfort Almost copped it from the sick pervert You’ll take your chances even bare the cross Even if it ends up costing the most FOREVER BEYOND THE HORIZON WE GO That’s a pretty bad outcome for your lot Crossed with disease, filth and rot Ammo depleted, supplies are low Wonder how low you’ll have to go That’s pretty much where this journey ends It finishes when the child is the man There’s some for the learning, some to forget And these events are best left unsaid FOREVER BEYOND THE HORIZON YOU GO You Are A Winter Storm So they say the road to hell Is paved with good Intentions The safest way to travel there Divine intervention The sure-fire way to spite your face Cut off your nose; mutilation So they say what matters most Is the journey not destination You’ve got it all figured out, baby With debonair, charm and a little crazy You’ve got them all tricked, maybe? With prestige, smiles and a little shady You are a winter storm in the summer time You are arctic ice on the equator line You bend the truth, distort it to your design You put the sour-puss in to the sublime You are a winter storm in the summer time You put the crooked in every straight line You are the soil above a hidden land mine You are a winter storm in the summer time Iced over lake sealed your fate It’s far too late; condolences Snow white red, poisonous friend Time and again; grievances Wind swept time - past your prime Best pantomime performances Rain soaked clothes, saturated sole Got to keep up appearances

You’ve got it all figured out, baby With debonair, charm and a little crazy You’ve got them all tricked, maybe? With prestige, smiles and a little shady You are a winter storm in the summer time You are arctic ice on the equator line You bend the truth, distort it to your design You put the sour-puss in to the sublime You are a winter storm in the summer time You put the crooked in every straight line You are the soil above a hidden land mine You are a winter storm in the summer time You ARE a winter storm in the summer time You’re a winter storm in the everytime You. Are. A. Winter. Storm Optimystic You want to believe it’s true Though you know, you know it’s impossible Take a step a giant leap of faith Stretch out your arms and glide through space You want to believe it’s true Though you know, you know it’s impossible Why does gravity disconnect from reality Believe me you’ve been seen Soaring through the stratosphere Cosmonauts call their wives They can’t deny what’s caught their eye’s Why does gravity disappear so completely The Space Station Mystery It’s been two hundred years since I returned home And the face in the reflection of the window It’s not my own, own, own. The phase engines kick in near the eye of Jupiter Automatic instruments taking me closer to home, home, home. Passing the asteroid belts of Solaris I considered what happened and my mind began to roam, roam, roam. Is god throwing paper planes throughout space Not caring how far they fly just beyond our range, range, range With the right fingerprints acquiring schematics Activated former identity and

felt most strange, strange, strange. Molecules altered and genetic mash up If I could do it all again there’s so much I would change, change, change. Reverse engines wind down, time moves backwards the landing pad surrounds us As we connect with the main, frame, main. Time-locked harnesses, trigger reactions I remember the mystery was hard to explain, claim, name? Memories deceiving, grey matter tampered And if I did it all again I’d probably do it the same, same, way. Pulse I want to feel The way that it feels When I feel like singing Singing with you I want to hear The way that it sounds Once more with feeling Feeling with you I’ve got to change The way that I’m living And find a balance Between the taking and the giving I’ve got to breathe Stop the regretting And find the line Between prayers and the sinning I’ve got to stop Getting up my hopes I watch them fall down I get back on the ropes I’ve got to check Sense my heart is beating And feel my pulse Underneath, retreating I’ve got to break My routine and habit Flick the shoulder devil That cheeky zealot I’ve got to build With bricks, dreams and mortar

Whole new Lego life Before it gets any shorter 11:11 It’s eleven oh one And look what you’ve done You’ve got it all over your hands At eleven oh two They’ll be coming for you And you don’t really understand At eleven oh three You’ll be down on your knees Begging forgiveness grand At eleven oh four You’ll reach for the drawer And pocket what they have banned It’s eleven oh five You start to feel revived Considering how clever you planned At eleven oh six and a sleeve full of tricks awaiting the final command It’s eleven oh seven All under heaven And everyone under the sand count to eleven oh eight With tempted fate You’re about to be un-manned (and the) Search lights are flashing red blue – blue red And the sirens are calling ‘Bring out the dead’ Angels with bird-wings dripping blood red Descending, quickly. They’re coming for you …instead It’s eleven oh nine And you don’t have much time To find a way out of this mess At eleven – ten You’ll pick up the pen And write it all down to confess It’s eleven – eleven And all under heaven Are wondering what will come next Now past twelve AM It’s close to your end And there’s muted nothing left (and the)

Search lights are blinding blue red – red blue And the sirens are calling - calling out to you. Angels with bird-wings dripping blood red Descending, quickly. They’re coming for you (and the) Search lights are cutting red black – black red And the sirens are deafening inside your head. The voices are screaming “you’ve been misled” Thaey’re coming for you. They’re coming for you. …instead Tunnel Pull away from the darkness within Come on get digging You’re in it up to your chin Push your head up Towards the red setting sky When you see it You don’t feel anything at all It lifts you up And takes you back to the wall Come on get up again You’re almost near the end Close your eyes now The heat burns and burns Shield your face now As it turns and turns and turns Can you see How it’s meant to be When the tunnel light shines So beautifully Can you see How it’s meant to be When the tunnel light ignites Amazingly Can you see How it’s meant to be When the tunnel lights up So radiantly Can you see Can you see The tunnel light shines So beautifully

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DKS :: LP2 Remastered Edition ORIGINS The idea for LP2 (Long Play 2) started to form in 2010 after I had recorded enough new material for a full length album.

from the final twelve track 2018 remastered edition) was written in 2010 and the rest of the album was written and recorded in 2011 (Crossroad, Pulse, The Space Station Mystery, You Are A Winter Storm and Tunnel). MEANING

I’ve always been intrigued with space themed art, stars-capes and a sense of other incredible unreachable worlds. An overall image of how I wanted to present this new body of work began to take shape - to tie all the songs together with a common otherworldly theme. LP2 as a cohesive whole began to form aesthetically. LP2, however, is not a concept album - there is no larger story to be found here other than a recurring theme of ‘other’ worlds, alternate realities and differing states of mind.

It could be misconstrued that all these songs are about me when in fact none of them are. As you listen, you will hear influences come though. Try as I might, it’s hard not to show any influences in the music I make. Sometimes it’s a tribute to bands that have shaped my style with my own personal spin on the final sound with the end result, hopefully, being something unique.

I spent a large part of my teenage years lying on the floor of my room and listening to albums from start to finish with headphones on. I believed that the artist’s intent could only be discovered if their music was absorbed as a whole and not ‘single’ parts. These days, full length albums are rarely listened to in their entirety - only the hardcore fans devour albums as a full course meal consumed in one sitting. LP2 is a 16 track long play recording - it’s a smorgasbord of songs, diversity of styles and contrasting sound-scapes. In its entirety, it clocks in at approx 76 minutes. By today’s standards, it is a long album so initial FREE digital release was culled back to 14 tracks (total time approx 67 mins) and no longer available.

Crossroad. This song takes its name from the film “The Road” and the graphic novel “Crossed” (written by Garth Ennis published by Avatar Press) taking themes from both, informing the lyrics and tone of song.

A handful of the songs that debut on LP2 had been lying around since 2007/08 - 11:11, Empire Fire Town, Adrift and The New Division. Other songs had been percolating for quite some time (Optimystic and Stardust originally conceived in 1992). The song Chasing Dragons (omitted

Empire Fire Town. The lyrics for this song were written rather quickly to accompany the music I had already demoed. It’s a simple song commenting on nostalgia for how things used to be and how places don’t really change but we do.

You Are A Winter Storm. Drenched in lo-fi minor distorted chords, this song is the sum of three distinctive parts. What I was going for here was a mood change reminiscent of the vocal theme. It’s a commentary on people I see that bull-doze their way through life who have yet to achieve the zen-like balance that some of us take for granted. The New Division. Is an instrumental tribute to the bands Joy Division and New Order. The song’s title is an obvious mash-up of the two band’s names.

Optimystic & Optimystic Reprise is a reinterpretation of an instrumental song I originally came up with about 18 years ago. Optimystic (version II) has been played live once at my August CD launch in 2008. It was always intended to be an instrumental song but when I developed graphics to promote each individual song and the visual theme of Optimystic presented itself to me, this informed the lyrics that I wrote for Melinda to perform on the song. Song informing art > informing lyrics > informing song. The Space Station Mystery. This was originally an instrumental demoed as ‘Missed My Station’. The music was reminiscent of missing something, perhaps where you were supposed to get off in the journey of life or you took the wrong path at the fork in the road and you’ve gone too far to turn back? Faces reflected in train windows, stories written in the lines on strangers faces, the blurred bodies of passengers waiting at the station as you pass them by, the express train speeding you past everything you should be focussing on. But, when I looked at writing the song’s lyrics with the word ‘Space’ added to ‘Station’, immediately the lyrics became more obvious to me. This song, along with Pulse, is my favourite on the album. Stardust. My jamming buddy Darren Leigh and I used to throw this instrumental song around back in the early days (over 20 years ago now). It was played mostly on two acoustic guitars. I have recorded this song three times but this version recorded 2010/11 is the definitive version for me. It reaches new heights as it peaks in the middle section. Pulse. Ok, you got me here. This is the only song on the album that is about me and my state of mind at times. We all question our paths and choices and habits? It is cathartic to get it all out of your system – creating music is my outlet.

Coming Down. LP2’s magnum opus or DKS’s self indulgent long song? You decide? This song had been jammed out by Darren and myself several times over the years. We even had the good fortune to play this with a drummer on a couple of occasions which is when I realised the song’s potential. There’s a dash of Pink Floyd here, which was intentional as my friend Darren and I are a Floyd fans. The additional lead guitar work in the middle section was inspired in part by the All About Eve track “Outshine the Sun” from their album “Ultra Violet”. 11-11. This song was written and demoed in 2008. The version that appears on LP2 is the same recording from 2008 with the lead guitar re-recorded and the song structure slightly altered. I was going for a smoky-nightclub-film-noir vibe with an impending sense of doom closing in… Tunnel. There’s always one song that proves to be the most challenging. In the case of finishing LP2, Tunnel was the song I laboured over the most even though it was very simple and quick to write in the first place. I wanted to keep the essence of how the demo version sounded but I wanted to improve the over all performance and polish of the song that was missing from the original rough demo. I over-thought this song. I re-recorded it three times in it’s entirety including the vocal takes. I sped up the tempo. I added piano. I removed piano from the final mix. I reverted to the original tempo. I recorded the lead guitar numerous times with heavy distortion trying to get it to sound the way I could hear it in my mind. In the end, I recorded another distorted lead guitar track by mic’ing up the amplifier for the final 2018 remastered edition. This song almost gets there for me - It is what I intended, just not how I intended it to be.

SONGS OMITTED

CREDITS

Chasing Dragons. Was originally titled “Want It, Need It” and was going to be about the trappings of consumerism. It ended up being about drugs. The new song title, Chasing Dragons, is taken from the slang reference to opium dens and their patrons being known to ‘chase the dragon’. Some of the lyrical imagery was inspired by the graphic novel “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1” written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Kevin O’Neill.

All instruments on LP2 are played by Damian K Sheiles - electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, keyboards.

Coming Down / Rise Up. Was the original 2011 version of this long song. It featured another three minutes and extra section/change at the end of the track which was very self indulgent. Adrift. A simple instrumental that was omitted from the free digital release version as I felt the album was becoming too long. I like the change in pace of the two piano parts. It’s also a throw back to 80’s music which was not intentional at the time of recording.

All vocals - Damian K Sheiles & Melinda Kinnane. Lyrics written - Damian K Sheiles. Drum loops, percussion and sample arrangements - Damian K Sheiles. Drum loops – Mick Fleetwood Total Drumming and various free loops sourced from the www. Recorded using Adobe Audition 3.0 on Windows XP and 7, via Behringer Eurorack UB802 mixer, Behringer B-1 Condenser Microphone and JTS PDM-3 Microphone. Instruments – Modified Fender/Squier Custom Telecaster II. Squier Custom Telecaster II, Fender Jaguar. Yamaha 6 string acoustic, Yamaha 12 string acoustic, Yamaha RBK 170 Bass.

Calm Before The Carnival. This deconstructs one of the sections of You Are A Winter Storm and slows it down. The organ melody that enters the song midway through is reminiscent of carnival music, hence the title ‘Calm Before The Carnival’. This was later remixed and produced as the song ‘Verge’ for my third album ‘Alchemy’ Cobalt Heart. This is a reworking of the song ‘Blue Velvet Storm’ from my first album ‘August’. I stripped out the heavy distorted guitar work from the original, altered the bass line, included whispered vocals, a heart-beat drum rhythm and intricate guitar parts to change the overall tone of the song. Due to the language in the chorus being easily misinterpreted, I decided to omit ‘Cobalt Heart’ on the free digital release version. Plus, I felt as this was ground I had already covered previously - it didn’t need to be included here.

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E m p i r e F i r e To w n

Crossroads

Yo u A r e A W i n t e r S t o r m

The New Division

Optimystic

The Space Station Mystery

Stardust

Pulse

Coming Down

Optimystic (Return)

11:11

Tu n n e l