Butterfly Decal is our band’s name, and the members are Niall Keohane, in Birmingham, UK, and Paul Pacifico in Sai Gon, Vietnam although we are hoping to have a guest vocalist soon.
Here’s a new demo, guitar and clip track only, of a new track with the working title ‘Roses for Daisy, daisies for Rosie.’
The demo was recorded on Apple’s Garageband app, on an iPhone 7, so it’s very low-fi.
The purpose of a demo is to show other band members a possible song structure, and to allow the lyricist to fit words to the chords, and create a melody.
Once the song has been written, we arrange the instrumentation, and Niall makes a professional production in his home studio.
Niall also has an online radio show, ‘Flatwound Sounds.’ In his most recent broadcast, he played a track by Butterfly Decal, and I introduced the concept behind the band. The broadcast may be accessed here:
Jingo Harleyman will be releasing FREE online, the soundtrack to the independent cult film
‘Hari Karachi & the Durango 4’
Links will be posted to the appropriate sites. I have been informed that all tracks may be downloaded or grabbed and used
FREE OF CHARGE
for non-profit use or low-budget artistic projects.
Watch this space …
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
I previously linked two tracks, ‘Red Ribbon: A Short Story‘ & ‘Miles et Juliette.’ Today I have the YouTube links for the two remaining instrumental tracks. The full EP listing:
1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story
2) Red Ribbon Suite
3) Swing, Princess, Swing
4) Miles et Juliette
First, track 2, ‘Red Ribbon Suite’ a piece in three distinct movements:
Photography by Niall Keohane & Paul Pacifico
Track 3 is based around a simple guitar pattern, with Niall adding piano, strings and harmonies:
All music written by Keohane & Pacifico.
Production by Niall Keohane.
Copyright ⓒ 2022
Thank you for visiting this blog page. If you like the music, we would really appreciate it if you could give us a ‘Like’, and pass on to your friends. The ‘visits’ and ‘likes’ really help new bands to get attention.
A still from Niall’s Red Ribbon: A Short Story video
Butterfly Decal, the band I am in along with my dear friend Niall Keohane, are finishing the final mix on our debut EP.
The Jazz-inspired EP, entitled ‘Red Ribbon in Long Hair’, has four tracks:
1) Red Ribbon: A Short Story
2) Red Ribbon Suite
3) Swing, Princess, Swing
4) Miles et Juliette
Track 1 is a piece of first-person prose over a Jazz background and sound effects, a collage of film, music and poetry.
The video features Niall’s stunning B&W photography, (from the UK), while I add some shots from Sai Gon, Viet Nam. As the track nears the end, a theme from the next cut appears, low in the mix, leading to …
Track 2, an instrumental piece in three movements. Parts 1 and 2 share a melody but have a tempo change, whereas Part 3 leads to a melodic resolution.
Track 3, ‘Swing, Princess, Swing’, is based around a two-chord guitar structure. I’m only playing a $40 acoustic guitar here but Niall’s production makes it sound (almost) professional. Niall also adds backing vocals.
Track 4 is another story set to music. In the late 1940s, Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis travelled to Paris where he met, and fell in love with, singer Juliette Greco. As with Track 1, this cut features narrative, music and effects.
We plan, once we have enough material, to make our music available online on Bandcamp or SoundCloud, as well as posting more videos on YouTube.
The production was by Niall at his home studio in Birmingham, UK
Thank you so much for visiting this site. If you have time and interest, please view the videos and share them with your friends. The ‘Likes’ and views really help.
Here’s a sneak preview of our forthcoming piece, the ‘Berlin Suite’, which will feature keyboards, electronics and experimental sounds, a departure from our previous material.
The suite is an audio representation of this unique and iconic city. The music will feature orchestral effects, reflecting the classical aspect of Berlin, as well as some techno-inspired dance tracks for which Berlin is famous.
The following piece was composed with theKaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in mind, a church that was partly destroyed in World War II and today is kept as a memorial against war.
Both Niall and I would be very grateful if you could ‘Like’, share and Subscribe as it really helps with the channel. Thank you so much.
I recently had some friends ask what I meant by Math Rock, and I must admit it is a type of guitar music about which I am still learning.
A very brief summary is that Math Rock is a sub-genre that emerged from the Hardcore scene of the mid 1980s. Some bands moved away from the distorted loud guitars and steady 4/4 beat of Rock ‘n’ Roll, to incorporate different time signatures and tempos, stopping and starting songs mid-way through, or changing the rhythm entirely. I also notice that a lot of bands use similar chords as Jazz musicians.
The term Math Rock was coined due to the musicians having to count the beat, for example,
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4 …” etc
Instead of the conventional,
“1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 …”
However, as the adage states, ‘show, don’t tell,’ so here are but a few examples.
To kick off, a band I did know, Slint, formed in Kentucky, USA in the late 1980s. This track, ‘Breadcrumb Trail’ is from their seminal second album, ‘Spiderland’ (1991).
In the same year, Don Caballero were formed, in Pittsburg, USA, and are purely instrumental. Their third album, ‘What Burns Never Returns’ (1998) is highly regarded, and I’ve chosen one track from that LP.
At the end of the 1990s, a band from Illinois called American Football formed, released a self-titled debut album, then split up. This song, ‘Never meant’ is much praised among fans.
Now let’s move over to my neck of the woods, Asia, because Math Rock is global.
Tricot is a band that I mentioned in an IELTS blog. They were formed in Kyoto back in 2010, and have so far released six LPs including ‘Jodeki’ from December 2021. This video is for the song ‘Setsuyakuka’.They play music with stronger lead lines, pop-music hooks, and make a perfect introduction to Math Rock.
Also from Japan are Paranoid Void. The following video is a track from their LP ‘Literary Math’ (2017). This album may require a few plays to be fully appreciated. A lot of reviewers feel it lacks a certain punch, but try it for that laid-back feel, or if you need to study.
The video also show the guitarist’s pedal board, a collection of effects to create different guitar sounds.
Finally, let’s go to Taiwan and listen to ‘Elephant Gym’, a band blending bass lead lines and irregular, angular guitars. This is a live video and you can see how the bassist uses a technique called tapping, sometimes playing the strings on the neck of her bass with her right hand.
Be sure to let me know what you think. Are you in a Math Rock band, or are you interested in starting one ? Or is it simply not your cup of tea ? Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.
Happy Year of the Tiger
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
The photo shows Tricot who are a Japanese rock band. The band, who sing in Japanese, are very talented. I would love to see them. Furthermore, I really wish to visit Japan although hotels in Tokyo cost an arm and a leg.
Let’s review the idioms and vocabulary covered in our first lessons. Let’s kick off with:
Basic idioms:
it’s raining cats and dogs
it costs an arm and a leg
piece of cake
I’m burning the candle at both ends
once in a blue moon
pass with flying colours
turn over a new leaf
put your nose to the grindstone
Let’s put it to the test – what idioms would you use ?
It’s no problem at all, it’s a __________
She needs to get a high score, I want her to ______
I must be more serious about learning piano. I have to _______
The iPhone X is very expensive, it _______
You need to stop going out every night and missing school. You need to _____________
She dances all day, then sings all night; she’s _________________
Bring an umbrella if you go to the UK, it’s always ____________
Ms Anna simply adores Chanel perfume however, because it _____________ , she only wears it __________________________________.
Relative Pronouns
This lady, who wants to work in London, is studying hard for her IELTS.
who for people:
This is the man who helped me to learn German.
which for things:
We tried fish and chips which is delicious.
where for places:
Let’s go to the shop where we saw the great bargains.
Whose possessive:
That’s Tricot, the band whose record we heard last night.
Endgame
Can you remember, what word means ‘everywhere’ ?
Can you give me an example ?
Instead of saying, “I think,” you could say … ?
Again, please give me an example.
Answers
Ubiquitous:
In Sai Gon, which is the largest city in Viet Nam, coffee shops are ubiquitous.
Motorbikes are ubiquitous in Viet Nam.
Fast food shops are ubiquitous in the USA.
In my opinion
In my opinion, learning English is incredibly important.
Sai Gon, in my opinion, is the best city in Viet Nam.
In my opinion Tricot are absolutely amazing.
Goodbye, see you next class
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Thay Paul's Notes 