Murmuration - Chapter 2 (Part 2)

(Link to Part 1)

How do we incorporate this kind of stuff into our tunes.” Alien earnestly enquired “I can hear these sounds in our songs . . . “

 

Moony flicked the tape boxes and smiled at his mate “Underworld and Orbital aren’t exactly our thing mate . . .  great albums these, but not really us!”

 

 

Alien shot a look at Jon, unimpressed by Moony’s lack of ambition. He turned back to Moony.

 

“What about ‘Loaded’, ‘Wrote For Luck’ or ‘Perfume’ . . . even the acid beeps that run through ‘Leave Them All Behind’? I have felt there is something missing from our sound.” He looked back a Jon and siled awkwardly “Jon jas filled some of it but . . .”

 

Moony drove back into the conversation with his trademark reckless enthusiasm.

 

“Revive the indie dance thing! I fucking like it. Totally Brighton that! Bringing together everything we like. Eclecticism rules!!”

 

Alien was delighted that Mooney was, despite his earlier scepticism, back on board.

 

“Yeah I like it too, it could work. . . ” Said Jon  “  . . .  but how do we do it?”

 

Mooney lept up excitedly as inspiration hit him hard. “Your bird’s mate, Jon. She plays keyboards and messes about with samples and house music. She was telling me at the Shark the other night. What about her?”

 

As Jon went over to the phone to try and get in touch with her Alien looked mournfully down the hallway steps at the hatch to the cellar. He could hear equipment being moved and tuned. He imagined that he could still hear Jools muttering his discontent. He knew of course that Jools should be part of these discussions. He just found him so intimidating that it was easier if he wasn’t around. With no real evidence or negative experiences, he found sharing songs, lyrics and ideas with him really difficult.

 

Moony caught Alien looking and clocked the concerned look on his face. His enthusiasm quickly waned.

 

“Not exactly a house music fan is he?” a weird telepathy fizzing between the two friends.

 

“Where would we be without him though?” Alien half-smiled back.

 

“We just want to enhance his funk grooves?” Moony was searching for an answer but the uncertainty was palpable.

 

“Will you tell him?” Alien asked, more pleaded with his friend. Almost stuttering at the thought.

 

Moony turned to pick up his stuff and shook his head “Yeah, thanks mate”

 

Jon turned back from the phone “Yeah she is keen to hear us, She’ll be here in an hour or so with a few bits”

 

No one really knew what this meant (including Jon) but it seemed like a small problem in relation to telling Jools what was happening.”

 

“What’s afoot?” Jon innocently enquired, totally unaware of the political downside this idea was creating.

 

“Well let’s just say that Jools don’t love the bleeps” Moony explained with a straight face.

 

As it turned out Jools didn’t take the news too badly. Although it must be said that it wasn’t presented as a done deal. More a suggestion or possibility. 

 

The boys started to run through a few songs to warm up. It was becoming clearer that the touches offered by Jon were adding to the richness of their sound. Even on their track ‘Murmuration’ from which the band took their name he offered an extra layer of guitar, experimenting with weird jazz chords that lifted the sound and rung clean through the listeners’ ears. They were euphoric and psychedelic at the same time. Exactly what they were looking for.

 

Moony’s bass was locked tight with Jools’ funky beats. The pair of them gave the others the platform to create their jangling soundscapes or moody swirling shoegaze atmospheres. Alien was right to question where they would be without Jools. His role in the music was vital. Jools and Moony could also, at will, kick the band into long funky and psychedelic jams. Nudging and guiding them all with their progressive and insistent grooves. Jon was enjoying his steep learning curve of how to get involved with and improve these jams. 

 

Since Jon had joined them they had felt a weird kind of paradox. Not only had he raised and enriched their sound, but they also felt like they were at the beginning where this could take them.

 

They always ran through their setlist at the beginning and end of the day. Starting as a warm-up and then adding improvements or ideas and the end so they could feel their progression. 

 

Today though, halfway through their set they had extended and continued Murmuration into a loose dirty baggy spaced out jam. Usually Alien would pull them back by dropping out and sitting down. A kind of passive-aggressive leadership style that was just about all he could manage. Today though, he let them go and kept playing. He was inspired and spurred on by his new musical partnership with Jon. He had always felt somewhat alone in the music. Moony and Jools had each other,  ‘the rhythm section’. Up until now, all he had had in the ‘melody section’ was himself.

 

Not anymore though. He and Jon were working with each other to create a swirling rich tapestry of guitar sound. It sat soft on the solid groove of the bass and drums. As they continued to play the two sections started to meld and drip into each other. Twisting and turning to become one single musical entity. One thing that particularly fascinated him were Jon’s effects pedals. Although meagre by most standards Alien was impressed as Jon switched between a swirling flanging sound to an overdriven and dirty grinding dirge. All within an instant. Alien enjoyed playing with the settings on his amp and had invested in an overdrive pedal but was now marveling at the possibilities of exploring this phenomenon more deeply. As the concept swept around his mind Jon started to work his wah-wah pedal to devastating effect.

 

One thing they all agreed on was that things were improving for Murmuration. Since Jon had joined there had been a seismic shift in their sound. Even if they didn’t know where they were certainly heading somewhere interesting. 

 

Jools was becoming more and more consumed with the post-punk wall of sound noise and attitude of Oasis and their layered and overdriven guitars. Music for people like him, by people like him. Stone Island jackets, big choruses and big brash arrogant attitude. It was impossible to ignore the tidal influence of both Oasis and Blur as they united the UK in the charge away from the American influence of grunge. ‘Girls and Boys’ wasn’t a million miles away from some of the sounds forming both in Alien’s head and in the cellar of this unassuming terraced house in the middle of Brighton. The band share so many musical influences but at this stage, the intersection of all of these could have been drawn across the B-side of Supersonic by Oasis. The epic, swirling and grinding soundscape of Supersonic unites the band in both attitude and ambition.  A few months ago, they experimented with a cover but couldn’t quite achieve the power and grandeur with only one guitar. Jools was hoping that the arrival of Jon might resurrect this little known gem and nudge the band back to the punk and new wave that he loves.

 

As they continued their jam, they continued to explore the adventures between them. The trap door at the top of the dusty stairs opened and bathed the cellar in natural light from the kitchen windows and the skylight in the stairwell. The four lads turned in unison to see three women descending the steps carrying a keyboard, an amp, and a weird-looking silver box.

 

Helen led the way with the silver box.  She was followed by a blonde girl wearing loose ripped jeans and a black roll neck top that was cropped to show her smooth and toned stomach. She was elegant but also struggling a little with a square Roland amp that looked expensive and powerful.

 

Lastly came Charly who Alien and Moony had met the other night. She was wearing low-cut brown cords that slightly flared over a pair of deep green Addidas gazelles and a green retro Addidas t-shirt with a white logo and stripes down the sleeves. Her messy hair was parted to the side and tumbling over one eye. Her hair could once have been, or possibly still could be a neat bob but currently looked like a designer mess.  She really was the epitome of cool as she cradled her keyboard and stands nurturing in her arms.

 

The boys all stopped. Alien scanned Charly’s equipment and noted the ‘TB-303’ on the silver box. A rush of excitement coursed through him as he knew that this was the thing that drove a lot of acid and house music. 

 

Moony returned Charly’s warm smile as they both acknowledged the connection they had made that weekend. If he was honest though he would have also acknowledged that perhaps his attention had wandered and waned since then.

 

Jools, however, just couldn’t take his eyes off the blonde girl in the middle. She was challenging Moony too. Her thick blonde wavy hair was loosely piled on her head like Helen’s. It was all held together by a scrunchy and assorted random hair clips. Her face was perfectly symmetrical and unblemished, contrasting with her messy hair. Or at least it looked like it to Jools, harshly lit from behind in the half-light of the cellar.

 

“Hi band, your friend Charly has arrived . . .” Helen smiled as she stepped out of Charly’s way at the bottom of the stairs. Both her and the other girl placed down their awkward loads with the uncertain grace of people not often asked to carry things.

 

“ . . . and this is my cousin Bella!” she smiled as if presenting her to a medieval court...

 

“Alien smiled at both girls before organising some space for Charly. He wasn’t expecting Bella so was finding it difficult to cope with her arrival. The awkward feeling was intensified by the fact that she appeared so flawlessly beautiful. 

 

Bella raised her hand in a wave and half smiled, casually looking around the rehearsal mess.

 

“These guys are called  Murmuration, Bells” Helen continued “they are brilliant, we’ll go to their next gig if you are still in town. And if they ever get round to playing another one! Let’s leave them to it she smiled as she turned and led Bella away.

 

“ Hi . . .  “ smiled Bella as she caught Moony’s eye “ . . .  and bye” her smile broadening as she held his gaze for a moment.

 

Unable to shake the feeling that she had been somewhat upstaged Charly worked with Alien to get her gear set up.

 

She listened to them play for ages. ‘These guys are really good she thought. But she was struggling to work out where she was going to fit in. Indie bands don’t need what she was offering. She had skills as a pianist and keyboard player but that is not what they were asking for.  Jon had talked to her about house sounds, not keyboards. She started to add piano flourishes here and there but the truth was that the sound was thick with guitars and there was little space.

 

She continued to feel uneasy. It was probably an hour or so of listening and struggling to find her place. She kept thinking that this was a non-starter but something kept her there . . .  kept her listening. The boys at different times kept looking over to see if she was going to join in. Alien could hear plenty of ideas but he too was unsure of how this was going to work. Both he and Jon were aware of how much space they filled but they willed her to push through and find something.

 

Feeling more hopeless she stared at her silver box for inspiration. ‘BassLine’.  The answer hit her like a brick. She looked over at Moony playing his bass. She started to tune out of the guitars and focus on what was going on in the rhythm section. She turned her synth down and set the dials to create some metallic acid house phasing bleeps that drifted in and out. She could pick some spaces in Moony’s bass line and picked up a contrasting riff.  The sound started to phase across the deep throbbing bass and wind its way around and through the tight groove of Moony and Jools. 

 

Once she got it into exact sync she turned up the volume and shifted the atmosphere of the song. Jools looked her in the eye and locked on to her electronic generated groove. He dropped out a little of the complexity of his rhythm and smiled his enjoyment of her addition. She smiled back and nodded her admiration for his ability to keep in perfect time. Moony looked over and joined the smile, nodding his head in appreciation. He dropped out a little to give her some more space and she responded by adding some sub-level bass that complimented his work and gave the whole song a deep sub house kind of vibe. Her input was pulsating and dragging the groove along.

 

Alien had stopped playing to listen. Jon was picking a simple riff and slowly rocking his wah-wah and phaser to set the whole thing off on an otherworldly spaced-out groove. After a short time, the song was unrecognisable from a few minutes before. It was different. It was fucking insane. Alien was dancing at his mike stand with his head held high. Nodding and pointing his appreciation to his bandmates. 

 

Cautiously, as he didn’t want to break the spell, he started to sing the main refrain of the song that was once ‘Open me, empty me’.

 

“Electricity. Pulsing through me.

This space storm, connecting me.

Open me, empty me”

 

He played around with the words and soon caught the groove too.

 

As Charly turned her phasing fully out. It sounded like the keyboards were in another room. In fact, it sounded like they were in another world. Helen and Bella danced in the cramped cellar as Moony took the lead and shifted the jam into another phase.

 

Alien stepped back, satisfied with his lyrical changes and smiling broadly. This wasn’t exactly what he had heard in his head but it was something to fucking work with.