Artist: Moustache of Insanity
Title: Moustache Dammitt!!!
Format: handmade cassette tape
Cat#: Fika003
Release date: 12th February 2011
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Moustache Cassettes
Bill and me started writing songs together back in April 2008. Back then, we would meet in his flat after work, drink beer and record songs on his laptop. More often than not, they would be written, recorded and published on myspace the same day. It worked pretty well and we eventually had enough songs to put on a CD. This became the self-released 'Knock Knock…Who's There?' EP, which we started selling at shows at the end of 2008. We tried to keep up this way of recording for the subsequent releases, but occasionally we've had to admit defeat. Our self-titled WeePOP! EP was originally recorded in Bill's living room, but then we decided to re-record it. It was just too rough and was peaking all over the place. So, we went to a studio and recorded it…well, we still recorded it straight into Bill's laptop, but at least we had a proper mic and a soundproof room. The Postcards EP was also recorded in a similar way, but in various rehearsal rooms, rather than in a studio.
When Tom and Lisa asked us to make a cassette for them, we decided to really go back to basics. We had just finished recording our yet-to-be-released album in a proper studio and Bill had done a lot of recording with Allo Darlin', so we wanted to see if we could still do it like we used to. Giving ourselves a month to think about material, we picked a weekend in January and decided to record the cassette in my spare bedroom over the two days. In total we probably spent about fifteen hours making it.
recording
The songs on the cassette are a bit random. I like to see it as a one-band mix tape.
Just Try To Be Nice was actually written in 2009 at some point when I had been listening to a lot of chiptune stuff. I had played it Bill before, but he was always hesitant of putting any electric guitars on it. I didn't want it to be just my own Garageband experiment, so it was shelved. It was brought back for the cassette and I forced Bill to put guitar parts on it. I think it works really well. The lyrics are completely nonsensical as usual. I guess it's just about doing your best, seizing the day and just trying to be nice. I've never really been good at metaphors.
I wrote the lyrics to What's The Point? at some point last year. I also had a rough melody in mind. I think it was definitely inspired by listening obsessively to the last Japanther album, Rock n'Roll Ice Cream. Again, it's very self-explanatory. I like dancing, but mainly when it's to songs I can get excited about. This explains why I don't dance very often and is why I never really go to clubs these days. They all seem to play the same songs and not much that's new and exciting.
<bleep><boom><magic> is just a snippet from some experiment in Garageband.
My Favourite Memory was written on the Sunday morning, just before the second day of recording. My girlfriend Elizabeth had asked me about my favorite memories for one of her songs. I couldn't give her one and I think I told her she had to think of one herself. Then I sat down and wrote the lyrics. They're all 100% true. There's not much to the melody. Very straight-forward.
One Minute of Pure Inspiration (aka Boys With Toys) was the first thing we recorded on the Saturday. We'd been sitting around doing nothing for an hour and decided to just make some noise, using everything that was in the room. It's totally stupid and annoying. I think there's about ten tracks on top of each other – vocals, guitar, various casios, Korg Monotron, tambourine, garageband, iphone music apps etc.
Moustache Bleep Dammit is, again, just a snippet of something I had done in Garageband, with some online text-to-voice tool on top.
The music to Jad Fair Drew Me A Duck was created on my iphone over the Christmas holidays. I had just downloaded the Nanolop app and was learning how to use it. I wrote the lyrics later, on the Saturday evening after Bill had left. I picked a positive experience from my past, and tried to make the words fit to the music. I convinced Bill to add some guitar parts to it. Again, it's all true. We should really have put that duck drawing on the cover. Jad Fair is amazing.
This Is Not What I Planned was written on the Sunday morning. I had a rough melody in mind by the time Bill got to my flat and then we just recorded it. Both this and What's The Point could do with some better vocals. It's hard to give it all that you got when you're in a flat. I have no desire to upset the neighbours too much. The lyrics are pretty stupid and hastily assembled. I guess it's about dreams dying, working shitty jobs and trying to do something about it. One day, I'll be a ninja.
Apparently Bill wrote Let's Get Married on the bus on Sunday morning. I like it, but I don't really understand it. This is quite normal when it comes to Bill's lyrics. He is married himself, so obviously people do get married. And, surely, "nobody ever gets married" is a pretty bad reason for getting married. I'll ask him to write you a letter explaining his song :)
That's about it really. I hope people find something on there that they like.
//nik
You can pre-order Moustache Dammit!!! now at http://moustacheofinsanity.fikarecordings.com