Affliction: Nowhere Now Wet pavement, neon and speed. The Blade Runner song. One part personal story, one part William Gibson novel. Blunt The great escape from addiction and the emptiness it leaves. Wicked Everybody's guilty of turning the emotions off and walking away from someone that should have worked out. A double-edged sword of a song. Emotional Stain An emotional tug-of-war. All about a situation that left a really bad taste in my mouth. Close When I hear that song, I think of hardwood floors, high ceilings, no lights...just a candle in a room. Sitting. Thinking. It felt like it came from a different period of time. Blood in The River A fantasy of what it would be like to actually do what you think, sometime. Lost An older song of ours. Lyrically self-explanatory. Featuring a cool Lydia Lunch sample. Slug One of the best ones live. Really gets the crowd going. Sycophant My music industry protest song. Affliction One of the low points in my life. I'll just leave it at that. The Devil You Know: One of the things that sort of freaks me out is that I write these songs sometimes for myself; you record them, they're released, then the public gets a hold of them. I never want to take away from a fan's perception of what the music is. But as an overview of things, 'Sparkle and Shine' was inspired by the death of Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon. I read that article on him in Details, and for me it was really frustrating, because it was wild how fame just chews people up and spits them out. Shanon had a lot of issues, obviously, before he became a rock star, but it bugged me because I think they could have taken better care of him. 'Deeper' deals with caring about a friend very deeply, and it just so happens that the friend has AIDS. But I think the rest of it (the CD) is just personal politics, relationship issues. When it comes right down to it, in your life the only real important things are your relationships; in the end, that's all we have. So that's what I write about, mostly, because that's what motivates me. Brand New History (unfinalized tracks): Trash Aerosmith. Salvation It's sort of a strange one. It's almost vintage Econoline, but with a hip-hop element. I hate to use that word. We decided to slow it down. Instead of that frenzy energy we went with kind of a groove. By The Riverside That's with Chris Vrenna and Raven. Get your groove on kinda song. May I Go It costs you lot more [for weed] in L.A. than in Vancouver. It's brutal. It is Canadian bud though. Digging The Heroine It's an interesting play on words. It has a darker element. Depeche [Mode] kinda vibe. Go Off Straight up rippin' rock. Strange Days I don't know if that is going to make the record. Flamethrower It's bizarre. I don't know how to describe it. Moves along at a quick pace. It's still the working title, I think it's going to be called 'Everything Is.' The worst day kinda of song. Tomorrow Starts Today It's '80s. Here And There That one I worked with a silent member of the Eels and Folk Implosion. Radiant Now called 'Sinking.' An interesting tale of getting paid off to get lost. Not about a band member. Sweet Sympathy It's a novel concept that doesn't go anywhere. Info on Brand New History Taken from Chart Attack