My name is Warren Russell (but I've been "Chip" my entire life and it's comfortable). I’ve been in the US Army for over 22 years now and have spent most of that time as a Guitar Player in various US Army bands in several countries. I am a musician by both profession and temperament; my primary instrument is the guitar (although I have played bass on numerous occasions and sometimes dabble with keys and percussion) but my focus for the past few years has been on composition and arranging. I hope to continue and expand upon that as I approach military retirement. I’m not intent upon “making it big†as a performer; I have a much greater interest in the composition and publication of my original works. I write a lot of progressive rock, somewhat in the mold of Queensrÿche and Kamelot (as well as a fair amount of jazz-inflected funk rock, strangely enough, but that will wait for another page).
My friend (and producer/engineer/editor) Brian Archer and I completed the first seven tracks last year and I’ve made five of those available here (after finally having them professionally mastered by Boroslav Dmitrov of HiZ Productions … “Boro†in my top friends). As you can plainly see, I’ve just added online music stores as well (more for legitimacy in the eyes of the IRS than anything … but don’t let that stop you from purchasing a track or two!). I’ve posted the lyrics of each song in order to invite comment and critique; these lyric blogs also include some compositional notes that you might find of interest.
As I’ve said before, my original intention was to license these and other songs for possible use by other bands (and I certainly wouldn’t object if someone were to show an interest in their use in movies or video games). I have since decided to go ahead and record them anyway and I will eventually have two or three full-length CD’s compiled.
Please listen to the songs above and feel free to comment. Here is a brief synopsis of each:
“We Are Also the Dreamt†is largely about alienation in today’s society. The song begins with a four-part vocal canon and then segue’s to rock after that. The song takes its title from the final line of the chorus, “We are music makers and the dreamers of dreams†(yes, I’m quoting Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka). That refrain is followed by “We’ve all forgotten that in the minds of our gods we are also the dreamt.â€
“Presque Vu,†as I understand it, is a French term that literally means “almost seen†and is used to describe the uncanny feeling that one is about to have some kind of epiphany, whether or not the moment actually arrives. I imagine we’ve all felt it. This song makes use of a fair amount of counterpoint but is otherwise straightforward rock. I’ve been told it sounds like Evanescence; I can live with that.
“Good Intentions†is about the immense culture conflict that is currently focused in Iraq and the Middle East. It is not meant as a criticism of our government … although there’s certainly some guilt by association … but rather addresses the underlying disparities in worldview. It doesn’t really protest anything nor does it present any solutions but it might make you think..
It’s not immediately evident, but the haunting ballad “Child of Spring†is in effect a reaction to the defining lyric of My Generation, “I hope I die before I get old.†Yeah ... but I didn’t; so now what? The need to burn the candle at both ends has led to puddles of hardened wax but no lessening of the flame. Ash sang a different harmony than I’d written but it fit his voice and served the song so I left it intact. The song is titled “Child of Spring†simply because I was born in April; what else can I say? The young man on my shoulders in the associated picture is Cole Agee, the son of a good friend. We were at the Louisville Zoo. My own son Jon is far too big and dignified to ride around on Dad’s shoulders now but spent a lot of time there as a small child, in yesterdays so very long ago...
“Invocation†has a tribal feel set against some madrigal-type vocals and is one of my more ambitious tunes. There are no less than three simultaneous melodically and lyrically independent vocal lines at the choruses. These differ sharply from the pitched-chant verses over an insistently pounding rhythm on the drums. The original intent was for each additional voice to become the more prominent one as it was added but it seems to have come out more as Ash’s part remaining at the forefront while Andrea’s contributions remained in the background.
Acknowledgements:
I absolutely could not have done this without Brian. I’d also like to thank his lovely wife Andrea and my friend Ash Roman for their considerable vocal contributions. I would be remiss if I did not include a separate thank you to all my friends and family for their/your support but especially to my wonderful wife Renée. Without her it would all be meaningless.
Some production and legality notes:
Almost every sound that you hear in these tunes that does not belong to a human voice was generated by the conversion of my compositions into midi and then processed with Pro Tools. Each and every note was originally composed in my head and on my guitar and then put in place by mouse click, including the drums and the vocal cues, which Brian then helped me translate into something of a firmer musical reality with his extensive technical and musical knowledge. There are several reasons I chose to do things this way … not the least of which were time constraints and physical limitations … I was recovering from a serious illness that nearly cost me my life, but that’s another story … but the single most important one is that it allows me to accurately express my ideas without compromising my vision. The computer plays the notes exactly as I’ve written them each and every time and prints the score exactly as I want it to. This can and does seem sterile at times but I ask you to remember that I’m operating as a composer more so than as a performer.
I have composed each note and every syllable sung in these songs. They are all copyrighted and registered with ASCAP. These are merely a representative sampling of the 161 songs that I have in various stages of completion at the moment. I will be recording at least 12 more over the next year or so and I will be making those available once completed. As I stated before, though, I’m trying to interest other performers in the compositions themselves as opposed to exposing prospective audiences to my performance of them. Still, I hope you enjoy them and I welcome your feedback.
My good friend and unswerving supporter Jan has created a badge for me … wanna see?
Want this badge?
I can’t thank her enough. Go check her page; she’s a HUGE supporter of quality music and musicians (and, for some arcane reason, a supporter of me too). Her circle of friends contains some of the finest musicians, indeed some of the greatest people, that I've ever met on MySpace.
Here’s her badge: See that mischievous glint? She’s plotting world domination ... and she'll most probably succeed ... so I want to be on the winning side when she does!
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My MySpace Music Manifesto May 24th, 2008
After decades of earning a comfortable living as a professional musician, I successfully motivated myself to finally bring some of my original compositions to life beyond the written manuscript and the computer screen. There is nothing that serves to realign one’s perceptions and priorities quite like being within a hairsbreadth of dying and knowing it.
So I recorded several of my songs last year with an eye towards interesting other musicians of recording them … I’m really not interested in being in the limelight anymore. I am however intensely interested in creating music with some compositional depth and lyrics that are articulate and relevant, hopefully without seeming too pretentious … but the low-hanging fruit has already been thoroughly handled by the other apes if you catch my meaning.
There has been no world beating a path to my door to marvel at my “better mousetrap†… and I am unsurprised … but I have begun seeking out like-minded musicians and trying to network in this manner. So now I sit here on MySpace with several hundred contacts, some of whom have become genuine friends, and I intend to use this network as a springboard to launch one or two complete CD’s, hopefully within the next two years.
In the interim I am indeed offering five of my tracks for sale but any minor revenues I earn from that merely legitimize my efforts in the eyes of the IRS … I can write off my losses as business expenses. I’m not here to make money. I am not here to aggressively promote anyone … if I send out some bulletin that serves as my endorsement of some band it’s merely because I truly think that they’re worthy of your time. I’m not here to maximize my exposure or my own sales, at least not yet. I am not a critic, although I will sometimes write a fairly articulate review if I feel led to do so.
I am grateful for everyone’s interest but am seeking no professional advice nor am I soliciting any promotional services at this time. That’s why it seems I’ve fallen into the trap of marketing my music only to other musicians … it’s largely intentional; any “fans†of my music other than musicians have thus far been largely incidental, though entirely welcome.
If you like my music then please share your thoughts via comment on my front page or in my blogs. If I send out a bulletin then please repost it if you appreciate the content and feel it worthy of repost and commentary. Feel free to post your own self-promotional stuff on my page; I won’t be offended nor will I delete you in a fit of pique.
How This Works for Me
1) If you’ve sent me a friend request or if I’ve sent you one, either way, I will try to make at least one meaningful introductory comment. It would be nice if you would return the favor but you won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t.
2) If you post new music, a new blog, new pics, whatever and bulletin about it (and I see it) I will try to check it out if I have a chance and will comment if possible.
3) If you post something new and send me a personalized email then I will make it a point to check it out and respond.
This is all about networking; it’s just that simple. If you want a friend here then be a friend here … just like on planet Earth.
I have a family and a career ... and MySpace isn't it ... so please be patient. I usally spend a lot of time on the weekends trying to play catch-up with all of you fine people and newfound friends.
As long as we're on the subject, let's talk about Top Friends: If you're here in my top friends then it's because, for whatever reason and in whatever capacity, I'm in contact with you and/or like to regularly check-in to see how you're currently faring in the world. Those of you that are MySpace contacts at both my pages will note that the top friends lists are not the same. That merely represents a shift in focus; it has absolutely nothing to do with any sort of relative value.
Some of you do things differently and some of you have quite legitimate reasons for doing so. Thanks both for respecting the idea that I might possibly be honest, sincere, and in possession of some small measure of intelligence and yet still allowing for the possibility that I might just disagree with you about a few things.
Nothing personal, but I will not:
1) Buy anyone as a "pet" nor check to see what you think I'm worth. I don't think that you're Evil Incarnate for doing so but I just don't play that.
2) Interact in any way with a "truth" box. I speak the truth as I see it and you damn well should if you don't already.
3)Repost senseless bulletins to prove that I actually read yours.
4) Forward pointless, time-consuming, and bandwidth-stealing chains of useless emails and surveys.
...and I reserve the right to refuse to participate in anything else that I might have failed to mention so far.
All of that being said, welcome!
p
