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The other day I decided that I would sit down and do an interview for The Fight Songs. I figured who better to interview for my first interview than Glenn Case. If a new person came to Songfight, at first glance they would see that Glenn has 10 entries. That's a drop in the bucket in the huge Songfight archive. But that new person would be missing a ton of involvement including lots of great collaborations (like Fro Envy, the Frontalittle Squad, and Dreamy Mo & the Commoners), all his many sidefights (including AAD's and winning the first Nur Ein) and all his live experience. Glenn is an amazing songfighter and I feel lucky to have him as a friend and I thought it was very cool that he was going to let me interview him for the blog. But I should have realized that this wasn't going to be a normal interview. Quickly it turned into 4 hours of the two of us joking and swapping insider info and all conventional interview shape has gone out of the window. But it was a great conversation nonetheless. I would post an excerpt but we kind of bounced around everywhere. One thing I can convey is what Glenn's favorite collaboration has been:
Longtime songfighter Doctor Worm has always made good solid music. But Blue Lang was perturbed by one thing about it- the sound of the drums. So he made a challenge (a "gearfight") where the entries would equate to cash that Blue would put towards getting Doc new drumheads. The title that Blue chose was "A Week Without Ears". The winner of the gearfight was Glenn. He entered a rocking little solo track and Blue saw great potential in it. Glenn was soon surprised when Blue contacted him about adding his drums to the song. Glenn is not one to back away from a good collab and was happy with the remixed results. Glenn honestly can't recall how Jeff got added onto the song but he's glad Jeff did as he was the extra added touch the song needed. The song has since taken off. It has been played at Songfight live shows and the remix has become the more remembered version.
More from my conversation with Glenn at another time.
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Why put yourself through the chore of making a song within a short timeframe and sometimes with a strange title? Won't you just end of with crap? That was the kind of sentiment that I came in with when I went into my craft of poetry class in college. Why would I do crazy things like villanelles and sestinas? She told me that its the structure that helps make your mind go different places. It's the same way with Songfight. Songfight makes you think outside the box. A great example is the BeWells' "All Tan". The BeWells are a brother and sister team of Andy and Lindsay from Cupertino, CA and in 2006, they took part in the big Songfight Live event. The yearly Songfight Live show includes a live fight and this title was "All Tan". Andy's first instinct was to go for comedy, doing a perilous tale of a pair of pale redheaded siblings and their battles with the sun. It wasn't working and they were against the clock. They had decided they were going to do the live fight on Friday after their performance, leaving them only until Saturday night to perfect their song. To their chagrin, the comedy angle wasn't working. Lindsay would save the day by coming up with new lyrics on Saturday afternoon. They pulled it together and not only did they win the Live fight but they went home and recorded another version in one day and scored the win in the regular fight as well. Not bad for less than three days effort and it's a great song as well.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=all_tan
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Last time on TFS, I talked about the songfight "Blueberry Hassle" and how Redcar used the song to make a comment about Blue Lang. I also hinted about some commenting that I did back then. It just happened to be the same fight and I hated the title. In fact, I was hating Songfight as whole. I know for some that might be hard to believe that the guy who runs the Gift of Music used to have a serious case of the hate jones for Songfight, but it's true. There had been some bickering on the boards and I was young, naive about the ways of SF and I got very moody about the way SF was. And at the time, I wasn't alone. I was a part of a musical collective called DCM and one of the reasons we hung together was that we didn't dig the scene. So one day, I decided to gather up the DCM guys and create a supergroup. We all took crazy names like MC Menasor, Howard the Human, Bucko, Amateur Drunken Samurai, Insane Prophet, and Excessive Desperado. Then I set out to make a song that expressed my discontent. I used musical bits from J$, Fishboy Rex, His Name is Dan and Jon Eric and spun them into a crazy soundscape. Then I added some computerized speech about friend floods, conspiracies, and the most controversial phrase- "if you haven't already won a songfight yet, chances are you never will". It struck a chord with many and created a lot of conversation. As you can probably tell, I have since had quite a change of heart. Ah, the wonders of misguided youth. But one good thing came of it, Jim Tyrrell heard the song and was inspired to get that elusive win and he did.
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One reason why I decided to start writing this blog about Songfight is because there is such a huge archive of music. I wanted a place where a person could read about a song or band that they haven't heard of before or may not know much about and then try it out. Another reason is to talk about some of the stories from Songfight that I've picked up over the years. This post covers both. The song I wanna talk about today is called "Blueberry Hassle" by the band Redcar. Blueberry Hasle is one of those strange song titles that you find at songfight. I don't know where it came from but I know that it spawned some venomous tracks. One such song I was a part of and will blog all about eventually. The Redcar one was an interesting one. Redcar is the trio of The Hip Cola, Tonetripper and Leaf. In 2004 and 2005, they just about ruled the Songfight landscape. Their hard rock sound wowed listeners and strung together 5 wins during their time. But they weren't the only band rocking at the time. The aforementioned Sonofsupercar was also bringing big rock songs to the fight. The two bands even battled in the Moscow Idaho fight where Redcar won by only 2 votes over SOS.
Blue Lang of SOS is known on the forums for his legendary brashness. If you don't have a thick skin, don't go messing with Blue Lang. Somehow, Redcar got on Blue's bad side and were recepients of Blue Lang's verbal venom. Most bands either complain and are told by SF veterans that this is Blue and you need to learn how to deal with harsh criticism; or they grin and bear it. Redcar took another approach. In the song Blueberry Hassle, they decided they would vent. The song stands out on its own as a great rock tune with a very 60's feel done up with some modern electronics. But hidden underneath that was a backwards message. if you play the song backwards and listen closely, you can hear Hipcola ranting. It's hard to decipher (trust me I've tried) but it was directed at Blue. Blue and Redcar have since buried the hatchet. But Blueberry Hassle remains a very different from of retaliation.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=blueberry_hassle
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I know that songs like "Crank That" by Souljah Boy and "The Last Fight" by Velvet Revolver dispute my next statement by their existence, but I stand by the statement: Current top 40 radio has no love for comedy. There are a lot of bands out in the world that employ comedy in their musical stylings, like Bowling For Soup, Barenaked Ladies, Weird Al, GWAR..., but they don't exactly make a lot of hits. Basically, it's a tune here and a tune there. In Songfight, the drive to be funny is constant. There are always bands to be found who employ humor in their songs. Plus, sometimes the titles can be so ridiculous that it breeds humor. Take for instance the title "Save a pony from the Glue Factory". Some bands tried to make the title into a metaphor for age. Others embraced the ridiculousness of a title about ponies. One such group was Spy vs. Pie. The band with the MAD magazine parody title is made up of a pair of webcomic artists: Phil Redmon (of Tartpop) and Brian Fukushima (of Bottomless Pop). The duo created one of the funniest songs I have ever heard. They didn't use the title as a metaphor for age. Instead they parodied the old Sally Struthers Save the Children ads but instead made it save the ponies. More specifically, Save the My Little Ponies.
There are many great comedic moments at Songfight. MC Frontalot, John Benjamin, Klownhole, so many others have found a way to make great music which also happens to be highly amusing. Why does the mainstream treat such music as a novelty? No clue. But thankfully, I'm a songfighter and I get treated to new laughs and good music all the time. Songfight has its privileges.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=save_a_pony
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Songfight exists all over the world. We have members in the UK, China, Australia and many other places. It has over 2000 groups in the archive but it has a very different atmosphere to it than other scenes. For instance, the family tree. If you look at the first British Invasion, you can do a family tree over the years and see how members of bands moved from one group to another. Faces, Yardbirds, Cream and many others all connecting. Songfight has connections but it many ways they can feel disposable at times. There have been many one-off collaborations and other times, the connections are so unpronounced that as time goes by, their importance gets lost. People begin to forget who was in which collaboration or that the collaboration existed, especially when it was only for one song (one entry amdist thousands in an archive).
Sonofsupercar is an anamoly as their existance in Songfight. They could be chronicled. I would call them a complete package when it comes to band histories but no one died or ended up in rehab. They started off as a Craigslist success story. Dennis West, Stephen Rogers and Blue Lang came to Songfight in 2003 and in less than a month had already won a fight. As time went on, all the rock band history pieces were there. The big album ("We Have Ignition"), the off-shoots (Blue Lang's "A Trip to Guitar Center", Nineteen Foot Cactus Kills Gunslinger), the collaborations (Sissyfist), the extra members (Mo from Duboce Triangle joined in the band's heyday) and then of course, the break-up. In 2006, Sonofsupercar would rock no more, leaving Songfight missing the intensity they brought in their music. Now, Blue plays in the Booty Chesterfield Trio and Dennis has made a few appears at Songfight as Turtleboy.
It's a classic rock and roll story, quite befitting a band that rocked as hard as they did. Part of my quest in doing the Fight Songs is to look at the Songfight Archive at look more into the stories and history around the songs. Maybe SOS is just the start. Maybe when I'm done with this blog, I'll have to take back what I said in the first praragraph today. I hope so.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=five_nights_in_britain
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Women and Songfight. Some of the best music in the world is made by women. When I look in my "record collection", I see Tori Amos, Rasputina, Made Out of Babies, Jucifer, Blonde Redhead... The list goes on and on. Then there's Songfight and the list of female songfighters is dishearteningly slim. But the ones that Songfight does have are powerhouses. Maybe it's a bi-product of being in a male dominated scene that they have upped their game? Any way you slice it though Songfighters like Heather Redmon of the Hell Yeahs, Anti-M, Bjam and Rachael Layne are amongst the best in the archive. One of my favorites is Elizabeth Wilkes, better known as Elle 5 of the band 10 Feet Tall. Along with Songfight's resident keyboard genius Lonbobby, she made a huge impact on the scene in a short time. Lon has a revolving array of female singers at his disposal but Elle's is probably the most unforgettable. Her voice booms with soul that resonates in her notes and especially in her delivery. Ten Feet Tall's "Troublemaker" would almost be R&B if it weren't for Lon's chirpy synths interplaying amongst the delicate piano work.
In closing, female musicians of the world. We know you are out there. Please come to Songfight. You do great things and frankly, we could use the balance.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=troublemaker
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There's a lot of different music on Songfight. The diversity found in the archive is nothing short of impressive. If you're feeling like some swing, enjoy Steve Durand. If you wanna scream along to the music, check out some Jute Gyte. Songfight basically does it all, just some genres get done more than others. There are two styles that you can probably find in everyfight. One is nicknamed G^2. That's girl/guy and guitar. You're going to find that a lot at songfight because it's a minimalist form and that can work well within a deadline. Another style you're bound to find is nerdcore rap. Nerdcore rap is essentially rap music with "nerdy" themes. Why is there so much of it at Songfight? I'm not sure but Songfight seems to be a mecca for the stuff. It doesn't hurt that MC Frontalot basically rules the roost. His success at Songfights is a thing of legend. He appears and hundreds of people vote. He leaves and those hundreds vanish with him. We songfighters don't mind too much as on occasion, one of his followers will listen to the rest of the fight and find something else they like and everybody wins.
So, today I figure I'd look at one of my favorite nerdcore songfight songs. There is a very large curve when it comes to nerdcore at Songfight. There's Frontalot at the forefront. Then there are a few other ones that are pretty talented, followed by a whole bunch who are misguided. One nerdcore rapper who is on the high end of the curve is Zealous1. His song, "Glutton" was a second place winner, losing to another excellent nerdcore tune. It's an impressive piece of work and definitely worth checking out.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=glutton
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Talking about the music of Songfight without mentioning the sidefights is the equivalent of talking about the works of Edgar Allan Poe and not talking about the poetry. The sidefights have become a great part of the community. Many would say that they detract from the big fight. I think it's more like the community wanting to do more music than just one fight per week. I think it's something inherit in the makeup of the songfighter. We like making lots of music and strive to do it all the time. One of my favorite sidefights is the annual Gift of Music. Now in it's 5th year, the GoM is kind of like Secret Santa. A songfighter lists four of their favorite songs and another songfighter ,chosen at random, covers one of those songs. Sounds simple enough but it can be very tough at times. Being musicians, we have very diverse tastes. Last year's coverable songs included songs from MK Ultra, Athlete, Homegrown, nomeansno, Snakes Say Hiss, Hymie's Basement.... See what I mean. But the ends do justify the means as the covers that come out of the GoM are phenomenal. Case in point, last year Fightmaster John Benjamin requested a cover of "Digging in the Dirt" by Peter Gabriel. The band who covered it was WreckdoM, Songfight's residents masters of musical mayhem. The combination created amazing results as they turned up the intensity on the song. It stands as one of my favorite GoM tunes of all time.
http://www.rubberrobot.net/wreckdom/WreckdoM%20-%20Diggin%20in%20the%20dirt.mp3
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If you're new to Songfight, you are hit with an overwhelming amount of songs. It's daunting. And it can be even worse when you like your music on the harder side. The average songfight is swimming with nerdcore and middle of the road rockers. Only every once and a while, do you really stumble over a song that is good and crunchy. One of the leading creators of such is Jute Gyte. He lists his favorite three bands of all time as the Pogues, Neil Young and Burzum. There's one thing that they all have in common, they all have a passion for what they do. (Burzum's passion was pure madness but there was still conviction in the music). Jute is the same way. He delivers his music with such conviction. He loves the style of music he's making and even if some people are immediately off-put by the dark topics or the soundscapes he creates, he still delivers the goods daunted. It's not for everyone but for many, Jute Gyte is one of the songfighters of the highest echelon.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=happy_life
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Picture Ginsberg writing his wild poetry like "Howl" and "Sunflower Sutra". Now picture him doing that while sitting in Pee Wee's Playhouse. That odd hodgepodge of brilliant madness, that's Octothorpe. One of the most prolific bands of Songfight, they are led by one of the sites Fightmasters, Spud. Consisting of Spud, Fluffy, vocalist Mad Dog and lyricist Stubs, Octothorpe epitomizes for me what music should be. Not specifically the sound of Octothorpe but the freedom. You can't encapsulate Octothorpe in a genre. You can't say that this is specifically music made for the masses. But from one listen, you can tell that the band is having fun making the music. They are making music for the joy of making music. After watching a hour of MTV with its prepacked half-naked starlets and cookie cutter rap groups that swear that they're "so hood"; it's refreshing to hear a band that is making music that they love to make, having fun doing it and doesn't seem too preoccupied with what the hoi polloi thinks of it. What do I think of the music? I think it's wonderful. MY favorite # (that's an octothorpe) song is "That's Not What I Need". It's lyrics are like free form poetry. The delivery is spot on. The bass line on the song strings you along like a connect the dots puzzle and when you're done, you've got something great.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=thats not what i need
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When it comes to Songfight, a lot of the community will agree on the greatest Songfight song of all time. The general consensus is that Starfinger's "More Than Soup" is a thing of beauty that cannot be paralleled. Starfinger and I used to be on the same (let's call it a) record label. And one day he came on the label's forum and he was feeling a little down. He was nervous about how he can live up to all the hype that surrounds "More Than Soup". My reply was "If it makes you feel any better, I hate that song".
Well, hate is a little strong but it clearly isn't one of my favorite songs of all-time. And it definitely isn't my favorite Songfight song of all time. My favorite Songfight tune was released before I came to the community. I only got wind of it when I started going back through the archives. The song came from an extremely small fight. Songfights have had fights with 30+ songs. This one had only 3 songs, despite a relatively good name- Polaris. The only bands to enter were The Disability, o.0. and Klownhole. It was one veteran versus two newcomers. And in the end, the veteran took the win with an extraordinary song.
Powered by Jason Spainhower's incredible guitar work and a pounding drum rhythm, I have yet to find a songfight tune with that has caught my interest like Klownhole's "Polaris". There's something primal to the whole song. You can even hear it in the vocal delivery, full of growls and other random utterings. This song is a force of nature and that's why it's my favorite Songfight song.
http://www.songfight.org/songpage.php?key=polaris
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Hey there,
If you don't already know me from Songfight, I allow me to introduce myself. The name is Niveous Devilchild. For the last 4 years or so, I have been a part of a wonderful musicians community that goes by the name Songfight! (the exclamation point is very important). The idea behind Songfight is that the guys to run the site ("the Fightmasters") give out a song title and the bands of the community have about a week to make a song from just the title. It's a great exercise in songwriting, production, the whole nine yards. The appeal of Songfight has been phenomenal. The Fightmasters were on G4. Some of the bands have gone on to bigger and better. And probably the greatest sign of Songfight's appeal is the thousands of songs that are in the archive. This blog is all about those songs plus the thousands of other songs that the community creates as a part of sidefights and other projects. I love the Songfight Community and I'm always looking for new ways to give back to it. There's been many different songfight projects that I have gotten involved in (such as Nur Ein and the Gift of Music) that have done well. But I have also wanted to do one that was informational. Those (like the SFWiki and This Week in Songfight) have not been as successful. Recently, I got involved in a project alongside Glenn Case and several other songfighters to blog about a song-a-day for 10,000 days. I've been successful at that for over a year now. So then it hit me- why not blog about Songfight songs. I probably won't do a song a day but it could be great fun.
That leads us to here, The Fight Songs, the blog where I talk about my favorite Songfight songs of all time. I hope you all enjoy.
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