Writing of Majestic
Blue
Eli DeGroff (guitar):
"People sometimes commented on how much
different Majestic Blue was
from our first ep. That is true, but the
band dynamic changed a lot after our first tour. I’ll give you a little background. During the first year of SSRE we wrote,
recorded and toured on our first ep. We
started with one bass player, Brogan Costa, during that first year he decided
to go back to Dubai in the U.A.E. to attend a University, his family was living
there and he planned to return after the semester. In his absence we added our friend Seth
Dekkenga on bass so we could start playing shows. When Brogan returned, we wrote in second
bass. Josh Boyd, our drummer also got
married early that year.
Heading into the fall after our first tour,
Seth got married and decided to leave the band.
And after writing a few more songs, Josh left too as he had a child on
the way and knew he would not have time to dedicate to the band. Also I headed back to school, about a one
hour drive from Sioux Falls where we lived.
I had left school the previous year to start this band.
So Brogan, Mary, Brandon and myself kept
writing and trying out new drummers. I
would come down every weekend to practice.
Brandon Aegerter soon joined on drums and we wrote all winter.
Previously, the songs were written mostly
from guitar and drum parts, one song was entirely Seth’s bassline and I wrote
guitar parts over it (Deepest Hymn).
With the Majestic Blue songs
Brogan and I did a lot of writing together and we finally had a huge practice
space in an old school house building used to store medical waste. The owner rented out rooms to bands and we
could go there at all hours. As the
songs progressed, we spend a lot of time tailoring the beginnings and ends of
songs to fit into other songs such that we could play a live set as one song if
we wanted. We now had a dedicated amp
and PA speakers for the piano/keys, which allowed us to make that a more
dominant element in the songs.
Brandon A. was also into trying out odd
timing and transitions so we experimented with those types of things to make
our songs more interesting. Thinking
back on it, our first 5 or 6 songs were just us jamming out a bunch of songs so
we could tour, not that they weren’t important to us but they were more
superficial from a creative standpoint, it more emotion and energy. I think when we were writing the songs for Majestic Blue, we were all different
people and were tapping into a more creative place. We were all going through a lot of
transition, there is a lot of darkness and depression in that record."
Brandon
De Jong (vocals)
"The lyrics for Majestic Blue were heavily
religious, but a bit less obvious than our E.P. I always tried to keep the
lyrics sincere and honest. My writing largely reflected my longing to feel
something spiritual… something real. I wanted an emotional tie to God and screaming
was the closest I could get to feeling anything."
Recording of Majestic
Blue
Eli DeGroff
"We recorded it in Minneapolis, MN at Analog
Electric with Adam Lazlo. It was a home
studio. We really wanted to record in an
all analog studio and we asked around and heard about Adam Lazlo, we recorded
and mixed it on 2 inch tape. No
overdubs, almost all single takes. If
there was a gap in guitar part or something you could punch in, but it was hard
and usually easier to do the song over.
But we made a point to try and take the first take unless it something
major. You can hear a lot of small
imperfections but we wanted it that way, we didn’t want it perfect, it’s never
perfect.
Erin Toft, now Erin Castle who sang on the
record, started singing with us at practice sometimes. Initially for just one song, but started
doing more parts trading off with Brandon DeJong on the lyrics he wrote. Originally there were more screaming parts,
when we were recording we realized some of it didn’t really fit so we stopped
recording and all went out to eat and discussed what to do. We removed some of the vocal parts so there
was more space where we felt it needed it.
All the lyrics are printed in the album, the lyrics in blue font are the
ones that are either sung by Erin, or screamed by Brandon.
We did it in a weekend session and used a
lot of really cool vintage RCA ribbon mics for vocals and room sounds."
Brandon
De Jong
"I remember having difficulty with my voice
during the recording, but was finally able to “break it in” after a few songs.
The tracks were recorded sequentially, and when listening, I can hear my voice
got stronger with each song."
Current Projects
Eli DeGroff
"Roman Ships – 2008 – Current.
Josh Boyd ( original SSRE drummer ) on
drums, myself on guitar and vocals and Brandon Aegerter ( SSRE drummer on Majestic Blue ) on bass / baritone. I was completing college and moving back to
Sioux Falls and Josh and Brandon A. had started playing together so Josh called
me and told me I was in a new band.
After recording a 5 song demo, Brandon A. left and our friend Pat Nelson
joined on bass. Roman Ship put out two
tour demos and in 2013 we put out a full length CD / LP on Init Records."
Thoughts on Majestic
Blue after 10 years
Eli DeGroff
"I listen to it every once in a while. I think it came out in 2004, but we had recorded
it about a year previous. It is
something I am still proud of, I have been writing music ever since but nothing
that is so layered and nuanced. Part of
what made it different from anything I have been a part of is that we were in a
place in life when we were all in on that project. I was in school but I was failing out and
just writing music and practicing all weekend.
We spent so much time writing together that we were able to really
listen to each other and create something that challenged us all. I would say that I grew the most as a
musician during that time. None of us
knew how to write verse / chorus type songs, so we just wrote in a sort of
stream of consciousness style. It took a
very long time to write but we would just play parts over and over until we
figured out where it went next. When we
released it, it seemed like most of the people that liked what we done so far
were not really into it. I think after
we broke up I started to hear more positive reviews of it. "
Brandon
De Jong
"Majestic Blue is much more mature than our
E.P., and I still find it interesting to observe the stark contrast between the
two albums. In a way, I think the music outgrew me, so I feel fortunate to have
been a part in its making. Although I’m a bit critical of my role in the album,
I’m proud of the overall results. I still listen to the album somewhat regularly
and at high volumes. I specifically enjoy some of the discreet layers of sound that
may go unnoticed during initial listen.
Even after all these years, I still have a hard
time describing our music to people, but I hope that says more about the music
than my ability to articulate. The band created real, lasting relationships and
this album represents a period of my life that I will always look back on with
fondness."
Interesting things about the record
Eli DeGroff
"The first and last track have exactly the
same bass line. That is why they are
called part 1 and part 2. The songs
don’t sound similar because of the other instruments, but you can tell if you
listen close.
The Shedding Skin is pretty much one note
the entire song. We wanted to write a
song with one note. The whole album in
written in “drop D” tuning anyway, so of course the note is D. The song just kind of trades crescendo’s
between instruments but is riding a D note almost the whole time."
Brandon
De Jong
Equipment
Eli DeGroff
Guitar:
·
Epiphone G400 Sunburst, Neck
Pickup Standard, Bridge Pickup Sethlover
Amplifier:
·
Soldano sp-77 series 2 preamp –
2 channels
·
Carvin Stereo Power Amp 2 x 50
watts
Speaker Cabs:
·
Marshall 1960A 4x12 with stock
speakers (G12T-75)
·
Sunn 4x12 straight with stock
speakers - Vintage Early 70’s.
Pedals:
·
Boss TU-2 Tremelo
·
Electro Harmonix Holy Grail
Reverb
·
Roland Volume Pedal
I had wanted a black Gibson SG for a long
time. I was working at a used music
store and we also sold guitars so I was able to get a new guitar at cost of the
store. I think I paid about $300 for the
Epiphone G400 ( an SG ). I couldn’t
afford a Gibson. I replaced the bridge
pickup with a reissue Seth Lover Humbucker and it sounded nice.
I had been experimenting with different
amplifiers, I had originally been playing a Marshall JCM900 but it sucked. I was always having problems with it. Generally, Marshalls are good, that one sucked. I wanted clean overdrive and I had read good
things about this Soldano pre-amp. I
tried a few different solid state power amps but they sounded terrible. So what I wanted was a VHT 90 watt stereo
power amp but of course that was very expensive. There weren’t that many stereo power amps to
choose from, this Carvin one was like $300 or $400 I think. I had some things I wanted to try using
stereo cabs so I wanted a pre amp with stereo out and a power amp with stereo
in.
Actually, on the song Procession part 2 on
the recording the guitar fades in at full overdrive. I was able to do that live because I could
run my volume pedal full volume but run a separate volume pedal out of the
preamp and slowly increase the signal into the power amp. It was pretty cool. I could also turn one cab on or off that way
too.
The Marshall cab was what everyone used and
that was the first 4x12 cab I ever bought.
It sounded pretty good, I didn’t have much to judge it against. When I got a second cab, I wanted something
old with some character so I found the Sunn 4x12 on Ebay. It was 1970 I think, it had much lighter
magnets and was not scooped in the mids like the Marshall cab was. It was a nice blend of sounds.
Funny story, I toured with that Sunn cab
for 2 summers and had never opened it. I
decided to put casters on it so I opened it up, there was a thin foam lining
inside for dampening and I had to move it aside to get to a bolt hole I had
made. I big gallon size Ziploc bag fell
out with white powder residue in it. I
immediately thought it was drugs, but figured that was too crazy. A little white powder collected in the bottom
and I tasted it….. it was meth. Haha…
how crazy. Someone must have been hiding
drugs in it and forgot.
Bass guitar:
·
Ibanez ICB 300 Iceman Bass -
Vintage
Amplifier:
·
Ampeg SVT-3 (Mid 90’s Version)
Speaker Cabs:
·
Marshall 1935B 4x12 Bass C
·
Ampeg ISO-Vent (2x15 + 2x10)
Pedals:
·
Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes Bass
Overdrive
·
Electro Harmonix Holy Grail
Reverb
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