Everything You Need to Know About Aud.Madness’ Debut Album
[¡New Band Alert!]
Who is Aud.Madness?
Aud.Madness is an alternative band that has officially entered their hat into the music scene as of March 5th, 2021 with their debut album, Aud.Madness. The band consists of two members, Spencer Sherwood and Colton Cutchens. The founder of the band, Spencer Sherwood, is a guitarist of fifteen years, and is responsible for writing and performing everything on the album but the drums, and for producing the album as well. Colton Cutchens (drummer of twenty years) joined the project in 2020 and provided all of the skills necessary to entertain a massive rhythmic performance. Aud.Madness is both Colton and Spencer’s first debut album. Aud.Madness was started in 2019 with the purpose of creating genuine music, and offers an initial ten tracks that explore an array of styles, genres, and ideas. Prior to the release of their debut album, they released two singles, ‘At Dusk’ and ‘Where I Am From’ off the album.
Considerations
As mentioned above, the album provides several different genres and styles, in fact, each song is quite different from the next. Although, it all comes together to make one cohesive work of music that has depth and complexity, but maintains simplicity and listenability. To tackle this beast, it is best to split this article up track by track.
A few things to keep in mind when cruising through this article, or listening to the album, should include the following. The entire album, with exception of the drums, was recorded in Spencer’s apartment bedroom in Prague, Czech Republic. Each song features the same pedalboard which was used to create all of the guitar, bass, and most of the vocal sounds on the record, and it found some use on many supporting tracks too. The pedalboard is extensive and probably too big (as if that’s possible?), but it houses various overdrive through distortion-type sounds, subtle to massive reverbs and delays, flange, and much more.
Also, much of this album was mixed and mastered using headphones. Yes… the appeal of this album is simply climbing through the roof. Recorded in a bedroom, processed largely on headphones… Well it gets better (for real). The drums were mic’d and sent directly from the interface onto the recording tracks of an old laptop. Only a small amount of post-processing was required. And what you get out of all of this is refreshing in terms of tone, clarity, cleanliness, individuality, and other supporting adjectives.
Lastly, these songs should not be tied down by the ideas or meanings laid before you in this article, but are, as with any art, open to interpretation. If it means something different to you, then dammit, that’s what it means too.
So, with all of that in mind, let’s dive into what this album is made of! We’ll look at some of the inspirations for feel and approach, as well as the ideas behind some of the tunes. And at the end we’ll throw in a list of the gear that was used to create the album!
Aud.Madness
The album opens up with a grand presentation of Aud.Madness. It has a combination of rosy and sci-fi synths — one quite warbly, and the other immersed in a space-bound theme. “Production Madness Presents, Aud.Madness” is voiced overhead, and we are underway.
There was an old BBC jingle that was used in the late 80s and early 90s, that this takes its heart from. It’s a nod to some great composers, and the music will go forward as Production Madness’s introduction jingle through the foreseeable future.
At Dusk
At Dusk opens and closes with the sound of a popping, hot, crackling of fire. Casting a lyrical theme about a human tendency to replace, create, repeat, the song shifts perspective frequently. Starting from a first-person perspective, as viewed from the ‘old man’ in the story, his world is opened up to a young man with fire in his hand, and thoughtless motivations to remove the old man and his ways. A dialogue that takes place at dusk begins, and the old man warns the other that his intentions are all too familiar as he had them himself, and that they lead to destruction. The young man replies with an offer to leave before he destroys what the old man created, which is parried with arrogance. Destruction ensues, the house is burned, signifying a new rise, and the young man realizes he now only has ashes to work with. Presumably time passes and the house is rebuilt from the ash, but by the time the young man has crafted his new world, he’s grown old, and ‘new blood’ is coming to reap what they can from him.
There were a few inspirations that led into the making of this song. The most important is a song that was on the opening credits of True Detective, Season 3, by the name ‘Death Letter’, by Cassandra Wilson. The very beginning of the sporadic drum pattern that opens the song is all too cool, so something very similar was put at the front of this tune. “I wanted to keep a similar eerie vibe to tell a story over, but it needed to build into a huge ending because I knew this would be the first song on the album,” Spencer says, adding “and I knew I wanted the listener to be drowned in bass at the end.” (So, True Detective team, feel free to get in touch for any future seasons :)
The ending is filled with every instrument in Spencer’s arsenal, and includes a double guitar solo that has each guitar playing the opposite of the other while panning hard left and right. One guitar starts the shred on the upper strings and descends, while the other starts low and ends high, and just as it started, the solo ends in octaves. The overheads of the drums break the section open as if the song can’t be contained any longer, and the fills are simply enormous. The drums were meant to have an old swamp rock type of feel, and then at the end it was important to leave an impression.
Desert
Taking the second slot of the record, Desert is simply a song that is supposed to rock. It’s got a bold punch in the choruses, C-section, and solo. The bluesy verses are an antithesis to the rest of the song with a groove that hangs back, immersing us in a hot, arid desert environment where the sun beats down on you.
Blues and hard-hitting rock are combined with a desert-rock slide guitar to find sounds reminiscent of The Black Keys, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Big Wreck and perhaps the Foo Fighters.
Lines
Lines is a song about personal growth and accepting that you need to grow up. There are definite John Mayer type vibes, but it’s just supposed to be a chilled back, relaxed tune. The goal of the main rhythm guitar was to sound simple while demonstrating interesting intricacies. In all there are four separate guitar tracks, one being heavily flange effected (almost a rotary sound), and another present for long, bright notes only. The ride is everything to this song though, and without it, this song would be incredibly underwhelming. It really maintains the cool atmosphere through the chorus.
The lyric “Holding my lines” is a reference to playing guitar, the lines being the strings.
Lost In A Dream
Lost In A Dream is a classic power ballad with dream-like soundscapes, striking guitar solos, massive drum grooves, and a tasty odd-time signature breakdown. This song screams out that old forms of music aren’t dead. Touches of Metallica and Megadeth help this song form a new entry into the metal ballad lexicon. By keeping pace with dark and mysterious lyrics and various aural textures, the song floats along a fantastical narrative set in the midst of a dream gone horribly awry.
A massive 29/4 patterned breakdown is smack dab in the middle of the tune, leading into an eruption of huge distortion and thunderous fills. More captivating time changes land us back into the dreamy soundscape as a guitar solo tears our ears apart till we reconcile for the nightmarish events that took place earlier. The song goes out with a bang, and fades smoothly into the next track up.
Nitthog’s Score
Some background for the title of this track may indeed be necessary, as it derives its name from one of the major players (Nidhogg) in Norse mythology’s Ragnarok event (the end days). In the mythology, the serpent Nidhogg, is known for gnawing on the roots of Yggdrasil, the “World tree”, or the cosmos that connects all nine of the realms, doting it with poison. He specifically gnaws on the root that upholds Mimir’s Well, the well of wisdom and intelligence. When Ragnarok begins, the tree is rotted, and is decaying, and Nidhogg takes to collect the dead, and torture those that have fallen. He is the serpent of hate, and a bringer of death in the mythology, and because of his constant attacks on all that is good in the cosmos, he plays a crucial role in Ragnarok.
The approach to try to capture this calamity was to imagine if the bands Mastodon, Rush, and Led Zeppelin were asked to score a film about the events of Ragnarok. Taking inspiration from famous scores such as John Williams’ ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from Harry Potter, and fusing it with heavy, progressive riffs, motifs, and themes is what fueled the creation of haunting choruses, a 21/4 pattern, several odd chord progressions, and the monster this song should represent. This song is a journey, and maybe the best way to wrap your head around it is mathematically as the track is made up of three sections of three, and an outro. Or maybe just sit back and digest it a few times :)
Old Trail/Onward
‘Old Trail’ is a sort of reprise to ‘Lost In A Dream’, referring to the well these characters go to. ‘Nitthog’s Score’ also mentions an important mythological well, so really all three songs are tied together at some capacity. The theme touches on societal flaws and depression, using the story narrative to intertwine the two. It’s meant to be the main intimate piece on the album.
But fear not, for the atmosphere is about to change drastically. Acting as the complete antithesis to ‘Old Trail’ is its conjoined song, ‘Onward’. Replicating what it may sound like to have your first gig as a musician, the mood is upbeat, and optimistic. It prepares us for the upcoming track and signifies that we’re moving away from the previous emotions with an adventurous, country blues twang.
Scared Of The Dark
“As a musician, you often hear lots of random songs in your head. For me, I usually get inspired to write new music just as I’m going to bed. I’ll think of themes, new riffs, a solo idea, but most of the time it’s closely related to some other tune, and I’ll decide I can’t use it then and there. But sometimes one sneaks through that I can’t pin to anything else, and it has to be written and figured out immediately, or else I’ll lose it. So, that’s basically what ‘Scared Of The Dark’ is about for me. It’s about a song that doesn’t want to be lost when I go to sleep.” — Spencer Sherwood.
Some of the motives that built the overall structure of the song included making a fun song, and one that sounded like copy/paste pop music, but from the 50’s. For example, there are almost no differences between the two verses, aside from lyrics, and an added synth in the second verse. The drums use the same fills to exit a chorus every time, as well as finishing a verse. And the guitar parts are very tight from chorus to chorus, or verse to verse. “This song is the most fun to play on the album, for me” says Colton. “It’s upbeat and has a catchy attitude that kinda makes it a good summer song.”
Where I Am From
Where I Am From is a song about Albuquerque, New Mexico, (where Spencer grew up). Filled with nostalgia, mentions of iconic qualities, and an unconditional love for the city, this song earned the position of the second single released by the band. Spencer’s unconventional songwriting blends with a guitar that leans on bluesy techniques, a jazzy drum set, supporting bursts of light from a glockenspiel, and a chorus that works all the musical muscles.
Performances like Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘Lenny’, his live ‘Riviera Paradise’ from Austin, Texas, and Gary Clark Jr.’s ‘Please Come Home’, are what planted the seed for this song to be created. What grew the seed was Spencer’s move from Albuquerque to Prague. “Moving out was tough, and I missed home very much, especially early on. I thought about it a lot while I learned to get accustomed to life half-way around the world. I missed the comfort and familiarity, and I certainly missed my family. I think that’s also a driving force in this song” (Spencer). What we get out of it is maybe an uncommon view about home for most people, but hopefully one that people can share, even if it’s not out loud.
Hold tight
Closing out the album is a song with a classic 6/8 beat found in blues, RnB, soul and other similar genres, and it’s called ‘Hold Tight’. Following that 6/8 pattern found in Ray Charles’ ‘America the Beautiful’, and approximating old 50’s chorus sounds, ‘Hold Tight’ is a song about love. It serves as a reminder to hold loved ones close, tell them what they mean to you, and that nothing is more important.
This track was recorded, with the exception of the drums, prior to Spencer moving to Prague in 2019. It was meant to be a demo, but it found its way to Colton’s drum set, and turned into the final piece of this ten track album!
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Inspirations
A few notable mentions of inspiration not included in the article:
- Atmosphere
- Hozier
- Boston
- Scorpions
- Van Halen
- Oliver Wallace
- Samuel Barber
- Antonín Dvořák
- Hans Zimmer
- Jordan Peterson
- Leon Bridges
- Dee Dee Bridgewater
- Childish Gambino
Gear List
The most important pieces of gear used for the album are listed below :)
Guitar:
- PRS Vela (Primary guitar, bass)
- Mexican Fender Stratocaster (Secondary guitar, bass)
- Milkman The Amp
- Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
- Walrus Fathom reverb
- Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive Deluxe
- Origin Effects Cali76 compressor
- Amptweaker Tight Rock Jr. distortion
- Chase Bliss Thermae delay
- Chase Bliss Spectre flange
- Alexander Pedals Colour Theory spectrum sequencer
- T-Rex Mudhoney II Dual Distortion
- Boss ES-8
- Lava Cable Tightrope
- Schmidt Array SA900
Drums:
- Sonar 16” crash
- Paiste PST 3 14” Hi-Hat
- Cast B8 Sonor 20” ride
- Zildjian 20” Medium Thin Crash
- Zildjian 16" China
- Mapex MA528SF Mars 5 piece drum set
- Various Evans heads for the kit
- 9" Riq
- Toy Glockenspiel
Mics:
- Fat Head Ribbon mic
- AKG C1000S
- AKG P170 x2
- GLS Audio ES-57 x2
- AKG P420
- Avantone CK-40
- Shure SM58 x3
- AKG D5 x2
- Rode NT1-A
Synths/Mix/Master/Software:
- Focusrite 2i4
- Shure SE215 Headphones
- Reaper64
- Mackie MR624 x2
- Tascam Model 24
- Roland JU-06
- M-Audio Code 25
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