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In The Beginning 1:520:00/1:52
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Breadcrumbs 4:140:00/4:14
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0:00/8:17
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0:00/2:31
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Skin Walkin' 4:050:00/4:05
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Anila 3:530:00/3:53
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I'm Getting Out 4:170:00/4:17
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Psychopathogen 4:190:00/4:19
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DV 4:240:00/4:24
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Black Sleeves 4:260:00/4:26
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Looking Back 5:450:00/5:45
MANO DE DIOS
“The material pool for this album was like 30-40 ideas/songs. Most of which were made before I could even sit down and write an album. From the moment I received this guitar, I pretty much came up with something every time I plugged it in. So in reality the album process was more of picking out which ones that worked. Originally there were like 3 instrumentals, but at the last minute I cut those and went with what I could easily put lyrics on. This time around I intentionally tried to work with various tempos. One thing I noticed is that most of the ideas that I generated while showering were somewhere around 120 bpm. I attribute that to either my internal clock (my heart), or the pitter patter on my skull from the shower head. Anyway, I have a lot of songs in that range and wanted to change that up. This is nowhere more apparent than on “Psychopathogen”. This did come to me in the shower, in the form of a bass line. In fact, it was the lead instrument in the composition. I recorded the bass tracks first, and the guitar parts were merely accenting the narrative. The crescendo was something I’ve always aspired to. A traditional jazz composition. On a slight tangent, I also didn’t try to “shred” on this album. I focused more on staying in the pocket. Which meant it was dialed back a notch. To be quite transparent, I never practice, so I usually just start exploring the strings until I hit on an idea. Undisciplined fingers are sloppy fingers. Though I may be able to emulate Stevie Ray Vaughan’s sound, doesn’t mean I could even fathom mimicking his abilities. Let’s just say, I was a bit more nimble in my younger days. I’ve owned a few guitars, but this particular one is hands down the most versatile. Your typical strat is 3 single coil pickups. Texas Tea comes with a 2 single and a humbucker,(hss). This makes jumping back and forth between styles effortless. There are so many different sounds that come out of this instrument, it literally sounds like I used several different guitars on most songs. There’s quite a few upgrades to the ultra Stratocaster, but they’re mainly esthetic. My favorite things are the polished aluminum pick guards, and the deep Tea-like finish highlighted with a blond maple fretboard. Plus, what better match is a brown axe for a brown Man! An interesting footnote is that there was no real standard setup sound wise to this album. Initially I was Mic’ing this Fender amp. Sadly this was not an educated intention. There were a handful of legendary amplifiers that crossed my path over the coarse of my musical journey. I didn’t purchase this amp. It came into my custody via stepbrother. It belonged to his Father who was a lifelong musician. He brought it over one time and I guess didn’t really have the room for it, or something. Both of us were oblivious to the blessing this amp was. His Pops knew it though. When I first played back some of the earliest recordings for this project, I was astounded by what I was hearing. That Dumble sound everyone was chasing, was magically bursting out of my monitors. A full Fender system. From guitar, chord, to amp. I’m a firm believer in,”You get what you paid for”. And yes, a $2,500 guitar is gonna sound better than a lower budgeted instrument. It sounds “REAL”!These are things you learn with experience. The one and only thing I didn’t like was the hiss that I was picking up on the microphone too. About mid way through these sessions I came across the amp modeler pedal and started going that route. This meant I ran everything straight to the recording interface. Sonically, way tighter and cleaner. What’s crazy is there’s still hiss coming out of the modeler when using dirtier distortions. I kinda shrugged like.,“Did you geniuses add that to replicate the sound of the amp when not in use?!! “ I don’t know, maybe that’s inevitable. As for the title of this album, it came to me one morning while at work on an excavator. Though I personally am not religious, I don’t try to force my views on anyone. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. *The title is just a metaphor of the titan like strength an operator wields when controlling these man made marvels. ”
— R_MADRIGAL
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