I was delighted at the chance to be the primary lyricist for Division’s new CD, “Control Issues.”
I’ve worked with partners before in the songwriting process, but this project was something beyond a collaboration, a group thing, or writing one song at a time. This was an entire album of music that Division is sharing with our fans, and the first time I’ve had a chance to put my stamp on what I will be snging. (Trinity was largely written before I joined the band, and I had a chance to do edits, but not to write from scratch.)
I really wanted to tell stories, and to take listeners somewhere they may never have been before.
For perspective, let’s look at a couple of movies that recently gained box office attention. Quentin Tarantino released Inglorious Basterds last year. It’s the first film I can think of that every member of Division has seen and enjoyed. (Check out my review over at Horrorview.com.) Basterds starts slow and spins into a fury, just like a tornado. Having seen Tarantino’s earlier works, and being a fan of most of them, I have no doubt that he took this approach to writing the film. Start with different stories and characters, and whip them together in a frenzy before it’s all said and done.
Conversely, the more linear path is to start with a clear set of dynamic forces; the proverbial good and evil. Take Neveldine and Taylor’s film, Gamer, as an example. Viewers are introduced to the flawed hero and the evil mastermind. By the the end, the showdown is set: the characters who embody good and evil meet face to face, eye to eye, in the ultimate competition.
Of course, every once in a while, a writer can take that formula and toss it on its head. Look at the first single from “Control Issues, ” the vampire-themed song, Hunt. We introduce a clear element of innocence and one of corruption, only to detour their finale’.
It’s not fair, but it’s our license as writers.
Check out the other stories told on “Control Issues” and join us to debate what you enjoy or don’t. Until then…
nK