Sideways (A Prayer for the Saved) – Ongoing evolution/Laura Visvydas & Joel Smith

Click to Listen ——> Sideways (A Prayer for the Saved)

Make sure to click on the attachment and take a listen. Thanks.

This song began one evening while Joel and I were listening to different sounds and beats on his production equipment to fit a song I had written several years ago. After trial and error we put together the rhythm (drums/bass) and realized it was becoming it’s own piece. The bass line is taken from chords of the old piece, but the entire sound and character of this one no longer sounds even remotely like what I had written prior.

The next step was the creation of the melody which came pretty naturally; humming along to the bass/drum track until it was ironed out and flowed. Joel and I like to record as we write and often listening to the development of a part after it is complete can lead to other creative ideas or pathways. I have seen that occur a few times already, leading me to follow alternative creative ideas I may not have seen otherwise. Initial vocals and lyrics were developed next. Constant repetitive humming along as I played the base line on the piano, I began to sing different words to different  song sections. The word “sideways” was the first to really take a strong place, followed by the “pray with me” line. Joel and I quickly agreed we liked how the two sounded and the rest of the lyrics were written around these words. A theme was becoming evident; one of judgment or a request for redemption/salvation. The questions we asked ourselves, “Who wanted to be saved?” and “what role does the vocalist of the song take on?” We played with the idea of gambling but ended up focus more on the concept of organized religion. Three verses of lyrics have been written, but in this draft recording there is only one verse. This is because we are still formatting and developing the actual musical track.

Joel and I have very different musical pasts but it has been very exciting to bring those two pasts together. We have a few pieces we are working on right now and it seems that there is a strong blues influence along with perhaps a hip-hop undertone. I’m very excited to see where these pieces develop as we brainstorm and create together.

The most thrilling part of the experience to me thus far is the creation of the song meaning and how different pieces can be tweaked to emphasize a specific message. Also, the way I can witness our different styles merge is very satisfying. My least favorite aspect is posting incomplete work. haha. It is frustrating not be able to have all the lyrics up there at this time and I want to reveal where we are headed with the piece to everyone who listens. But, the point of this blog is to discuss the process so I will just have to be patient…. not my strong suit.