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'You Are Her Now' by Pennsylvania based post rock quartet Heron is a beauty, an album full of surprises (read our review). In this edition of Songs With Stories, we asked the band about their favorites. Each band member selected one track, eventually resulting in a nice little compilation, dedicated to the background of Heron. Enjoy...
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Boyd (guitar): Miracle Fortress - ‘Whirrs’
Now this is a cool song from 10 years ago. I remember hearing this record in 2007, or 2008 - and the first track called “Whirrs” immediately had my attention. It was melodic and structured at the forefront - but the background was all weird noise and chaos! It was great. I was playing/recording a lot of acoustic music at the time, so I wasn’t really into effects then either(!) - besides my looper. I had no idea how you would even go about making noise like that. I distinctly remember listening to it in my car though, and wondering how you could balance a song with a great melody and add noise in a way to emphasize both aspects. I’m still a long way from figuring that out!
Nate (drums): The Appleseed Cast - 'Marigold & Patchwork'
Right around the time that I first heard the Appleseed Cast I was playing drums in a hardcore band. I lived and breathed hardcore music for a good bit of my teen years. To this day I still love hardcore music, but it was The Appleseed Cast's first album that started a bit of a transition for me. This first album of theirs is kind of all over the place with slower experimental songs that include long saxophone leads to songs like their opening track Marigold & Patchwork, which is a very raw and driving song. Basically this album just hits you with raw emotion and a raw sound. I love the fact that it sounds like an actual band is playing music together and not a bunch of robots! Marigold & Patchwork starts off with really a quite simple guitar riff and then the drums come in hard and hit ya. After a good minute and a half the vocals break in with a very raspy/yelling emotional cry that grabs your attention immediately. From here on you're on a bit of a journey with songs that drive your emotions and create energy to songs that make you just relax and chill. These guys continue to create beautiful music that has inspired me since their first album, End Of The Ring Wars.
Eric (bass): The Beatles - 'Long, Long, Long'
At no risk of turning anyone on to something new, I’ve always loved The Beatles ‘Long, Long, Long’ off the White Album. It’s a bit of a sleeper track in the scheme of the greater album, mastered quiet and stuck in-between 'Helter Skelter' and 'Revolution I.’ After a good many plays through the entire album, I vividly remember the moment I fell in love with it. Sonically, it is so warm and dreamy. The modulating organ on this track maybe my single favorite sound in this world and all the silliness at the end is a great reminder that taking something seriously isn’t necessarily a guarantee of depth.
Ben (guitar): Mogwai - 'Emergency Trap'
Sometimes there is a song within the greater context of an album that really speaks to you and becomes part of your memories. For me, Mogwai's "Emergency Trap" is one of those songs. Maybe, it's the intro of the song with subtle volume sweeps, chalky bass, and a steady guitar melody that slowly builds, maybe it's the drums and piano that enter as one and complement the already established melody, maybe it's the ambient guitars painting the back-drop of the song with warmth and color, maybe it's the dynamic shift at approximately two and a half minutes when the musical space opens wide, the guitars fade to ambient noise, and the drums and piano replace the guitar and bass as the lead instruments. For whatever reason I love this song, it is at this moment of shift and surprise where the composition seems to find a rhythm with my own heart. "Emergency Trap" is composed without words; it is an instrumental track that opens my mind to the potential of creating music that offers the listener a different avenue of using music for invoking thought and imagination. This is a song that has surrounded me in some of the most special moments of my life; it is a simple, musical masterpiece that flows through my soul and requires a creative response. It is one of the very songs that inspires my personal quest to write music that demands a response in a person's soul. Thank you Mr. Beast.
