Full Transcript for Prog Rock Emotion Storytelling And More Antartica From Singer Songwriter Tom Ciurczak

you've got to it's it's a craft 38 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:59.250 like anything else. It's an art form. You know, you 39 00:01:59.269 --> 00:02:01.870 got to make a lot of bad ones before you 40 00:02:01.890 --> 00:02:03.989 can make some good ones. Oh, my God. 41 00:02:04.069 --> 00:02:05.829 And look where you have been able to play when 42 00:02:05.849 --> 00:02:08.159 it comes to putting this music together. Because, I mean, 43 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:09.280 you went to Muscle Shoals. 44 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:09.759 Oh, my God. 45 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:12.280 One of my good friends is there, Charles Holliman. And 46 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:15.319 it just blows me away what comes out of that 47 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:16.560 section of the planet. 48 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:22.199 Isn't that cool? Some people go to these baseball parks. 49 00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:26.289 We've been going to different recording studios. I'm actually at 50 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:27.550 Sunset Sound right. 51 00:02:27.430 --> 00:02:30.389 Now in L.A. Are you kidding? Recording. 52 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:33.509 But we did muscle shows, and we're going to be 53 00:02:33.530 --> 00:02:37.900 going down to Memphis in the spring. So I've got 54 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:41.659 a side project that I work with with six other 55 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:46.500 singer-songwriters in addition to my own stuff. And that's where 56 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:48.180 we did the Muscle Shoals thing, and we're going to 57 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:50.520 do something down in Memphis. I'm not quite sure which 58 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.860 studio yet, but that looks like where we're heading down to. 59 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:57.189 Well, see, I love that you're doing that, because I've 60 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:59.810 always believed, and maybe it's just the Montanan coming out 61 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:02.229 in me, but I've always believed in the regions of 62 00:03:02.270 --> 00:03:04.969 this nation. And with you stepping into these studios, you're 63 00:03:05.009 --> 00:03:08.430 experiencing those regions of this music generation. 64 00:03:09.509 --> 00:03:12.629 Yeah, how cool is that, right? You know, it's... Like 65 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:15.550 I said, I'm having a lot of fun going around. 66 00:03:15.569 --> 00:03:17.110 These are like, you. 67 00:03:17.009 --> 00:03:21.250 Know, holy rock and roll type of places that, you know, 68 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:26.590 they all should be museums. I'm really surprised that, you know, they. 69 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:29.509 Don't have tours and stuff for all these places right now. 70 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:32.800 It's almost like our best kept secret, but we don't 71 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:34.719 want to let it out because then everybody else is 72 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:36.080 going to come to it. So we're going to keep 73 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:36.659 it a secret. 74 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:39.780 Well, you know, I was saying something the other day. 75 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:41.120 I was like, you know, there was. 76 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:43.740 A time when everybody read the liner notes on albums 77 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.479 because it was so big when you but now. 78 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.310 You got these CDs and it's real tiny, tiny print. 79 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:51.490 I don't know if everybody's reading the liner notes as 80 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:55.509 to who produced it, who engineered where it was recorded. But, 81 00:03:55.569 --> 00:03:58.169 you know, back in the day, that's what I did 82 00:03:58.389 --> 00:04:00.789 every time I got an album. And I would know 83 00:04:00.909 --> 00:04:04.560 all the studios, all the engineers who produced it, who 84 00:04:05.379 --> 00:04:07.219 the musicians on every album were. 85 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:08.860 I think some of. 86 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:13.419 That's gotten lost in the changeover to CDs and streaming. 87 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:15.599 Well, yeah, and that's one of those things where, I mean, 88 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:18.000 I'll sit there even when I'm talking with Alexa and 89 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.829 I'll start asking those questions because that's become my new 90 00:04:20.949 --> 00:04:24.009 inside sleeve. And she better have all the answers. Otherwise, 91 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:25.879 I'm going to go to chat GPT and I'm sure 92 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:27.259 Amazon doesn't want me to do that. 93 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:36.610 You can have a couple of them if chat doesn't 94 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:38.009 you go to gemini. 95 00:04:37.810 --> 00:04:41.579 That's it so how did you protect your voice on 96 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.660 we were immortal i mean because that song right there 97 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:46.980 kind of gives me that john lennon ask of twist 98 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:49.439 and shout where i'm going oh my god he's challenging 99 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:50.819 his vocals on this one. 100 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:55.149 Um you know that was a fun one um. 101 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:59.490 Vocally it wasn't a problem for me but you know 102 00:05:00.310 --> 00:05:03.089 so i have the gravelly voice and the smooth voice 103 00:05:03.129 --> 00:05:05.990 depending whether it's a rocker or whether it's more of 104 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:08.850 a a mid-tempo or a ballad i'll go to either 105 00:05:08.889 --> 00:05:13.199 the the the more gravelly springsteen-esque voice bob siger voice 106 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:15.779 that's the rocker but you know the ballads i'll go 107 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.040 to the smoother voice and um. 108 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:20.759 That we we were immortal was. 109 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:24.879 Um That was an interesting song because I had this 110 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:28.259 whole big concept album that I wrote that I never released, 111 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:32.420 but I started pulling songs from it that I thought 112 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:34.480

would be really cool to stand alone, and that. 113 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:36.439 Was one of them. Wow. 114 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.120 It's a proggy type of song, right? It's got a 115 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:41.139 lot of early Genesis vibe to it. 116 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:45.000 Yeah, it does. Well, there you go. You answered that 117 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:48.310 question because it does have that. But when I was 118 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:50.930 thinking about it, though, I went Peter Gabriel more than 119 00:05:51.189 --> 00:05:52.089 a Phil Collins. 120 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:56.410 Yeah well you know what you're i think you're on 121 00:05:56.449 --> 00:05:57.730 to it because i was always a. 122 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:02.610 Bigger uh peter gabriel i i latched on to genesis 123 00:06:02.829 --> 00:06:08.009 early yeah with um selling england by the pound and 124 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:12.089 i just became so immersed into genesis and the funny 125 00:06:12.129 --> 00:06:15.490 story is i was really in into the prog scene 126 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:20.740 and um bruce springsteen released um born to run and 127 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.350 um I didn't know who he was. And he just 128 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:28.129 finished his concert at Hammersmith Odie in England. And he 129 00:06:28.149 --> 00:06:30.689 came to my small college, his first stop in upstate 130 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:33.509 New York. And they had to drag me kicking. 131 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:34.350 And screaming to go see him. 132 00:06:34.370 --> 00:06:37.620 He's not my he's not my style of music. 133 00:06:37.629 --> 00:06:39.829 I don't know. I don't even know anything about this guy. 134 00:06:40.339 --> 00:06:42.639 And so I go to see him and he blew 135 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:47.230 the roof off of my house. little gymnasium there at 136 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:50.509 the school and ever since then I became this huge 137 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:54.689 Bruce Springsteen fan and you know you'll you'll hear in 138 00:06:54.730 --> 00:06:57.949 my music you'll hear pieces of Springsteen and you'll hear 139 00:06:58.009 --> 00:07:02.579 pieces of prog music because those are two paths that 140 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.240 I went down real strong. 141 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.360 I was going to ask you about that prog music 142 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:08.500 because I've been with the members of yes and boy 143 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:11.060 they are still promoting prog even today and I was 144 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:12.699 wondering if you were going to set up some sort 145 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:14.839 of you know, show or something like that and attend 146 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:15.980 a Prague festival? 147 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:21.569 I would love to, you know, and the stuff we're 148 00:07:21.629 --> 00:07:28.069 recording right now, I probably have five really strong Prague songs. 149 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:31.970 You know, I'm trying to write music that. 150 00:07:34.019 --> 00:07:35.610 Fall into different. 151 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:40.230 Styles so it's not 100 you know rock or 100 152 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:46.129 uh uh alt country or 100 americana i'm trying to 153 00:07:46.209 --> 00:07:51.250 use a different um uh texture underneath everything so it's 154 00:07:51.350 --> 00:07:53.230 always my voice so it's going to sound like me 155 00:07:53.610 --> 00:07:57.829 but um But, you know, all of these influences growing up, 156 00:07:58.250 --> 00:08:01.930 you know, I love Santana. So I've got a Santana 157 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:05.550 type sounding song. I love the blues. So I'm putting 158 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:08.569 blues music in there. And, of course, as we just 159 00:08:08.649 --> 00:08:14.050 talked about, you know, I like the Springsteen, Seeger, Mellencamp, 160 00:08:14.110 --> 00:08:17.689 Tom Petty type of singer songwriter. That's in there. And, 161 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:23.750 of course, Black Sabbath. You know, Gentle Giant was always 162 00:08:24.269 --> 00:08:26.250 my favorite along with Genesis. I don't know if a 163 00:08:26.269 --> 00:08:28.509 lot of people know who they are, but they're the 164 00:08:28.550 --> 00:08:30.720 proggiest of the prog from that era. Yeah. 165 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.279 When you do a song like Looking for a Place, 166 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:34.860 I mean, this one right here, I mean, you talk 167 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.100 about that emotion that you were just discussing about. I mean, 168 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:39.500 this is definitely one of those where it's like, I 169 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.429 think people are going to be touched by this one 170 00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:43.950 and they might even break out in some serious dancing 171 00:08:44.009 --> 00:08:44.370 into it. 172 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:47.769 Oh, that was, you know what, that was, I wanted 173 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:49.769 to write a couple of songs for the album that 174 00:08:49.850 --> 00:08:57.090 would be really good for live shows because, you know, 175 00:08:57.409 --> 00:08:59.669 I go to a lot of clubs and everybody's playing 176 00:08:59.769 --> 00:09:03.980 Allman Brothers. It's funny, they're playing songs from 50 years 177 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:07.539 ago still in most of the clubs. And I was like, okay, 178 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:10.480 I'm going to do something that's got kind of an 179 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:15.080 Allman Brothers-esque type of riff. When I came up with that, 180 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:19.669 whether it be Allman Brothers or, you know, you could 181 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:22.889 hear some Eric Clapton in that same riff. But then 182 00:09:23.110 --> 00:09:27.549 I kind of meshed it together with a real Americana. 183 00:09:27.669 --> 00:09:30.720 I slowed it down for the chorus for a really 184 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:34.840 interesting Americana chorus. So it's kind of an interesting mash 185 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:37.200 together of

two different sounds in that one song. 186 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:40.539 Yeah, because I love the way that you explore. And 187 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:42.460 that to me is that somebody who's, are you getting 188 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.139 up at two, three o'clock in the morning because you 189 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.019 felt something and you've got to get it down now 190 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:46.909 or you're going to forget it? 191 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.620 No, I don't go to sleep until two, three in 192 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:55.190 the morning. You'll hear a song, you. 193 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:58.649 Know, I ain't ever grown up from, I did two 194 00:09:58.710 --> 00:10:01.669 albums by that name, but... the one line I open 195 00:10:01.730 --> 00:10:03.690 up with is, get up every day at the crack 196 00:10:03.730 --> 00:10:04.110 of noon. 197 00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:08.519 That's it. That's me. 198 00:10:08.649 --> 00:10:10.820 Am I wrong to say that I hear some Beatles 199 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.539 inspirations in Going Down in Flames? Are we going to 200 00:10:13.580 --> 00:10:15.080 go all out Springsteen on this one? 201 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:18.529 You know.... 202 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.610 I don't think that there's a lot of Beatles influence 203 00:10:22.649 --> 00:10:25.440 in me. Definitely. No, no doubt about it. 204 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:28.690 I don't think that's Springsteen and I don't think that's 205 00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:29.129 a Beatles. 206 00:10:29.169 --> 00:10:30.289 And that's great. 207 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:34.250 That's a great question. You know, again, it's the same 208 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:37.350 idea for looking for a place. I wanted a song 209 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:40.929 that would really translate to a crowd live. 210 00:10:41.649 --> 00:10:46.309 And and, you know, there's this thing about. You know, 211 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:48.570 where you you leave a lot. 212 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:51.220 Of empty space and you just have a vocal with 213 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:52.980 the drum in the background and then you hit it 214 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:57.000 with the guitar again. That really catches an audience's attention. 215 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:01.419 And they don't always hear the words, but they they 216 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:03.950 catch on to the vibe of it when when they're 217 00:11:03.970 --> 00:11:06.769 hearing something for the first time live. And so I 218 00:11:06.830 --> 00:11:10.120 was very conscious of that when I put that song together. 219 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.080 Of course, if you go back and you listen to 220 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:18.000 the words, there's an interesting story there. It's my follow-up, though. 221 00:11:18.350 --> 00:11:22.149 I'm not ever growing up. It's like, well, not only 222 00:11:22.190 --> 00:11:24.809 am I never growing up, but I finally. 223 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:28.389 Leave this planet. I'm going down in flames. 224 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:33.580 I'm not going easy. 225 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:36.399 So one of the things that I really truly think 226 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.039 is just so special with your music is the structure 227 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.779 of sound. And I'm very excited to find out, while 228 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:44.600 studying the structure of music, how are you able to 229 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:48.039 still stay focused in sharing a story? So many rules 230 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.700 around you, but you're still so in touch with giving. 231 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.139 Let them have that storyline. 232 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:57.340 Okay, there's two things going on there, right? 233 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:02.009 One thing is the musical structure. A lot of people 234 00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:04.730 get stuck in this, what we'll call, Abba Cab is 235 00:12:04.769 --> 00:12:10.750 what Genesis called it, where they go, you know, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, right? 236 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:13.710 And I didn't want to do that. 237 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:15.929 So, you know, what I picked up from a lot 238 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:18.899 of prog music is you want to keep the music 239 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.769 moving so that you're always... capturing the listener's interest. If 240 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:28.350 you're constantly repeating, you're going to lose their interest. 241 00:12:28.370 --> 00:12:29.909 So you've got to, you've. 242 00:12:29.750 --> 00:12:31.360 Got to get a song and you've got to get 243 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:33.980 it to move. And you may have, you know, six, 244 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.539 seven different parts in a song, but you, you don't 245 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:39.299 want to lose. 246 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.460 Their interest throughout. So musically, I try to do that musically. 247 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.539 I try to come up with some musical hooks, some 248 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:48.909 ear candy so that they'll latch onto that. And at 249 00:12:48.970 --> 00:12:52.169 the same time you do that lyrically, you're like, okay, 250 00:12:52.210 --> 00:12:55.789 what can I do lyrically to make this interesting? 251 00:12:55.850 --> 00:12:59.110 And I get into storytelling more than anything else. 252 00:12:59.330 --> 00:13:02.570 I like these like little mini three act plays, but 253 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:05.470 maybe I got, maybe I got from Springsteen, but I like, 254 00:13:05.509 --> 00:13:08.610 you know, act one, act two, then act three has 255 00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:10.269 a completely different. 256 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:10.740 Twist to it. 257 00:13:11.129 --> 00:13:14.389 I'll have a, I'll have a song that it's like, 258 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:17.029 look left, look, look left, watch out for the right 259 00:13:17.090 --> 00:13:20.100 type of thing. And I get a kick out of 260 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:23.139 writing songs like that because, you know, it's like. 261

00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:25.960 I'll sit back and I'm like, the ending's not right. 262 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:29.639 I've got to change this ending because it's it's too commonplace. 263 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:32.899 I've got to surprise them with the ending. And I've 264 00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:35.259 been able to pull that off a number of times, 265 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:36.149 which I think is fantastic. 266 00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:37.389 Really good. 267 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:39.399 All right, you got to be reading my notes because 268 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:41.039 I'm going to tell you right now what you just 269 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:44.059 said in my notes. It says, will you turn Antarctica 270 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:48.019 into a stage show complete with vocal dialogue? So we're 271 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:50.049 on the same damn page here, dude. 272 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:56.450 What a cool story. You know, the story in Antarctica... Um, 273 00:13:57.009 --> 00:13:58.809 so I was looking for ghost stories. 274 00:13:59.409 --> 00:14:03.899 I was, I was, I started Googling, I started Googling, uh. 275 00:14:04.289 --> 00:14:07.639 Ghost stories and I'm like Amityville horror. Nah, I've heard 276 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.539 that one before. And they were going in like, I 277 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:11.590 heard that, heard it. And they get to this one thing, 278 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:15.490 you know, about this island. 279 00:14:17.090 --> 00:14:21.460 Outside Antarctica in the South Shetlands called Deception Island. 280 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:24.019 And I'm like, oh, I've never heard of this before. 281 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:29.759 And supposedly, this is where they used to take the 282 00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:32.289 whales back before they killed them on the ship. And 283 00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:34.309 they would render them for their oil and then ship 284 00:14:34.330 --> 00:14:37.649 the oil out to New York for machinery and for 285 00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:38.610 lights and everything. 286 00:14:39.370 --> 00:14:41.549 And so what happens is. 287 00:14:42.830 --> 00:14:46.590 this island still has all of the skeletons and all 288 00:14:46.649 --> 00:14:47.090 the old. 289 00:14:47.289 --> 00:14:50.049 You know, vats and everything on there. 290 00:14:50.590 --> 00:14:54.750 But the story is that at nighttime you hear all 291 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:59.220 these howlings of these whales, the ghosts of these whales, 292 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:01.600 and they like grab you and they take you down 293 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:04.240 to the bottom of the ocean. Right. And I'm like, okay, 294 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:06.539 this is a story I can, I can build the 295 00:15:06.580 --> 00:15:09.980 rest of this around this story. And so I started 296 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:13.610 to build the whole thing around that story. And, of course, 297 00:15:13.649 --> 00:15:17.250 it evolved from a ghost story to, you know, a 298 00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:20.639

save the whale story. And it also evolved to a 299 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:22.919 bit of an immigration story because, you know, I was 300 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:27.100 I said it in 1921, which is a little bit late. 301 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:31.090 But there's there was this company called the Hector Company, true, 302 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:34.909 that set up their station down there at Whaler's Bay. True. 303 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:36.940 In Antarctica. 304 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:40.710 But at that time in 1921, they ended World War 305 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:45.269 I and they stopped letting the immigrants into Ellis Island. 306 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:48.149 So I built this whole story around, well, a guy 307 00:15:48.210 --> 00:15:49.389 couldn't get into Ellis Island. 308 00:15:49.429 --> 00:15:50.789 What am I going to do? I wanted to go 309 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:53.429 for the gold rush. And so I'm going to go 310 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:55.759 out and work on these whaling boats. 311 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:59.299 I used oil, but it was really whale oil, not 312 00:16:00.379 --> 00:16:03.240 oil on the ground. But I built that whole story 313 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.080 up there. And, you know, so you've got a couple 314 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:09.350 of different layers in there. And I came up with 315 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:14.450 the the ending with the, you know. 316 00:16:14.490 --> 00:16:18.169 The way she rises. Whoa, there she blows kind of 317 00:16:18.230 --> 00:16:21.490 a whaler's type of chancy. She chancy. And I wanted 318 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:24.769 to add that into it. And then just before I 319 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:26.429 finished it, I'm like, you know what? 320 00:16:27.269 --> 00:16:30.370 I need an intro and an outro to make this 321 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:35.529 very eerie and ghost-like. And I came up with this 322 00:16:35.809 --> 00:16:40.100 really cool idea. I sat down on my piano and 323 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:43.000 came up with this intro. And the outro was a 324 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.679 little different, but it's all done with minor chords. And 325 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:51.750 I kind of looked up, how do you write... eerie 326 00:16:51.870 --> 00:16:56.240 music for horror movies and, you know, scary movies. And 327 00:16:56.250 --> 00:16:58.980 they explained, well, they do a lot with these minor 328 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.940 chords at these different intervals. And that's how they get 329 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:04.619 that creepy type of, you know, feeling and effect. 330 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:07.660 And I'm like, OK, I can I can do that. 331 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:13.990 So I started playing around with different minor changes and stuff. And, um, 332 00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:16.009 I came up with the whole thing. I had to 333 00:17:16.049 --> 00:17:19.089 sit down and, and, and, and teach the organ player. 334 00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:20.930 This is exactly how I want you. 335 00:17:20.769 -->

00:17:21.569 To do it. 336 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:24.690 Uh, which, which was really, it was a lot of 337 00:17:24.750 --> 00:17:28.089 fun when we recorded that song. And then, then what 338 00:17:28.170 --> 00:17:30.470 we did is we, we went and put a lot of, 339 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:34.380 you know, the like ghost ship effects. So you'll hear 340 00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:38.319 all these ghost ships like rattling and creeping as, as 341 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:41.299 you're hearing this, um, Captain Nemo. 342 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:44.680 Or Phantom of the Opera type of organ in the intro. 343 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:50.079 And I think that intro and outro, because I kind 344 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:53.680 of used them, really sets the song up real well. 345 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:56.259 And then the guitar comes in, and again, it's a 346 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:59.220 little different. It's like a Led Zeppelin slash Cates type 347 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:02.720 of guitar that's a little different from anything else I did. 348 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:06.109 I'm telling you, I thought that was the crown jewel 349 00:18:06.130 --> 00:18:07.509 of all the recordings I did. 350 00:18:07.630 --> 00:18:10.130 Yeah, yeah. I did 20 songs. 351 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:16.079 Okay, we recorded 20 songs at Sunset Sound. And 10 352 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:20.119 of them became Yorick, the album before this, and 10 353 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:21.720 of them became Antarctica. 354 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:22.599 Really? 355 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:27.859 Sitting on that Antarctica in my back pocket for a 356 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:31.099 couple of years was really tough because I knew that 357 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:33.940 was a Crown Jewel song and I didn't want to 358 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:37.720 let it out until it was ready. And so I 359 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:40.059 had to wait for Yorick to get, and Yorick did 360 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:44.839 real well. I mean, it got some really great reviews. So, 361 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:49.779 you know, the 20 songs we did, all were super 362 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:53.240 received by the critics and by my audience. 363 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.559 Please don't move. There's a lot more of Tom right 364 00:18:56.579 --> 00:18:59.250 around the corner. The name of the album is Antarctica. 365 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.309 We're going to start breaking down the songs. We'll be 366 00:19:01.349 --> 00:19:06.470 right back. Hey, thanks for coming back to my conversation 367 00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:10.009 with Tom Zurzak. The name of the album, Antarctica. Plus, 368 00:19:10.049 --> 00:19:12.890 I want you to check out Call Me Ismael. There's 369 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:16.509 so much music here for you to explore. Now, being 370 00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:19.069 a radio guy, only because I know how listeners are, 371 00:19:19.670 --> 00:19:22.589 you've got what I call the Jason Mraz. How are 372 00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:26.079 people going to find Sir Zach, and what is the 373 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:27.880 best way for them when they go searching for you 374 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:30.680 on Spotify or go to Amazon Music and things? What 375 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.819 is your secret to get them to find you? Because 376 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.009 you know how we are. We're quitters. We'll go, I 377 00:19:36.049 --> 00:19:38.269 can't find it. I can't find it. Where can we 378 00:19:38.329 --> 00:19:39.410 find it? 379 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:42.529 That is such a problem. I didn't realize that. you know, 380 00:19:42.569 --> 00:19:44.609 since I've been a little kid, I could spell my name. 381 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:54.960 I didn't realize right away that, uh, uh, nobody else could, 382 00:19:55.220 --> 00:20:00.299 could spell my name, but, um, it is Tom surzac.com 383 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.819 is my website. Um, but, uh, I do have a, uh, 384 00:20:05.660 --> 00:20:12.579 a secondary, um, uh, website called tokyotami58. com and that'll get 385 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:15.640 you to my website too because um so i used 386 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:19.859 to run a company um in japan for the longest 387 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.720 time so that's where the the tokyo tommy but apparently 388 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.160 somebody had that name so i just uh you know 389 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:28.980 used the first number that came to mind was 58 390 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:29.180 but um. 391 00:20:32.170 --> 00:20:34.190 But tokyotommy58. 392 00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:36.710 Com will also get you to my my website and 393 00:20:36.829 --> 00:20:39.569 from there it's got links to everything. 394 00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:42.039 Yeah yeah so were you reading the headlines when you 395 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:44.500 came up with adam glow what were you doing because 396 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:46.299 i mean i feel like that you were sitting in 397 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:48.980 the same room i was we we read the same 398 00:20:49.029 --> 00:20:52.049 exact article but we came up with different interpretations what 399 00:20:52.089 --> 00:20:53.289 what's the story behind that one. 400 00:20:53.930 --> 00:20:57.190 Okay, well, first of all, that one was written in 401 00:20:57.210 --> 00:21:00.809 the 1980s. Shut up. You're kidding. Oh, my God. 402 00:21:01.630 --> 00:21:04.079 I wrote that in the 1980s, so it was written 403 00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:07.160 quite a long time ago. And I wrote it before 404 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:09.799 The Walking Dead came out, so when I'm talking about 405 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:12.380 lobotomized zombies and stuff. 406 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:15.140 I was ahead of those guys. 407 00:21:15.609 --> 00:21:18.450 But the song that inspired me, believe it or not, 408 00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:23.349 was Billy Joel's Miami 2017. So he or he already 409 00:21:23.430 --> 00:21:26.309 had written a song about, you know, I saw the 410 00:21:26.349 --> 00:21:29.589

lights go out on Broadway and, you know, the Empire 411 00:21:29.650 --> 00:21:31.880 State lay low. And I was like, well, I'm just 412 00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:35.680 going to follow up on this theme and, you know, 413 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.440 have like this, you know, nuclear bomb go off in 414 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:42.799 New York City. And then, of course, I played there's 415 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:46.170 so much tongue in cheek humor in that song. I mean, 416 00:21:46.210 --> 00:21:49.430 you'll hear like, you know, this half-life is better than 417 00:21:49.450 --> 00:21:54.160 the one we left. And just all kinds, just little 418 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:57.460 types of silly humor in there. 419 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:02.940 But the cool thing about that song is what we 420 00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:04.059 talked about earlier. 421 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:09.420 It moves through a lot of, it's not a verse, chorus, verse, 422 00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:13.910 chorus song. It has a lot of different musical elements 423 00:22:14.009 --> 00:22:16.759 in it. And I think that's one of the things 424 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.569 that really makes that song very cool is that it 425 00:22:20.089 --> 00:22:26.849 isn't a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge type of song. And, yeah, 426 00:22:27.009 --> 00:22:29.589 I've been doing that kind of thinking on how to 427 00:22:29.609 --> 00:22:31.029 write songs for a long time. 428 00:22:31.730 --> 00:22:35.190 I love. 429 00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:35.809 It. 430 00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:37.250 But I had a lot of fun. 431 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:40.299 You know, one of the things that's very important, I 432 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.910 guess I grabbed onto it again before it happened, is 433 00:22:43.930 --> 00:22:46.890 in today's world, there's like a six second attention span. 434 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:51.519 So when people are on Spotify, they'll put a song 435 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.920 on and they'll listen for maybe six seconds, then skip 436 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.619 to the next one. So you got to grab their 437 00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:01.250 attention in the first six seconds. So that's either musically 438 00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:04.829 or lyrically, you got to say something that sparks them 439 00:23:04.869 --> 00:23:07.670 that they want to keep listening to it. That seems 440 00:23:07.730 --> 00:23:10.759 to be the trick. So that has an opening line. 441 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:13.440 The sun never comes up anymore. It hides behind all 442 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.859 that's left of New York City. All that's left is 443 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.640 the Adam glow that hovers all around like a halo. 444 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:20.559 Ain't it pretty? And I was like, Oh, it's kind 445 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:22.799 of a nice line. I like that. Pretty, pretty. 446 00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.079 What kind of swag you got going on? Cause you 447 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:30.720 here in the Carolinas, we

love our swag. So I 448 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:33.119 want people to go to your website and get that swag. 449 00:23:34.309 --> 00:23:37.720 Well, Right now, I've got all the CDs. I've got 450 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:42.039 the two vinyl albums that just came out. I did 451 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.480 the Antarctica in vinyl. 452 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:44.619 You know what? 453 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:47.660 I don't know if you guys have all looked at 454 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:50.720 what's happening in vinyl. They're like bowling balls. 455 00:23:50.769 --> 00:23:56.950 They come in all different colors. They're clear. They're solid, 456 00:23:57.009 --> 00:23:59.150 but you can get them splattered. 457 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:05.769 They're collector's items, and they're 180. 458 00:24:03.990 --> 00:24:06.609 Gram vinyl now. So they're real heavy. Yeah. 459 00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:10.119 It's the, the, the, the, the world of vinyl is 460 00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:14.359 really rejuvenated itself. And, and I, um, I talked to 461 00:24:14.380 --> 00:24:16.839 the guys that print my vinyl up here in LA. 462 00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:21.859 He says that they're manufacturing and sales of vinyl skyrocketing. 463 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:26.250 It's just, it's just going through the, through the roof 464 00:24:26.289 --> 00:24:26.750 right now. 465 00:24:27.089 --> 00:24:34.910 So anyways, I made, um, Antarctica with a, uh, translucent turquoise, um, vinyl, uh, 466 00:24:35.930 --> 00:24:39.490 very cool looking. And I made, um, the Antarctica one 467 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:44.299 is in a marble red translucent, you know, and I 468 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:47.440 haven't seen anything like that since Jay Giles did their 469 00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:50.519 bloodshot album. And they did that in red way back 470 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.640 in the day, which I was like, wow, look at this. 471 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:57.190 It's not in black. So today's world is, is changed 472 00:24:57.210 --> 00:24:57.549 a lot. 473 00:24:57.829 --> 00:25:01.369 And, um, But I think if you're going to buy 474 00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:04.009 an album, you want it to be a collector's looking 475 00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:07.369 type of thing. You don't want the Henry Ford, it's 476 00:25:07.470 --> 00:25:08.819 always in black type of thing. 477 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:09.839 You want variations, right? 478 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:15.720 Dude, you got to come back to this show anytime 479 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:18.059 in the future. I love your attitude with music and 480 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:20.680 I love the way that you break things down. That's 481 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.609 so important because that to me is where the listener, 482 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:26.650 you know, gets their appreciation for the song a lot 483 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:29.990 more when they understand the vibe of those that create it. 484 00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:36.849 Oh, yeah. You know, I think this is a passion 485 00:25:36.890 --> 00:25:37.569 for me, right? 486 00:25:37.630 --> 00:25:42.950 But I find that I believe dove into this Orange County, 487 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:46.029 LA world, and I've met all the musicians here in 488 00:25:47.029 --> 00:25:48.170 Southern California. 489 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:54.000 And the musical community is all like that. And I think, 490 00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:54.700 and of. 491 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:59.549 Course, I learned that going back east too, but my goodness, 492 00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:01.970 it's so much different than the business world, which seems 493 00:26:02.029 --> 00:26:04.769 to be very cutthroat. When you're getting to the musician 494 00:26:04.829 --> 00:26:08.440 side of this world, These guys will give you. 495 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.900 The shirt off their back. They're just wonderful human beings. 496 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:13.420 You're right. You're right. 497 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:16.599 Dude, once again, please come back to this show. I mean, 498 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.619 the door is always going to be open for you. 499 00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:21.950 Well, we're recording again, Arrow. 500 00:26:22.009 --> 00:26:25.250 So, you know, I will have a 2027 album. 501 00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:27.630 I'm trying to do this thing like... I can't do 502 00:26:27.710 --> 00:26:30.029 it like the Beatles. They were doing one every six months. 503 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:32.190 I'm like, okay, that's a little too fast for me. 504 00:26:32.549 --> 00:26:35.359 But I have this goal to do one a year. 505 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:35.779 And I'm like. 506 00:26:36.269 --> 00:26:38.319 I've got enough material, I can do it. 507 00:26:38.990 --> 00:26:44.710 And I really think the stuff I'm recording right now 508 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:50.450 is so cool and such a different turn from the 509 00:26:50.490 --> 00:26:51.390 last two albums. 510 00:26:51.410 --> 00:26:55.220 I think everybody's going to really be surprised. Wow, wow. 511 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:57.859 Well, man, dude, I can't wait to talk to you again. 512 00:26:58.039 --> 00:26:59.900 You be brilliant today, okay, sir? 513 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.579 Hey, you too. Thanks a lot, Arrow. Enjoyed talking to you, man.