Tyson: -awesome transition.

Going into it, though, I felt like I needed just a little, like a tiny little
instrumental section.

Charlotte: Mm-hmm.

Tyson: Just to have it be- it just felt like the bridge was like "bwaaa bridge!" instead of "oh,
something interesting's going to happen, oh something interesting happened!" Yeah. So, again,
that's all.

Brett: Can you- I just started recording. Can you just go to the top of those points really quickly?

Tyson: Sure. So I really love the piano thing, like xxxx sort of stuff, doing the "bam bam bam bam".
Every time it went back to the 1-3-5, back to the one, and so maybe going up to the octave, to the
top, to the 8ve, or going down to the low five or the seven or the six or something different on that
last note, just to have some variation. The fill, the first time there's a stop, a full stop. Then I just xxxx
fill with the drums and the bass or something instead. The second stop's awesome. The third stop,
leading into the stop time, again, just felt like we're shifting gears to stop time. You know, I want to
have a crescendo into the stop time. And then the other thing xxxx. Yeah. It was awesome.

Charlotte: Cool.

Tyson: Thank you. Brett?

Brett: Cool. As I said before, word class, professional quality of singing. It's just incredible. As there's
no essentially way to improve that, you've just got it, so that's fantastic. I love the plodding xxxx of
those musical lines. They just keep walking along and going along and it's not boring in any way, it
just really reinforces everything you're saying in the song. So that's super, super effective. I don't
know how it always goes with the Nelsons and how much of themselves they're putting into songs,
but I think it's pretty amazing and crazy, like, how much we can expose ourselves through music,
especially when it's hard to go there in conversations or in anything, having that really be expressed
in a really succinct way in a strong message, so that's beautiful and my heart goes out to you. Yeah,
fantastic work. Nathan?

Nathan: This was technically a collaboration with me, so I probably shouldn't speak. If the drums are
weird, that's because I did them! I also actually adjusted that third stop. We wanted it to be- like, it
was too far away, at first, and then I wanted it to be a little closer, and listening to it now it's like "oh,
that's a little too close". So I probably would have pushed it back-

Charlotte: xxxx always felt weird about that stuff.

Tyson: If you put a little fill and just xxxx percussive guitar. Yeah.

Brett: So if you wanted a drum fill, that's... [laughs]

Nathan: And, yeah. I loved the song. It was great.

Tyson: Ronnie? What are your thoughts?

Ronnie: Well, I definitely approached it as a beginner songwriter, for sure, but it's definitely
educational to see someone else making their way through a song. And like you were saying, the
depth of the lyrics is, that's hard to do, especially, I know writing rap, it's hard to actually touch on
things that are very personal without it feeling guarded or, I don't know, it's hard to go 100 percent
there. You definitely did that with the lyrics. And the same thing is that the tone, the mood. Like, you
held that the whole way through. I knew what your idea was from start to finish. Without knowing
necessarily what the lyrics were, I still would have gotten the feeling of what you're trying to get
across. That definitely helps. You encapsulated what you were trying to do in the song. It's great.

Charlotte: [laughs] Thanks.

Kyle: Yeah, I loved it. I loved your very subtle but perfectly appropriate stylistic choices of your
vocals, particularly how you got your background vocals to match your lead vocals. The slides were
perfectly matched. Obviously, you're harmonising with yourself, but that's not just good because it
was you harmonising with you, it's good because you were very intentional about how you did those
slides and it's perfect. You had one phrase where you faded out on the last two words, so it was
almost a whisper, it was just perfect. Like, I fucking loved that. There were a few jarring moments
that people mentioned. Somebody screwed up the drums a little bit.

Nathan: Yeah. Some asshole screwed up the drums.

Kyle: But no, it was really good. I liked it. And I loved that you beared it all. Yeah, okay. So, Charlie?

Charlotte: Oh, yeah. I just write about what I'm feeling and 'tis the season to be that, and that's kind
of how it is for me. Yeah, definitely the points, the jarring moments, I didn't know what to do and I
wrote the song and it was time to do it so it was just like "let's just record and do it". Anyway,
something I'll work on later, or think about, or try to record later. But yeah, no, this is- funnily
enough, this is the most musically- well, the music you saw I've done usually is just guitar and vocals
for me.

Brett: Yeah, it's really thorough and expansive, yeah.

Charlotte: Thank you. Yeah. So that's it for me. Ta-daa!

Nathan: It was a lot of fun recording all your multiple instruments and whatnot.

Brett: So up next we got Tyson with "Moment", so here it goes.

Nathan: That the only thing you want to say before you play it?

Tyson: All I want to say is just the balance- like I finished it and I was like "hey, look, it's a balance
that covers the entire song, I'm going to send it." Like, the balance might be way off but we'll see.

********* NEW SONG *********

Brett: Sweet. Let's have more of those lyrics.

********* NEW SONG *********

Kyle: Brett, you want to get started?

Brett: Sure. Awesome. It's something I've been hoping to hear from you for a while, is sort of more
accessible riffs and really rhythmic in the song. Easier to stick with, like, right from the get-go, which
is fantastic. Like you nailed xxxx that. The first third going to the second third, like that change with
the thick bass and the drums is great. I imagined that somewhere in that, like, once you got to the
really solo section, and I assume this is just a time limit thing, that you could've brought it up more.
There could've been more drums. The aah-pads could have changed to not just like "aaah" but
"aaah-aaaah" or something with more guts or something. Yeah. I think from a sound design
perspective, I assume it would be safe to say that the voice obviously just didn't have any of the
effects that the instruments did, either naturally through that type of electronic instrument, and so
it was like this voice thing here, this big thing's here, it just needs some EQ and the right effects to
make it sit in that pocket, which is not- it's not something you either don't know how to do or
haven't had time to do. Either way. Fantastic, though. Yeah, just a little more build would've been
good. And I think and a little more heart into the vocals if this song is about you or you're writing it
for someone else, if the lyrics are about you.

Tyson: It was a little bit of both.

Brett: Okay, yeah. Then I think you just need to bleed the singing a little more. Yeah, fantastic.
Really. Really catchy. Something that would blow off, would be on the radio.

Nathan: Yeah, probably the biggest problem I faced. Especially hearing you go into the Timbaland
"bam bam bam bam bam", that was really good. And your melismas- Brett was talking about heart in
the lyrics. You definitely believed the first verse, for sure. I loved the xxxx or whatever you're doing
there. xxxx or something you did there. There are a couple of melismas there that were just like
"Yeah, fuck yeah!" It showed us how far you've come because that was great. It was on point. Really
well done. Some of the harmonising that you did with yourself, that was great. I really loved your
instrument choices. I know you said the balance was out of whack, so it was a little bottom-heavy,
but a lot of the choices you picked for the pads and stuff, it was like a ring modulation pad of some
sort in the background. Anyway, it was really good. I really liked that. Critique-wise, just doing the
breaking down section I would have wanted you to do more with the drums, but, I mean, that's
probably more than anything a time thing, I would assume. But yeah, a little more- I'm just thinking
of, you know, just some of the modern, like, JT drum style type patterns or whatnot, you could
throw in and it'd sit really good, because you have that drum where it goes [beatboxing] but you
could've gone like [beatboxing]. You know, that sort of thing there. That sort of would have fitted.
Yeah, there you go. Something like that that's r'n'b style, and yeah. I really liked it. I thought it was
great. A lot of EQ and balance would do a lot to make the song more convincing, you know? One
way or the other. But what you had there is like hells yeah. Also, I know the previous thing that you
did with that, like your loops, because you had that loop that was sort of like an unfinished idea, and
I liked the choice that you made to take out and really crush it, like that [wails] chord. It was really
descriptive for everyone else who hasn't heard it. But yeah, keeping it smooth, moving forward, I
really liked that.

Brett: If I could just add, Lindsay commented on how much your voice is coming along. She was like,
Tyson's sounding really good, so just because Nathan mentioned that there.

Nathan: Yeah, but she's crazy. She told me I sounded like Sam Smith, so...just kidding. It's been really
great to hear you singing more and making stuff like this.

Charlotte: I love the backgrounds. Whenever, like xxxx, I always imagine myself where I am when I
hear the song, but I imagine myself driving in the middle of the night and this song's keeping me
awake, and it's just awesome and I'd just play it all night long. Like the other guys said, yeah, just a
little more. Give your heart to the lyrics and jump in there. Like, I love the lyrics, but even without
the lyrics, just the song itself. I could just listen to that all night. And yeah.

Brett: Ronnie?

Ronnie: I'll go right off of exactly what she just said, like, I can't really hear the lyrics great where I'm
at now, so I'm hearing a lot more of just the song body, and it's awesome. Like, I think the
smoothness of the vocals, the fatness of that sort of resonant bassline, and it's such a great picture
for a great dancer, and you just need an insane drum breakdown somewhere in the middle of that
song. I'd have to go back and listen where, but it would be amazing. But you know, not drums that
are understated. Drums that really take over the song for a xxxx.

Other speakers: Yeah, oh yeah. Great.

Ronnie: That way, that linger at the end, the contrast of having that bassy beatdown drum thing, it
comes out at the end with that nice smooth vocal again it really would stick out as even more
impressive of an ending.

Nathan: Oh, before we carry on, I just wanted to say as well about the ending, I really loved how the
ending was just that sort of natural fall apart. Like the song just naturally sort of came to an end. I
thought it was a really cool way to end it, whether or not it was intentional.

Tyson: No, it was. I just think that's funny-

Ronnie: You also need some big black girl vocals in there somewhere.

[all laugh]

Kyle: Yeah, I fucking loved what you did with the bassline and the rhythm and bass section was just,
like, so appropriate and well-thought out. There was stuff there that was just going and I couldn't
quite follow it, but I was following it, you know what I mean? There's a lot to take in, and I didn't
necessarily pick up all the individual elements, but as a whole I dug it, like it was sweet. And, in fact,
Charlotte was saying how it gave her a visual as to where she was while listening to that song. For
me, I pictured a music video where you're dressed like Lionel Richie standing on a fire escape of
some old apartment building in, like, downtown Detroit and you can see, you know, the fog rising
from the sewers and you're singing in the streetlight and it was very much like an '80s vibe there, or
late '70s, but I loved it. But in a tasteful way, not like in a cheesy way.

[all laugh]

Kyle: Yeah, it was great. I did want to hear something after your instrumental breakdown towards
the end. Just, like, even if it's an echo of the chorus, you know what I mean? Something to bring you
back to what it's all about before letting it decay, you know? And yeah, some big black lady and a
drum break would be awesome. But well done, well done. What are your words on it?

Tyson: Yeah, so this is, just to comment on what I was laughing for- using programs like Pro-Tools
and Logic, you know, especially Logic, I think, it lends itself very naturally to that kind of thing where
you're just like "I've got these bubbles, I'm just going to keep those bubbles going and slowly take
away the bubbles", you know. I think a lot of, especially pop music, has been influenced by that, you
get these individual elements that kind of keep going throughout.

Male speaker ?: The on or off button.

Tyson: Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I'm glad that this one is turning out different than the other two that I
did, because, like I say, I'm relatively new to writing this sort of music and so I'm glad that they
sounded different from each other. I've got a lot to learn just for using Pro-Tools and getting new
stuff going, but that's a big project for this year. And I won't make excuses for the vocals, but, you
know, I know that they need to be ballsier. Let's see. Oh, just about the song, the song is about
someone who is experiencing depressing and contemplating suicide, essentially. Not necessarily me,
but I've had friends and other people that have lived in that space and so I wanted to give that idea
this driving-ness, like it's not a sad, depressing, plodding song, but you've got this undercurrent of,
like "everything's fine, everything's fine", but it's really not fine, you know. So hopefully that kind of
comes through. This is a tune for the ballet and this is your xxxx.

Brett: Cool. So you're the one who has to put your heart into the vocals.

Nathan: You know, I'm not sure that I actually got the depression thing out of it. I mean, I definitely
got, what is it? The line "I feel alone", was one of the lines, but I got the idea that it was about a
struggle but not necessarily that it was darker than that, I suppose. Maybe just because the tone of
the song is so happy.

Kyle: I don't know, I still think that for it's purpose that can still definitely come through. I mean, the
dancing and the lighting will play a big part in that as well, right? And you can just tone up Brett's
voice. But knowing that-

Nathan: Maybe another verse or something to expand a little more about what you're doing? Or
that can actually tie in, like, Kyle's request to sort of bookend the song by bringing it back. Something
there that's a little more exploratory. I don't know how far to go, I just sort of have this concept of
what I got out of it.

Tyson: That reminds me that I was going to say one other thing which was that I do think that there's
going to be another section to this that is more raw vocals, loud, pain-screamy. Not like screaming.

Male speaker ?: Just a section of [screams]. xxxx That's where the big black woman comes in, right?

Tyson: But you know, because the chorus is very chill, so then to have like a chorus section or a verse
section that is, like, much more out there. I think that would help convey that a little bit more. But
part of the point of it, too, is that it is someone who's trying to pretend that everything's fine. So I'm
glad it's not like, oh, you're completely not fine!

Brett: I also think this is cool in terms of what xxxx because I really feel like Nathan's starting to come
into his own for beatboxing, and so this is my solo feature and this one has some cool drums. I feel
like this would be really good place where we could explore that. And I don't know if that's the plan
during the drums or whatever but I know I've been more and more impressed with what Nathan's
doing in drums lately.

Tyson: I was thinking of doing the drums but it's also good. Sweet.

Kyle: Alright. So up next is Nathan and I with a collaboration. The name "Jahagaha" randomly came
up one time. Nathan was typing some message to me and he had a typo and he was trying to go
"hahahaha" and it came out as "Jahagaha" and-

Tyson: That's a good name.

Nathan: Yeah, and it never died. Because it's so good.

Kyle: So when we collaborated we figured that would be our electronic dance duo name.

Nathan: So the only thing I want to say about this is that the mix might be weird because it literally
bounced it right up to the last minute, so I think the vocals might be a little quiet in some parts, but
you can probably get the gist of it, and I hope it doesn't clip because it's very loud.

Kyle: Okay, I'll take that as a cue and turn down the volume a little but right now before we start.
And here we go.

********* NEW SONG *********


Kyle: Charlotte, do you want to?

[applause]

Charlotte: Really good, guys. Finally you guys got to collaborate. You've wanted to do it for a while,
which is good. I couldn't really place myself anywhere in this song. At first I was walking to a club and
the doors were shut and you could just hear the [beatboxing], you know, and then it opened up and
I was in a video game for some reason. Yeah, it was great. It reminded me of Savage Garden a bit,
actually.

Nathan: Cool! I'll take that.

Charlotte: I love Savage Garden, so that's cool. But no, I really enjoyed it guys, great.

Kyle: Ronnie?

Ronnie: Yeah, I love old dance music and it reminded me of my rave days about fifteen years ago. It's
that song that's, like, at 6am when everybody's partied their ass off, everybody's rolling their nuts off
and sipping their balls off and all of a sudden all these ghetto thugs are rolling and crying in the
middle of the place because your song's so beautiful it makes them burst into tears.

[all laugh]

Ronnie: No, I really dug it, but once again, as far as the dance part of it, you could build it so much
harder with drums and make it that much more impactful, because the melodies are great and the
tuning's awesome. The build is the only thing I would want any more of out of that song.

Nathan: It's really funny right now, Ronnie, because your video froze and you look like the most
unimpressed.

[all laugh]

Nathan: You look like "yeah guys, it looks really great, fuck you, it was awful."

Kyle: Tyson?

Tyson: Yeah. It was so good. Like you say, there's tons of stuff you can do with it and I just wrote
down some of the things that I wanted to hear, but the foundation of it was so strong. I think just
quarterly, on the second part of the verse- so there was the first two lines of the lyrics and then the
second two lines where the chord changes, it starts at the four chord first, I really like- because it
goes from two to one in the first part, two and five, and then it goes four-one on the second part,
and I actually really like that step. Like, the two to one at the beginning and so I think you can
preserve that and you can go four to three the second time, because it fits, everything else will work
find under it, and it just gives you a little more- it gives you a minor chord, too, there's just a little
more of a dig there that would be awesome. Like I say, keeping that to that step-wise motion
between the two, I think that'd be really effective. I wrote down the simple elements, like I love that
you guys have just a bunch of little, but not many. Not many things that you then just layered
throughout and you brought out in certain parts, like the [sings] was there at the beginning, and
you're like "we'll save that for later" but it's still there and you're like "ah, it's still here!" So yeah,
those things coming back and forth, that's a DJ thing. That's very effective. And then I just really
wanted more vocal harmonies.

Nathan: Yeah, that was for sure.

Kyle: We wanted harmonies too.

Tyson: Builds, same thing. The [sings], that part, I wanted that to be featured at one point, just to
have- because in this sort of tune you want to be able to have that really super fast "oh it'd be really
hard if the person was actually playing this but they're not actually playing it so we can do" [sings]
you know. Have some sweet stuff there.

Kyle: That would be a sweet thing to add after the second chorus and then putting in the echos after
that.

Nathan: [mumbles]

Tyson: And on the way back home or just in other spots, the way back home you should totally use a
reverse effect. You need some different sort of effect on the voice. The verb was intense. It was
almost a bit much, but if you did like a reverse.

Male speaker ?: Reverse reverb?

Tyson: Yeah.

Kyle: Preverb.

Nathan: Hearing it here, I had point-two seconds to look at it, so I was like "I don't think this is
good!" But carry on.

Tyson: Having some reverse effects in there would actually kind of speak to the lyrics. Like that
would actually, in my mind, make me connect to the lyrics. But awesome guys. Brett?

Brett: I think awesome, fantastic work guys. As expected. A great fusion of the electronica and
production and melody writing, really cool lyrics that just make everything sit super fantastic. There
was something like [sings] at the intro that didn't quite work. There's a note that kept playing and
there was a line that was like [sings] or something, and the second note made me feel weird. It
doesn't sit quite as well as I thought it should've. I wasn't sure what was up. And I don't know if this
is a solution, but most of the sing I imagine really fast drums that are really quiet. Like [beatboxes].

Ronnie: That xxxx sound.

Brett: Yeah. Because every time went went into my way back home, this bass was just way too
much. I was almost getting bored of that two-bar period, where nothing happened and nothing
happened. Like, I get that it's supposed to get from thicker to sparse, but it just- I just felt like I was
waiting for anything to happen at that point.

Kyle: Yeah, I think that was a good spot to bring in some other instruments or an element there that
we just didn't put in.

Brett: You have a quick vibrato and you do it two ways. One at the end of the line and it's very small
and great, and that works really well with this style, and you also have the "I'm doing this in one
take" vibrato which doesn't fit the style. It's why Sarah McLachlan's voice is often chosen for this
kind of thing. It's because of that pure floating thing that just goes the whole way through, and then
maybe there's that little wiggle at the end of a long line. And I found that you had some of your
more shaky vibrato in the middle and it really took out of the soft flow of the whole thing for me. Oh
my god, the lyrics were so good.

Kyle: We originally wanted Charlotte to sing it but there was not time.

Charlotte: Oh, you. [laughs]

Brett: That would have been really solid.

Kyle: The funny thing is that what we did to do this, it was obviously a collaborative effort. I did some
of the chord and pad sounds and Nathan added to that and put in, like, a bass line and intro. Like he
was the one who basically designed the form and I did the lyrics, but to record the vocals, I didn't
have that whole ending part at all to work with, so I just recorded the verses and the chorus and was
hoping to put in background vocals but never had time, and echo vocals and that sort of thing, but
then I just recorded a bunch of tags a Capella, just to the metronome at the end, and a whole bunch
of them, I recorded four or five, and I was like "I don't know which one you want to use!"

Nathan: And I just left them in verbatim. He was like "that works!" [laughs]

Kyle: So when you're listening to the end, if you're thinking "Wow, he's singing my way back home
way too many times", that's why.

Nathan: I was just like, "that works!" Some of the xxxx stuff, that was definitely- this song, it turned
out pretty good when all's said and done, but it's definitely a casualty in time. Like I definitely spent
twenty minutes just getting it not to clip on the way up because there was so much stuff, and we
wanted to do background vocals. As far as the complexity of the drums is concerned I wanted to add
in a bunch of deadmau5-y complexity, you know, just colour to the drums. So you have your
[beatboxing], you have like a tambourine or something just to add more layers of complexity to the
drums. But I didn't have time to add that in and then bring everything down and then spread it out
so we have to make space for everything. That's actually how I think of a lot of the mixing that I do,
is that you need to- like, you've got this much space to fit your song in, this much of your
compressing, and you have to find space, like carve EQ out of other things to make room where the
stuff can actually come through. So it was enough just to get it all in there, but through this system,
for example, you lose all the top end. So I didn't have time to adjust that. There's a lot more, if you
heard on the headphones, there's a lot more there that didn't translate as much. It was still there,
you know.

Kyle: Also, that entire melody was made in one take based off the effects of a pot brownie I had last
night. So there we go. Let's go onto Ronnie's song.

Nathan: I just have to xxxx, so go ahead and play.

********* NEW SONG *********

[applause]

Kyle: I wish I knew why your face isn't-

Brett: You can restart the call, I'm sure.

Kyle: Just one second. Let's see if I can change something here.

Nathan: Just restart the call.

Brett: I'll hang up on you and I'll call you back.

Ronnie: Yeah, yeah.

Nathan: Is this his profile picture? [laughs]

Ronnie: 'ello?

Others: Hello!

Kyle: Well, I'll start this one off. First of all, I loved it. Some of the smaller elements, like when you
first came in with the harmony vocals, that was timed perfectly. I loved it. I think I noticably smiled
when the harmonies came in. At first listen I didn't know that you were talking about your dad at the
beginning so I'm really glad that we got a second listen so I could re-listen to that first verse with that
in mind. But it no way is a problem with the song, that was just a nice thing, having that second
listen. I almost heard towards the end that- like, I wanted to hear a kick drum that was made out of a
hard-shell suitcase with a chain in it, you know, like something really dirty and earthy? And maybe
some kind of washtub bass. I don't even know. But yeah, I love the feel. I wanted to hear a little bit
more guitar during the bridge because some of the chords were lost, but they were there, it's just
that they were quiet in the mix. Yeah, it was great. The ending part of the chorus was just so catchy.
I mean, I'll probably find myself singing that or humming that on my way to work tomorrow. But
yeah, no, it was great.

Ronnie: I didn't preface it before, but this is something that I- I'm just now learning how to record.
Charles actually taught me how to put this stuff down in GarageBand, so I'm really learning how to
play with the metronome and make sure everything's correct, and I'm finding that it can be kind of
difficult. But this is a song that I wrote, like, ten years ago for my dad. I forgot it completely and then
picked up a ukulele one day, I heard the chords again and slowly started to remember the lyrics to it,
but I had to re-do it and I love to, yeah, like you said, put a kick drum in or maybe a little banjo kick in
there as well and go in that direction.

Kyle: Oh yeah. That'd be sexy.

Tyson: The first thing that occurred to me was that there was one part that you keep coming back to
in the lyrics. I think it's in the chorus, just the way that the lyrics rhymed, I was sure you were going
to say masturbate. Like [sings] -masturbate. I don't know why. Anyway.

Nathan: That's his definition of a man.

Tyson: Yeah, some really great stuff. Again, just my thoughts, things that I might do differently. The
ending- oh, just the very ending I wrote that just the way that you were doing the two lines, it
sounded like a duet at the end as opposed to a main line and a backup line. And, you know, it's just
that you'd set up it being very much like a main line and harmony line before that, and so just at the
end it sounded like "oh, there's actually two people that are being featured".

Ronnie: Okay.

Tyson: The beginning, I really wanted to just have a little bit more variation in terms of the
arrangement. So you could have- like I just wrote, no back-beat on the guitar. [sings] Maybe just no
back-beat until you get out of the first verse and start with the first chorus. Again, just like me,
tweaking on strange things about the lyrics, or me reacting to the lyrics strangely. Something about
an iron gate, like in "keep protected like an iron guy". With the xxxx community thing and, you know,
Trayvon Martin and all that stuff, it's just like, that, to me, is a different image, and so it could be-
obviously it's something totally different for you and different for other people too. That's just how it
struck me. Where the harmonies started, yeah, everyone smiled. Everyone was like "yes!" and on
the second listen I was like "oh maybe, if you actually could start it just one tiny, like one phrase
after that", that's just what I've heard and that'd be something to experiment with maybe. But then
have it sort of in a regular spot after that. And then, again, just thinking about arrangement. After
the bridge, then something different for the chorus after the bridge or verse three where you could
just, like, do rhythm guitar or something like that and slowly bring it up again. Just because,
especially because you have a chorus and then you have another verse and then you have another
chorus there, we need a little bit of time to be like "aaahh" or to have- I'm picturing it in a festival
stage and it's just like a really, a folk fest, and it's like everyone's really drawn in by that. But yeah,
that's a lot of stuff, and like I say, it's just thoughts.

Ronnie: Cool.

Tyson: Good stuff.

Brett: Cool. I loved the meandering folk lyric thing. That always grabs me. I like that sort of, like, it
just kind of sounds like you're talking, that you happen to be singing. That's really fantastic. I do feel
like, kind of like the iron gate, there are a few things that don't translate immediately, I think, to a
general listener, and so I think just a few changes to the lyrics really make it quite seamless. Like
right off the bat, making it clear that it's- like, I thought it was about a heroic figure, which is the
comparison. Anyways, but I think starting out with it more clear that it's your dad and making the
comparison to the heroic figure once that's established would be great. I just want to be clear that I
don't want to talk away from the meandering, talk-y folk lyric, because that's really good and that
really makes a lot of the character of the song, but just a couple of lyrical things could be tightened
up to make it a little more clear. But yeah. I love the strumming ukulele. It just made me so happy.
And yeah, like Kyle said, a bunch of catchy lines would be really good. The vocal quality of the upper
harmony is something that had a little bit of that strain, which I love hearing in upper harmonies.
Like sometimes people half-ass the upper harmony. I love it when it's sung kind of like a solo line and
really gunned like that. Fantastic. Really good.

Nathan: The guitar was a little bit quiet in the mix. I really loved a lot of the stuff you did in the lyrics.
The meandering folk. [sings], that was really catchy. Yeah, I totally did not get it was about your dad
but of course I missed that first playthrough, half of the first playthrough.

Tyson: That could also be something, like, every time you perform the song you're like "this is the
song I wrote about my dad", you know. It could be just set up in performance every time.

Nathan: I really wanted to hear a few more instruments, like a box drum or something. Kyle said that
a dirty suitcase kick could work. Dirty suitcase and a couple of jugs, you know. But, you know, a box
drum or even just some percussion on the body of your guitar or something like that could've been a
nice layer to have. I loved your harmonies, how your vibrato synced up. [sings] You had that going
on. It was great. Although I really liked some of the parts where you gunned it, I think there was one
part where it really stuck out. Something like [sings], something you did. Yeah, in the bridge, and it
sort of sounded a little weird for me. It felt like you either needed to go further into black woman
territory, as he said, like [sings], or actually lighten it up and try just a different tone on there. That
was the one part that really stuck out to me. But yeah, I really loved the song. It was just so feelgood
and catchy, it was great.

Ronnie: Thanks, man.

Charlotte: Yeah, it was really good. I knew it was about your dad. I got it. [laughs] I win! No, I totally
got that. Last time we did that I actually wrote a song about my dad too and a lot of people don't do
that. I feel like the dads kind of get left behind, so good work. It's fantastic, it's great. Definitely
banjo. Banjo would be amazing and, yeah, dirty suitcase and all that jazz would be fantastic. I really
like the lyric of "he wouldn't hurt a fly" and then "he'd bop you in the eye", or something. I loved
that, that's fantastic. No, really good lyrics and everything, so good xxxx, it's great.

Ronnie: Thank you.

Nathan: Anything else you want to say about it?

Ronnie: No, I just look forward to filling it out and I'd love to get it together as a package and actually
give to my dad at one point. No, this is fun, I'm glad I get to do this, and I've learned a lot tonight
listening to everybody's stuff.

Nathan: You got to make sure you give it to him with, like, a really nice knife, or like a shaving kit or
something.

[all laugh]

Nathan: Not for that reason!

Tyson: Just like a nice manly gift to accompany it.

Kyle: It's good having you join us for the song fight, too. I'll be sending out an email about the next
one which will probably be in about a month from now. And yeah, I'll probably send it out later
tonight. The tablet thing worked really great. I'm surprised that it worked so well. You're sitting
there, you're part of the group. It's great. So Charles isn't here but we do have his song.

Nathan: So we can listen to it and talk shit about it, right?

Kyle: Yeah, let's listen to Chuck's tune, talk some shit about him, and then we'll send Charlie an email
and let him know what we thought. Here we go.

********* NEW SONG *********

[applause]

Kyle: So Ronnie, what did you think?

Ronnie: Hey, he's my boy, man. It's fucking amazing what he does, for sure. Lyrics, clever. Humour.
You know, he's got the sweetest voice around, that light little jazzy sound. His guitar's coming along
insanely well, it was so consistent. He did make that one choice about the little stop between the
verses, but the first time I wasn't sure if I liked it or if it directed me. I'm still not sure if I like it or not,
but at the end that little xxxx at the end with the whole idea of the left-hander as being the oddball. I
really enjoyed the song a lot.

Kyle: Yeah, I loved- I'd heard bits of that, obviously, as you have too, right? And so I was really happy
with some of the changes he made. During the bridge he had that descending arpeggi line and that
was fucking perfect. I loved that, it added so much. It's funny because there's quite a few lefties in
this group, so it kept making me think of, you know, specific situations where I remember noticing
the awkwardness of it or just the difference of a leftie versus a rightie. But yeah, his guitar is really
coming along, and his new recording rig definitely sounds a whole lot better than what he was
working with before. Yeah, I loved it. Tyson?

Tyson: Oh my god. It's so good. And I was writing with my left hand as I was listening. Yeah, just so
tight. The composition of it is really, really cool. It's just this perfect mixture of angular, not-quite-
the-standard, but super smooth. It's like the thing that I love about folk writers that are lyrics-driven
is that it really works with the lyrics, the tune really makes sense because of the lyrics and it flows
really well. Even though it's angular, even though it's different than the standard xxxx four bars. I'm
mostly just talking about the chorus. It's a chorus that doesn't feel like a chorus, which is perfect
because it's so conversational, you know. You aren't like "oh, this is the point of the song", you
know. It's like lazy, effortless rhyming, and just the extended little bit at the end of the chorus that's
like "oh, we're talking about two people, it's you and me," you know. It was just really perfect. And
yeah, he's such a smooth singer that even though he has the word "smear", he doesn't smear it.
Like, you got to smear it when you say smear it. [laughs] Yeah. Just the only- the bridge was amazing
too, just, like, the ending line, like the harmonies they chose for that were goofy. Super funny and
just, like, again it's just feeding into the whole point of the song. It's very cool. The only thing at the
end, the chord on the tag at the end, [sings]. The chord on that, he plays a five chord when it's
outlining a one chord, so it should stay on one there, I think, and then go to the four-minor chord
which is a different chord from the fine chord. Just because that would work with the melody better.
But man, so good. That's, like, an awesome song.

Brett: Yeah. Totally agree. I mean, yeah, the super pure, clean, soft tenor just makes you want to
listen to everything, and in such a conversational tone, really awesome. The ending sounded like it
just petered out. I think it could have just kept going at the rhythm for just another two bars and just
stopped with a strum. That would have been a bit cleaner of an ending. And the opening lyric was
super cute but a little awkward. I felt like it could've been phrased a little bit better, about his mum
holding out the crown and then him taking and drawing. I don't know how to improve it offhand but
I feel like it could've just been said a little more smoothly. Yeah. Jack Johnson plus one of Harry
Connick Jr.'s meandering things like I'm An Old Cowhand or something. Really just fantastic, and just
something you want to listen to. Way to go.

Ronnie: [inaudible]

[all laugh]

Nathan: [inaudible] Yeah, the first time I listened through I was just totally caught up in the story of
the song and I barely noticed any of the musical stuff, because it was so cute and it just had a
conversational tone. He really painted a beautiful picture and, yeah, [sings]. It was great. The second
time through I paid attention to the music more. It was like whenever you're sitting in the middle of
a pattern. [hums] you know, going on. That was really good, but then there's a couple of whenever
he'd switch after- I think there were just a couple breaks that just felt awkward. The chord wasn't
what I was expecting and it was sort of out of left field. And if that's the point, then cool, but if he's
trying to do something different there. Like I felt like the stop didn't need to be there. I wanted the
song to keep going, to keep on with the motion.

Brett: What was it, Tyson? What chord- at the end of each verse, there was this chord that was like-

Nathan: It was like "blaaah", it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Tyson: Yeah, I didn't catch what it was.

Nathan: Okay. So there was just that that was like "that seems weird", but again, the first time I
listened I didn't notice it, it was only on the second time it really stuck out. Maybe it's not necessarily
the stop or maybe it's just xxxx. Yeah, during the bridge I really wanted to have, you know, sort of
like the minor to diminished shifted, like [sings]. I really wanted to hear that but he didn't do it,
which, if he didn't, like that's the point not to do it, then cool, you know. Yeah. Yeah it was really
cutesie and I really loved it other than a couple breaks and different chord choices that I wouldn't
have made, I really loved it. I just wanted to- a really light drum kit in the background with brushes.
[beatboxes]

Kyle: I really think we should put on our own folk show in the spring or summer or something like
that. Early before all the other festivals and stuff like that. You know, rent out a festival place and do
it there and we each perform a bit. It'd be good.

Charlotte: His songs are always adorable. I love them so much. I always have Mr. Firefly stuck in my
head. Always, it's so good. He's just one of those voices I could listen to all day, it's just cute and
adorable. He's cute and adorable. He's a little cute, adorable guy. [laughs] Yeah, I loved it. It was
great.

Nathan: Well, Charles? Do you have something to say?

[laughter]

Kyle: But yeah, I'll try Skype-ing Charles later tonight and we'll pass along all the comments that we
just made today and it'll be good. So like I said, I'll email everyone the details for the next song fight.
The theme is "polish", so the goal is- it doesn't have to be a long song. If all you have time to do is,
you know, a minute-long idea of a song, that's fine. The focus should be trying to make it sound as
accurate to what you want. So that could just be one instrument, literally, like no vocals or anything.
I won't give us titles to work with here or anything like that, so you can write whatever you want,
but the end goal is to make a recording that sounds as clean and as finished as you can make it
sound.

Tyson: So we should be purchasing two thousand, three thousand dollars' worth of equipment?

[laughter]

Kyle: The thing is, I think everyone has good enough equipment to do that. I think we're all in good
hands, and if you don't have the equipment everyone here knows somebody who does. So, yeah, I
think it's totally doable. Feel free, if there's something you're really bad at, you know, get some help
from somebody you know is good at that sort of thing, or watch a tutorial on YouTube, however you
got to do it, but I don't know, with each song fight I want us to not only work on our songwriting and
develop that skill, but I want us to work on our production skills and our lyrical skills and harmony
stuff. There's so much to focus on, so that's our focus for this next one. And then the song fight after
that, somebody else needs to come up with what the theme is, so I'll include that in the emails as
well and everyone can contribute their ideas and then I'll let you guys pick your favourite idea of the
bunch and then we'll go like that. As long as we change it up every month it'll be good. Alright? So,
yeah, thanks for tuning in, Ronnie, and I'll be in New York in March.

Ronnie: Bring it on!

Kyle: So hopefully I'll see you then.

Ronnie: Yeah, buddy.

Kyle: Right on.