Andy Fortier: Electric Bass & Guitar

Written Fall 2000/Winter 2001.

Recorded Winter 2001, mixed Spring 2001.

OK, so the first thing you should be asking yourself is "Where the hell is Volume I?"  Well actually, there is a Volume I of sorts - it was a tape recording I made in the winter of 1998 and gave to friends and family.  I still have a copy of it, but it is by no means all that exciting and the playing on it is, in my opinion, less than perfect... so I have no plans so share it with anyone on this website.  Anyways, when I moved to Portland, OR from Laramie, Wyoming I was in a new city and there was, for the first time in my life, a ton of people to play with.  So what do I do? - I lock myself in my bedroom and just write music by myself.  Actually that's not totally true - these solo recordings overlap many bands (both on this website and other short-lived projects).  So, I had been happy with Mr. Roboto, but wanted to write more mellow music that was more intense in terms of structure, tempo, changes, etc.  I liked having a bass and drums duo, but also was frustrated by always having to make my music "rock" in order to play in a band and to play shows.  So I decided to stop doing that and compartmentalize - from this point on the solo classical sounding bass stuff would just stay in the bedroom and all my rocking desires would be fulfilled by playing in bands.  What a plan...  During this period, I was also extremely depressed (Mary and I divorced shortly after we moved to Portland), so although the music was very much a technical workout for me, it was also inherently very emotional for me.  Music had become something that I did not only because I loved it, not only because I couldn't stand not to do it for even one day - but it had become something that I had to do because I had some much time on my hands and I was so... completely... alone...  On top of that, I had really grown accustomed to just playing bass and not singing; therefore there was no need to write lyrics.  By this time I had found much more effective and healthier ways of dealing with the pain and frustrations of life, so this had all worked out quite nicely, as most of my lyrical endeavors of the past revolved around venting and being upset about something.

How would I describe this music?  It is mellow, very melodic, melancholy, more up-tempo than Mr. Roboto, and almost entirely non-repetitive in terms of not allowing the music to repeat previous sections.  Attempting to play this music perfectly became one of my only salvations to having something to look forward to...