Song details for the song Solace from the Pirate Circus EP, released December 2020.
About this song
This is the second song we wrote and collaborated on together and the second song released for the Weekly Beats 2016 project. Aaron MIles wrote the chords, bass and drums while he and his family were literally seeking solace and shelter at his parent’s house during an ice storm-caused power outage. It was a week of hunkering down with family and waiting out the storm, similar to what we’ve been going through in 2020 during the pandemic. The lyric that was added in 2020 reflects on the gratitude of having family and friend support: “Where would you want to be, if not here with me?”
A few weeks later, power restored across the city, MIles played the early song for AM Faulks at his studio. Faulks whipped up more keys (chords and the catchy, gorgeous lead line) and guitar. Miles then added more sounds and various iterations of vocal sounds. The 2016 version actually had a double-time kind of drum and bass section in the middle with some crazy vocal chops. This 2020 version is a little more tame, smooth and fluid. The middle section now has a Latin feel and features more of Faulks’s guitar improvisations. Miles added vocals and shared it again for Weekly Beats 2020, four years after the original was created. This long process makes the first lines: “take the time, let the flow take root” seem fitting. It’s definitely about time this one gets released to the world.
Miles says:
“I remember sitting in my Dad’s big old recliner playing on the Push. I liked the sound of the Bb minor scale and started playing around with some chords, then added some drums and bass. I put it aside for a little while then played it for Faulks over in his basement studio once we all had power again. He rolled out those complementary chords, that keyboard lead and guitar lead very quickly. Genius, brilliant work like only he can do! For the 2020 version I made some production changes, changed the middle section to feature more of his awesome guitar playing from those 2016 sessions, and sped it up to flow better. I improvised some new vocals. Just sang what came to mind in the moment. I was thinking about the original creation of the song. Seeking solace with family during a cold winter. But also just thinking about family, friends and creating art together. How creation is our solace, and how fortunate we are to be together.”
Credits
AM Faulks: Guitar, Keyboards
AA Miles: Drums, Bass, Voice, Keys, Production
Earlier Versions
Here’s the notes posted for Weekly Beats 2020, week 30 release of this:
“Working on an older track, hopefully to improve and get it “done” for releasing some day. Have always liked the melodies on this one. Features some lead keys and guitar from Creatures Once collaborator AM Faulks. This was one of the earlier ones we worked on together. Have tried it slower, and with more and less instruments. This one is a little faster, with newer middle section feature more of his original guitar playing from this session, and stripped back to just percussion. Also added some Djembe, more drums and some vocal sounds. Don’t love all the vocals, so buried them a bit, but was fun experiment.”
2016 version of this song
This is the 2016 version of this song, with the crazy middle section drum and bass sounding business, and no vocals. This was the second song we ever made! Released for Weekly Beats 2016 week 2.
creaturesonce 