Labyrinth – Behind The Songs

If you heard us play any of these songs at gigs throughout the last year or so, you'll no doubt recall some of Tony's chat as he introduces the songs. Here's a version for the blog.

Wisdom of the Elders:  Inspired by a David Suzuki book, this 80's pop/rock driven piece reflects on environmental issues and human conflict. 

Carry me home: There's a few "firsts" with this song. Firstly it's the first published song for Chris and it's also the first collaboration between Tony and Chris - and it's a Country tune, definitely a first for all of us! 

March right in: Tony's love/hate relationship with his Sociology degree spawned this funk driven tune. This one's got a rather experimental section after the keyboard solo - big on bass, wah and crazy synth! 

Soul mates: Ian's work has taken him interstate for long periods and an evening of really missing his lovely wife delivered the inspiration for Soul Mates. This song actually dates back a few years to a time when our bass player (before Pat or Ivan) loved funk. Pat loves a funky bass line too and delivers the goods on this.

Key of Life:  A beautiful and reflective ballad with a simple message - and some ripping guitar. Definitely a band favourite! The other very special thing about this song is the use of the triangle - just one delicately played "ting" by Stu at just the right moment. See if you can find it.

Charlie: Tony's got a young son and as devoted Dad has spent lots of time watching kids movies. In this case "Up" seems to have found its way into this song - drawing inspiration for our kids, that's cool!

Mu Theory: Another first here, the first whole band collaboration. Tony liked a bass riff from one of Ian's demos and we took it from there. The whole Mu Theory project and band name is about our collective love of the legendary band Steely Dan. The Mu reference is to how they named a chord they loved. Ian whipped up the lyrics from a Wiki page on Steely Dan, Tony found a melody, Pat jazzed up the bass line, Stu injected a crazy drum solo and Chris, Tony and Ian worked out the chords.

Labyrinth: Ah... the mighty Labyrinth, our progressive rock debut and the song we targeted as the title track - once we convinced ourselves we could play it. Which we did! The first live performance at Gertrude's Brown Couch was a solid 8/10 and after that we knew it was in. Ian's the prog-head in the band and this is Tony's tribute to the era, let us know if you like it, we might tackle another.  Labyrinth is great fun to play and quite a challenge with at least 6 different sections.

As the inspiration for the cover, we also had a fantastic time finding and briefing a local artist for the illustration. Chris and Ian met up with Alex (www.alexrees.com) at the Fox Hotel for a beer and unloaded our ideas. The next few weeks yielded a series of concept sketches as Alex homed in on our needs. Lots of decisions; day, night, space, swords, staffs, colours, you name it. It's fair to say we are all blown away by the result and quietly amazed that we actually did this. Alex is a great local talent - thanks mate!