 Leicester rockers The Authentics are completing work on the bands upcoming EP, Ton of Bricks which is expected for release soon, and with that in mind, the band have posted an updated blog talking about the songs on the new release, the themes, and attempting to give their fans an insight into what has gone on during the recording process.
"With the CD due for completion in a matter of weeks, here's a blog explaining a little bit about some of the lyrics and ideas behind the songs. It's funny because although we write songs that are meaningful to us, containing stories, incidents and phrases from our own lives, I tend to err on the side of caution when discussing their meaning as we don't want to take away any of the meaning that the listener might derive from the songs themselves. We try and write universal themes so that people who enjoy our tracks can put their own spin on them and either get pleasure from the music as an aural experience or can relate to the lyrics in a way that is true to their lives.
"That said though, I'm going to try and explain some of the themes of the new lyrics and hope this can give our fans an insight into the process, where they come from and what they may (or may not) be about from our perspective.
"In no particular order, let's start with "A Song For You". The lyrics here came after a past love who claimed that I never wrote a song for her despite us seeing each other for a long time. As described above, I'm not the kind of writer who wants to be totally explicit in my lyrics (although some of my solo stuff contains more obvious allusions to my life) so she never realised that many of the songs from over the years had lines, phrases and sentences containing what I thought were clear observations about our situation. It was also a very cathartic experience to write these and with the first line "Time to move on…" it was a way of underlining the end of that relationship whilst exorcising some personal demons too. Another influence was the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" by the director Michael Gondry, which was both a favourite of ours and had scenes that were a scary mirror to our own destructive relationship – watch the film for a bit of an insight into the dialogue, script and situations which will hopefully illuminate some more of this song. Finally, I used the line "The lyrics aren't supposed to mean that much" as a nod to a favourite band of mine and Gray's (I won't say who) as well as using it ironically, as this song in particular was self referential about the song writing process and meant a lot more than people realised with its themes of memory, the past and our own identities. The chorus phrase also alluded to the point of this blog - in that all songs are written for you (the listener) and that people can enjoy them on multiple levels pertinent to their own situation.
"The next song "Ton of Bricks" was written with the music mostly already composed by Gray so I had to fit them around what was previously given to me. I enjoy this sometimes as it frees up your writing to concentrate more fully on the melody and lyrics and not the song structure. The song itself is a more open lyric with meaning implied about a number of issues like surprising revelations and questions those times that aren't planned out for us. It also covers the pressure we all feel at one time or another with the eventual inevitable pulling of the tablecloth off the table for us to see what's left standing. As Gray pointed out the other day, it's like those periods when you're one step ahead only to turn around and find that actually you're two steps behind and things aren't looking as good as they were before. As always, there's a couple of film nods in there – I just can't resist them (!) and whilst I'm talking about films, I saw a DVD in the shop called "Behind the Mask" which I reckon they stole from us, ha ha – but the analogy of having the world come crashing down on you can be applied to many things like relationships, work, life, love, aspirations, dreams, career, wants and many others but as I mentioned, we've left it up to the listener to bring their own situations and neuroses to the party.
"Next up, "Belly of the Beast" was an interesting one to write. The title comes from a chapter in a Hunter S. Thompson book I was reading in the USA last April and the idea is that the Beast is a man who is finding it hard to choose between two women ("A strange possibility that two came along at the same time") both of whom he likes but is confused and unsure of whether to be the good guy, bad guy or play them both, only for it to turn around and he be somewhat the victim. The special thing about this song is that the lyrics were roughly thought out whilst I was flying back from the USA over the Atlantic. As I have read many music biographies (The Beatles, RHCP, The Stones, Oasis etc) where the main songwriters were writing their music on tour in hotel rooms, buses, planes and cars, I thought it would be a great experience to try it too. Unlike them, I was crammed into economy class where my pillow smelt of farts and the food not much better but it was great to land in rainy England knowing that I had got some cool new words down for a track that the band would eventually go on to record. The "beast" is searching for a bit of wisdom for the situation he's stuck in ("My taxi mind in a brainless jam") and the women are both different too – one a bit crazy and the other more virginal ("Many wild and desperate nights, or cosy days with safer sights?") but it was pleasing to write and I later added quite a few animalistic references in there too for a bit of fun.
"The Witching Hour" came to me when listening to a lot of Metallica whilst I was reading about the Salem witch trials in the USA. A few of the lines also came from conversations from people I know which stuck in my mind and the song idea combines elements of sorcery, fantasy and history with more modern general themes of mind games, being misrepresented and a lack of understanding by those on the fringes of society.
"Funnily enough, it was on the day before the recording of the vocals in January 2008, some 6 months or more after writing the song, that the lyrics were changed in the chorus to actually include the title of the song – a similar adding of lyrics was done to "Belly of the Beast" during the same night – which shows how songs change, words move and that the language within a song and the song itself can constantly be rewritten, restructured and improved upon – not to mention forgotten or wrongly sung when played live! Natch!
"As well as this, there are a few lines harking back to the same era of 19th Century America including "The Scarlet Letter" reference – a great book which I read all the way back in 2001 and the outro refrain of "Belief of power destroying, and hurt far off, whomever she envied" allows for a bit of revenge after the persecution of the previous verses and this is split in the middle by the 2 minute guitar break played by Jon and Gray.
"Finally, "Lost Night" and its lyrics were written by a member who is no longer in the band – Ross, before Gray replaced him on guitar. One of our older songs, it's been in the live set since the start and is brought out for slightly smaller gigs allowing it's reggae-vibe to slow down the pace of the set, giving us (and the audience) a bit of a breather. Lyrically, I think Ross wrote these many years ago about those particular nights where consumption of various drinks, drugs or whatever your particular vice is, are done to the point of no return and memories become hazy and certain events disappear altogether.
"There are also numerous drink and drug references (I dare you to spot them all!) and the song's protagonist gets a feeling of euphoric invincibility through the song like a stoner's high or drinker' rush and the line "you say why, I say because" adds a bit of a middle finger up at anyone who gets in your way! However, it ends a bit melancholy, Ross probably realising that these types of nights come at a price, with the line "head bruised, I lose" and "next time I'll follow your lead".
"I hope you enjoyed the blog as it was a pleasure to write, and as we said at the start, there are no definitive versions of the songs and if you want them to be about something else then we encourage that and hope they relate to something personal in your own life and can help you through tough times or just get you dancing maniacally around your room! It's all good to us."
Find out more about the Authentics by visiting the bands official myspace profile at this location.
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