Your Body Is a Gift
#bodyimage
#intuitiveeating
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
Studio Log: “One Day” by B.T.S. Agnomen
STUDIO LOG: Notes about “One Day,” a tune I produced for my friend, B.T.S. Agnomen (nom de plume of Brent Taylor Stenhouse) . . .
I’d produced two songs for Brent at this point in our collaboration, “He’s a Cowboy” and “Love with a Love,” and we both were pleased with how they turned out.
We were working in my home studio, which was a back porch operation. The porch had been walled in years before, and other than the floor’s slight downward tilt toward the ocean, it was adequate for our musical needs. We didn’t quite have the highest end gear–I was working with a now defunct laptop, a Line 6 Guitar Port, a Target-purchased Yamaha keyboard, and an AKG C1000S mic. On this particular cut, I used a borrowed Hofner Beatle bass knock-off made by Rogue. The intonation was so far off, I had to play the bassline in two parts–one take with notes below the 10th fret and one take with notes above the 10th fret–because the bass had to be re-tuned depending on which fret the notes were being played. It was still worth it to go with this bass over my P-Bass to get that particularly pleasing punchy tone only the Hofner style bass (knock-off or not) produces.
On all of the tunes we’ve worked on together over the years, Brent sings and plays piano; I play guitar and bass. (The one exception is “He’s a Cowboy,” in which Brent plays acoustic rhythm guitar–my man nailed his scratch track, so we kept it!) On our first two collaborations, I put the drums together literally one piece at a time. I had a CD given to me by a friend that had all of the individual sounds a drum kit can make. It wasn’t MIDI; these were actual sound recordings of a kick, snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, choked hi-hat, ride, couple crashes, couple toms. I’m not saying I didn’t copy and paste a bit here and there once I started constructing the beat, but this method, even with a few shortcuts, took forever.
So, on “One Day,” we had an idea… Let’s have Brent’s drummer friend, Tony, play on the track. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have him play a full kit in my tiny studio. Plus, I only had the one AKG mic, so unless we were gonna go for that 50’s every instrument in the room with one overhead mic vibe, that wasn’t an option. So, we asked Tony to recreate a drum kit sound using a cajon and a hi-hat. And he did exactly that. Did the cajon in one take and the hi-hat in another. Then overdubbed tambourine and hand claps. Boom–an authentic acoustic rhythm section!
I hope you enjoy the song. Brent’s melody and harmonies are rich, and as always, there are layers in his lyrics which offer greater satisfaction the deeper you dig. So dig…
Click here for more music by B.T.S. Agnomen.
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
Studio Log: “You Give Much More Than You Take” by The Möbius Trip
One of my great joys is writing and recording music with the band, The Möbius Trip. You can check out our recordings here.
I recorded a piece of music years ago, but I never liked the lyrics or vocal melody. It was called “Why?” If you heard this original recording, you’d think “Why?” was short for “Why did you record this?”
Though the song was missing something in the vocal melody department, I thought the underlying music had potential. I took it to my fellow Möbius Tripper, Aaron, and asked if he could breathe fresh life into it. He took the raw instrumental tracks and began constructing a completely new vocal melody. This new melody was what the instrumental music had been waiting for all these years.
Next steps: Split up the lyrics, track the vox, and bam! Here you go . . . I hope you enjoy “You Give Much More Than You Take.”
You Give Much More Than You Take
Gazing out at the world through your window
Wondering what you’re wondering about
I can show you what I have learned
While you show me what I forgot
I gave you life and now you show me living
You never cease from giving
You bring me joy and laughter, tears and heartache
But you give much more than you take
Staring at stars on your ceiling
Music bending into our ears
You say “Daddy, why are we here?”
We’re here to love
Got to give it all – our love
© 2018 Words & Music by Sean Coons and Aaron Baker
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
Book Recommendation: Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Haupt
I love Mozart and birds, so this was pretty much a guaranteed winner. Beautiful exploration of music, man, and nature — and the transcendent intersection of the three.
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
One of My Favorite Things
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT DEEP THINKERS IS SMALL TALK ENDS AT “HELLO.”
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
Watching My Characters, Taking Notes
Writing works best when characters take on lives of their own. They have unique personalities and histories and desires. The drama of their experiences drives their actions and dialogue, and all the writer must do is observe and take notes. I am at that point in my latest story, and I’m pleased to find that not only are my characters alive and active, but the setting has become real, too.
I jotted down a plot point months ago. It was vague and took place in a desert — a generic desert, with as much detail as a washed out postcard from the 70’s.
There was no life there in my outline, just indistinct rocks and cacti and a mountain in the distance. And lots of sand.
I recently entered the world of that plot point. It’s so odd that this place was waiting for me all this time, but it’s only now that I get to experience it. I suppose this had to be earned by exploring and writing out the actions my protagonist chose that led him and his friends here. His mistakes are what give this desert the qualities it needs to be a place of purgatorial consequence, but also a place of hope.
To my surprise, it turns out there is life and richness and color in this desert. The mountain casts shade on a patch of land, squeezing an oasis out of otherwise desolate space.
I didn’t expect this either, but there are things my protagonist enjoys about the desert –the lonely beauty that invites contemplation and mystery. The desert in my story is a place of preparation, but sometimes the preparation itself becomes a sanctuary.
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. The desert was a sanctuary for me growing up. I went to Rancho Mirage (just outside of Palm Springs) every Spring Break, Christmas Vacation, and summer from the time I was eight until eighteen years old. In the summer especially, the heat was punishing. Our activities were planned around avoidance of the hottest part of the day, not that the least scorching parts offered much relief. But I was there to be with my grandparents, Nana and Popa, whom I loved (and love, though they are now absent in the body, present in the Lord).
I grew to love the dark, dark nights and the crickets, even if they accidentally jumped on your exposed sandal-clad feet now and then. I loved the mountains — purple and brown and at higher elevations, tree-topped. They cut the daylight down by an hour, but an hour less of direct sunlight on a summer day is something to be thankful for. More importantly, they carved a cradle out of the Coachella Valley, one lined with oases and green golf courses and extra-LA coolness.
My protagonist’s desert isn’t quite this ideal, and it’s about time for him to move on. The real desert is in his mind, after all. His mistakes are compounding, and he’s realizing there’s no place left to hide. I must be patient. Must keep watching. Must hold onto the hope of my story — that those who make it out of the desert alive have unshakable purpose and strength, the ingredients of a hero.
Still watching. Still writing.
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
Parenting Tip
Parenting Tip: Watch TV shows from the 50’s and 60’s with your children. Then, when you give them a shiny nickel for a chore, they’ll think you’re totally generous.
Sean Coons is a writer, musician, and educator in Redondo Beach, California. His novel, Body, is scheduled for release November 21, 2019 and is available for pre-order today.
“Moonshine” by The Möbius Trip, The Full Story . . . or, How to Rock a Digitech Space Station
Apocalyptic post-rock country. Not sure what my subconscious was going through when this idea first arose in my mind. I think it might have been a premonition of the underrated film, The Book of Eli (2010), starring Denzel Washington. (The Möbius Trip completed the song in 2012, but it was conceived years before.) A New Testament world judged with Old Testament grit.
The guitar solo on this cut is taken from my original demo for the tune. It all started many years ago . . . cue harp arpeggios and blurring field of vision . . .
My friend, guitar virtuoso Patrick Butler, had recently loaned me his DigiTech Space Station XP 300 Guitar Effect Pedal. This pedal is like a Pandora’s Box of mellifluicity. Turn it on and delightfully schizoid sounds start pouring out, almost on their own. Butler’s one request: “You can hang onto this for a while, just don’t use the expression pedal, guy. You won’t really need that anyway, and I don’t want it wearing out.”
“Sure. No problem, Butler.”
I waved goodbye to Butler from my porch. His 80’s era Chevy van hadn’t even turned the corner before I started rocking that thing — foot firmly planted on the expression pedal.
I worked that Space Station over non-stop. Played it for fun. Played it for friends. Played it on recordings. It was like the first time you discover distortion: Everything you bash out on your guitar will be caked in thick, muddy fuzz far into the future. I was in love.
By the way, the expression pedal is the coolest part of the Space Station. It lets you shape all these otherworldly sounds, like mid-era Radiohead crammed through a euphoria factory — psychedelic, frenetic, angelic exhalations. I would link you to some cats demonstrating the pedal on YouTube, but no offense, they haven’t figured it out yet. You gotta get obsessed. You gotta go mad scientist in the wee hours of night and early moments of dawn. You gotta call in sick to work the next day because money can’t compensate for the tasty, multi-dimensional sonic syrup oozing out of your amp. You gotta follow the lead of this unhinged beast and see where it leads. It could get scary, but the Space Station’s not for the faint of heart.
About a year after my relationship with the Space Station began, Butler remembered that I still had it, and he wanted it back. I stalled for awhile: “Bro, you might as well let me keep the Space Station. I put my fingerprints all over that thang. It’s a signature sound issue now. And the signature is mine.” He wasn’t buying it. Butler’s from Jersey, and he was on my porch flexing that East Coast vibe on me — it was time to pay the fiddler. The Space Station was confiscated, out of my life just as quickly as she entered it. I was heartbroken.
I got a call later that night. “The pedal’s squeaking! You wore this thing out. I warned you, Coons!”
Oops.
By the way, for the curious, the Space Station was discontinued years ago. You can find a used, broken unit on eBay for about two hundy. I haven’t touched a Space Station since that fateful day in the mid-2000’s, though I recently signed a petition to help bring this musical miracle back into production.
But, before that joy machine left my clutches, I had the privilege of dropping a few tracks with it.
. . . cue harp arpeggios and blurring field of vision . . .
One of those recipients of the Space Station magic is “Moonshine,” starring the artist recently dubbed “Super Being” (by our drummer’s son) — Aaron Baker — on lead vocals and barn burning slide. (I questionably convinced him to let me share the mic on choruses for this one.) If you hear celestial sounds on the guitar solo (including mischievous arpeggio trails in the background) and like it, thank Butler for letting me borrow his Space Station.
To Butler, I’m sorry I abused your pedal. To musical posterity, dig . . .
Words and Music by Sean Coons and Aaron Baker
You got the world on a grid,
Locked down and electrified
And your pill-pushin’ priestess
Televised suckin’ minds, oh my
I got my hand in the air, hope you
Read between the lines . . .
Reach for that moonshine, so fine
Distilled for your soul
It’s got you runnin’ ’round crazy
Diggin’ graves n’ pokin’ holes
Your Brave New World’s the same old lie
No “I”
Before you high five,
You better read me my rights
Seven temple tablets
Falling from the sky don’t lie
Better read
Read between those lines . . .
Reach for your moonshine, so fine
Distilled for your soul
It’s got you runnin’ ’round crazy
Sick and stoned
Your Brave New World’s the same old lie
And I . . .
Suck down that moonshine, so fine
Distilled for your soul
It’s got you runnin’ ’round crazy
Sick and stoned
Your Brave New World’s the same old lie
And I’m . . .
. . . waiting for you
He will destroy you
I’m ready for you
You’ve been warned
You better find the light!
Brother Graham
Billy slipped out of time
Into the bliss of Father’s arms
In the Light of the Son
And the Peace of Ruach.
The preacher’s Source echoes
Forever ago and forever future,
In Actions which blast past the torn veil
To the Crux of the mistiest of Mysteries:
That the Source of You
Is the God of Love.
Will you echo, too?
Sean Coons is the author of Body: or, How Hope Confronts Her Shadow and Calls the Flutter Girl to Flight, a faith-based comedy exploring body image, intuitive eating, and spiritual living. His second novel, Firefly: Let There Be Light, a middle grade adventure, will be published by Black Rose Writing on October 21, 2021. SeanCoons.com. Twitter: @seancoons. Facebook: @seancoonswriter. Instagram: @seanmcoons.