When most people hear that you're going to Iowa City to visit a good friend from high school, they figure that on a July 4th weekend that the majority of your time will be spent trying not to blow your fingers off with fireworks.

If you had asked either of us, that's what we would have said too.

But when Drew started going through the Combo patches on my Korg Triton, I started hearing more than just drum 'n' bass. I was hearing compositions, and I headed upstairs to Drew's office to grab his Roland JV-90 as quickly as I could. To his living room I headed with wonderful visions of lucious melodies and chord progressions racing through my mind. He selected one patch, and we played together perfectly as though we had reheased this song many times before.

About three songs into our "experiment," Drew suggested we should be recording this, because what we were doing was very innovative and cutting-edge. Ten songs later, I definitely stand by his observation.

For the next two days, we couldn't stop playing it in his home, in his car, in a box, with a fox, in the rain, on a train. We were impressed at what we did. But not just impressed; we were amazed. We had written an entire album in one afternoon. An album of no boundaries, new ideas, and new directions. This is a breakthrough album, improvised and played live on the spot with occasional musical-lingo suggesting key changes or part configurations.

Whatever it was, it turned out sounding great. Drew played the entire album on a Korg Triton and I played on a Roland JV-90. The album was written exactly as it is arranged on the CD, from start to finish. (We took a burrito break between the 4th and 5th tracks because we were hungry. Just thought I'd add that in.)

So now when I drive to Iowa City to see him, we only have one thing on our minds... What will we come up with this time?

Each one of these songs has a story behind it, or makes us think of something interesting. We thought it would be pretty entertaining if we went through each song and added our personal comments to each tune, while responding to each others comments at the same time. Enjoy!

Going With It
Nate: This was the first song that we started playing. This was what prompted me to get Andrew's keyboard and start playing along. He was coming up with some good stuff using the Triton's Combo patch and I thought adding some cool chords would give it exactly what it needed.

Drew: I was very impressed with ourselves after listening to this song. It sounds impossible to have been done with only 2 keyboards and no editing, but it turned out great. I like this song because even though it doesn't have a set "melody", it's still a tune you can sing in your head.

Return to Sender
Nate: Both of us natually have jazz chops, so this was the next groove that sparked our inspiration. Though as I remember it, I think this was one of the songs where we just hit record and started playing without any ideas.

Drew: After we recorded this song, I was very surprised to see that the recording lasted over 7 minutes. Even listening to it now, it doesn't feel like it's 7 minutes, because it has such a cool feel that you don't even think about the time. A 7-minute song may seem long, but this song doesn't drag at all.

Half-life
Nate: Again, we really had no idea what we were going to play for the Combo groove Andrew found, but it all kind of came together. This is one of my favorites on the CD for the raw acid-jazz feel this gives.

Drew: Like Nate, I was skeptical about how this song would turn out. During the first minute of recording, I started thinking that it might not really work. However, after we kept playing and improvising, it got to be really cool, and I was glad that I didn't listen to my first impressions.

Culture Shock
Nate: This is one of the few where we conceived an initial chord pattern before recording the song. Andrew came up with it, and I added some depth to it by adding suspended 2nd and 4th chords over the minor and major chords he played. We both have some really good solo parts in this one.

Drew: This song was one of the more challenging ones for me. Not only were the chords a little more complex than I'm used to, I also had to concentrate on controlling a couple of parameter knobs on the Triton. Everytime the low organ loop drops out and comes back, that was me turning that on and off. You need to be quick to be able to move from switching knobs and back to playing chords, but I pulled it off, and it sounded great.

Kick In the Brass
Nate: I would say this is by far the best song on this album. I came up with the "guitar" riff that starts out the song, then Drew came up with those awesome brass patterns that get played over the riff. Another side note is that the guitar slide that goes into the bridge was completely improvised. We just complimented each other so well that it flowed together.

Drew: This is my absolute favorite song on the CD. Everytime I listen to this song, I crank up the volume as high as my ears can handle. There are a couple things I love about this song. One, the fact that it has a "dirty" feel to it, yet it's fun. Secondly, the chord progression in the horns has the element of surprise. You expect to hear a G-major chord at the end of the motive, yet it jumps to an F-minor flat-7. Totally unexpected, but still sounds great...if not better.

Movement In the Forest
Nate: Don't ask. Actually, I think we were giddy from how well the last song had turned out and Drew found this Rainforest Combo patch and I started playing random brass notes and it sounded like a really good break in the album.

Drew: We had just eaten Burritos...'nuff said.

Eye Catcher
Nate: This was more back to our jazz influences. Drew does some outstanding work on the piano patch that had me doing constant double-takes to see if he was actually playing what I was hearing. The two main parts in this song were written about 5 minutes prior to recording, but everything else was improvised.

Drew: I had fun with this tune, mainly because of the extremely fast improvisations I was doing on the piano patch. One of the reasons I prefer using non-weighted keyboards when I perform. Furthermore, the chords that Nate came up with were amazing.

Club 76
Nate: Drew had come up with the bass patterns a few songs earlier but we forgot them and went on to something else. Somehow Drew found that patch again and remembered what he had played earlier so we hit record and went with it. The name comes from the "Club" feel that the song presents and both of the keyboards we used have "76" keys.

Drew: Again, this is one of those songs that never really changes chord progressions, yet it doesn't get repetitive. What I find the coolest about this song is how the Korg performed while playing. In fact, if you listen closely, everytime the left-hand 3-note motive is played, you can hear someone say "Aw...yeah!" And that's what I say after I listen to this song.

Clash and Burn
Nate: This is definitely more of a fusion tune. After we recorded Club 76, Drew found this piano patch and started playing these killer riffs, so I added some contrasting chords to keep changing the feel of the song even though what he's playing stays in the same key. We had worked out a couple parts in this song before recording, but the entire bridge was improvised on the spot.

Drew: I still can't believe how well this song turned out. Even though there are more half-step note clashes you can count, it still sounds in key. What's more, I am always amazed with myself on the chords I played during my solo section. And believe it or not, the side section in which I play the descending notes was discovered purely by accident.

Until Next Time...
Nate: I had actually wanted to end the CD with the last track but Drew suggested we put one more in there. I was looking through some patches on the Roland and found this raspy-like pad. I played the two chords that you hear throughout the song and said, "Alright man, let's roll." It came out sounding great, and couldn't be better for the closing track.

Drew: The more I listen to this song, the more of a favorite it becomes. I especially love the solo that Nate played in the middle section. That, along with the chords I played on the high-end came together amazingly. It had that beautiful new-age sound combined with jazz-style improvisation. Two genres that are completely different by themselves, came together in perfect harmony.