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Hey kids!

Continuing our series of the stories behind Love Bites, today, we cover track 4.

The Promise Ring
[stream it here]

The Promise Ring is the song that made me realize I needed to put together an EP about love and loss. It sits in this weird space, both sad and earnest, but also hopeful and warm.

I’m gonna be totally honest with you, I don’t have a great story behind this one. It was a weird one to write, but I’m happy with the way it turned out.

I can give you this, though. My very first livestream, where I very clumsily write the synth solo for Promise Ring. You may find it boring, you may find it entertaining, but you will certainly find it.

https://www.periscope.tv/VampireStepDad/1ypKdAeovZvGW

You keep being awesome, kiddo.
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad

Hey kids!

Continuing our series of the stories behind Love Bites, today, we cover track 3.

The Skating Rink
[stream it here]

Every relationship needs to stand the test of a night at a skating rink. The excitement of careening around a rink on top of a slick surface at high speed, coupled with the anxiety of grave personal injury…there’s no better way to figure out if someone is right for you.

The Skating Rink is easily the poppiest song I’ve ever written. It’s so saccharin I was a little bit embarrassed by it, but I liked the melody so much I couldn’t let it go. I’ll be honest, part of me was a little afraid I’d lose some cred amongst those more inclined to the dark side of the wave, but then again, this whole EP is pretty easy on the ears, so I probably lost the choosier folks anyway.

This track really came from me wanting to make a song like “The Neverending Story” theme. Something about those joyful arps on top of lush pads…it gets me every time. I think the end product turned out pretty dissimilar, but that’s OK, cause I like it!

The opening piano part was me testing out my new piano skills. I decided to spend some of the A Night In The Life Of… money on some online piano lessons, and this was my first attempt at really playing a double-handed part on anything I’ve put out. I really liked how it started out the otherwise upbeat song with an earnest, heartfelt feeling. So you know this isn’t just a party, this is something much more.

I think my favorite part of this song is the bridge. It just has a really sentimental feeling to it. When all time stops around you, and you’re locked on each other’s eyes, and there’s no place in the universe you’d rather be. That’s a good feeling, a rare feeling, and it should be prized. And then the party bursts back in and we’re enjoying life.

And then, of course, a guitar solo.

I may have an MO…

SIDENOTE: After the astounding success of the cassette release of Love Bites, I’ve decided to make some more. The second edition will be available soon. ALSO, I’ll be making CDs for Love Bites, so if you’re not down with the hipster train like some of us nerds, and you just want to hear Love Bites on a medium that you actually use, well, this will be your chance. More details on that soon.

You keep being awesome, kiddo.
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad

Hey kids!

Continuing our series of the stories behind Love Bites, today, we cover track 2.

The First Date
[stream it here]

I’ll probably say this again before this series is over, but this is one of my favorite tracks on Love Bites. Funny, cause it came from such humble beginnings…

The opening arp pattern and bassline were written at my work desk, on my tiny little Korg Nanokey controller. I keep it in my laptop bag for emergency music writing sessions. It’s terrible for trying to actually play lead lines and whatnot, but it gets the job done when nothing else it’s available.

But before the music is the wind chimes. This idea actually came from the very END of the song. During the long chord at the end, the delay (echo effect) on one of my synths was giving off a weird, almost clangy sound. It kind sounded like distance church bells. I really liked it, so I wanted to accentuate it. Turned out the best way was with some wind chimes. I really liked the organic sound of them up against the synthetic…synths… so much so that I threw them up front, too. Nice way to start and end the track. As I grew to love this song more and more, the story line of it started to build in my head.

The chimes up front are like the butterflies in your stomach, when you first see that special person. Then the song itself builds to the climax…it made me think of, well, a first date. Butterflies at first site, then they catch you staring, oh no! But they smile back! Then the flirtation begins. You ask, they accept. Before you know it you’re holding hands, exchanging smiles, laughs…and at the end of a wonderful night, looking over the city as the sun sets… the first kiss.

[CUE HELLA-SWEET GUITAR SOLO]

See you guys later for track 3, The Skating Rink.

Keep being awesome,
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad

Hey kids!

Well, Love Bites is out, and the reception has been wonderful. There are only 8 tapes left out of the original 40, which absolutely blows my mind. I was 95% sure I could sell 18 to cover the cost, but having only 8 left just 3 days after release…never predicted that. You guys are the best.

So, in the release email I mentioned I wanted to write out the stories behind each track, to give you some insight into what I was thinking when I wrote them. So, today we’ll start with track one:

Thursday at 7.
[stream it here]

If you’re a returning member of the family, you know that the first track of A Night In The Life Of… is also called Thursday at 7, and it features a similar TV commercial styled track. That was something I came up with on a whim, and thoroughly enjoyed pulling it off. It didn’t get as strong a reaction as I’d hoped, but I didn’t really care, cause I loved it.

So it didn’t take me long, once I had the Love Bites theme in my head, to realize I needed to do another one. One that was at least slightly romance themed. In the last installment we had Timmy causing trouble, but in this installment, we introduce “Sam”, the teenage step-daughter. What happened to Timmy? Why does Mom sound different? Well, I’m glad you asked.

I really like the idea that Vampire Step-Dad isn’t so much a specific person, but more of a concept. Like, Major Dad. It’s not that there’s only one dad that’s a major in the world. Many families could be dealing with similar situations. And so I like to think that there could be hundreds of Vampire Step-Dads out there. And I hope to showcase their different lives in each installment of Thursday at 7. Yes, I plan on doing more. As many as there are releases.

Mike Doll returns in this installment as our Voice Over / Announcer. Mike has a history in radio and television, and he has been kind enough to loan me his voice for my silliness. This time I went to his house to record him, and when I arrived I realize he had a very open floor plan, and so everywhere we went his voiced echoed. Unwilling to invite myself into his bedroom closet, I suggested we try doing it in my car.

So there we were, parked in front of his house, he in my passenger seat, holding a recorder, doing lines. I wish I’d have gotten a picture. It was quite ridiculous looking. When his neighbor walked past, oh, the look on her face…

Sam and James were played by Beverly Sylvester and Sam Groesch, respectively. Yes, it was odd for Sam to play James, while Beverly played Sam. Made directing wonderfully confusing. Even more odd was the really awkward feeling of asking teenagers to act as if they were making out.

Fun fact: Sam’s Dad, Mike Groesch, played saxophone on Breaking Curfew on Sweater Weather. 

Talitha Minton played “Mom” in this installment. As she delivered her lines, I thought to myself, “Man, she’s gonna make a good mom some day.” That scolding voice, yet it still projected a caring nature in it…it was perfect! Two days later, she informed me that she was pregnant with her first child! My ears are like little weird shaped psychics! Go figure!

The script itself went through a few variations. There were a couple alternate jokes in place of “What can I say, he’s DEAD sexy!” They were as follows
“What can I say…”
a. “I like ‘em tall, pale, and handsome!”
b. “I like a man in a cape.”
c. “He’s DEAD sexy”

I’m sure you understand why we chose C.

There was also a couple other jokes that I threw out, like this one:
Sam: Why do I have to be home by sundown?
Vlad: I like to know you’re safe at home before I go…to work.

There’s a reason I pump in laugh tracks. One is authenticity. The other is to trick you into thinking my jokes are funny.

[CUE AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

So there you go. The story being Thursday at 7, installment #2. Did you think up some jokes of your own while reading this? Let me know! I’ll pretend to laugh if they aren’t funny, and I’ll steal them if they are! Win win!

If you’ve not given Love Bites a listen, you can hear it right on the front page of my website. If you’re new to the family becauseof Love Bites, check out my back catalogue. There’s plenty more where that came from!

So stay tuned for the next installment, where we talk about track two: The First Date.
Keep being awesome,
Vlad, your Vampire Step-Dad