Hello and welcome to WNC Original Music Episode 103, the independent radio station episode. This week we have returning alternative rock band The Half That Matters. This is from a show recorded at the Sly Grog in Asheville, North Carolina. We're gonna have some live songs from that show and also some tracks from their album as well.
It's a really great album and there'll be links to it in the show notes. Or if you want to go look for it right now where you're listening to this, you can find it at thehalfthatmatters.bandcamp.com. I want to thank the Sly Grog for letting us record there. They are always very gracious and supportive of recorded there several times now.
And it just always goes very well there thanks to the fantastic staff that work there. Find more information about their upcoming shows and events at theslygroglowns.com. I want to single out Mike Anderson. He is a sound guy there and was just fantastic with helping this recording setup.
It would not have gone nearly as well without Mike's help. And make sure to check out Mike's music as well. We'll put a link to that in the show notes as well. But for now, here are the half that matters.
Number track number eight. Okay, Box of Light. Yeah, so we also had to have a song called Box of Light. And really Brian came up with a riff and we were just like, it was really sort of, we don't really want to say filler track, but we just wanted one more track for the album.
Well, we did end up writing the whole song and recording it the same day. Yeah, I mean, it was Rush, but it's become one of my favorites and a lot of other people's too. I'm really pleased with it because I put a lot into it. And it's kind of like a celebration of us because we are a different kind of band.
We're different than a lot of the Asheville bands. Loud and proud. Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with playing a Fender Jaguar and playing some pedals, but we're not. So it's sort of that.
I remember I brought Brian the lyrics and he's like, you're not rapping. Are you? I was like, no, it's not rapping. And then talk really fast.
Yeah, it's talking really fast. Yeah, so we adjusted it to sound a little less like trying to be vanilla ice or something. But really, that's one of it's honestly one of my favorites on the album. I just love like that simplistic, you know, it's one of the most that kind of reflects the stuff that I was kind of doing before the half.
The next one is called the Black Lodge. No one knows who that knows what that is. It's a Twin Peaks reference because they have a place in the show called the Black Lodge. So, man, I missed that because I just watched the Twin Peaks on the planet.
It's my absolute favorite show on the planet. I have a tattoo on my arm of official percolators. Oh, he does. It's a reference to the show, of course.
But the whole song like it's just basically reference of the show. So it's pretty much like a nerdy kick. His fanboyness. Yeah, exactly.
I'm a huge fanboy of that show. There's this riff in the middle that was like, oh man, yeah, we back him to blows over that riff in the middle because I could not wrap my head around it. It was like, it's in 4-4, but it's just a little off. And I've grown to appreciate it over time.
That song's a real grower. But it's an awesome song. I was just really happy that eventually I could finally get a bass part that worked with that little riff there in the middle. Yeah, the riff was originally in 7, but they all said, no, no, we're not doing 7.
We're doing something on top. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. Keep it 4-4, man.
Keep it 4-4. I have a couple extra little note in there to make it 4-4, but it's in three measures. So it goes 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, and starts over again. But it's thrown both Paul and Dylan off because it's an extra measure.
And we'll usually do that. Once you tend to sense you did the engineering to go in there and just clip every eighth. Yeah. You can still do that.
I could. It would have been a lot more work. Yeah, yeah. That I didn't want to put it on myself.
It should be a macro for that. Yeah. But, yeah. My song is called 3.
It's actually part of a 3-part trilogy, so to speak. Like everything we've put out, so as of now, has had one song that kind of goes through and relates to the last two in one certain way, from the secrets of the deep, is ever for and ever backward. Then for our second space time, it was instrumental card part two, which we didn't want to hide it or nothing. We're just like, here you go.
Here's more of it. So, and then the three is just kind of a continuation. And it kind of shows a little bit of the evolution of the band, where we've kind of came from and going to. Yeah.
And I wrote the verse lyrics on that. And the verse lyrics are almost kind of like me describing my first couple of months joining the band going from just this, you know, just, I go to work and I come home. Instead, it's now it's like, hey, you know, hold on tight. It's kind of you're in the half that matters now.
And there's a couple other song titles that we throw into the lyrics too. It's like, you know, for all two of our hardcore fans. Like you have a song that's really good to open. You have a song that's really good to close.
Yeah. And then with the guitar riffs, I actually like basically ripped off a bunch of different songs that I had come up with and kind of made this like, hey, this is like, like our own ripoff that actually sounds different. Yeah. And then the chorus lyrics are actually lyrics from like, different courses from like two or three songs that we already have.
Okay. So. I think there's a night like in classical music. If it happens in the beginning, it's called Overture where you have a little bit of each song and it comes back and I heard that before, you know, I don't know if it's at the end, which call it.
This is the Underture. Yeah, Underture. Oh, yeah. That's your next album name.
Yeah. Yeah. But the way it ends, it just hits that riff heavy and then you hear it just like, like a ton, ton, ton, ton, ton, ton, ton, ton, the guitars ring out. And literally just for the last like five seconds, you can see our guitar ring and then it's cuts and that's album.
Short sweet to the point, all killer. Not a little 33 minutes long. All right. Don't forget to find them at the half that matters.bandcamp.com.
Also, we'll have links in the show notes for their Facebook and Instagram pages as well. As always, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts, WNC Original Music or you can go to wncoriginalmusic.com and there will be links there as well as the podcast itself. It's on Podbean, which, you know, I don't really love. So if you already have a player that you like, just use that.
I don't, I'm not married to Podbean or anything. Also follow the links in the show notes to the Facebook and Instagram pages. There you can see a lot of videos and extras from the podcast and the people on the podcast and go to our group, which is Western NC Original Music on Facebook. And you can see stuff from people that have been on the podcast, as well as a lot of other musicians from Western North Carolina that haven't been on the podcast yet.
Don't forget to support your local musicians always, but especially now because they're still not able to work at full force and it looks like that's not going to get any better anytime soon. So find your local musicians, buy their music, go see them live when you can safely, buy their merchandise, visit their patreons and become a Patreon supporter. Just do whatever you can to help your local musicians. I've noticed that a lot of Western North Carolina musicians in their downtime with the pandemic have they've been trying to make money for themselves, but they've also been doing a whole lot of volunteer work, a whole lot of nonprofit work for other organizations as well, when they could be spending that time helping themselves out, but they're not there spending a lot of that time helping out other organizations and it's really really inspiring to see.
This is TJ and Austin from Cardboard Box Colony and you're listening to Half That Matters on WNC Original Music Podcast. Are you guys, I know you're in another band. Shadow shank. Shadow shank redemption.
That's a shadow show cover band I think. Shadow shank redemption. You guys playing another group? No, I don't have time.
No, there's another time of day. You're singing Barnesong. Well me and him have always joked about doing like a straight up motley crew fan Halen style side band called Denim Demon. We've been talking about that for a while.
I'm like, oh okay. We say that for when he goes on vacation or can't get practice or whatever and we're already there. Yeah. I said today we're going to play a we're going to play his and Erica's wedding.
Oh, with your with your dental name and just do that. Yeah, don't get somebody. I just do basin drums from all this on with them. You know, and like a I kick that Brian's wedding.
Like you're starting the dance and I way. Yeah, she's standing there. Running with the devil. So it's just don't don't don't don't.
We're going to Royal Blood it. The new album was recorded in a basement at Paul's house and it was a process from April to about mid-May of just recording drums and bass and then I recorded guitar at my home and then I went back and then to the basement and recorded vocals in front of a makeshift pop filter that was made out of pantyhose. And a co-hanger. And a co-hanger.
Yeah, I was the one who was like what you guys never knew about the old pantyhose on the co-hanger trick? They thought you were talking about something else. They're like well, funny enough. Funny enough.
Yeah, funny enough. I actually had to go to the to the family dollar or dollar general. Yeah, it's about lemon juice, pantyhose. Yeah, I bought lemon juice and pantyhose.
That was a very odd purchase like I got it all looks like yeah, they call me sour legs. Is that gonna stick? I hope it does. This is the first time I'm here.
Sour legs. That's how you're gonna be referred to. That's a good blues name. Old sour legs, looney.
It's only made in a full year. We keep them as bass player. Yeah. Just to keep them down to the music.
I like sour legs. I really like that. I might have to start calling sour legs. Yeah, if you would that would be great.
All right. So what kind of like did you have anyone who kind of as a producer? I recorded everything. I mixed everything and I mastered everything.
Oh great. So I did it all like on a at least 120 hour like time frame I guess is how long I spent. It was definitely a DIY. Yeah, it was very DIY.
Is that is one of those tracks when you send me? Did I hurt? Yes. Yes.
That I don't believe I sent you a final final track. Oh yeah. Because I think that was just one that was about finished. Right.
Yeah. So good. And then I appreciate it. The thing is like with recording or anything, I didn't have like a name for like the technical studio.
And we have this thing where it's like we build a box. We put a light in it. And which is all Paul's like idea. Because he likes lights and you'll see it every night.
Okay. But literally Dylan was like, well she was calling like box of light records or something. And I was like, so it ended up being box of light recordings. Because I don't want to be in record records.
But I think recording was kind of neat. So I made up a little logo and just kind of stamped it on the CD and the album cover. Okay. That's part two and the final part with the half that matters.
I want to thank the guys. That's Brian Presley on guitar, Paul Roundy on drums and Dylan's Sour Legs Looney on bass. Sad to say Dylan has recently left the band on good terms. So he's their bass emeritus now.
Again, make sure to check out the album. It's at the half that matters dot bandcamp dot com. It is a really great album. You heard them say that Brian kind of home produced it, but you really can't tell it's a really great sounding album.
He did a fantastic job on the production as well as on their musicianship. You can check the episode notes for links to their social media as well as that album. As always, make sure to subscribe to the podcast, WNC Original Music, wherever you get your music for lots more music from Western North Carolina musicians and occasionally musicians from other areas. Also follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram, just search the WNC original music or check the links in the episode notes.
Usually for the closing song, we get something from outside of Western North Carolina, even outside of North Carolina and sometimes outside of the United States. But for this episode, I got the song and I really liked it from Avenue Lane, and they are a rock band out of Hickory, North Carolina, which is not too far away from us. I think that's still Western North Carolina, everyone would consider. It consists of guitarist Robert Simmons, Mark Woodward on drums and Nate Roberts on bass.
There will be links in the episode notes to download the song and check out their other stuff as well as their social media. But for now, here is Avenue Lane. Have a good week. I declare myself present for life and rule with an iron fist, but that's just me.