Surreal

"Digital Love" by Daft Punk. This song blew my mind when I first heard it. I love how it's like 3 verses in a row, a chorus that only happens once, instrumental, bridge, then KEYTAR SOLO. Weirdest format ever but it works for this one.

To me, Digital Love was just begging to be made into a full on, rock song. Make sure you stick around 'til the awesome solo at the end ;)

Last night I had a dream about you
In this dream I'm dancing right beside you
And it looked like everyone was having fun
The kind of feeling I waited so long

Don't stop, come a little closer
As we jam the rhythm gets stronger
There's nothing wrong with just a little, little fun
We were dancing all night long

The time is right I put my arms around you
You're feeling right, you wrap your arms around too
But suddenly I feel the shining sun
Before I knew it this dream was all gone

Oh, I don't know what to do
About this dream and you
I wish this dream comes true

Oh, I don't know what to do
About this dream and you
We'll make this dream come true

Why don't you play the game?
Why don't you play the game?

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Experimenting with different ways of making song covers. I tried doing this one almost entirely live. Though you can see I did have to go back in and overdub some tasty guitar too!

Get a free download of "Alaska" here: http://www.surrealtheband.com/therushacoustic

"Alaska" is the 2nd movement in the Endings Are Beginnings suite.

The first song, "Time To Waste", was about carefree, reckless youth. WELL NOT ANYMORE. This song is about life's inevitable experiences of darkness- burning, reckless searching, hunger, fears unnumbered… all that stuff. (I may have just quoted the song lyrics there, shh)

I drew from one of my favorite books, "Looking For Alaska", where the main characters ponder the "labyrinth" of human suffering and then experience it firsthand when their friend Alaska is taken from them.

In the first chorus of this song, the narrator (yours truly) contemplates pain and blindly repeats the platitudes we all say to comfort each other… but after he actually experiences suffering himself, the same platitudes in the final chorus are spoken with dissillusionment, powerless to help. (They say these endings…)

Closing remarks:
1. This was a long description.
2. I used a lot of parenthesis didn't I?
3. The word "platitude" is one of my all time favorites and I'm psyched I actually got to use it.
4. LYRICS!

"I sat with my Alaska
As cars rushed far away
We stared up into starlight
Never thinking it could change
We spoke of finding answers
And wondered what it means
To escape the maze around us
And the pain that never leaves

There's a burning
Restless searching
Countless hopes that never came to be
There's a hunger
Fears unnumbered
As the ground falls out beneath your feet

But all these endings, endings are beginnings
Though your head is spinning, you'll make it through somehow
And nothing will keep your world from changing
So why not go on racing like nothing holds you down?
They're all beginnings now

All that I had wanted
And all that I had done
Came together in that moment
And I knew I'd found the one
I sat with my Alaska
As night turned into day
But I never could have guessed
That soon her light would have to fade

There was no warning
On that morning
Just those words that tore me open wide
She's no longer
But I still want her
And that night will never leave my mind

They say these endings, endings are beginnings
Though your head is spinning, you'll make it through somehow
And nothing will keep your world from changing
You have to go on racing like nothing holds you down
They're all beginnings now"

If you know me in person, you've heard me play this song at least once, if not a bazillion times. It's a piece of music from the video game "Snowboard Kids"

I was on cloud 9 making this rock version of it, and it ended up being a really cool winter-themed video complete with actual snowboarding footage from the very kind Bosko Jolic.

The next video is going to be more original music off the upcoming Surreal album, so stay tuned for that too.

Happy winter everybody!!

I made this back around Halloween. Welcome to a world of musical terror brought to you by Donnie Darko and my pup, Simba!

You can get a free download of "Time To Waste" here: http://www.surrealtheband.com/therushacoustic

It's here! The newest Surreal original: "Time To Waste"

"Time To Waste" is the first song of a suite about the phases of a human life called Endings Are Beginnings. This first movement is about the recklessness of being a young, stupid teenager! So naturally we filmed it in Brandon's parents' basement and made an "I-Spy" set of random fun objects.

We had a great time with this and we hope you'll enjoy watching it!

"Take it back to yesterday
When all the world was yours
Nothing calling you away
From what you were living for

There were no tethers tied to you
Holding you down
There was no way for you to fall
Back to the ground
...At least until now

There's time to waste, we've got today
But it can't last forever
The summer ends, I can't pretend
There's nothing more to weather
So if it has to end
Then we will set our course again

As the sun pours down on you
There's nothing out of place
So leave the things that wear you out
On wind you used to chase

There are no borders where we go
Nothing to lose
So come on and race with me
We're much too young to choose
Or think this thing through

There's time to waste, we've got today
But it can't last forever
The summer ends, I can't pretend
There's nothing more to weather

But if it has to end
We'll set our course again
And at the close we'll find
Another tale will soon unwind

There's time to waste, we've got today
But it can't last forever
The summer ends, I can't pretend
There's nothing more to weather
But if it has to end
Then we will set our course again"

Website: http://www.surrealband.com
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/surrealofficial
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Check it out! The new Surreal website is here. Changes include:

- A much simpler navigation bar
- More intuitive music and video pages
- A more detailed bio

And perhaps most importantly… A front page that isn't static and actually functions as news page to keep you up to date on all things Surreal!

Merry Christmas, and see you in 2016.