Zen Mantra's Sam Perry gives us a track-by-track rundown of his new self-titled album.
Photo: Supplied
Verse Chorus Verse sees local artists break down the stories behind their music. For the latest in the series, we asked Christchurch musician Sam Perry - who performs under the name Zen Mantra - to tell us what went into his just-released new album.
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'Will Disappear'
This song immediately felt like an opener to me. The lyrics are pretty straight-up confessional à la intimacy issues and deep rooted fears of impermanence. Musically I was deep into Germany's groove-based psych scene and experimenting with these old hardware synths for the first time.
'Hole In My Skull'
This was when I first started really experimenting with guitar textures - relaying guitars through tape machines and speeding them up/slowing them down and warping them in an effort to reflect the nausea I felt amongst some of the bigger crowds. The lyrics, however, are all pretty abstract - the instrumentation probably carries the sentiment better. I was definitely taking an approach which favoured creating a ‘feeling’ over creating a narrative.
'Dimming Son'
I was definitely taking an approach which favoured creating a ‘feeling’ over creating a narrative.
One of the more aggressive songs on the record, 'Dimming Son' was written around the kick drum pattern. Rhythm was definitely the focus of this one. I recorded this song in London mid-tour while stopping over at my bud Sandra’s. Lyrically it deals with the aftermath of my father's passing and the effect grief can have on your close personal relationships.
'Remember You At All'
This song covers the same emotional ground as ‘Dimming Son’ for me. The lyrics are presented in a fairly tongue-in-cheek manner. Not that I didn’t mean what I was saying, but that nasal-y snarl I sung in was meant as some sort of self-parody and it functioned as a defence mechanism for expressing emotions I wasn’t particularly comfortable with at the time. However that’s no longer the case. If you manage to catch us play live you’ll notice my voice sounding a lot more natural, albeit a little more bogan brat down-under.
'Bailey'
I fell head over heels in love a few summers ago with a girl called - you guessed it - Bailey. It was before my first long Yumi Zouma touring stint (impeccable timing from moi) and I wrote this song atop a bar in Melbourne post-soundcheck. It deals with the conflicting feelings I had living out my lifelong dream of travelling around the world playing music whilst simultaneously falling for somebody who felt like the potential love of my life - thus lines like "maybe I’m a fool / is music worth losing what makes me happy?"
'Picture The Sun'
This song begun as an experiment in guitar textures. I’d split the signal between two pedalboards - one which would spit out a pitched up, fluttering effect between two amps, while the other one was relatively dry. It was my way of creating ambient soundscapes which moved with the lead lines. Lyrically it deals with the theme of escapism, not something I’ve shied away from in the past with songs like ‘Cloudgazer’ and ‘Change’.
'Maybe I'll See You In My Dreams'
This is probably the most cathartic song on the record. Whilst sticking to that slightly escapist path I was talking about above, it deals with the most intense emotional theme on the record pretty head on (that theme being the passing of my dad). There's lines like “I wish I could sleep through my life / cus’ maybe I’ll see you in my dreams” and the coda is, “You’re coming home from work / You’re walking through the front door / You’re calling out my name from the bottom of the stairs again”.
I needed distance from my emotions to properly articulate them.
I wrote the basis of this song a few years ago, but it took until last year to really capture the sentiment. I needed distance from my emotions to properly articulate them.
'Second Skin'
This is the first song I wrote for the record. As I’m sure you can imagine, it was built up from the guitar line. I believe I also finished it in the same place as 'Dimming Son' (Sandra’s kitchen). Not that it matters as the album's recording process happened in a bunch of different hotels, planes and trains, but I distinctly remember being made a hot chocolate in celebration of finishing the song.
'Sitting At The Bottom Of The Pool'
After having so many maximalist bangers on the record, I wanted to try something a little more minimal. This one has the bass carry the song with sparse drums and quiet vocals, leaving the guitars/synth to add texture. I recorded the guitar into my sampler, cut off all the strums and played it like a synth. Lyrically it deals with that surreal feeling and anxiety of re-integrating with the world after the end of a close romantic relationship.
'Looking Up At A Hundred Moons'
This song was meant to be a hymn of self re-assurance - it's about embracing the chaos and unpredictability of life as opposed to letting it overwhelm me. ‘Don’t let the tide sweep you away / a hundred moons couldn’t change the waves”.
