Andromeda
Every time The Mascot Theory starts recording a new album, we tend to be well-rehearsed and uber-prepared to make the best of our session time together and our budget. However, many times I like to bring a song into the studio that we haven’t played before, which can add a little creative spark to the session. This was the case with “Andromeda.”
I had written the song during the pandemic, trying to sprinkle in a bit of optimism during a time of isolation and confusion when we seemed so very far away from each other. “How did you get this far, lost among the stars, not knowing where you are, or when you’re coming home.” The song was part of a little solo EP album that I released during that time. Fast forward a couple of years, and The Mascot Theory was down at Sonic Ranch Studios near El Paso, TX, recording songs with producer Terry Manning for a new album that would become the ‘Every Sign Of Life’ album. One morning while we were setting up for the day’s session, I started playing ‘Andromeda’, and Terry said if that is an original song, then we have to record it with the band, and I was thrilled at the idea. So we rehearsed the song and started recording it the very next day.
We knew we wanted to have an epic intro to the song, so we experimented with the idea of these two distant entities trying to find each other in the vastness of space, represented by the alternating guitar and piano riffs and random percussion, something that might recall ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ or ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. We even sprinkled in a percussive S.O.S. Morse code pattern into the bridge of the song that a casual listener might not pick up on at first. The album name, ‘Every Sign Of Life’, comes from a lyric in ‘Andromeda’, and we felt it would make a great first single to represent the sentiment of the album as a whole. “I’d build you a great city, and point out all the beauty in every sign of life.” The music video is a visual representation of two souls trying to find each other over a vast distance of space, eventually resulting in a grand emergence.
– Erik Kjelland of The Mascot Theory
SONG CREDITS:
Erik Kjelland • lead vocal, rhythm guitar
Cory Swadley • lead guitar, vocals
Nick Fry • bass guitar, vocals
Paul Metz • drums, percussion, vocals
From the band’s new album, Every Sign Of Life, that will be released worldwide on April 26, 2024. Produced by Terry Manning. Recorded by Terry Manning at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX. Assistant engineer Mauro Castro and studio assistant Moti Balboa. Mixed & Mastered by Terry Manning at Compass Point Studios, El Paso, TX. Video by Erik Kjelland. Written by Erik Kjelland, 2022 Velvet Mystery Publishing ASCAP, all rights reserved. http://themascottheory.com
Erik Kjelland
Contributor
Erik is a Madison, Wisconsin based singer-songwriter that fronts rock band The Mascot Theory.
