Taken from Simon's Blog on Myspace: June 12, 2007
********************************************
I have never known a world without Genesis. Their music is the soundtrack to my life, and "Keep it Dark" is only a snap shot in time. It reflects a sonic and mental atmosphere that speaks volumes to me about their taste for dark, edgy, experimental songwriting and production. This is what Genesis is all about to me . In all my musical travels, It's still impossible to ignore the rare talent and vision that the Genesis camp possess. I have yet to hear anything comparable to the music that they have created over the last 40 years. What I have always appreciated about these guys, is that they are all free thinkers musically. They were constantly re-inventing themselves. Every time they came together there was a morph, and they just kept on redefining their sound and an entire genre with them. As they shot up the evolutionary scale of music they also managed to shoot up the charts. Genesis are surely one of the most versatile, original and experimental bands to have ever reached listeners on a massive global level. To me, that reveals one thing about this group of chaps from the English countryside. They were never, ever afraid to think outside of the musical box. In turn, that only strengthened and validated the capabilities of a band, that through a constant state of flux, has grown and evolved to be one of the most influential bands on the planet.
To honor Genesis on their 40th anniversary, I thought covering "Keep it Dark" would be a perfect way to give something back. It was my attendance at the NYC Genesis rehearsals in October last year that sparked this project. It was at those sessions, I met and befriended Sonic Reality Software CEO & Producer, David Kerzner. We connected instantly, and once I had mentioned to him my 10 year obsession with covering this song, we both agreed it would be a brilliant and exciting project to do together. So, earlier this year I flew down to Florida to co-produce "Keep it Dark" with Dave at Sonic Reality's headquarters. On this production, I had the opportunity to use a lot of the software Dave has developed through Sonic Reality and IK Multimedia. The entire track was created synthetically through software synths (keys, sound design), samplers (drums, sound design) and plug-ins (guitars, bass), leaving only a guitar track and my vocal in it's raw form. It was a wild ride into cyber production that would lead to a very futuristic sounding impression of the '82 Abacab track. So, enough of my yackin...I am proud to present "Keep it Dark", futurized and Simonized.
A BIG congratulations to the Genesis camp for 40 years of brilliant, thought provoking, awe inspiring, epic music!!!
Let's keep this planet rockin...oh, and keep it dark...BAM!
keepitdark.net
Much love,
KiD
Simon
