The Phase

The (Almost) Complete Works of Sean Wilson

Almost all of the music I've ever recorded..

On this page I need to take a moment to pay homage and a great many thanks to all the musicians who've played/recorded/worked with me over the years. Particular thanks go out to Jamie Desrochers, Jamie Brewer, Trevor Brown , Jarrett Bartlett, Bill Barnes and many others for all of their support and inspiration. Without them none of this would be possible.

This isn't everything I've ever done musically. The page contains only the songs which I written and recorded.  Some songs were never recorded. Other songs, I really wish I'd never recorded. I've also contributed what I could to other artists recordings. None of those songs are here either. Nor are these the last songs I will ever record.

Some of these are mp3s and others are wmas...

Comments? Drop me an Email: retrophasen@hotmail.com

And, now without further adieu...The near complete works of Sean Wilson:

 The Box

Born out of feeling trapped in an old relationship. Even though I'd long since moved on I was still stuck in  the mindset of being with that person. Unable to let go and treat someone else as "new". This is a simple rock song which my band and I beat to death. This changed many times over the years, evolved and adapted as my feelings changed and my experiences grew.

Independence

Before "The Box" there was "Independence" just an angst-ridden little ditty I wrote when messing around with an open G tuned guitar. Expressing Anger...The song is pretty self-explanatory but it was a complete pain in the ass to play on stage because of the mandolin and the open G tuned guitar so it kinda faded into obscurity even though it was a fairly popular request.

62

About now you may be thinking: "That Sean guy is a pretty bitter and unforgiving individual" but it's not true. 62 has me admitting that I just don't understand people. I'm just not a highly social person and a lot of the time I just don't understand "how things work" in a social environment. I can function, carry on a conversation even be entertaining and outgoing but it's all emulation. When it comes down to it I'd really just like to get to know someone on a one-on one basis. In the past, I found myself apologizing to "significant others" for this. I don't apologize for it anymore...two versions of this song. One recorded in the basement of Jamie Brewer's Apartment (which was good but not perfect) and the other in the studio...done properly.

Cherry 

I guess I'll let you in on a little secret here...when I started writing Cherry it was about a band member. I convoluted the lyrics and the meaning so he'd never realize that the song was about him and I laughed at him on the inside at the irony of him playing the song. Though it wasn't very long before things got out of hand and this band member left the group. Sounds pretty mean eh? But, you should have seen what he did to me. Looking back on it I have no regrets on the way things went down. I did something I wouldn't normally do to get his attention and then told him the blunt, unfiltered truth. He didn't like it and he left the band but it was his choice. If he stumbles on this page, I really do wish him all the best and I hope that he's found a life that make him happy.

During the Studio recording I got paged by my work and had to run home. It was a something trivial and dumb but I left the guys in the studio, ALONE for a little while and when I got back they had done this: 

Resolution

I ran into an Ex-girlfriend who absolutely refused to acknowledge my presence in the line behind her at a convenience store. I made the first move to say "Hi" but I wasn't about to press the issue. She walked out of the store, and didn't say a word to me. Suddenly what seemed like a dreary grey day was "Sunshiney" and bright. I took it as a sign and went home to write this one. Funny thing about this song is that I was never really happy with it. I had re-written it for the studio album but it was so different that the guys didn't think they could do a good job of it.

A few notes on the Alternate Version of Resolution. I found it recently poking around on my computer. I think that if I were to play this song today I'd stick with the alternate version. Also I remember just having my wisdom teeth out when I recorded this. With most of the demos I recorded for the band I usually put in some off the wall comments or noises just to be different.

Barricades

A complete and utter mess...I love this song! It's actually a combination of a few unfinished songs from a two year period in my life and a commentary on a personal relationship I had. I had big plans for this song. The first attempt was an acoustic rendition and the second a full studio rendition I love both versions. However, the Studio rendition is particularly special because of a guest musician on the track: one Mr. Bill Barnes. Bill was so appropriate for the studio track as he had watched the relationship which the song was about, begin, blossom and die.

Harrison

Sometimes you just gotta keep secrets to yourself. This is one of those things. Sorry...Trev Brown helped me out with the backing vocals on this one.

 Morning Above

An instrumental. It appeared at the end of the Little Bullhorn Sessions but it wasn't really part of them. Jamie Brewer an I split on some studio time (with Jarrett Bartlett) as an experiment. Jamie wanted something extra for his CD (Great Big Rock) and I just wanted to mess around in the studio. This track wasn't really planned out. Jarrett played the dobro. Jamie hopped on the Djembe and I took the ooohs and ahhs and piano and the other guitar. It worked out well and was ready around the same time that we were releasing the little bullhorn sessions so we tacked it on the end as a bonus

Tasty 

Around the time I wrote this I'd discovered that I could use my voice and guitar playing to pick up chicks. ;) Seriously though, I thought I needed that "chick magnet" song...you know like "More then words" by Extreme but I never had any luck with it cuz I'm anti-social. Well, I actually based this on some of the better times in an old relationship. 

Jamie D. swears I borrowed some riffage from one of his old songs. It could be true, I don't know for sure. Either way everyone seemed pretty happy with this song as "filler". A more interesting story is how this song got it's name. 

I first played this song for some friends of mine. It wasn't quite finished and I didn't have a name. They liked it and said it was tasty so that's what I called it.

 Two versions of this song...Love 'em both

Robot Ron 

Looking back at my life I realized that there were times I acted like a jerk. Even though my intentions were always good, sometimes I'd act selfishly or I'd take for granted the things that I had in my life.  Sometimes it just hurt too much to do the right thing.

People asked me, why was this song called Robot Ron. I'd tell them that the "hero" of the song spends his life doing things people expected of him. Trying to do the right thing yet still hurting inside and pretending not to feel anything. Like Data from Star Trek. I'm an android, I have no emotions. I'd tell people that the song was an admission that I wasn't a robot after all. That I do have feelings and that things do hurt me. It was a pretty good explanation but the truth is much simpler: I was thinking about Saturday morning cartoons and video games

Robot Ron -> RoboTron

I'm not sure if anyone ever figured that out.

Satellite 

One of the most painful experiences of my life. Someone I loved very dearly had lost her father to illness. Standing on a hill at my grandparents farm which, for me, was a "happy place" she broke down and started to cry.  At that moment I felt helpless and as if I was all she had in the world but things weren't going very well between us already. She had already started to distance herself and I had already reacted by distancing myself. Things were on their way out and we both knew it but, at that moment, we were alone in the universe. The earth teeming with life and the moon, barren.

Two versions of this song. The original demo recorded  with drum loops on my home computer and the studio recording. The studio recording is far superior but the concept remained the same from the demo to the studio.

It's funny but we played this song so many times live when it came down to the studio time to record it Jamie's vocals didn't quite fit. I did most of the backing vocals and Jamie added in some other parts I didn't think of..

Shadows and Glass

You know when you meet someone and you're happy and you just want to run away from everything with that person and be happy?  Like going on an adventure/misadventure with the love of your life.

Jamie and I recorded this one in his basement but I don't know what happened to that version. However it was the foundation of this one.

Angel 

Pain, pain, pain and more pain. I recorded this song so I could put it in "The Vault" and forget about it. The guys weren't involved in this one. I played everything (bass, guitar, vocals, piano) except the drums which, are a loop I found on the internet. Jamie wrote the original solo for the few times we played it live for this one and I translated it to piano.  It's not so much that I hate this song as it is that I'm just embarrassed about how I felt and this song serves as a reminder of an awkward situation.

Of note: There is a UK band called Electrasy who wrote a song called "Angel" as well. It's eerily similar to this song however, my version is much older then theirs.

Spank You Very Much 

More of a joke then anything...a friend and I were talking about writing a pornographic  movie sound track. Really I was just messing around with my computer to see what I could possibly record at home. This track actually turned out OK. I played everything except the drums again (loops) and did all the recording and mixing. It's mostly layered drum loops and bass with a bit of wah guitar and e-bow thrown in.

Careful with this one there is some empty space at the beginning of the track so the song doesn't start right away. Also, I can't be held responsible for any activities that follow this song ;)

I Wanna Be On TV 

And I was!!! Breakfast Television on the New RO before it became something else...

Written around the same time as "Spank You Very Much" and in much the same method. Again, I was just messing around and this track turned out pretty good. I played all the instruments on this one and did all the recording mixing myself. Someone mentioned to me that it sounded like a 1980's TV theme song so that's how it got it's name.

Painting 

I completely forgot about this song until Jamie D. pointed out that it was missing. Indeed it was missing. Just another attempt at home recording. We never played this as a band I always intended to re-write this one and incorporate it at a later date. Again, I did everything except record the drum loops.

Love

I don't think I ever gave this one up to the band  it was a little too Country & Western/Cheesy for them but it was fun to record anyway. A friend of mine helped me out with backing vocal.

If... 

In my usual "Down with organized religion!!" self I wrote a song to express my distaste and mistrust for any and all organized religions. The guys bugged me a few times to play it or do something with it. I think it managed to make a couple appearances on stage but it really never got past this demo. Maybe one day I'll revisit it. Quite honestly, this recording SUCKS! It sounds like I recorded it in my bathroom with a broken drum machine...but I think you'll get the picture..

I did the drums with MIDI and a keyboard and I was trying to figure out how reverb worked...As well I think the guitars are just peizo pickups insted of being mic'd. Most likely I used my Ovation Applause...This is probably the first home recording I did...Ok no more excuses...here it is:

Goodbye Machine 

Probably the latest song I've finished. This version is a demo version which is about 6 minutes long. In the "polished" version I cut two verses. Preserved for posterity (by Jamie D who keeps everything) is the following version which has all the original verses in tact. 

The funny thing about songwriting is, a lot of the time I don't know what the song is about until a lot of time has passed. Looking back at this song I'm kinda wondering now if I somehow knew my relationship with my last Ex was going to end up the way it did. I was frustrated for a long time at her pot smoking and was tired of seeing her fail time and time again at everything she did that was "grown up". The polished version hits me with this impression a lot harder then this version.

Anyway, most likely I'll redo this version at home as a home recording project.

This stuff is all copyright (2007)

But you can download it and listen...

Comments? Drop me an Email: retrophasen@hotmail.com

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