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Thanks For Living

by stephen sheehan

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about

i've had a desire for a long time to work with a proper music producer in the truest sense of the word. someone that could arrange parts and take a song beyond what they were given. old school masters like Tony Visconti, Paul Buckmaster, Gus Dudgeon and Joe Boyd, or modern visionaries like Stephen Hague, Mario McNulty,and Andrew Poppy. someone who could dive into a song's arrangement and make creative decisions that didn't require hand-holding or shadowing. someone who could rearrange the bones of a song so it had a stronger posture as it stood or a cooler strut when it walked down the street.

i'd been listening to some of the mixes and productions by Ian Aiello recently and was repeatedly amazed. i wasn't aware Ian had the experience he had with producing and mixing bands until recently. up til now, my knowledge of him was limited to his live audio mixing of bands and events in shit hole taverns and somehow making them all sound fucking wonderful. i made sure to tell him that during those shows. i was impressed he'd somehow made these nightmare environments into something for the unwashed washes to enjoy while they drank excessively and puked on their shoes. or worse.

a few months ago i told him i had a song left over from the Less And Less sessions that i had no plans for and offered to him if he were interested. i told him straightaway that if he didn't like the song or wasn't inspired by it to not do it. i had no specific ideas for him. i knew he was a big Peter Gabriel fan so i suggested he consider maybe approaching it like Gabriel's "Here Comes The Flood," which is also built on just vocals and piano. in my foolish mind, i assumed he'd take that cue and envelop the song in atmospherics. i was quite wrong. and glad to be.

i've never had a song of mine lifted to this level before. yeah, you could say he "nailed it." i say that he shaped the song into a new stature, similar to what an architect would do if challenged to redesign something that was simple and plain yet sincere. and he honored those qualities while he worked with them and around them. this is one of the oldest songs in my songbook. written in 1983 and has been consistently performed since its inception. now i have to hire a string and woodwind ensemble when i perform it from here on out. thanks, Ian. jerk <3

thanks for taking this song into the realm of baroque or chamber pop, Ian. well done, sir. if this is the thanks i get, i'll take them. cheers.

demo version of Thanks for Living here: stephensheehan.bandcamp.com/track/thanks-for-living-demo

more songs i've done here, including Digital Sex: www.youtube.com/user/sundaramaji/videos

credits

released September 4, 2020
stephen sheehan -vox
donovan johnson - piano
Tom Ware - audio engineer
recorded at Ware House Productions in Omaha, Nebraska
Ian Aiello - orchestral arrangements, mix, and production
written by stephen sheehan

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stephen sheehan Omaha, Nebraska

vocalist for Digital Sex, The World, Between The Leaves, and Bliss Repair. released music on these labels: Sordide Sentimental (Joy Division, Durutti Column, Psychic TV, Savage Republic), New Rose (Arthur Lee, Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders) Emigre (Basehead) and Dead Man's Curve. influenced by wild weather, communal naps, contact yoga, and hot springs. fan of David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Tom Robbins ... more

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