Making Music With Jake Haws

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I thought it was a good time to share some Irish style music I've recorded. A little back, I was asked to write some music for a video game. The maker of the game described the different scenes to me and I tried to match the mood the best I could to each of those scenes (without seeing any visuals). The project ended up not happening but at least I got some experience writing music in a different style. In each of these three pieces, I play an instrument called a melodica, which is sort of like an accordion and harmonica mashed together. In The Pub This music is intended for when one of the characters enters a pub where there is dancing and partying happening. I recorded this is my bathroom because I liked the particular echo sound it had. I started with the “drone-like” sound of the melodica, in an attempt to imitate bagpipes. The melodica also plays the melody and harmony. The majority of the percussion consists of myself hitting a suitcase in various ways wit

Today’s episode is a song from my “50 songs in 50 weeks” series called "What Can I Say". I recorded it in 2012 but it was actually written around 1999 while I was in high school. The lyrics are about expectations and wondering whether you measure up what other people want out of you. It was influenced by the Sixpence None The Richer song "Kiss Me." I probably would have been made fun of by my friends back then if I ever admitted that so it was kind of a guilty pleasure at the time. I started the recording with an acoustic and electric guitars with a similar strumming sound to "Kiss Me" and to fill it out it bit more, some organ. From there, I needed something to drive the beat but I knew I wasn't going to have drums so I ended up playing shaker and three different tracks of jembe, which is sort of like a bongo drum. I think it gives it a bit of a tribal feel. It still felt a little dull to me so I felt like the piano would be a nice addition. I played lower notes on my left hand in place of a bass guitar. My

This week on the show, I'm excited to have as my first guest, a very good friend of mine, Archie Crisanto. We recently got together and challenged ourselves to write and record a song out of thin air. The topic we drew to base the song on was "having someone mistake you for someone else." In the audio, you'll hear our conversation in writing the song (with the boring parts edited out) followed by the finished, produced song at the end. For the recording, I laid down vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, and percussion. Archie sang, played lead guitar, and piano. We settled on the title "That's The Truth." Download "That's The Truth (feat. Archie Crisanto)" on Bandcamp Become a sponsor of this podcast through Patreon.com

Today’s episode is an guitar instrumental. I actually wrote this one way back in high school. Over th years, I've tried to come up with some words for it but I was never satisfied with anything and it felt like the guitar part was melodic enough that it stood on it's own. I didn't have a specific influence in mind this time, other than I wanted to make something that sounded classical. Visit jakehaws.com to download this and other songs.

Today's episode is my cover of Weezer's Across the Sea. In 1996, Weezer released Pinkerton, their follow-up to the successful blue album. They went for a much rawer sound this time including both the sound and performance of the music as well as lyrics that drew from Rivers Cuomo's own heart breaks and frustrations. The album was initially panned but has since gone on over to time to become a cult classic. In Across the Sea, he writes about a fan from Japan who wrote him a letter and he wishes they could have a relationship but realizes it would never work. In 2010, I collaborated with a friend of mine, Drew Danburry, on a video/song project called "Reliving the 90s." Each month, we gathered together with a different band or set of musicians from the Provo area to cover a song from the 90s. I did all the recording/engineering at Muse Recording Studio and Drew filmed/produced the project with the assistance of local directors, which culminated in the release of 12 videos. My group, Adding Machines, recorded a

This week's song is influenced by a band called The Black Heart Procession. I first heard them when I was a freshman in college and one of my room mates showed them to me. They have a pretty unique sound where they borrow from folk and blues traditions but with their own dark spaghetti-western spin on it. They incorporate church organ, put heavy reverb on the vocals and guitars and even play the saw on many of their songs. With that influence in mind, I tried to write a song that captured the same sort of hopeless feeling. I made the sound of the guitar pretty twangy and turned up the reverb on the vocals to get the same type of sound as The Black Heart Procession (even though I have a much softer voice). As evident with the words, it's about couple going through hard times. Some of the inspiration came from my personal frustrations at the time with finding a job. Visit http://jakehaws.com/ep-34-song-patience-influenced-by-the-black-heart-procession for lyrics and more info.

Today’s episode is a new song of mine called "Eye to Eye." This one is going to be on my album, which will be coming out later this year. It's influenced by Elvis Costello's song "Pump It Up." Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

For today’s episode, I'm sharing with you a instrumental piano piece I starting writing back when I was about 14. It's actually one of my first pieces of music. Over the years, I've modified it a bit and added parts to make it longer but the main theme has stayed about the same. About a year ago, I decided it would be a good idea to record it in case any film makers wanted to use it for a scene. I kind of imagine it being a used for an introspective sequence like if one of the characters were laying in bed about to fall asleep or someone has a relative pass away and they are trying to cope with the loss. I recorded it with the upright piano in our living room. I added some string and ethereal sounding parts with the keyboard along with melodica part to add some texture (which sounds a bit like an accordion). I'm pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully one day, I'll be able to get it into a movie! Download "Slumberland" on Bandcamp Become a sponsor of this podcast through Patreon.com

This week's song, "Have I Loved You" is influenced by the Beatles. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

For this week's episode, I break apart my song, "I Get By" (Song Exploder style) so you can hear the individual parts and how they came together to make this recording (spoiler alert: there's beatboxing!). This song was influenced by John Vanderslice. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

Listen to my selections for the best music of 2016, including Radiohead, Chris Staples, The Lumineers, Parker Millsap, Blind Pilot, Wilco, Kishi Bashi, American Football, Childish Gambino, and The Head and the Heart. Visit jakehaws.com for more.

This week's song is influenced by Bob Marley. Visit jakehaws.com for more info.

This week's song is about being a Dad. It's influenced by Drew Danburry. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This week's song is influenced by The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

In this week's special Halloween episode, I highlight 4 original songs I wrote for a local stage production of "The Woman In Black." The music is very eerie and spooky sounding. Visit jakehaws.com to learn more and download the separate tracks.

This week's song is influenced by The Beatles. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This week's track is influenced by The Beta Band. Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This week's song is a religious tune from the LDS Children's Songbook.Visit jakehaws.com/podcast for the lyrics and more background on this song.

This week's song is influenced by the Beatles "Across the Universe" and Panda Bear's "Alsatian Darn." Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.

This week's song is influenced by Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You." Visit jakehaws.com for lyrics and more info.