I had spent a great deal of my youth playing in bands, touring the countryside and preaching the good rock n’ roll word. At one point, this was my only calling before design started to take a front seat. Around the winter of 2005, I was looking to do something musical to where I had 100% complete control. Part of being in a band is compromising and working with people in a creative setting. It’s very much the way an agency works. But I was looking to branch out from that and do something so completely different and weird that it would throw everyone for a loop. I started The Mechanics of Romance as a response to rule bearing rock n’ roll scene at the time. Another part of being in a band is figuring out a way to operate within a certain scene or environment. This creates an audience and ultimately a demand. My focus was more on discarding all that in turn for something radically different.
First, this was primarily a one-man act. But I didn’t want it to come off as one-dimensional. After scoring a few headless mannequins from a close friend, I decided to piece together a sort of performance prop act that revolved around interaction with these inanimate objects. The goal was to come off like a real power trio band, but have the essence of a solo project. It was to be slightly artsy with a touch street level gut mentality focusing on more of the process and craft than the final product.
The music itself was to follow a strict pattern. I felt that the theme was already too far fetched for people to understand, so I made the initial music as simple as it could be. Only guitar, drums, fuzz bass and organ were utilized in the approach. Plus, with the stage set up for catering to a power trio, this proved to be an easy way in positioning the mannequins in front of the correct instruments. The plan was simple. For live purposes, I used a Yamaha mini-disk recorder four track. The first track was primarily reserved for a drum machine beat, the second used for the bass sound and the third encompassing an organ sound. I used the four track as to better mix the sound in a variety of venues. Then I played guitar and sang over it. It sounded as real as a real band could get. Recording, I did everything myself using the same treatment. Although, I played live drums and miked everything in a way that made it sound more organic.
I haven’t done this project in a bout a year for obvious reasons. Before I moved out to the west coast, I had sold pretty much everything that I owned including years of built up equipment and ultimately the mannequins. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on this project and have been walking through dusty memories in order to make sense of what this was and why it was important. Music, to me, has always held a strong foundation for my personality and this project allowed me to push the boundaries. It made me think about music, design, branding and its overall impact on culture. In other words, it gave me the strength to do something so radically different without fear of being ostracized by my peers. Get in touch with your stupid side. You’ll be amazed at what can come
