Varicose Vain
11/16 - 07/25
Varicose Vain was born from an urge to do something which wasn't constrained by the felt need to do music appropriate for someone of my age and presupposed maturity. It's pure pretence. Pantomime.
Despite my intention for Falling Trees to be all encompassing, there will probably be times when I want to do something quick and trivial, so there will probably still be a need for Varicose Vain as an outlet, and maybe that will be released wider than Falling Trees, we'll see.
In many ways though, I wish I'd kept him secret because the secret is now out, so the social mores come in to play once again and appropriateness ends up ruling.
Bananas for Monkeys
08/23
I was starting to get some ideas together which didn't feel right for Stephen Ellis - too irreverent, too inappropriate, too unrestrained. I also wanted to do something with AI image generation. So I came up with the idea of resurrecting Varicose Vain and producing a bunch of promo material, as if it were historic, from back in the 90's. It was all based around the idea of a lost (and subsequently found), tape of home recordings.
A fun idea. It kind of all a got a bit lost in the mix though I think. Lacked a bit of conviction. Ultimately, even though the promo material was better and more plentiful, it didn't catch. Convincing me even more that this kind of 2D and video promotion doesn't work in isolation.
Also, it's so weird that no one ever seems to be impressed or surprised when technology has a transformative presence within the creative act - I mean, Jesus, all the images of these singers I concocted were just fabricated by computer!?. Maybe because the whole thing is a black box to people and so it either appeals aesthetically or it doesn't, irrespective of how it originates?
The songs were (mainly), fun to do though. And the whole process was quicker and less serious than Stephen Ellis fare, which was refreshing.
Bish-Bosh-Bish-Bash-Bish-Bash-Bosh
Very silly song. But the thing I love about Varicose Vain is that it gives me permission to do very silly songs.
This one popped into my head fully formed as I was getting into the shower.
The beat is an attempt to nick completely from Good Times, Bad Times by Led Zep.
Oh (I've Lived a Miserable Life)
The chorus line came to me on the tram while I was journeying to work. It amused me massively - so petulant and ungracious! Somehow it felt too irreverent to be a Stephen Ellis song, especially as the lyrics developed and seemed to be centred in a distant and youth bound state. So I resurrected Varicose Vain to carry the can.
Somehow the chorus isn't as big as I wanted it. It feels a bit laboured. Maybe held back by the drums - I can't remember why, but I decided to get the Korg Vola Drum machine and use it for all the drums on this EP. I think the home-recording somewhat 90s sound of it appealed and played into this idea of it being a lost tape from the 90s. A concept which I tried to play out in social media, but I think was totally lost on a disinterested audience.
Screentime?
Had an idea for a fast juggernaut type of song for quite a while - must be the fastest song I've ever done? I love playing around with the potential vocal rhythms available against this kind of backdrop. Definitely felt like a Varicose Vain type of outing.
Had to use a pair of headphones up close to the guitar pickups to fake the feedback!
Try, Try, Try
Lots of fun this one - decided to do one track without the drum machine and instead just got loads of samples from Ableton and threw them together till I got something that inspired me.
Tried to be a bit Talking Heads on this one.
Lyrically it's about not wanting to be social, but then feeling like you're missing out.
We're Done
Definitely one of my least successful songs I think. I mean, I like the song, somewhere within its core, but the recording is really stale, stolid, a bit pained. It bores me. I should have ditched it and started again tbh, but sometimes you just feel its too late and you need to force it to conclusion.
Which is one of the things that most pleases me about this site and this new way for me to work. Where, in the future I can leave things as more open ended, non-conclusive and available for rework. No need to finish anything for the sake of just getting it published to Spotify et al!
[Note - I listened to this song more recently and maybe it's not as bad as I thought...]
Some Love in My Trunk
11/16
Came across this photo when digging around on Pinterest for images for The Affair. Just made me laugh outloud. Something so preposterous about the guy in the background. Lyrics started coming to me straight away, so did the name - Varicose Vain - and the cockney accent!?
It was too irregular for The Affair, but I felt compelled to record the song anyway. It was done and dusted in less than 24 hours.
Posted it under a new account and hardly told anyone about it at the time. I've grown more comfortable with it over time though.
I love the line "tired of believin', tired of this feelin', tired of even being Steven". Captured everything about everything for me at the time, which despite the joviality of the song, was actually quite a tricky time for me.