Ocean William Comes of Age

Long form is the new black. Settle in for another great read.

Now that we've opened the whole "Jimmy Stewart" worm can over here at The Floor, I thought I'd take the opportunity to expand on the song creation potential contained within these nightly improvisational forays. This companion piece to UMcast #125 gives you a tour of one of the methods through which an UM tune might come together. Today's subject: the Evolution of Ocean Billy.

It's a well known fact that Jake Cinninger has music running through his veins. Like many blessed/cursed with an inner muse: that hussy just won't shut up, providing a challenge to keep up with everything that pours out. Fortunately, multi-instrumentalist and 4-track guru, he can create fully arranged demos at will, with results varying from Liquid to Wizard Burial Ground.

Jake: Billy was conceived on my old cassette four track, in the basement of my W. Addison apt. in Chicago during Winter 2003. I was playing around with odd meter grooves that didn't feel too jagged. King Crimson ideology was an inspiration, but in a minimal sense.

Fripperies, indeed. The Ocean Billy demo is one of the many revealing tracks on The Bottom Half's disc 2. I love how after the thematic intro is established, he adds layer upon layer of guitar, up to 6 or 7 by the end. The ensuing two segments demonstrate just how scattershot his ideas can be in a short time span. It's likely he cooked all of that up in a day or two (while working on a few other pieces as well).



Next up, we've got the first live attempt at the demo that took place 3/29/03 at Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO. The first set featured a one-of-a-kind Jamie Janover guest spot in 40's Theme that gave rise to the famed "Zsa Zsa Gabor Fi Fi," plus one of my favorite Triple Wides opens the 2nd set. Towards the end of the show they get into "Jimmy Stewart" mode and see what they can create. Not only do we get the first appearance of Ocean Billy, but also the first appearance of the Wife Soup intro!



Though his freestyle rap career may never take off, Brendan has an equally unique talent of being able to channel his inner emotions, our inner emotions, stamp them with his melodic DNA and project them onto improvised music. His notebook of ideas can provide fodder for just that right moment in time when the band is locked in.



Local Band Does Oklahoma's Pennis is the nonsensical title given to the "Jimmy Stewart" with lyrics that's a darker, more explosive attempt at Jake's demo. I can't really make out what Brendan is saying, hell, I'd be surprised if he could. But that haunting melody is there...he captured the emotion of the music. Another piece of the puzzle...



The 9/4/03 Der Bluten Kat was one of those magical moments in UM history. I still recall driving back to Chicago after the show with @soundcaresser, we were both giddy and had to immediately listen to the tape (after which, we decompressed with some Buena Vista Social Club). Few Stewarts better exemplify spontaneous composition. You will recognize bits and pieces of these lyrics making the complete version.



The song was debuted, titleless (shocking, I know), on Halloween 2003. I chose the 2nd version from the following night, slightly improved, still a little raw and in progress. The post-song banter includes the titling and shows just how random the UM song naming process can be. On the other hand, the lyrics are very deliberate and have a serious meaning in regards to the band.

BB: I was trying to link the song with Jake's tune "Mulche's Odyssey" based on the "missed the boat" lyric. I'm not sure, but I thought he was referring to his efforts with Ali Baba's not panning out. This is also right around the time Kris was coming into the band and i felt like we "stole" him from his band Kick the Cat....so lyrically i thought about the making of a band, the breaking up of a band, how the whole thing works...."what's possible holds even more".

Little known fact...and one I'm sure Brendan will lament allowing me to post:

BB: At one point in this process I began to think we could link "mulche's", "billy" and "2x2", as they all dealt with the same subject matter. Then the grand vision of the rock opera popped up...we could write a few more songs about this and have a huge piece of music that would be linked thematically.



Alas, this never came to fruition. There have been many more songs written about the band...hell, I might contend pretty much all of them are, but that's for a future post.



You all know where the song grew from there...it slowly transformed into a jam vehicle. That original demo taken in two directions, a sparse dramatic intro, and the climactic, haunting crescendo, each a perfect bookend for sets and shows.



To round out this episode, we feature last month's monster version that took place in front of a sold-out Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. A quick jaunt down the road from Boulder, where it all began...



Outstanding versions on past UMcast episodes:

#30 - acoustic version from SIN release party at Park West

#44 - Ocean Billy > Blue Echo > Ocean Billy from epic 3 night Wisco run in 11/06

#117 - 42 minute Miami Virtue > Ocean Billy that captures a wide-spectrum of UM



Keep an eye out for more "Jimmy Stewart"/UMcast related posts and a new album in the near(ish) future... - @McL2016. Art by @wittybanterism