Album: Mod Sessions Retrospective 2003-2006
Artist: Geb Zurburg
Copyright Years: 2003-2006
Engineer: Mod
Producers: Mod & Geb Zurburg
Album Art: Chris Green
Website: www.gebzurburg.com
Between 2003-2006 I was playing in Echofission and had recently finished my tour with The Crayons. I also was the bass player for Remedy For Ruin during this time. This was a band that my friend Isaac managed. Isaac had the band Numb that I used to go and see when I was a teenager. Isaac’s brother Gabe was the drummer and he and I clicked when it came to the bass and drums interplay. RFR did the Warped Tour in 2005 and we played a stage in Buffalo and Randall’s Island. Very cool band. It was not the type of music I listened to. It was heavy, progressive and at times a bit screamy. But playing bass for them was a highly energized backseat. I loved it. In The Crayons and RFR I just showed up and played bass on stage. Period.
During these years I also recorded a lot of songs at Mod’s studio. My intentions for these songs were unclear. I felt some might work for Echofission and some would not. So, I began to do solo acoustic gigs. I opened up for some of the bands I knew like Souls’ Release and RFR. One of my fondest memories was opening for Souls at the Crossroads. I was joined by each of them on three different songs. They dug my stuff and it gave me confidence. I also got myself doing some open mics and Lazlo from Blowupradio.com was really supportive and used to book me at the now defunct Goldhawk in Hoboken. At Arlene’s Grocery I officially opened as Geb Z and the Way. It was even on a poster.
There are songs that made it on The Straights album, such as Lucky, Door, It’s On You, and Kids. Here they are in their rawest form. All these songs were just Mod and I recording and adding ideas along the way. Mod, always with ear for my sound, helped me shape a lot of the beats, bass and guitar riff ideas. These songs are not mastered and barely edited. They are a collection of in-the-moment recording. There are vocal and musical flaws. But the recording sessions captured the essence of each song and thus served the songs well.
These songs have a heavy emotional quality. During these years there was a lot to write about: struggles with my past, finding and losing love, coming to terms with my father’s deteriorating health, making sense of the world and the new information entering my maturing mind; a lot of turmoil and upheaval, which makes for good songs usually. They also vary in presentation. Some of the songs in this collection are acoustic guitar and vocal. Others are electric guitar and vocals while some even have programmed drums.
This collection embodies my wandering years. I had just started my teaching career at the end of 2004, but lots of personal stuff was left exposed and unanswered for me. At their core, the songs on this collection show my vulnerability. With that in mind, I released this collection…to finally own up and dust the vulnerable songs off my shelf and put them out into the world.
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