One Song a Week - Two Seconds Away
New Music Mondays
Two Seconds Away
Tim Seley and Patrick Largen, performing as Two Seconds Away, have reason to celebrate. In a video posted to NewMusicMonday.com recently, they announced that their songs have been downloaded 125,000 times. They began their free song per week project in September 2008 with a simple concept: offer free original music downloads every Monday on their website. Seley and Largen weren’t sure what response to expect from listeners. Now, it’s certain that a lot of people are listening to their freshly minted songs.
“There are few things in life better than a free lunch, but free music that’s actually good has got to be at least in the top five,” says Seley. “Especially with the economy as it is, the amount of money most people are allotting for entertainment is decreasing considerably, and more people are actively looking for inexpensive or free options.”
The price is right but there is another appeal besides no money down for new music. In addition to free music downloads, the band also produces material to supplement weekly songs, including commentary tracks that explain the process of producing each song – from the meaning of lyrics to how certain sounds were achieved. “It’s a really transparent process that makes the music much more of an experience for fans,” Largen says. “They become more of a participant than a spectator.”
Music on the Move
Seley and Largen first began working together in the Manhattan, Kansas-based group Moving Rushmore (movingrushmore.com) a couple years ago. Largen sang lead vocals and Seley was the guy handling video/live visuals. “We started off well, but had a difficult time finding a good core group of members that were at a place in life that was conducive to being in a band,” says Seley. “Part of our motivation for moving to Kansas City was to have a larger pool of musicians to draw from. Two Seconds Away started as a side project so that Patrick and I could keep momentum going while Moving Rushmore was in limbo. It quickly morphed into the main project instead of the side project.”
As the New Music Monday project took off, the guys took the opportunity to experiment with different song styles. “We don't have a set approach in our songwriting. We might start with something as simple as a chord progression or melody and build a song around that,” Seley explains. “Other times we might start with lyrics, a concept, or even a piece of artwork.”
The songwriting process is unusual because they work in separate locations. Seley and Largen collaborate remotely using e-mail and transferring files via the Internet. “One of us will record an idea or a rough song outline and upload it to our server,” says Seley. “Then the other person can download the project and tweak it and add to it. When the creative juices are flowing it’s really cool to watch the song evolve as it goes back and forth between the two of us.”
“We work better under pressure and that was a big motivation for beginning a project like Newmusicmonday.com. Every once in a while we get ahead of the curve and start a song a week before but not usually.”
Recently, they didn't have a song ready as of Sunday at 2 PM. Nine hours later they posted “Scary to Know.” Seley says, “We post the songs on Sunday evening so it was definitely cutting it close.”
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Music in Film
Two Seconds Away has nearly a half-dozen songs appearing in the independent film Works in Progress. The connection came about by chance when Largen was interviewing for a job. “It turned out that one of the interviewers was editing the film and was really interested in New Music Monday,” says Seley. “The editor listened to some of our music and liked it so much that he immediately spent the evening doing a rough cut with it. We have four or five songs appearing throughout the film. It was filmed entirely in the KC area and is slated for a late 2009 or early 2010 release.”
Split Second Performance
When the duo performs live, they use Ableton Live software that allows them to do live looping. Both performers have a laptop along with various instruments. “We control our laptops with foot pedals,” says Seley. “For all of our looping to synch properly, we have to play with a metronome and make sure the laptops are synched together. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. When we were first using our current setup it always felt very precarious. We joked that we were two seconds from a train wreck at any given moment. That was a little too negative for a name so we shortened it to Two Seconds Away. People are sometimes amazed at how much is going on onstage with only the two of us playing.”
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Musically and lyrically, the duo create songs that don't hew to one sound or style. A quick perusal of the thirty or so songs turns up mild singer-songwriter fare like "A Waste," a cover of “Falling Slowly,” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and the more up tempo rock of "Who's Gonna Love Her?"
Two Seconds Away - Who's Gonna Love Her
By posting sneak peeks and snippets of songs-in-progress and inviting visitors to the website to share comments on the materials, listeners can become collaborators in the process. The results are sometimes mixed, but the interactivity is an innovative approach that breaks down the barrier between songwriter and audience. With just over thirty songs to their credit, Two Seconds Away continues to work against the clock each week to create music that may or may not stand the test of time.
http://www.myspace.com/twosecondsawaymusic
"Music" is proudly sponsored by MAAA.
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