Nick Marino

In college, I was in a rock band called Dirty Weekend. We started in 2000 and I wish I could fucking link you to some of our work from back then, but mp3.com deleted all of their user-uploaded content in the mid-00s. Assholes.

Yes, that's me in mid-air. That was kinda my thing back then.

Suffice to say that we were proud when High Times Radio added one of our bizarre recordings to their playlist, and we reached a high point when another one of our tracks was listed as #15 on the weekly folk punk charts. Don't judge me. The Internet was a really weird place back then.

Anyway, we broke up in 2002 after our personality conflicts boiled to the surface during a botched live performance. And thus the nastiest live act at Carnegie Mellon University -- nay, Pittsburgh! -- was put on ice.

But the wounds were eventually mended and we reformed in 2004, just in time to play the university's Spring Carnival. I got the ball rolling by making a Dirty Weekend video ad and playing it for the Spring Carnival programming committee:

We look like a fun all-ages college band, right? Well, that was the point -- to trick the programming committee into giving us a great afternoon time slot. And it worked.

In reality, Dirty Weekend was actually 1/4 music, 1/4 performance art, and 1/2 poor taste. With songs like "Dear Penthouse" and "I Went to the Prom with Your Mom," we were anything but family-friendly.

But I digress -- we had our afternoon time slot and then meant it was time to go into action. We signed up two friends willing to be go-go dancers and to make out with each other during our fan-favorite song, "Lesbian Journal."

We planned an awesome onstage food fight for "Cantaloupe You're the Fruit of the Gods" and we cooked up a giant pot of hot dogs that we planned to throw at the audience during "Street Vending Man."

All that goes without mentioning the 8-foot-tall "D" and "W" letters we made out of cardboard and the toilet I dug out of the trash for our ultimate shocker finale.

Sadly, we were kicked off stage by the end of our third song. Our hopes and dreams were just about crushed.

However, we weren't defeated yet. A friend invited us to play their house party happening later that night. So we tossed our gear in my Jeep, strapped the giant letters to the top, and drove straight to the corner of Wilkins and Wightman.

Dirty Weekend played a wild house party show. I don't know that it was our best performance... but I can say it was the most fun I've ever had playing a gig.

Afterwards, the party was broken up by the cops. And a couple of weeks later, I graduated college and went on to do a lot of other reckless things with my life.

But DW 2004 (as we affectionately nicknamed the performance in our advertising) will never be forgotten. Student journalist Karen Hoffman even wrote an article for the school newspaper about our Spring Carnival debacle.

Anyway, I hope you dig these videos. Note that the last one is especially NSFW. I mean, really REALLY not NSFW.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

I fell asleep while I was recording Speechless. In fact, I didn't even realize I was recording the song at the time. All I knew was that it was 2 AM and I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

See, I'd laid down 10 minutes of funky electronic drums that I intended to use for my latest Unlicensed Attorneys at Law song, Making It. But I was having a hard time coming up with a melody for the beat.

I decided to improvise an extended jam on top of the drums. My plan was to relisten to the recording and cherry pick the best moments of the performance to create loops for my rap track.

Well, that never happened. I listened to the recording over and over again -- for years, really -- trying to find the best parts to loop into a beat. But somewhere in the process of relistening to the song, I began to really enjoy it as a work of its own.

Speechless was raw and improvisational, capturing the moment instead of trying to fit riffs into a tight structure. I really appreciated the free qualities of the song.

INTERMISSION! Speechless on SoundCloud:

And before I even realized it, I was copying my accidental recording style to make new songs. I'd construct a 15 minute drum loop and lay a few raw tracks over it. That's how Purple Suite and RAW both came to be.

So despite the fact that Speechless was an accident, I learned to cherish the way it was created. Nowadays, most of my songs are built with the Speechless method. Eventually, some get shaved down into tighter sections while others retain their spontaneous qualities and remain just as they were performed.

NEXT: Digital drums built for an abandoned ditty about street food set in 3/4 time become their own musical beast.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

It began as Phoenix Bay, a stripped-down groove with a lot of 'tude and li'l bit of funk. While I dug some of its qualities (including the name, inspired by Jean Grey's experience in Jamaica Bay), it didn't resonate with me. It felt too minimal.

Determined to not abandon the framework, I built upon the foundation of Phoenix Bay and added extra layers, amping up the funk and rechanneling the flow. And thus Remix the Phoenix was born.

The most obvious addition was a heavy coating of frantic percussion, making the song feel twice as fast as before. I also decided to rework the melody, something which was seriously lacking in the original. And that's where things got interesting.

See, I wasn't happy with all of my new melodic synth performances. In fact, I recorded several different versions because I was having a hard time picking a favorite. And that's when a mistake turned into inspiration.

Any musician who multi-tracks can relate to what happened next -- I left on both of my synth performances by mistake while replaying the reworked Phoenix Bay... and I liked what I heard. Two similar-yet-unique synths swirling back at me, challenging my brain to a game of "Can You Follow the Melody?"

INTERMISSION! Remix the Phoenix on SoundCloud:

Instead of trying to pick one single melodic line, I decided to use both. It was a trick I'd learned from listening to Pavement as a kid. Often, their guitarists would solo at the same time, creating an experimental and sometimes exciting sound.

After a lot more editing, I finally had something I liked. Phoenix Bay was saved! But in the process of my rescue, I'd created a different body of work. So I changed the title to indicate its remixed status. And that's how this song was born.

NEXT: How falling asleep on my keyboard led to some interestingly long results.

Psssst! Here's a secret.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

RAW stands for Really Awesome Woman. And I gave this song as a gift to Justique... my really awesome girlfriend!

I'm a bit ashamed to say that I can't remember the holiday/occasion that was behind the gifting of this jam. Uhhh, maybe it was xmas? Or maybe a birthday? Or our anniversary? Damn, I just can't recall.

But I do remember the particulars of the recording because I composed, performed, and mixed this song at work (back when I had a day job, that is). In fact, The only thing I did at home was master this puppy.

I used to work for the marketing department of a Pittsburgh law firm. It was a good job, but it could get really dull. To the credit of my employers, they tried to keep me interested as best they could. So when they needed a jingle for a TV commercial, they asked if I'd like to take a crack at it.

I jumped at the opportunity to get paid to make music in my office. I brought in my drum machine, synthesizer, and guitar to record a few demos. And guess what? They hated my jingles!!!

INTERMISSION! RAW on SoundCloud:

I was bummed that it didn't work out. To pick my mood up, I spent my lunch break playing music. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I'd spent hours writing and performing nearly all of RAW! The song came together that easily.

I'd say that the entire performance -- largely improvised, because that's how I roll -- couldn't have taken more than two days. I mixed it in short order and I knew that I had a new Nik Furious album track on my hands!

The finished product reminded me of something Justique might like. She was already a big fan of Purple Suite and Speechless, my two longest songs. So I decided to make RAW -- my longest track to date -- a gift for her.

NEXT: A song so tricky that it had to be reborn before it could breathe.

P.S. RAW is also the beat for the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law song UAL Nights, an extremely NSFW hip hop cut.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

It was night. All of the lights were off, but it wasn't pitch black in my apartment. See, the Pittsburgh city sky never goes black -- it goes purple.

I started laying down a beat on my Zoom MRT-3 drum machine. As the rhythm grew more complex, the lights on the drum machine formed a hypnotic pattern of flashing reds and blues.

Purple Suite began as that drum pattern. And later that night, I laid down a few synth tracks on top of the beat. But the different parts didn't gel.

I can't remember if it was hours, days, or weeks later... but eventually, I added the thick bass (playing it with a pick, which is something I rarely do). Once the bassline was in place, I improvised the synth on top. And it was complete.

Purple Suite on SoundCloud:

I've never been totally satisfied by Purple Suite. For years, I used a different mix of the song that featured a far quieter lead synth. When it came time to finish up all of the tracks for Brilliant Shower, I remastered this song and raised the solo.

While I'm unashamed to say that I enjoy listening to my own music, I don't always enjoy listening to Purple Suite. I like the drums and certain parts of the synth performance. But overall, it's not the type of song that I usually seek out.

Still, I'm proud of this track. I hope you enjoying listening to it more than I do!!!

NEXT: If you think Purple Suite is long, just wait until you hear the next song on Brilliant Shower.

One of my most popular products of the past few months is a bundle featuring Stick Cats #1-2 and a CD of the Stick Cats theme song.

Up until now, I've just tossed a few more random Nik Furious songs onto the CD, switching out tracks whenever I burned a new batch.

But those days are over! Now each Stick Cats bundle will come with an official homemade copy of The Nine Lives LP:

The tracklist for The Nine Lives LP is:

1. Stick Cats (vocal version)
2. Fresh Frunk
3. Remix the Phoenix
4. Purple Suite
5. Da Bounce
6. RAW
7. In Vert Head
8. Speechless
9. Stick Cats (instrumental)

In total, it's over 45 minutes of music ranging from funk to electronic to rock to experimental. Also, I submitted the CD's tracklist to the Gracenote database, which means your computer will recognize the track names when you play the album.

I'll have copies of it next weekend at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair, and soon you'll be able to buy a physical copy of the disc from me over the internet.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

Invisible is one of the oldest songs on Brilliant Shower. It's also the first time I ever sampled myself.

I wasn't a music major in college, but I was fortunate enough to get into some advanced sound recording classes. The techniques I learned have been invaluable to me as both a musician and podcaster. (Thx, Riccardo Schulz!!!)

I'm not a great drummer by any means, but I can hold a beat. We needed someone to play drums for one of these classes, and so I volunteered. I played a few different beats, nothing spectacular. And when all was said and done, I got to keep the recordings of my performance.

INTERMISSION! Invisible on SoundCloud.

A few months after I graduated in 2004, I pillaged all of my old recordings to try and find the best songs I made while I was in college. After the Wink was one of those. Try This was another. And in the process of drudging through my old stuff, I found the ProTools files of my aforementioned drumming.

I tried looping full bars of my drums, but I couldn't get anything that sounded tight. So I went through and I sampled individual hits. One tap on the high hats. One on the snare. A couple of kick hits. And then I proceeded to lay out the beat in ProTools just like I was using my drum machine.

Nowadays, I understand the concept of sequencing (despite the fact that I still don't do it... nothing against it -- I've just never tried it). Back then, I had no idea or otherwise I would have tried out something like that.

Anyway, I did things the hard way but I built a drum beat I'm still proud of to this day. Obviously, I also laid down some bass and synth at some point... which, if I recall correctly, happened months later when I was living in Brooklyn.

Invisible is currently the theme for the HyperComboCast, a fighting games podcast I co-host on the AudioShocker. And it was used as the beat for Pinnacle, a 2005 Unlicensed Attorneys at Law track.

NEXT: 9.5 minutes of purple.

For those who don't know, I went to Carnegie Mellon University. In late April, the school celebrates Carnival, a long weekend full of booze, debauchery, and booths. (Yes, I mean booths... see here.)

And It's fairly common for alumni to swing back into Pittsburgh during this weekend. Knowing a lot of my college friends would be around, I booked myself a solo gig playing at the Kiva Han coffee shop on Craig St for Carnival weekend 2006.

Kiva Han closed its doors for good yesterday and I couldn't help but think of this performance. It's one of my most memorable Kiva Han moments. It's also very NSFW and proof that I can't sing in tune to save my life. But otherwise, it's a lot of fun.

I hope you dig it!!! And if you don't... well, tough shit. It's too late now

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

There's a special connection between the title and duration of In Vert Head. Can you figure it out?

Regardless of the little secret reference in there (which, ironically, is not a personal reference... I put it in there for someone else), this is probably my favorite song I've ever recorded. I feel kinda stupid saying that because I tend to think it's best when an artist lets their music speak for itself. BUT GODDAMN IT I LOVE THIS SONG!!!

Anyway, that someone else I mentioned is Justique. This song was made as a gift for Xmas 2007. It's probably the most fun I've ever had recording a solo song, and I think that both my love for Justique AND the fun I had recording it really shine through in the performance.

In Vert Head on YouTube...

...and In Vert Head on SoundCloud.

I'm sure you've had your fill of me going on and on about how much I enjoy this track. SORRY! It's hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for it.

Oh, and before I go, I should mention that you may have also heard this song as the theme to the Sequential Underground podcast on the AudioShocker.

NEXT: The first time I ever sampled myself.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

After all these years, I still haven't found an easy way to describe Essential.

This song was made to be used as a rap beat. From 2004-2006, almost every instrumental song I made was constructed with that purpose in mind. But I soon discovered that most of my original instrumentals were a bit too intricate and busy to make good backing tracks for hip hop tracks. So I started treating them like instrumentals, meant to be consumed without vocals.

Essential is maybe the best example of my musical evolution from that time. The drums were crafted to hit heavy and deliver knock. The bass was meant to growl. Then the synth and guitar were added on top to give the rhythm section some flavor. But somewhere within that process, melody and structure took over.

So I ended up with a hybrid of electronic drums, raw slap bass, heavy synth, and flamenco guitar. Sometimes I wonder if the combination of those disparate styles makes this song sound as if it were built from the kind of pre-recorded loops and samples that come default with music creation software. However, nothing could be further from the reality of Essential. All of the instrumentation you hear are original performances, consciously written for this specific song.

Essential on YouTube...

...and Essential on SoundCloud.

You may have listened to Essential before. It's the end theme on the AudioShocker family of podcasts. And eventually, I did record some rhymes over it. But that song isn't done yet... so I'm gonna keep my mouth shut until it's ready to drop.

Finally, if you were wondering, the answer is yes -- the title "Essential" is inspired by Marvel's Essential comics reprints. At the time I made this song, I was reading Luke Cage v1 and X-Men v5.

NEXT TUESDAY: A personal favorite of mine that was written and recorded as an Xmas present for my girlfriend.