lbum Notes
Marco Minnemann – “House Wife Dog And Two Kids”
International drumming sensation, Marco Minnemann has released many outstanding original recordings in his illustrious career as a solo artist, and with his former group, Illegal Aliens, but none so bold, adventurous, creative and pop oriented as his 2007 release “House Wife Dog And Two Kids.” Minnemann creatively blurs the lines between punk, metal, pop and instrumentally complex musical styles to create a fresh, innovative and entertaining collection of catchy, emotionally charged vocal and instrumental compositions. Minnemann plays all instruments on this thirty-one song, two-disc set and shares the creative vocal chores with the sweet and innocent pop vocal style of French model, Petra Lukovic.
Recognized as one of today’s top drummers in the world, Minnemann uses his deep rhythmic knowledge to create complex, rhythmic layers that compliment his forward-thinking, musical pop sensibility for creating strong hooks and, at the same time, unveiling mind-bending rhythmic melodies that qualify him as one of today’s most brilliant composers. His original concept for combining spoken-word dialog, using samples, loops, and all sorts of bizarre sounds with his advanced drumming skills are unequaled and cutting-edge.
Minnemann is way ahead of his time, musically and rhythmically. The material on “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” draws it’s many influences from a deep well of innovative musical masterminds such as Nine Inch Nails, Robert Fripp, Frank Zappa, and modern pop icons like Avril Lavigne and Green Day. But, “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” can be best described as “fresh, modern, cross-cultural pop music with brains, beauty and a sense of humor.”
Marco Minnemann is a modern day, musical Renaissance man and “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” is his most innovative masterpiece to date.
HOUSE WIFE DOG AND 2 KIDS by Marco Minnemann, July 2007
Brief but useful information about why these songs exist:
1.”Woke Up Dreaming You”: This song, and the last song on Disc Two, “Showdown Wagon,” of this 2-CD project are ‘dream based’. On this track, I had the main riff running around in my head while sleeping, and it was clearly there for me to sing while waking up. So, I got up, sang it into my little MP3 recorder (I always have that one ready for capturing poppin’ up ideas) and then immediately wrote down the things I saw while looking out of my window in Imperial Beach…..just a few visual memories of that moment along with recorded household items and instruments.
2.+3.”President Pt.1 and 2″
I’m usually not the type of person talking and judging politics in my songs. However, I found that looking into that online library became a source of inspiration. I just had to use some of that. Now, I believe that “human beings and songs CAN coexist peacefully”!!
4.”House Wife Dog And 2 Kids”
The title track. One important psychological aspect of life is to confront yourself with the things you fear the most. Seeing some of my neighbors going the HWDATK direction always made me wonder and think that somehow they eventually started to look and act older than they were. Or, is it just me, traveling and living the musician’s life/dream, and then bringing home stories that often make them shake their heads in disbelief? One thing is for sure….I’m not one of ’em…..maybe someday I will be?
5.”Sonora”
This is about the wild and sincere fans that dedicate their soul, their hearts and sometimes, part time-wise, their bodies 🙂 to their idols. We’re all yours everyday….
6.”Heathrow Express”
Written almost in real time: I recorded the drums on the spot, with no click, and no music, just imagining an arrangement while playing, and later put dirty guitars, dirty piano and clean vocals on top.
7.”Caresse”
This one is based on a 5+7+9/16th pattern play—they randomly fly through the song, looking for their way of making sense…..eventually they get organized in the drum solo section towards the end. 1x 5, 1×7, 1×9. 2x 5, 7, 9. 3 x 5, 7, 9.
The lyrics are about letting go of things you love, or believe you love, and about taking over and having the confidence to stand up for yourself without ’embracing’ yourself.
8.”Then”
Recorded along with ‘Caresse’ in a small vacation hut in Aix en Provence, France, using an out-of-tune honky-tonk piano and some random drums. The drums were recorded with 4 mics….no Toms. A DW Subwoofer became the Kick drum. Somehow, the acoustics of the room made it all sound interesting. “Then” is about realizing mistakes. The word ‘then’ itself prepares and works out the future for you. Look ahead, you can deal with the past—and go from there.
9.”Only”
Another word. Sometimes I wish I were the only one having the privilege of certain things in life…….but you still mean the world to me.
I like the hook of that song…very Pop.
10.”Just”
The last of the single-word-song-trilogy. I wanted to create the most unusual blues on earth for this one. The word ‘just’: Well, a kiss is “just” a kiss….but, really nothing serious….that leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
11.”Hotel Virginity”
When all hard work is done, baby you are the one. A bit edgy, but so is the music.
12.”Time With You”
I’ve carried this riff around since the Mieze CD, but never thought the song was strong enough to make it. However, I kept playing this riff on the guitar for all these years…..So, finally, I had to let it out, to have it sitting there in front of me. And now….it sounds quite catchy to me.
13.”Easy For You”
Is about ignorance and two faces. Something I still can’t stand, but obviously can write about.
14.”Heads Together”
Most of the time, while driving towards my studio, I pass by many homeless people. On a church billboard next to them it once said “Hear Good News Here.”
I extended that quote….”Hear good news, come here, but come!”
We’ve got to stick our heads together, now is a good time!
All songs written, performed and produced by MM
at Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach.
Petra Lukovic sang on 1, 9 and 12.
true fans are true fans on 5.
Billy Liesegang plays a sologuitar on 10.
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skymastering, Isle of Skyes
Album Notes
HOUSE WIFE DOG AND 2 KIDS Part II, by Marco Minnemann
1.”Voodoo 100″- A conversation between piano and an old dulcimer…both being played with drumsticks!!! Just the solo parts, of course. Recorded in Michael Wolff’s beautiful Startrack Studio, London. The chord structure is piano, and for layers, I programmed strings and tried to make them sound a bit original, so to speak. I added some synth modulation here and there.
The piece itself is based on a drum solo that I recorded and then composed the pizza toppings. Same concept I used on “Normalizer.”
2.“Is It Safe?”- Follows the rather dark mood of “Voodoo” while adding a little scary flavor of torture and fear. I borrowed Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier’s dentist dialog from the great flick “Marathon Man”. My tribute to the “dark metal” scene…. Not really
3.“Wind”- A fan once presented a little plastic whistle to me after a show. I decided to layer it about 12 times and pitch the tracks to different voices and tunings. That became the environment for this composition. A lot of space….I love working with space in music. Feels like staring into the desert and observing some clouds brewing some weather together …to then introduce.
4.“Peacemaker”- Probably one of the deepest and honest songs I’ve written. I wrote this song after moving to Imperial Beach, CA. As nice and magical as this place is, I had to give up my old country, say goodbye to places, friends and family….and finally, cope with the idea of leaving all of this behind. In general, a summary of life and accomplishment at that very moment. I still get very emotional listening to it.
5.“She Never”- A list of what you want in your dream girl, written in a little psychotic and sarcastic sounding way. But it does have a pretty sick vibe to it, doesn’t it?
6.“Book-A-Ticket”- This song leads us out of the dark phase of this CD. True story. I was invited over to India for a recording with the promise of good food, good music and a good time. I was ready to go until I was asked to also buy my own airline ticket and pay the hotel cost upfront. However, India IS a great place for food and music.
7.“Trigger, Trigger, Trigger”- Simply, one thing leads to another…trigger something…it triggers another thing, triggering another thing, triggering another. Basically, I was just interested in writing about random topics to see where they would lead next.
8.“Everyday Springtime”- A little song about love. Yes….find your true love and enjoy: everyday springtime!! – 5/8 picking
9.“2nd Chaton”- Another instrumental 5/8 guitar picking riff I had, …. you’ll find the first part of this on my previous CD, ‘Contraire de la chanson’.
10.“’Cause She Won’t Be Back Again”- This is the last song from the ‘unplugged’ phase.
As negative as this song sounds, it’s all about a new start. One love lost, one love won.
11.“Funky, Funky, Funky”- Oh well, it’s just a fun disco track with a little weird ending. Enjoy.
12.“Iper”- On one of my Italian tours, I was quite amazed with those ‘Iper’ shopping chains. One of them close to Milano was so big it was simply ridiculous. Everything your heart desires. Soooo,
Let’s go to Iper.
13.“Great”- ‘He’s simply the man. He’s simply the girl. He’s just my whole world.’ Hmmm, but what do these lyrics really mean….I hear them over an over again—just had to finally be a little sarcastic about that. The rest of that composition turns out to be Hörspiel spiced with my hidden mic recordings I did on tour. Boy, that taxi driver in Ottawa during our BMW tour almost got into a fight with our bus driver, John, who wouldn’t move our tour bus in 1 min. from the taxi stand where he was waiting for us.
14.“Los Suyos”- Wow….what a party time we had on that occasion in Mexico City!
15.“St. Jordan” – I visited my friend Paddy in that very monastery. We stayed for a few days and I tried to capture the vibe. BTW – The bell is a lampshade.
16.“Into The Light”- Along with ‘Peacemaker,’ the most emotional piece on this CD. End the thing with the hope for something better to come. Everything’s fine.
17.“The Dream of a Multi-Orchestral Showdown Wagon Taking Off”- Start the first CD with a dream (Woke Up Dreaming You) and end Pt. 2 the same way. I dreamed this whole piece and it was actually very visual to me! I totally pictured the end of a gigantic open-air city centre based rock show. The stage lights go dim, but the whole event is lit up in x-mas like strands of electric lights. The guitar starts to strum the chords and the orchestra throws in a mellow layered chord as the volume slowly rises. By the time the drums kick in, the whole stage (mounted on a giant wagon) starts moving and takes off driving through the city calling each and everyone up to join these two chords being the playground and fertile ground for the music surrounding us!
Composed and performed by MM at Seacoast, Imperial Beach.
Iper and Hotel Virginities recorded in a Milano Hotel.
Angry Taxidriver recorded in Ottawa during BMW tour.
Denmark’s Kelly Girls recorded in Osnabrueck.
1,8,10 recorded at Michael Wolff’s Startrack Studios, London
14 recorded in Mexico City and mixed in London by Michael.
Petra Lukovic’s voice on 5,7,11,12,15 and 16
Nigel Cook’s guitar adds on 4 and 7
My friend Mario Brinkmann contributed Sounds on 4.
Claudia Zangheri Bass solo on 9
Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier appear on 2 in a sample of “marathon man”
This production is mixed by Marco, “Caresse” by Dirk Schulz, “Los Suyos” by Michael Wolff
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skyemastering, Isle of Skye
Marco Minnemann – “House Wife Dog And Two Kids pt1+ pt2”
International drumming sensation, Marco Minnemann has released many outstanding original recordings in his illustrious career as a solo artist, and with his former group, Illegal Aliens, but none so bold, adventurous, creative and pop oriented as his 2007 release “House Wife Dog And Two Kids.” Minnemann creatively blurs the lines between punk, metal, pop and instrumentally complex musical styles to create a fresh, innovative and entertaining collection of catchy, emotionally charged vocal and instrumental compositions. Minnemann plays all instruments on this thirty-one song, two-disc set and shares the creative vocal chores with the sweet and innocent pop vocal style of French model, Petra Lukovic.
Recognized as one of today’s top drummers in the world, Minnemann uses his deep rhythmic knowledge to create complex, rhythmic layers that compliment his forward-thinking, musical pop sensibility for creating strong hooks and, at the same time, unveiling mind-bending rhythmic melodies that qualify him as one of today’s most brilliant composers. His original concept for combining spoken-word dialog, using samples, loops, and all sorts of bizarre sounds with his advanced drumming skills are unequaled and cutting-edge.
Minnemann is way ahead of his time, musically and rhythmically. The material on “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” draws it’s many influences from a deep well of innovative musical masterminds such as Nine Inch Nails, Robert Fripp, Frank Zappa, and modern pop icons like Avril Lavigne and Green Day. But, “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” can be best described as “fresh, modern, cross-cultural pop music with brains, beauty and a sense of humor.”
Marco Minnemann is a modern day, musical Renaissance man and “House Wife Dog And Two Kids” is his most innovative masterpiece to date.
