BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... She Was

She Was


"Through a lonely smile you came to me..."

On this final day of 2009, I would like to post a song that was rather personal to me. 'She Was' was another song slated for the Storyteller release and was another song that fell victim to either being erased or lost in the archives.

The reason I say this song is personal is, like the rest of the material for Storyteller, I never really played any of these songs for anyone (besides 'Look Into The Light'). The lyrical content of this material was me dealing with some problems that had plagued me at this point and I turned to music to let out my frustrations.

Listen to 'She Was' and you will hear an 8 minute song where I am pouring my heart out and apologizing for all the wrong I have done and those who I have wronged. I am especially paying attention to those who meant something special to me, whether it was that special lady or those who were friends. This is my song of apology to right the wrongs I have done to those in my life.

Since the original recording is no longer in existence, I did record a new version back during the summer of 2003. Here it is...

...another Classic from the SUB ONE archive...

CLICK HERE TO PLAY MP3

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR - 1990: Look Into the Light

Look Into the Light (Original)

Look Into the Light (2003)


"When the sun sets down upon your face..."

The year was 1990, I had just graduated from high school the year before and many things were going on in my life at this time. I was not dedicating as much time to songwriting as I had wanted to but did end up with a batch of songs that once compiled would be a cassette release entitled Storyteller. Several songs were slated for Storyteller including the song 'Look Into The Light.' Later in the year I had purchased a Washburn D-10 Acoustic that was added to my arsenal of instrumentation. The songwriting process for this release was very stripped down and did not include as much of the keyboard tracking that was part of my previous recordings. Most of the original recordings for Storyteller had either been erased or lost in the process of moving.

This original recording is one of the few songs that had survived. Three versions of this song were recorded during the 90's and one in the summer of 2003. I have included both the 1990 and 2003 versions with this blog post.

Also, please bear with the audio from the original 1990 recording. I was still using fairly primitive equipment at this time.

Yet another classic from the SUB ONE archive...

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 'Look Into The Light (Original Version)'

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 'Look Into The Light (2003 Version)'

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR: David Klebe's Birthday

Live Performance, 1989


Flashback April 15, 1989...

A month and two days away from my 18th birthday and it was a time to celebrate the birthday of one classmate and friend, David Klebe. After mentioning to Dave that I would love to play a few songs at his birthday party, his eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree and he was more than happy to give me the floor in his basement to rock out, serenade the ladies, and play whatever my heart desired.

This was a one man show with me playing guitar and singing. The songs played were "Forever We Will Live The Night", "Ballad of John & Yoko","Mother","No More Mr. Nice Guy", and "Wish You Were Here."

I had fun playing and, as you can hear, the audience had a blast. Thank you for the memories Mr. Klebe!

This archived performance is dedicated to those who listened to me play and sing on April 15, 1989. Just a tad over 20 years ago! This moment will be cherished!


CLICK HERE TO PLAY MP3

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... I Will Tell You Your Story

"What did you think you were trying to do..."

Five pieces of equipment that I used for the songwriting process included my Yamaha PSS-460 keyboard (consumer based mini-key keyboard), Dual cassette home stereo, microphone, guitar amplifier, and for this recording in particular - my brother's Cort Les Paul.

I can't remember exactly where I got the idea to play guitar on this track but it just seemed to fit upon hearing the final mix. I do remember recording several takes of this song especially for the guitar track. Originally, I had a distorted signal on the guitar which I was able to get through my Gorilla amp. Several takes were recorded on a separate tape that are buried somewhere deep in the SUB ONE archives. When I find these tapes, I will share the recordings here on the SUB ONE blog.

After doing several takes on a dirty channel, I decided to try the guitar through a clean channel and it sounded so much better. The context of the lyrics are about asking questions to friends and family about life in general and how sometimes those answers might sound like lies or preaching hate.

Recorded on June 28, 1989, this is 'I Will Tell You Your Story' by D.H. Chandler

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... Forever We Will Live the Night

"The ending of the human race, the tear drop lines that streak our face..."

The year was 1989. New year, new attitude, new anticipations, and new songs.

High School was coming to an end for me and I was ready to graduate. With my brother singing and playing in various local bands, there were times when he was using his bedroom to store various sound equipment that he was either borrowing or using for practice. Being the curious type, I would take the opportunity to check out some of the gear he had in his room.

At one point, he had brought home a fairly large cabinet that looked like an old radio mixer. The volume knobs for each channel were large dials and there was a switch for reverb and dry signal. If my memory serves me correctly, this was a Zenith cabinet. I decided I wanted to give this cabinet a try and plugged it into my stereo. After adjusting some of the levels, I found I was capable of getting a fairly good mix of reverb on my voice and it didn't sound too bad on tape.

I had been playing around with a guitar riff that I ended up recording onto tape and looping one passage over and over again. After writing some lyrics about someone sending a letter to a distant friend and surviving nuclear war, I tracked everything with an added keyboard passage between each verse.

I must also add that the original title for this song was 'State of Trance' and the lyrics about nuclear war was not the original context of this song. I did do a recording of this song as 'State of Trance' but the original tape has since been lost. Probably gone for good.

The result...

'Forever We Will Live the Night' by D.H. Chandler

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... Deterioration and The Light Shines On

Two more songs from the SUB ONE/D.H. Chandler archive.

Deterioration by D.H. Chandler


The Light Shines On by D.H. Chandler


Both of these songs were written circa 1988/89 for the cassette titled, Caught In a Web. I believe this version of Deterioration was the 2nd version of this song. The 1st version of this song only included the slow 1st half and was a basic filler song. The hiss is rather unbearable and once again, the equipment used is rather primitive. I've tried to preserve this as good as I possibly can using digital technology.

The Light Shines On was a basic riff that I came up with. This particular recording was also a separate version from what was included on Caught In A Web. It is one
of the more melodic songs I have written.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY DETERIORATION MP3

CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE LIGHT SHINES ON MP3

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... No More Mr. Nice Guy

"No More Mr. Nice Guy by letting you off the hook..."

No, this is not a cover of the Alice Cooper song from the 70's. This is my first attempt at incorporating guitar in the songwriting process. I had just learned how to play this basic blues lick and went with it. I thought it would sound cool to have a harmonica style sound for the keyboard track. The rest just seemed to click and further my style of songwriting.

The guitar used was an old acoustic/electric that my brother bought at a yard sale back in the mid 80's. The action was terrible but I was able to record at least a couple songs using this guitar. No More Mr. Nice Guy was recorded during the summer of 1988 along with a batch of songs that were titled, Caught In A Web.

Another classic from the SUB ONE archive...

No More Mr. Nice Guy by D.H. Chandler

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... Breakout

"As I walk past your window, you hear my presence dawn..."

At this point I had a small idea on the process of recording and writing music, I decided to take another leap and not only write one more song but a whole batch of songs. Both 'Breakout' and 'Measure for Measure' were part of a cassette titled, Caught In a Web. I put this together as a concept recording, albeit a very amateurish concept. It was also a time to improve my chops on the keyboard.

You'll notice I really didn't have a lot to work with back then, the drum beat is very "toy" sounding and if you're listening closely you will notice a popping sound around the middle part of the song. This is me turning on my microphone so that I can record the 2nd track of keyboard parts.

Here is the 2nd song written and recorded by me, D.H. Chandler - Breakout.

SUB ONE - Awake (Final Director's Cut)

The latest video from SUB ONE from the CD, SEANCE. This is the final edited version of the official video. Check out http://www.439communications.com/filelinks.htm for MP3's and more

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR... Measure for Measure

"I sat by your side, with a muzzle on my heart..."

And here's how I did it MY WAY...

Being inspried by music, I realized one day that I had equipment (albeit very primitive) that would not only allow me proper amplification for any instrument of choice, but I also owned a stereo system that allowed me to plug in a microphone and overdub my vocals while playing a cassette through the play deck and recording my vocals on the record/play deck. In other words, the process of overdubbing was at my fingertips. It could also be a karaoke machine of sorts.

For a few months at a time I had played around with a piano riff on my Yamaha PSS-460 mini keyboard. This inspired me to write lyrics and the rest of the song clicked. Although the subject matter is rather mundane the lyrics wouldn't suggest so. Writing lyrics at the age of 17, what is there to write about? Broken relationships, being in love, puppy love, losing the championship wrestling match, graduation is approaching and the real world looks very scary?

As for the title of the song, it is a synonymous phrase describing Vengeance. It is also the title of a play by William Shakespeare (although I was not aware of this until many years later). Measure for Measure could also suggest the process of writing a song. When you're composing, you're writing measure by measure or measure for measure.

So I present to you, in it's entirety, the very first song that I had ever written, composed and recorded.

'Measure for Measure' by David H. Chandler

BLOGLINE ENDEAVOR, The Beginning...

Nemesis, Polymorf Stel, Legend of the Midnight Ace...

Playing in a band, or several bands. Maybe this was something to occupy my weekends while I was in high school or maybe it was something to do to be cool. Either way there were a couple of bands I played in that involved me and my brother, Kendal. Nemesis was the first band that included Griff Townshend on lead guitar, various bass players including Tim Ackerman, Steve Ott, Tim Krapf, and I would also fill in from time to time. The drumming duties went to my brother, Eric Seitz, and Tim Harrell, my duties also included lead vocals and Kendal played guitar. This band lasted only a period of 6 months before forming another band with a drummer by the name of Jason Wert, Steve Ott on bass, Kendal on vocals and guitar and I played keyboards. The name of our band was Polymorf Stel and we ended up playing one gig with this lineup for our high school's Spring Celebration. After this performance we decided to look for a new drummer and Tim Harrell was chosen. From there, the rest of the band history branches off.

What was interesting about the new lineup of Polymorf Stel was our entry into the local Star Search competition in the spring of 1987. We won first place in the band category and were called back to play a 2nd round for the competition. It was rather exciting but it ended up being the last time in a long time that I would play in that type of setting until 2001. Kendal went on into a rich history of playing in bands and singing lead vocals for such local favorites as This Mistress, Handly Paige, Titanium, and eventually Veritas. Veritas was also a band that I played in for about a month before I decided the road they were taking wasn't for me. I have never had any interest in playing Heavy Metal music. Although it's the type of stuff that gets a crowd pumped up and it is such a high to get off on that type of energy, the music just wasn't for me. Kendal went his way, I went my way.

And I did it MY WAY!