The origin of The Poe Underground started with William Blake’s poem, The Tyger. In searching for a poem that would fit the mood and timing of music, I landed on this poem.
I was always curious about putting spoken word to music and was determined to a least complete one piece of music that would satisfy this curiosity. The Tyger was the perfect fit in many ways. See, I had several drum tracks recorded during the pandemic, and was itching to make a real recording with some of these beats I had layed down.
What evolved from the drums became a rhythmic and downtempo groove that flourished into the end result. The other reason that William Blake was the perfect start for this project, is that many years before I had a genuine interested in poetry, I had picked up a Blake collection and skimming through it, found poetry to be something potentially rich.
Once The Tyger was completed and mixed, I was charged. I knew I was on to something and had to make more music with spoken word.
I’m simply fascinated with the structure (or lack there of) when putting music and spoken word together. The rules of traditional songwriting do not apply, and I love that!
I’m happy to say that the actual studio recording of The Tyger was filmed live in the studio, and you can see me reading it straight from the book.
I hope you enjoy this performance / studio recording of what kicked off the project, and now podcast, that I simply call; The Poe Underground.