Piano song idea.
Pap & I both sketch out a lot of ideas like this…

Who knows if we’ll ever finish an idea like this, but here you are. Recorded in our kitchen on my phone.
(Piano Instrumental)

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This is a live recording of a song called “For Kristen” that I wrote a long time ago.  This recording was done in 2004 before we had even met Adam, Derek or Jason…

-Chuck

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All of the ideas for the music came to me so fast that I started recording the demos for “Still Young” before the final lyrics and melodies were written…which is an odd way for me to go about writing.  We’d set up all of the gear at Studio 7 (our photographer’s photos studio) and I’d go over there to start recording after all of the photo shoots and designers had left the building.  Most nights I’d end up staying there until 3, 4 or 5 (sometimes even later) in the morning.  I’d get going and wouldn’t stop.  That’s how the demos for this song came about.  I had a lot of ideas, and I just went in and started going.  

The first demo I did I called the “minor” version.  Mostly because the Chorus it never resolved to the major chords…the words I sang in the chorus on the minor version ended up being sung by Pap in the bridge.  (Also you’ll probably notice these first 2 demos are in different keys than the final.)  Anyway, in the 2nd version Pap & I worked more on the chorus, and resolved it to a major “feel” in that section.  All of the guitar, piano, & bass melodies were there from the beginning though.  We ended up changing & defining the piano parts a little more as we kept working on it.  Anyway, the 3rd version of the demo is basically exactly how the final version (the one you most likely know) ended up.

“Still Young” – Minor – Demo 1

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“Still Young” – Major – Demo 2

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“Still Young” – Final – Demo 3

This was the first full-band demo of “Time Goes By.”  Pap & I did an acoustic demo of the song before the lyrics were even done.  I was calling it “One By One” at the time.  (That’s below also.)  This was an odd song for me to write…usually when I write I hear all of the parts in my head and how the lyrics, melodies & music will all fit together.  With “Time Goes By” I heard melodies, some lyrical ideas & the basis for the music, but it didn’t all come at once like it usually does.  Anyway here’s the 2 early demos.  For the full record we recorded “Time Goes By” in 2 versions…a radio edit & a full length.  One with a guitar solo & one without.

Studio 7 Demo:

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Early Acoustic Demo:

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This is odd…Pap & I found this today.  When she first started writing “Silver” I immediately fell in love with it…especially the chorus.  Anyway, I went off and recorded this imagining what “Silver” could be.  It kind of sounds like it should be its own thing though now listening back.  I think we’re going to experiment with it and create something new…we’ll let you know.

Silver Early Idea:

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This is an early demo of “Drag You Down” recorded right after I had written the song…It wasn’t completely done yet.  I still love playing the acoustic version of this song…sometimes it seems to communicate better broken down.

Drag You Down Early Acoustic Demo:

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This was a demo that we made during the writing of the record.  We didn’t end up recording this song…and we’ve actually only ever played it live once.  It was written to my sister.

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This was the first demo of “Calm Inside The Storm.”  We recorded Calm for the record, and changed the arrangement slightly.  Jay (Producer) suggested to cut off the ending…he thought it would make it more dramatic on the record.  After trying it that way we agreed.  Although I do miss the ending on the demo sometimes…

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