As if this year hasn’t been scary enough…
What songs give you the chills? Are they creepy, dark classical works? Or maybe something a little more subtle; a track that reveals its spooky core when you unpack its meaning? How about horror film soundtracks? Or maybe you’re one of the few people out there in the world that get generally creeped out by The Eagles… (wait, what?)
Whatever you choose, just don’t let it be “Monster Mash” or you’ll open up a whole conversational can of worms. We get into it, we have fun, and you don’t want to miss it!
This spooktacular episode is sure to be spine-tingling and chill-inducing, just in time for Halloween! For this episode, my co-host and co-producer Mahea Lee and I sat down with actor, producer, and musician, Ari Stidham! You may know Ari from his work as Sylvester on the CBS series “Scorpion” or from the music he releases as Dr. Television. Our trio dives deep into three terrifying tracks and even decides on which Halloween treat best accompanies each song.
You can listen to Themes and Variation Episode 6 in its entirety right here in the player above, or click over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts to subscribe and download. *Bonus points if you want to hit us with a five star rating on Apple!
Want to dig a bit deeper? Check out the companion course on Soundfly.
If you’re enjoying this episode, and you’d like to learn more about some of the musical topics we touched on, go ahead and visit Soundfly’s free companion course for songwriting prompts and additional resources. From scale modes to melody-writing and even audio production tips and tricks, we’ve curated some extra resources for listeners who want to go the extra creative mile and put stuff from the episode into action.
Episode 6 Highlights
1. Camille Saint-Saëns had some epic rivalries.
Mahea: Saint-Saëns, I said it twice, I lied. Is a composer that I am not super familiar with. There are some pieces that I had to study in college, so I know those kind of. He was basically a musical purist. So, when guys like Debussy and Stravinsky came up, he had terrible things to say about a lot of what they did. He had like tabloid-style rivalries with other composers of the time. When he was asked about Debussy he said that he thought his aesthetic was an atrocity. When he saw “The Rite of Spring,” he told people that he felt Stravinsky had to be insane to have written that.
2. Jimmy Buffet, business genius.
Ari: One more thing I wanted to say, which is Jimmy Buffett made a musical of Margaritaville called “Escape to Margaritaville.” And, the guy who wrote the book to that, he created “My Name Is Earl,” his name’s Greg Garcia. He does a bunch of work, he’s very funny. He was talking about working with Buffet on a podcast and he said that Jimmy Buffet would curse The Eagles because they didn’t listen to him when he told them they should open a Hotel California. This song is so big that in the ’70s, they could’ve started a chain of hotels. I mean, they’d still be open today. Margaritaville, those restaurants, they’re still open!
3. Jerry Only once threw Carter off a stage.
Carter: I’m in Edmonton, I’m at this show. I’d never stage dove before in my life but a lot of people are doing it at the show, I am getting swept up in the energy of this Misfits concert. I jumped on stage in a moment when there wasn’t anybody else jumping on, I thought I was going to be doing it when a lot of other people were doing it, I was just up there by myself. Jerry Only takes his pick hand off from his bass while he’s playing, grabs me by the neck, holds me up in front of the audience. Literally like lifts me off the ground and off the stage. A pit forms around me on stage and he tosses me into it and I get caught my everybody in the crowd. And it was the most exhilarating musical experience of my life, it was so awesome.
Collaborative Playlist
We’ve created terrifying collaborative Spotify playlist in order to share every song talked about and mentioned on this episode. Feel free to add your favorite spooky songs to the episodes playlist!
Note: Please don’t just add your own songs that don’t match the theme. While we love hearing your music, this is not a playlist for self-promotions, and we will remove them.
We’ll see you in two weeks with a new theme, new guests, and some new songs to break down. If you have any comments, questions, or theme suggestions, drops us a line at [email protected]!
