I first met Paul Vos at the Song Talk Meetup, and always dug his approach to writing funky songs with catchy hooks, complex rhythms, and interesting lyrics. Soon afterwards, Paul began collaborating with Sherry Jacoby, another regular member (and now co-host) of the meetup and a fine singer-songwriter in her own right. They recorded several funky songs with guitars, bass, synthesizers, and electronic drums.

Paul invited me to join them to produce “garden party” videos playing acoustic versions of the songs. He wanted stripped down, but still funky, takes on the songs, with me playing cajon, cymbal, and foot tambourine. I also met Nabil Durzi, a superb bass player to complete the group Jellyfish Interrupted.

Dropping them beats

Paul has a great instinct for syncopated rhythms, and at times, is very particular about how Nabil and I support his rhythm guitar riffs. Most of the time, he give us free reign to develop our parts the way we want.

For myself, I find keeping beats simple and tight work best. The times where the song calls for syncopated riffs as main hooks of the song, it’s important that all three of us lock in tight with the same rhythmic pattern.

It’s fun and interesting to develop beats with just the cajon. Without the varied sonic possibilities you’d have with a drumkit, you have to pay more attention to ghost notes to give the beats flow and character.

Video recording

We recorded three videos in Paul’s backyard, using several cameras and close mic’ing or direct input for all instruments. Paul always did a fantastic job editing the multiple camera angles together, and mixing the recordings. Sometimes Nabil’s son Adrian gave us a hand with shooting video – greatly appreciated!

We regularly got together to work through the songs and get tight playing together, and the recordings were usually the final take of 3 or 4 takes through each song.

For our latest song, Mamma Always Told Me, we recorded our parts individually due to COVID-19 physical distancing measures. This was a different experience, playing to a fixed tempo recording session Paul had set up. In our previous videos, everything was recorded live with no metronome.

I feel really privileged to play with such talented songwriters and musicians, and I think we gel together really well. Enjoy!