First of all, listen to “I Deny” and rock out.
Right, now that you’ve done that, you should know, this is the raw, live, jam session version of this song. I (Marcelo Cervone) still have a few cuts and edits I want to make to it — unfortunately I can’t trust the general public’s attention span anymore and THE MAN calls for a track that’s no longer than three and a half minutes!
For this massive-monster-momma-jam we had a very special guest, mine and Marek’s dear friend Francisco Moreira dropping the beats on his cajon like only he can: with groove and character. I can always tell when it’s Chico (Francisco) playing the drums — he’s a boss.
This is a very recent composition. I wrote it in the dressing room of the Theatre Royal in Brighton in December, during the long hours waiting back stage as an understudy on the UK Tour of Sunny Afternoon. Once it was finished I loved the song so much and it got such a warm reception from all who heard it that I decided it should be the bonus track on the deluxe version of our debut EP “Awake”, which will be out later in 2017.
This song is heavily inspired by John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Brazilian popular music (MPB), Latin rhythms, and the original cast recording of “Hamilton”, the recent smash hit Broadway musical written my Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The classical guitar technique I use on my right hand came from trying to learn how to play “Neon” by John Mayer. As did the rhythm section during the solos. If you listen to the live version of “Neon”, from “Where the Light Is”, you’ll know what I mean about the solo when you get to it. John Mayer absolutely kills it, and in an attempt to imitate him and drastically failing I inadvertently found something that sounded like me and so became my own solo in my own song.
The lyric style and rhythm is very influenced by R&B and rap; in particular, the “pop” characteristics of those genres. And I don’t listen to much R&B or rap. There are very few artists I love in these genres and they tend to be the ones that maintain the human quality in the music.
One of the great songwriters and pop artists of our time is Ed Sheeran. And if you hear any of his rap improvs, you’ll know what I mean when I say: he creates an awesome mix of rap and pop. The best example I can think of is this live session he performs at The Live Room, which had a major influence on me lyrically.
The feel of the lyrics in “I Deny” was nothing more than an emulation of Ed Sheeran. It was also a channeling of the “Hamilton” cast recording, which I’ve been listening to on a loop. Good examples of lyric rhythms that influenced me can also be heard in “My Shot”.
The cajon part that Chico is smashing out is very inspired by a particular beat you frequently hear in “Hamilton”. It’s heard so frequently that it defines the album for me. The best example I can think of is heard in “Non-Stop” at the end of Act 1. The opening drum beat you hear in that track, is what you hear Chico beat on the cajon in verse one and two of “I Deny”. The beat itself is based on the first half of the “Son Clave”, which is heard frequently in latin music.
Needless to say, all great musical theatre composers like Lin-Manuel Miranda, including the legends Rogers & Hammerstein, Jason Robert Brown and Stephen Sondheim are heavily influenced by latin music. In fact, so is rock ’n’ roll — us latin motherfuckers have really spread our musical influence around the globe — because it’s so good! Having said all that, the cajon part is probably where most of the latin feel and swing are heard in “I Deny”, while the guitar part is far more bluesy than anything I’ve ever written.
As a saxophone player my two idols are Charlie Parker and Stan Getz. The first for his ability to shred like a heavy metal guitarist and for his ability to use modes to create unexpected melodies that would at first glance seem to be using notes that do not belong in the key he is playing in, like in “Au Privave”. The second for his ability to make the simplest melodies sound like they were made in heaven. Stan Getz has one of the sweetest tones I’ve ever heard a sax player produce and he chooses well placed notes within the harmonic progression of the song he’s playing, like in “Corcovado” or “Águas de Março”. In fact, his second solo in “Águas de Março” is one of the foundations of my saxophone training.
Speaking of well placed, Marek’s solo in “I Deny” uses exceptional musicality. He plays exactly what the song asks of him, like Stan Getz would. The harmonics he plays — the squeal the guitar does when one hits it’s G spot — are placed with such precision and skill that they may cause the listener to experience a heavenly or-jazz-sm.
The subject matter of the song is pretty self-explanatory. Interpret it as you like. Though I will say this: it is the culmination of the ideas of denial that run throughout “Awake”. We all experience it in different ways and the scenes I paint in songs like “Human” and “Comfort & Joy” are but a few of the manifestations of this human condition.
“I Deny” presents an explicit example of this condition; whether the Nazi-feminists will allow it or not, it is also hard being a man. One of the reasons for that is because we’re constantly fighting against stereotypes. Then again, so are women. Which leads me to the conclusion that we all suffer: in different ways, in the same ways, in our own way — and we’re all a lot more alike than we are different. Men and women alike are all bound by the inevitable human condition, which is to suffer. We pay our dues and that’s the way we get by. “I Deny” is another cathartic moment for me, in a quest for honesty, authenticity and peace.
Like in the previous post, I’ve created a playlist on Spotify to go with this entry so you can listen to all these influences back to back and have your brain turned to mush.
May the Rock be with you and rock on!
