Messed Up

Brian's Words

Bernie and I recorded the whole thing in real-time using a Sony tape deck. Some of the music had been written earlier my first years of Jr. High School, while other parts were in-session improvisations. The A-side consists of vocals, acoustic, bass, and some percussion. The B-side has basic drum machine beats with synth tracks. The infamous palindrome "Valor," comic "Mirage," and "Wonder Room" became the album's staples. Even now, I believe many of the album's songs are suitable especially for young children.

The first album cover was a painted skeleton in Mexican attire holding a bottle of beer. I think I cut it out of a magazine. I only recently designed the present cover.

Bernie's Words

My favorite thing about this album is how far it dates back. I believe I first recorded with Brian in 1994, and "Mirage" ended up being the first song we wrote together. All I remember about "Indian Intro" is that Brian had to tune his guitar in a really strange way, and I was in charge of the bizarre keyboard noises. That song also featured a guest instrumentalist, Jason Thompson, who gave us the percussive beat by banging on his stand-up bass. Ahh, those were the days!

My choice for best song on the album is "Fusion," even though we'd probably be hard pressed to ever play it again. I still have the original lyric sheet for "Wound," one of our darkest early songs, and "Anything" is the one song from this album that I still find myself plucking away at on guitar from time to time.

→ Back to Albums