New Release – Watch Me Fall by Sparralimb ft. FedbySound
Rick Whitehead is the multi-instrumentalist behind Sparralimb, a solo project that has collaborated with several artist, such as Jamie Armstrong & S.D. Charlton. He is also one half of Plains of Silence and was the guitarist for Saboteurs and Tripswitch.
Sparralimb is releasing ‘Watch Me Fall’ on June 3rd. It’s a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Mark Grider a.k.a Fedbysound. Rick lives in the UK and Mark lives in the US.
“We met on Twitter several months ago. It’s a cool community of musicians and we hit it off because we have similar tastes in music.”
Mark: “We both started to listen to each other’s music and were communicating publicly, then Rick sent me a DM asking if I would be interested in a collaboration. Historically, my answer to the question of collaboration was always: “Maybe, just not under the name Fedbysound.” I asked him to send over whatever and I would see if I felt like I had anything I could bring to what he has going. On the morning of March 16, 2022, he sent me his song that had the bass and drums essentially as they stand in the finished song. I was instantly inspired and started recording guitars. I got about 1:30 in and sent him what I had to see if he liked the direction. A little later that day, before I had heard back, I had the verse and chorus lyrics written and vocals recorded, so 90% of the guitar and vocals that you hear was written and recorded that day. The bridge, solos and additional vocals were added two days later after a slight adjustment to the arrangement was made to get the flow were it felt best. It took me about a week of mixing, editing and reviewing to get a master that we were both happy with.”
Mark: “I tend to write about aspects of the human condition and the way we treat one another. This song continues that pattern for me, as I work to process behaviors and what they mean for both parties involved. Current global events provided the initial inspiration for the lyrics. In general terms, this song is about the dynamic of someone who tells you they will be there for you, but when the time comes to help, they just stand there. It’s an exploration of what it means to “stand with” someone. It reminds me of the phrase: actions speak louder than words.”
Mark: “There’s a music video. Rick sent me an idea for a visualizer that was a fluid, abstract, black on white which reminded me of a Rorschach test. We ultimately didn’t include any of that in the final video, but the essence of the movement and the abstraction inspired the end result. It’s mostly a play through video that has additional footage from license free sites. It is fluid and abstract in similar ways to the initial idea. Both Rick and I performed our parts and then I edited the overlays, adjusting the predominance to affect the focus. It’s mildly chaotic, but I like that there are layered elements of interest that serve the gestalt. I think the movement suits the mood and emotion of the music.”
Mark: “For me, there’s definitely a sense of excitement and panic when releasing a new song! I get excited, impatient & embarrassed. I like pleasing people, so if there is interest in the song, I want to skip the whole process and just make it available, because I am excited to share it with those that care. At the same time, when I am on the fan side of the equation, I like a good build up to a release. That anticipation can be fun, but it’s hard to be patient. I also get embarrassed, because I’m am not a “look at me” type. I am happy to share with people, but I don’t like feeling like I am waving people down to pay attention to my art. It’s a delicate thing to balance with social media, because I hate feeling like I am spamming, but I also don’t want people to miss out if they are interested. It’s been nice to rely on Rick to keep the promotion side of things rolling. I also get the benefit of aiming the attention at his amazing work on the song! It is far easier for me to promote the work of someone else, whose work I admire, than it is to promote myself.”
