Category Archives: arts

Technology and the Arts – The 2022 Reunion Special (12.13.2022)

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After 7 years*, John LeMasney and Brian Kelley return for a special reunion episode of Technology and the Arts, as they catch up on things and once again explore the connections between technology and art. Also, tonight marks 16 years since the debut of the Technology and the Arts podcast on Dec. 13, 2006.

(*Brian was off on the date of the last episode by 11 months during the recording…oops.)

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Five years later…

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Hi. This is Brian. So…the Technology and the Arts podcast ended close to five years ago. At the time, John LeMasney and I were in the middle of a season in which we were taking viewers/listeners behind the scenes as we tried to collaborate on writing a song together remotely.

We started by sharing some ideas we had worked on independently. My contribution was the simple chorus below and a potential title, “Lay It On The Line.” The lyrics reflected how I felt, as a privileged white male, in the wake of Ferguson and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. I wanted to express the importance of not being silent about racial injustice and to be vocal in support of BLM.

bktandem · TechArts – LayItOnTheLine 10-29-2015

John shared some guitar riffs and I soon realized the one at the start of this clip might work as a verse with my chorus.

John William LeMasney · First Draft

Shortly before the podcast came to an end in December 2015, I used a piece of John’s guitar riff in this rough demo to see if the two pieces could work together.

bktandem · FirstDraft LIOTL_mockup

This “draft” version of the song was to be a framework for us to construct a final version. Obviously, it still needed a bridge section, which is why it ends abruptly after the second chorus. Even after the podcast ended, I wanted to complete the song, but a bridge remained elusive and I moved on.

Fast forward five years to 2020 and police brutality and injustices against Black people continue. Black Lives Matter protests flood the nation’s streets again, and it brought me back to “Lay It On The Line.”

Instead of working from the original “framework” GarageBand file, I decided to rebuild the song from scratch, which resulted in a bit of a key change and some rearranging. I didn’t use John’s guitar riff this time, but it still heavily influenced the verse sections.

In my head, I always thought the bridge would just be a simple breakdown into a solo section before one last chorus. But I could never get it to sound right. Then, I thought about Todd Rundgren’s “Just One Victory” and the “Hold that line, baby, hold that line…” backing vocals, and hit upon a new idea for the elusive bridge.

I decided to incorporate similar melodic backing vocals into the bridge, introducing a key change and some new chords in the process. Suddenly, the simple breakdown section I had envisioned became a bit more complex. But with the bridge complete, I was now able to complete the framework of the song. It’s still really a demo, but the song John and I started writing together nearly five years ago is finally finished, structurally.

bktandem · Lay It On The Line (2020 Demo)

And then, because I wanted to give a nod to that original stripped-down draft recording of the chorus, I also created a “quiet mix” version.

bktandem · Lay It On The Line (Quiet Mix Demo)

LAY IT ON THE LINE

Music by Brian Kelley & John LeMasney
Lyrics by Brian Kelley
Arranged by Brian Kelley

Look all around you
And see what’s at stake
A movement is coming
Which side will you take
Battle injustice
Or stay on the side
Will you stand up and fight
Or will you just run and hide?

Take a look at yourself
Are you doing anything that can help
Take a look in your heart
It’s time that you start doing your part

Life’s not worth living
If you don’t take a stand
And champion the causes
Of your fellow ‘man
Your apathy’s weakness
Your silence a joke
How can you sit there
When the system is broke
Time to wake up your mind
And lay it on the line
Gotta lay it on the line

How can you keep saying
That nothing is wrong
When what’s come to light
Has been like this all along
The shield has been broken
The trust is betrayed
Lives have been stolen
By the system we made

Take a look at yourself
Are you doing anything that can help
Take a look in your heart
It’s time that you start doing your part

Life’s not worth living
If you don’t take a stand
And champion the causes
Of your fellow ‘man
Your apathy’s weakness
Your silence a joke
How can you sit there
When the system is broke
Time to wake up your mind
And lay it on the line
Gotta lay it on the line

Bridge
It’s time to wake up and understand. It’s time to support your fellow ‘man
(Now is the time)
It’s time to step up and do what’s right. It’s time to get up and join the fight.
(For us to understand)
It’s time to wake up and understand. It’s time to support your fellow ‘man
(We must unite)
It’s time to step up and do what’s right. It’s time to get up and join the fight.
(as one common ‘man)

Take a stand

(Instrumental-solo)

Take a look at yourself
Are you doing anything that can help
Take a look in your heart
It’s time that you start doing your part

Life’s not worth living
If you don’t take a stand
And champion the causes
Of your fellow ‘man
Your apathy’s weakness
Your silence a joke
How can you sit there
When the system is broke
Time to wake up your mind
And lay it on the line
Gotta lay it on the line

© 2020 Brian J. Kelley/John W. LeMasney

Technology and the Arts – Ep. 80 (12.07.2015)

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After a month-long hiatus (and then some), John LeMasney and Brian Kelley return for another episode of Technology and the Arts, as they continue to take you behind the scenes of the creative process of a collaborative music project. Watch live starting at around 10:15 pm ET on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015.

 

Technology and the Arts – Ep. 79 (10.29.2015)

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John LeMasney and Brian Kelley return for another episode of Technology and the Arts, as they continue to take you behind the scenes of the creative process of a collaborative music project. Watch live starting at around 11 pm ET on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015.

Technology and the Arts – Ep. 76 (9.23.2015)

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John LeMasney and Brian Kelley return for another episode of Technology and the Arts, as they continue to take you behind the scenes of the creative process of a collaborative music project. Watch live starting at around 9:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015.

If you are a Google Play music subscriber, you can listen to a playlist of songs influencing Brian at the moment.

BK-TechArts-Influences Playlist

Technology and the Arts returns Monday, Sept. 14, at 10 pm ET

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John LeMasney and I have scheduled a live Google Hangout discussion for Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, at 10 p.m. ET (give or take a few minutes, depending on technical issues). Check back Monday night at 10 p.m. ET here, on Facebook or on Twitter for a link to watch us live.

As previously mentioned here, the format will be a bit different as the episodes will allow viewers/listeners to see us at work as John and I collaborate on the creation of a songs over the coming weeks. The shows will serve as a behind-the-scenes look at our respective creative processes.

– Brian