This became a staple of our live show (including a break dancing bit and a trombone addition during the breakdown), but here is the original recorded version done in 1996. I remember getting ready for this recording and just working the rest of the band silly going over and over the six songs we had written. This was recorded with all of us playing at the same time (which is kind of unusual these days). To my knowledge, there are no overdubs at all except some vocal tracks. This recording still has quite a bounce in my opinion. Playing this live in Florida I replaced the line “There is nothing to this song so now please play along” to “I (or we) drove all the way from Kansas to get a phone call the other night”. This was recorded at Red House Studios in Lawrence KS by the legendary Ed Rose who did his best to make a bunch of amateurs sound somewhat good. We booked two days…and ended up staying until 3AM the first night working on things. It was quite the experience.

“Is This Thing On” by Bring Back Joel

Tyson Deines – Vocals and Guitars
Mike Wahlmeier – Guitars and Vocals
Marshal Kruse – Guitars and Vocals
Mike Moore – Drums

Recorded in 1996 at Red House Studios in Lawrence, KS by Ed Rose

This song is interesting for a couple of reasons (to me). It was recorded during the “let’s make a Bring Back Joel hit record” sessions at Full Sail. It is also one of the few songs from those sessions that actually got fully mixed. (it’s not mastered…but listening to it alone you might not notice that except for a few moments where the audio drops out) This was one of my first “mess around with structure” songs I wrote. There are only 3 chords played the entire length of the song…all of the changes come from dynamics or lyrical structures. I remember bringing this to the band and them sort of laughing at the entire idea…but they embraced it and created nice dynamic bits that solidified the moments. Dave and Joey especially pushed the last section into something better than I ever imagined.

The other bit that I remember is that this was the only song that we ever did that leaked onto the internet and actually built us a fan base. It was on napster, limewire, and who knows what else. Occasionally I still see this song out there more than any other one…with the possible exception of “Evaporation Boy”.

The lyrics were intended to make a girl I liked feel bad…and it worked.

“Where’d You Go” by Bring Back Joel

Tyson Deines – Vocals and Guitar
Joey Fink – Guitar
Marshal Kruse – Bass
David Messina – Drums

Recorded 1999 in Orlando, FL at Full Sail Studios by Garrett and Tom.

I wrote this song when I was a freshman in college. I had just started my first “real” band and I was just throwing out songs left and right because we needed songs. The first thing that I came up with was the little two string guitar riff you hear at the beginning. From that starting point it was about 2.5 years until it evolved into what you’re hearing here. Initially there was none of that “start/stoppy” business and no real bridge either…just the core of the song and the lyrics (sort of based on the break-up with my high school girlfriend). About six months before going into the studio to record “Deep Within” we dredged it back up and added the stop/start, the bridge (which sounds an awful lot like a bit from “Monkey Business” by the Foo Fighters), and the key change at the end (something I was proud to have finally included in a song). The Metallica sample was the Marshal and Joey’s idea and the fact that it fit perfectly after the song was recorded was basically a happy accident. That sample always perked up the metal fan’s ears and probably resulted in some reluctant cred we otherwise would not have received. We just thought it was funny. There’s a lot going on in this song that sort of hit you…and one of our more popular songs to play live.

“In the Desk” by Bring Back Joel

Tyson Deines – Vocals and Guitar
Joey Fink – Guitar
Marshal Kruse – Guitar
Mike Moore – Drums

Recorded in 1997 and on the album “Deep Within The Irrational Behavior Ward”.