Written & Produced by Brett Lyda Mixed by David Bianco Remix by Joey Maramba Brett Lyda: Vox, Guitars, Midi Synth, Piano on "Ultrasound" George Bernardo: Drums, Additional Mixing Joey Maramba: Bass, Bow Bass Michael Feldman: Piano, Mopho Keyboard Alanna Lin: Background Vox Michael Marquesen: Piano Processing Mei Lana is my beautiful, crazy-cute one year-old daughter. That's her heartbeat at the tail of the song and on Track 4 (Pulse). 

 However, the origin of this EP (which shares her name) is much older than that, with musical fragments dating back well over a decade. The basic riff was composed somewhere between 2000-2002 with primitive tracks recorded around the same time, with (then-girlfriend) lyricist/vocalist Tracy McMillan. Today, it exists as a raw demo titled "Always In Trouble" with Tracy singing different lyrics. That early version was placed in a small feature film called "100 Mile Rule" featuring Michael McKean & Maria Bello. If I recall, the producers were given exactly 1 million dollars to make a movie. What they came up with was far better than I'd imagined -- with our song playing over the end credits. That was quite a thrill. Looking back, it's hard to imagine such a rough recording making its way to the big screen (albeit, a very small big screen). I can still hear Tracy's pet canary chirping away, as well as her son Joseph (4 years old, at that time), and plenty of street traffic, all burned onto her vocal stem tracks. Regardless of sound quality, "Trouble" beat out Cyndi Lauper for the prized end credits, if only because we were desperately affordable and she was not. Tracy and I made some good recordings. She possesses an amazing voice with exceptional depth and gravitas. I was always drawn to her darker compositions. With "Trouble", Tracy went outside the box and delivered a surprisingly strong pop vocal. Perhaps we'll put out more of those recordings one day. Thank you, Tracy. 

Fast forward to 2006: I began flirting with the notion of a new version of "Trouble" with alternate lyrics, some new melodies and a few additional instruments. I was hardly satisfied with the song's original production as it had never gotten past the demo stage and I was still a pretty green recording engineer, which meant plenty of mistakes (canary!). The idea of three chords looping repeatedly over a two chord bass groove tethered by 16th hi-hats, for me, represents a perfect pop equation. A math theorist or even a drummer might better explain why this formula is so intoxicating. I keep picturing an atom, with its protons and neutrons swirling around the nucleus like god's perfect little motor. I suspect that's the reason we are attracted to certain mathematical patterns in the first place -- it's rooted in our very bodies. If you listen to the rhythm of any heartbeat, one can't deny that the math has been with us since the very beginning. If I could get those drums and that bass and those three chords locked down in a perpetual repetition and calibrated to my very own personal groove zone, it'd be fertile ground for whatever came next. But I'm a slow learner, and finding that spiritual center took a long time. There was a lot of good information on the track already, but sometimes it can get too cluttered and you miss the big picture. Sometimes it's even about subtraction. Over the next several years, I would saunter over to the track every now and then with a new guitar part, a new lyric or melody, or maybe new piano line, but without any genuine emotional commitment to the completion of the song. Then, after my first Elvis Orbison album "Invisible Me" was completed in 2011, I started looking at new songs for the second album, and so, after a decade of incubation, I started to look even more closely at this elusive piece of music. I still had no idea what it was about. It was then that we realized we were pregnant with Mei. 

 Having made the decision that, come hell or high water, I was gonna finish this song, new recordings commenced in earnest at Del Boca Vista Studios in South Pasadena, California on November 27th, 2011. Tracy Chisholm engineered this session with grace and professionalism and got us a great drum sound. George Bernardo (Chuck Berry, Cash'd Out) played drums over new arrangements and delivered a very strong set of takes. I also had him overdub an additional hi-hat part to give the track a funky "Chronic 2001" swagger that I'd been hearing in my head for 10 years. I really do love his drumming on this track. Recently, I made an isolated mix of George's drums along with the sonar pangs that dot "Mei" and have been driving to work listening to it at high volume. I've included it as a digital bonus track to the EP. Thank you George and Chiz. 

On January 20th, 2012, with the basic rhythm tracks in place, I asked keyboard whiz Michael Feldman (Cousin Junebug, Evangenitals) to trace over some piano and rhythm guitar parts and hopefully add something new. Michael had contributed to several of my songs that day and was churning out tasteful, intuitive performances for virtually every idea brought to the table. I was elated and honored to have such a fine player give it up with such dedication. But with "Mei" we were floundering a bit. We had the basic chords down but after a few passes, Mike paused the session. He seemed a little fragile, even a bit nervous, and wanted clarification as to what I meant by "make it sound more Chinese-y". Problem was, I wasn't sure either. I did have an Asian-themed guitar bit for the hook, and I name-dropped a few classics by David Bowie -- "Ashes To Ashes", "Under Pressure", "China Girl" -- hoping he might hear some commonality. One of John Lennon's final compositions, "Beautiful Boy" was stirring in my head. I also suggested an obscure delicate "Out Of This World" by The Cure which has some gorgeous right hand piano runs seeped in reverb and delay from their largely missed "Bloodflowers" album. To my surprise, Mike wasn't familiar with any my examples. Times have changed. In my day, those Bowie and Lennon catalogs were mandatory curriculum and essentially where every kid began their musical education. These days, I guess there's so much information out there, even the big dogs are getting lost in the shuffle. Not that it really mattered with Feldman -- he's so good that a listen or two will get him up to speed. He's like the kid in class who never has to study and get's all A's. But I digress…

 I could see Mike was tired. Surely he was exhausted from raising his beautiful newborn son Thelonious who was not far away. And my "Chinese" flair request really couldn't have been more vague. But dutifully, he ambled back to the grand piano for another pass, although it was looking very much like he had said all he could say -- and that wasn't good because this song, more than any other song recorded that day, still desperately needed some extra special next-level sh*t, as they say in the biz. What transpired next was the sort of idealized magical musical moment one only reads about in the pages of Rolling Stone or some juicy music biography, but rarely sees in person. It happened almost as if it were in a slow motion movie. Pressures on. Headphones on. Hands on the keys. Finger clicks the mouse. Waveforms slowly unfold on the screen. Before my ears and quite unexpectedly, what came out of those speakers was sheer ecstasy. One, then two, then three and finally, FOUR jaw-droppingly inspired sections of raw untamed golden melody, scattered wildly across the timeline. It was like striking crude in the desert -- one minute you're broke and the next, you're King. Before my ears, suddenly everything was there right on the page. All that was needed was for me to go home, inventory the bounty and arrange it onto the canvas. Oh Michael. Such a beautiful harvest, and all in one pass; I think even Mike was surprised. It's a moment these ears will never forget. Thank you, Michael. 

So now the track was really starting to heat up and Joey Maramba (John Cale, Rickie Lee Jones, Ninja Academy) came in to replace my bass parts with a little more zest. But he surprised me by not only delivering some really good pop takes, but also scoring a wildly cool and ambitious layered bass symphony over the bridge, utilizing a violin bow and a distortion pedal. It was one of those "gravy on the egg fu yung" moments where you suddenly realize you have such wealth of material and not enough room to use it all. Which is why in 2013, I asked Joey if he'd be interested in remixing a version of "Mei" for inclusion on this EP. What Joey came up with (in one day, I might add) was even better than I had imagined. Listen for yourself. "Everything I Have" features all of Joey's bow & distortion parts plus a brand new arrangement focusing on Alanna Lin's wonderful background vocal parts (we'll get to her in a minute), all served up over a kind of old school King Tubby lo-fi dub aesthetic. Some days, I love it even more than the original track. This guy is at the peak of his powers right now. Thank you, Joey. 

 Meanwhile, my beautiful Wanni Yu is growing the magical baby Mei and I realize THAT is what my song is about. But where's the starting point? What's the angle? I called up my one of my favorite singer/songwriters Alanna Lin to come sit with me and hear my thoughts. It was an unusual request with no specific agenda. Alanna is a deeply religious woman. There's a pureness of heart there that cuts right through the morass of big city posturing I'd learned through half a lifetime, and I needed someone to help me get back to that good place and remind me of what's really important in this world. Alanna Lin -- as anyone will tell you -- has an excellent moral compass. So on a brisk evening, we sat by the crackling fireplace and I played my guitar lines and we traded a few lines. We put pen to paper and sang together and tried to develop some ideas. Everything sounded so beautiful. I hadn't bared my process so nakedly in years and it was refreshingly key. That pleasant, organic meeting actually bore little tangible evidence, but did set me on the right path for where I needed to go. I think I just needed to sit with a friendly artist that I trusted and respect to get me on my way. That's the great thing about Alanna -- she's a human being first and an artist second. And it worked. With her good company, the fire, the strumming, the singing, the good vibes, and momma Wanni perched nearby, it all felt so divinely true and lovely that I was able to get out of my head for a spell. Love. God. Health. Family. Friends. It was with these in mind that I sat down at the piano to write my new lyrics. They came quickly and honestly. It turns out the piano is a marvelous tool for capturing the good word. Perhaps it's because the keys are laid out right there in front of you, allowing one to focus on thoughts rather than skillful execution. I have one friend who actually prefers the piano demo "Ultrasound" to anything else on the EP. Sometimes I agree, which is great. There's room for everybody is how I see it. A month or so later, I had Alanna come back and sing backup vocals and of course, she nailed it -- especially at the end where she and I do a little weaving vocal chant. It's rare that such a nice payoff comes so late in the song but there it is. I really love that moment. Joey Maramba loves her so much that he brought her vox to the front of the mix for his remix. Thank you, dear Alanna, for compass. 

And since props are going out, it would be criminal not to mention Michael Marquesen -- such a cool guy, and a great songwriter too. The man is a recording/composing machine with a plethora of legitimate works. Over a decade ago, I asked Michael to play on another Tracy McMillan collaboration "Where Do We Go". He showed up to our Glendale house (which sat atop a dog cleaning business!) with a ton of obscure guitar pedals and ran 'em thru Tracy's Rhodes keyboard and made a big mess on the floor with all his cables and what-not, but he came up with some really out of this world sounds. Remembering his gift for altering waveforms, I asked Mike to tweak a piano line I had composed for "Mei". I wanted him to recreate the wonderful bubbly tremolo piano heard in Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" (which I had tried and failed to achieve) or perhaps come up with a new idea that had similar intent. A few days later he produced the exact percolating effect I had hoped for. Just brilliant. You can hear Mike on the LP version but most prominently on the "Instrumental" mix of "Mei Lana". Thank you, Michael. 

 Finally, a super grateful shout-out to legendary mixer David Bianco for taking the time with all this information and molding it into something even better than imagined. Such a gift to have you on board. Thank you, David.