I’ve known about this great band from the Bay area for a while now. I found them while checking out electro-harmonix pedals; member Jack Conte does all the official demo videos for EHX. Here are few thoughts to ponder while checking out these insanely catchy covers of Beyonce‘s “Single Ladies” and Earth, Wind, and Fire‘s classic “September“:

Arrangements. They make use of everything in their arsenal, including toy pianos and running the vocals through guitar pedals, to make sounds and arrangements that are very unique. Are you using all the tools at your disposal?

Creativity. One of my favorite sections in “September” is when Jack uses his cheeks as the drum fill, brilliant! Even though you don’t own every instrument known to man, you can still use what you have creatively. I’d never considered using a flanger pedal before, but these videos have inspired me to investigate how to use one on my songs.

Limitations. They don’t have a great studio and I don’t know that Jack even really plays drums (notice all his drum parts are done one hit at a time). Creativity is enhanced by limits. Something I’ve been debating for my next recording: use a particular sound no more than five times on the entire recording. While this will be a pain in the butt, it will force me to be more creative and use sounds that I wouldn’t have tried without that limitation.

Video. Jack and Nataly videotape everything they do while they’re doing it. This gives them piles of material to use to promote their work and they create amazing music videos from all of it, on a budget that fits any ramen-crunching band’s income.

“Single Ladies”:

“September”: