Bliss and Drumming

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

The next re-released song on the docket to discuss is “High Desert” from the Stars Turn Me On album GoldRush from 2012. STMO is my project with guitarist and riff machine Justin Caucutt. Most of the songs on GoldRush are very stripped down. For this one, I played very simple drums, with a rattle in one hand. Then, I think I remember singing as I drummed. I don’t think this is that vocal take here, but I think I wanted to sing as I played in order to keep the sort of ritualistic beat tied to the lyrical intent. Judah Collins played lap steel, Justin on guitar.

I remember the germination of the lyrics. At the time, Zepparella had a tour manager, Jim Stewart, who bought the van I now own. He was amazingly handy and tricked the whole thing out for us. This meant that I didn’t have to drive all the time. I love driving, but not driving enabled me to work on other stuff as we toured, which meant lyrics. Continue reading “Old Song, New Release: High Desert”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

The song “Slow Glow” is from my first album, “Conversation with Francis Bakin” in 2008. I recorded a new vocal and remixed the song for “The Collection” in 2014. This song was written with my dear buddy Gretchen Menn on guitar.

I think the way most of these songs happened is that I created the drum beat and vocal and a skeletal progression, and then Gretchen laid down a bunch of guitar tracks on top. Then I sort of arranged the parts to create the final version. I remember this song being particularly fun because she was indulging me in creating real soundscape stuff, and when I layered some of the tracks they fit together in such an interesting way. I love this song for its sonic landscape. The drums were a drumbeat I created and then I played along with that electronic track and sort of melted them into each other.

Continue reading “Old Song, New Release: Slow Glow”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

The next song to talk about in this series of songs I’m re-releasing is “Wonderful U.” which was released as a single in 2010 and ended up on the album The Collection in 2014. The wonderful guitar parts were created by Jude Gold, and in his highly dexterous and imaginative way he added bounce and texture beyond expectation. I’m lucky I’ve gotten to lay a palette down for some great guitarists, and my dear Gretchen, being one of those connector people, has facilitated many of these meetings and creative mashups.

I have to say I don’t remember how this song was recorded. I know I recorded the drumbeats and melody and I think vocal as well. Did Jude and I spend time in the studio, or did he send me the tracks? See, this is when I look back at my years of marijuana use and see how much my ability to store memory was affected. So much of the creative aspect of shifting my reality with the substance was beneficial, but I do regret these lapses in memories. Continue reading “Old Song, New Release: Wonderful U.”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

The Stars Turn Me On song “BellLike” is on the album Goldrush from 2012. It was written with Justin Caucutt, who plays guitar on the recording. Judah Collins plays bass, and Jim Bove plays drums on this one.

When I wrote this song, it was during a period in which I was reflecting on the past. I had been in San Francisco for about 10 years and was sort of making sense, and trying to make peace, with the different iterations of Clem. I’m happy I don’t spend much time doing that anymore, even if while writing the blog posts for these re-released songs it might seem to the reader I am stuck there again. I’ve released a lot of my past from causing me too much angst, thankfully. Continue reading “The Re-Release of “BellLike:” I Swear I’ve Moved Past It”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

The Beaux Cheveux album Ro Sham Bo came out in 2018, and while it’s not a re-release, while I’m speaking about previously released material, I think it’s worth mentioning. I really love this record. Guitarist Adrian Conner and I wrote the songs together, and the writing process was fun and effortless.

Basically, I created ten drum tracks. We sat at my kitchen table, and I would hit play, and Adrian, a master of improvisation, played to the drum tracks until she felt she’d said enough. Then, I took the guitar parts and picked out verses and choruses and other parts and arranged them and wrote lyrics. Then she took those instantaneous melodic ideas and honed them into real parts. Then we recorded the songs with Rob Preston and made this little jewel of album. Continue reading “Reflections on the Song “Holiday of Love””

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

“The World and You” was written for the Stars Turn Me On album Goldrush. I redid the version above with a full band, my songwriting partner Justin Caucutt and Judah Collins on bass, and the audio is on the album The Collection from 2014. I wanted to do a couple videos of songs where I was playing drums and singing at the same time. People would ask me if I ever sang back there, so I thought I’d record me doing it.

There are two problems with singing from behind the drumkit. First, it’s kind of a nightmare to get the vocal mic to not pick up the drums without some experienced and dedicated sound person to have your back. The bigger problem is I feel dorky, or more dorky than usual back there when I sing. I feel like all drummer jokes ever uttered descend on my head. There are a very few drummers who have pulled this off and looked cool doing it: Levon Helm, Brann Dailor, Trinidad Leal from Dixie Witch. I am just not that cool. Continue reading “Old Material, New Release: The World and You”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

On we go, back in time, to a song I wrote on my first album, Conversation with Francis Bakin from 2008, “River Now.” Gretchen plays guitar here, I’m playing the drums and singing, Rob Preston is on bass. These are some favorite lyrics, and at the time it felt to me as if the vocals weren’t strong, but now I can hear what I was going for, a stripped down, stark and wistful vocal treatment. The backing vocals were meant as a chorus of regular people singing, and I remember liking the way they fall in and out of key. These decisions illustrate my desire to paint a picture and let go of the need to make things that are “right.” Which contributes to the thwarting of pop star success, I guess.

Sometimes songs are cinematic, and this song evokes a complete movie that I experience when I sing it or hear it. Continue reading “Old Material, New Release: River Now”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

This next song in this series in which I’m discussing songs I’m re-releasing doesn’t quite fall into the category, as this is not a Clementine Moss song that I wrote the lyrics to, but a song from short-lived band The Solid, that I played drums in and that I helped write the music for. This song is “The Rich Girl and the Ranch Hand.”

The Solid was formed after guitarist Justin Caucutt and I met. I was playing in Zepparella and had just finished my first solo album and felt like I should have a third project to round things out in which I was playing original material on drums.

Justin is a great storehouse of riffs, and we started to get the music together by jamming a lot. He invited in bassist Greg Randolph from the Stonerrock band Greenhouse Effect, and the songs started to gel. Then Justin had the idea to bring in a singer from Denver, Brian Hagman. We flew him in and recorded a five-song EP, Arrivals and Departures, 2009.

Continue reading “Old Material, New Release: The Rich Girl and the Ranch Hand”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

For the next re-released song from the old catalog, we’re going to stick with the Stars Turn Me On album Goldrush for “ShangriLa Blues” from 2012. The audio shared in the video appears on the compilation album The Collection from 2014  .

Stars Turn Me On is the project with Justin Caucutt, and this song arose from this badass riff Justin came up with. That’s Justin’s forte, coming up with killer riffs. I love how this one just immediately announces itself and is relentless. I love the bassline, created by Robert Preston, who records everything I do. I love the way the vocal fits into the riff.

Continue reading “Old Material, New Release: ShangriLa Blues”

You can listen to me read this post on Soundcloud or Youtube, or as Bliss and Drumming wherever you get your podcasts.

Oh boy! The next song up for re-release is from my first album, Conversation with Francis Bakin from 2008, and it’s one of my favorites. “Sunshine” was the first video I ever created, and I think it might have been the first song I wrote in this period. Gretchen Menn provided her killing guitar here too.

This song has a special place in my heart, because it is so close to the essence of all the inner work of being Clem. It’s serious and silly both, and there are some facets here I love to explore about who we are as people and personalities, and the major lessons I’ve learned in my own journey.

Continue reading “Old Material, New Release: Sunshine”