Guitar Garden: Listening Room

Overload

(Flora Majora)

2007-02-01

Wells, Dorp & Lessing (intro)

FLORA MAJORA - “Overload” (Lyrics by Michael Dorp. Music by Jay Wells. Intro by Fred Lessing)
Produced and mixed by Pete Prown at Guitar Garden Studio Arranged by Fred Lessing, Michael Dorp and Pete Mastered by Mark Crouter
Michael Dorp (Elsdorf, Germany): Lead & backing vocals
Jay Wells (Colorado, USA): Lead guitar [01:40 + 04:08], rhythm guitar, synth, drum programming
Fred Lessing (Sintra, Portugal): Lead guitar [02:39 + 03:23], rhythm guitar, piano, synth, percussion
Pete Prown (Pennsylvania, USA): Lead guitar [05:04],rhythm guitar, bass, organ
Song Notes: Says songwriter Jay Wells, “The basic tracks for this song were recorded in 1989 using my old SG and a junky Gallien Krueger RL250 stereo amp. I went out of either the headphones out or the line out into the Tascam 234 four-track recorder. It was originally titled ‘LZ,’ which stands not for Led Zep, but for ‘landing zone.’ I was referring to the spot where troops were dropped by helicopters for battle in Vietnam. LZ Sally was a famous drop zone in ’Nam. As for the new version, I thought it was cool to see that Michael Dorp’s lyrics have captured a similar notion—another travesty, here a school shooting in Germany.”
Adds Pete, “This international, (dare I say) transatlantic, collaboration started as a heavy-rock instrumental by Jay Wells, one that cleverly had some Led Zeppelin echoes. I liked the track, but was busy working on the other Flora Major track, so I initially sent it to Fred Lessing in Portugal. Fred then asked Michael Dorp (of the German band Flying Circus) to write lyrics and cut the vocals, which are fabulous. Playing guitar, piano and keys, Fred later created some wonderful arrangements himself, many with an exotic Arabic, almost Moorish flavor. The part that impressed me the most was that Fred added another Zep idea on top of Jay's initial Zep motif. And the funny thing is that neither of these guys are Zeppelin fans.
“But the coolest thing about this song is that Jay lives about 2,000 miles from me in the US, and Fred lives across the ocean from us in Portugal. And Michael lives another 2,000 miles from Fred up in Germany. None of us have ever met each other, yet we still made good music together. I think that really demonstrates the power of the Internet in making music these days.”
Links • Pete Prown: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/guitargarden2 • Fred Lessing: www.daymoon-music.com/ • Michael Dorp: www.flying-circus-online.de/ • Jay Wells: http://www.myspace.com/ddmmusicmann • Mark Crouter: http://4thdegreemusic.com/ • Flower Kings: http://www.flowerkings.se • Flower Kings Official Mail: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/flowerkingsofficialmail/