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Ultimate Guitar Interview With Kristofer Dommin

Posted on October 16, 2009
by Dommin
in News

Ultimate Guitar gets inside the mind of Dommin’s mystery-laden frontman Kristofer Dommin. GO HERE to check out the interview.

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A Song A Day For The Month Of May: REMEMBER - The

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: REMEMBER - The last song on the Love Is Gone album almost wasn't on the album. We had submitted the album with 14 tracks, ending with Honestly. But we had this song called Remember. The original recording had almost a medieval vibe to it. And as Love Is Gone got it's first delay in release date, the thinking was two-fold: include something that could set you up to go in any musical direction you want after the album comes out and what if this is the first/last/only album you ever make. Very often, whatever a band puts out first, becomes like a creative prison. If they do something different on consecutive records, people will say they've changed. Including the songs like Honestly and Remember on Love Is Gone made me feel like we could really go in any direction without being a shock to fans.⠀
But also, there is always the thought that you may never get to make another record. So would we really want to miss the opportunity to put this song out there? ⁠⠀
Lucas, co-producer and manager at the time, had a friend who had made a name for himself in the EDM world and was transitioning into movie soundtracks. And he thought this friend could really bring something special to this song. And he absolutely did! He took Remember and brought it to a whole other level with chord progressions and string arrangements and even created a bridge to the song that wasn't there before. I was so grateful and still am to this day every time I hear it. Junkie XL was his DJ name, most famous for his Elvis Presley, "A Little Less Conversation" dance mix. Today, he goes by his real name Tom Holkenborg @tomholkenborg , known for soundtracks like Mad Max: Fury Road, Justice League and Deadpool. ⁠⠀
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The pic is from a Kerrang! Magazine feature we did in London.

A Song A Day For The Month of May: RISE - I wasn’t intending on talking about this song, but after the votes on Instagram and Facebook, I thought that I had better do it. As much as the song is about the idea of a comeback, rising from the ashes like a phoenix, the song also talks about how the passage of time helps with healing and recovery. The verses take you through the second, minute, hour, day, week and year. Sometimes time is the best remedy. If you allow yourself the time to process what happened, learn from it, strengthen yourself and if you are determined to get back on your feet, almost any situation can be overcome or adapted to. Failure isn’t fatal, as the saying goes. The lyrics are heavy in simile and metaphor from “rising like the sun” and “chasing the night away”. It wasn’t clear this was going to lend itself to being the album title until all the songs were finished. Some of the other album titles being played with were “Liberation” and “Strings”, both being named after songs. Liberation hasn’t been recorded. RISE just seemed to sum it all up. ⠀
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What I really love most about this song are the horns/brass section. Dommin heavily plays with choirs, bells and other synths. Brass sounds were only used one other time...I’ll quiz you on that in today’s IG Stories. But it sounds so massive and triumphant. The melody was originally on guitar, but as I tend do for Dommin songs, I keep the guitar work pretty basic. I let the melody play out with accompanying instrumentation. The main brass melody feels cinematic, almost war-like in my mind, a declaration of return. ⠀
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The music video is epic. Each band member played in front of a green screen and Konstantine used that footage and created an entire setting of fire and light that fit the song perfectly. I was so impressed. ⠀
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It’s also an interesting song for me because it’s almost never in my head. It lacks that catchy quality for me, which can make me think it’s not that good. I was surprised when the polls favored this song because I never really get comments about it. But it never fails that every time I hear it, I find myself saying...that sounds freakin’ awesome!!!😆⠀
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I guess I’m not the only

A Song A Day For The Month of May: MY REALITY - I

A Song A Day For The Month of May: MY REALITY - I wrote this song when I was feeling pretty down on myself. It was around the end of 2011. I had spent a year trying to write songs for RISE. I had gone on songwriting sessions with different people, met different producers and everything just felt like it was moving at a snail's pace. Everyone in the band was sorta struggling to make ends meet as the time dragged on. We hadn't received the green light yet from our label to even do the second album and all the songs I was sending in weren't exciting them. It took the enjoyment out of writing music and out of listening to music. I couldn't even tell if anything I was making was good any more. I had no perspective and I was trying to please my label, the producers, and the band. I remember driving to the hospital to visit someone being treated for cancer in my old crappy pick up truck with no gas and no money to my name, thinking...THIS SUCKS! I just felt like a loser. ⁠⠀
Music was supposed to be my escape, and it wasn't any more. ⁠⠀
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The original lyrics to the song were much more depressing. ⁠⠀
But when it came to putting it on the album, the producers felt like the song had a lot of potential and even more potential if it wasn't such a downer. So I changed some of the lines to be a bit more hopeful. I'm not really happy with how the recording turned out. This song has never been played live.⁠⠀
I am happy to hear though that it's a favorite for some people.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: CLOSURE - I thi

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: CLOSURE - I think there is no doubt about how special and impactful this song is. But I didn't know it at the time. I just made this song like I made any other song, coming from a personal place and creating this conversation within myself that I wasn't going to dwell on the past or be bitter. I was going to look at my experiences as all necessarily events that are taking me on a journey where I am supposed to learn and grow. ⁠⠀
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When we made the video, it not only showed the impact of the song, but the emotional connection that the band was having with our fans. Nearly everyone in that video are people I've had conversations with. These fans were becoming friends that we would see on our tour stops. They were people shouting from the rooftops about the band, our best promoters. To this day, it’s your word of mouth, telling friends and posting on social media that continue to grow the band’s audience. I'm forever grateful to these people. The fact that so many were so open about their struggles in the video showed an amount of bravery that is humbling. ⁠I often forget how many submissions we received that either didn't get used or weren't as featured as some of the others. If you look at one of the last scenes of the video, there is a collage that includes some of the other clips that didn't make the video. I'd love to go back and take a look at them.⁠⠀
I love the music video for its power, but also in the way it documented some of our live shows. Where does this song rank for you?

A Song A Day For The Month of May: THERE YOU ARE -

A Song A Day For The Month of May: THERE YOU ARE - This song is all about not being able to escape yourself. There are those who think changing their friends or moving towns or getting a different job will rid them of all of their problems, only to find they are still haunted by them. No matter where you go, there you are. ⁠⠀
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What's funny is, I remember sending demos of this song to our A&R guy at Roadrunner. Now the final version was never submitted to the label, but the A&R did get a bunch of home demos from me. And he just couldn't wrap his head around this song. "no matter where you go, there you are? What does that even mean?" I didn't think the concept was that hard to grasp. Maybe he was thinking the general public wouldn't get it. I don't know. But as I've said before, my approach to songs has always been, if I like it, chances are someone else will. ⁠⠀
Lyrically, I enjoy singing this song. I love the rhythmic pattern of the words....⁠⠀
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The wind is blowing against the back⁠⠀
The clocks are broken so there's no keeping track...⁠⠀
Of all the time that's passing like grains of sand⁠⠀
Before you know it, you don't know where you stand⁠⠀
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The song is also heavily influenced by rockabilly rhythms. It was written at the time when I started to create a lot of songs that I am now using for my @kristoferdommin solo project. In fact, I play this song live with @TheOztones and it sounds awesome.⁠⠀
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Do you own RISE on CD?⠀
You have something others do not. I’ll tell you in today’s stories. ⠀
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Give the song a listen today.⁠⠀
Let me know your thoughts.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: HONESTLY - This

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: HONESTLY - This song was originally going to be the last song on the Love Is Gone album, hence the outro of the tune, which revists the interlude, One Eye Open, which precedes this song. ⁠⠀
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The pic here is one of the only images I have of what was going to be the music video for this song. Often at shows, we were given gifts by fans, many of which were hand-made. One gift was a pretty cool graphic art poster. I loved the way it looked. And I always had this dream that as the band would rise, so could our fans. I wanted to create a network of people that could help each other and lift each other up, which was the original plan for the Dommin forums and the idea behind the Dommin Nation, the fan club of sorts that never really materialized. But I digress... ⠀
I thought, there is so much talent among our fans, maybe we can have this person do the artwork, we can create a video out of it, we get content, we give the artist a platform and hopefully some notoriety, a win-win! Needless to say...it was never completed. ⁠⠀
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Check today's Instagram Stories for a bit of extra info/trivia about the song.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: THE QUIET MAN -

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: THE QUIET MAN - I don't typically get political with music, but this is the closest I have come. It's not a song about politics, but it is inspired by political climates that bring out the worst in people. By extension, it is about mob-mentality and individualism. I've never been very comfortable in groups. I've always been a bit of a loner. Even with friends, I've always preferred to hang with one or two over a group. I've just noticed in group environments, people change and act differently. ⁠⠀
Even as a kid growing up, I always preferred the type of sports where you're really competing against yourself as opposed to team sports because of the way people act in groups. This team mentality crosses over into politics as well. Some think because of your gender, skin color or where you are born, that it should determine your life experience and how you vote, think and behave. We are often baited into seeing people and their perspectives in stark contrasts. You are told that people that differ from you are not only wrong, but they are bad or evil as well. I just can't subscribe to this. I know too many people that hold radically different views from mine and am proud to call them friends. ⁠⠀
I've never felt I had to be affiliated with a group. I've always taken pride in being an individual. ⠀
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So, I had this song and I had the lyrics..."Here I am and here I stand. This is the end..." I didn't have the tag line for the longest time. Then, this one time I was visiting my mom, she had the TCM channel on and one of her favorite movies was playing, The Quiet Man. It hit me! That's it. This is the end of the Quiet Man. I suppose I was fantasizing a bit about being an outspoken person. I suppose I'm still fairly quiet when it comes to these things, but it's not out of fear of going against the grain. It's now more of a reticence due to the acceptance that most people are happily stuck in their ways. There is little interest in conversation. They just want to spout their opinions. Nuance is an important thing and it’s in short supply. Do you censor yourself on social media because you don’t want to deal with the vitriol?

Song A Day for the Month of May: DESIRE - This son

Song A Day for the Month of May: DESIRE - This song is a pretty old song in the catalog, having been written back in 2006. The only reason it didn't make the Love Is Gone or the Rise albums is because, topically, it didn't quite fit the themes of the other albums. However, it fit Beautiful Crutch perfectly. I had actually release this song on it's own as a @kristoferdommin solo project song in 2013 as I wasn't sure what I was going to do or how I was going to move forward after the first album. We were in limbo, not knowing if we would get the rights to release our 2nd album or where everything stood. Life was at a standstill. So this was my first attempt to try and take things into my own hands. Once I knew that Dommin was going to be able to put out more albums, I took it down to save it for the album it was intended for. ⁠⠀
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It's probably the sexiest Dommin song in the catalog. But I added one distinct word which I hope elevated it, just a little. In the third line of the third chorus, I use the word "admire." Admiration is typically a quality associated with love, not lust. It channels a basic human desire toward something a bit higher and more meaningful, which I think as human beings we are always striving to do to separate ourselves from our animalistic tendencies. ⁠⠀
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A Song A Day For The Month Of May: I WON'T TELL -

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: I WON'T TELL - This song is very rare. In fact, I totally forgot that most of you don't have it. It’s not on any of the digital platforms. So today, I'm putting the song up as a free download at Dommin.net. The song was originally intended for the Beautiful Crutch album. However, with I Die, The Saddest Dream and Outer Space, the album already felt like it was running pretty slow. Adding this ballad I think would have just killed the energy too much. But I think it's a good song. Because it went so well with the Beautiful Crutch release, we gave it to our PledgeMusic subscribers exclusively. So I hope it's still special that they have had it for 4 years before everyone else and I hope they are okay with me putting it out today. The song was written at the same time and about the same situation as Making The Most and I Still Lost. So I don't repeat myself, go to the May 4th posting of Making The Most to learn about the situation. I guess over the years, other songs just beat this one out in terms of making it on an album. But the song expresses a beautiful sentiment and I really like the piano melody.⁠⠀
My favorite part, lyrically, is the bridge section which says:⠀
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"Love is pain. And through suffering, it is perfected, in hope resurrected from the death we face."⁠⠀
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It’s a bit of a clever nod to a Christian perspective on love and suffering. Essentially saying, our relationship is doomed by all accounts. But perhaps the pain we go through and the sacrifices that are made proves how much love exists and that proof and knowledge may be our saving grace against all odds.⁠⠀
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If you don't have it, I hope you go download it now. It will be linked in our bio for the next couple of days.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May - AWAKE: This is

A Song A Day For The Month Of May - AWAKE: This is one of the oldest Dommin songs, being written in 2002. I think it's safe to say I was probably listening to a lot of Rammstein around the time this song was written as evident in the drumbeat. But the lyrical content is pretty aspirational. As with most of the songs, they aren't meant to be preachy. I never write songs to tell the world how it should be. If there is any element of judgement or criticism in my songs, it's coming from within myself against myself. It's my conscience or my soul or that inner voice that tries to motivate and chastise. It's me telling myself, stop dreaming about what you want in life and start doing the things you need to do to make those dreams a reality. I wanted to prove all the naysayers wrong, everyone that told me I wasn't good enough. This why I sing the line "break the rules of our deniers." I remember when I was writing the lyrics to this song, there was a line from the Harry Potter books that grabbed me. In the first book, there is something called the Mirror of Erised (Desire spelled backwards). And when you would look at it, it would reflect your heart's deepest desires. People would sit and waste away in front of it. The moral being, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."⁠⠀
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I think there is power in what the music does for each of us individually, whether it inspires or just makes us feel good. I remember feeling extremely proud when the producer who worked on the recording of this song told me it inspired him to quit smoking. I felt good knowing that a song that was created to tell me to get off my ass and live and go for something had the power to give someone else the nudge to improve their life. I'll never forget that. It makes what sometimes feels like a selfish endeavor a lot more meaningful.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: CHANGE - This i

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: CHANGE - This is the newest Dommin song out there. It was the last of the singles I put out in anticipation of the 4th Dommin album. The meaning is pretty self-explanatory. It's about feeling a deep need for a change. A change in friends, a change in scenery and surroundings, a change from the current trajectory of your life. ⁠⠀
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Musically, there is definitely a post-punk vibe happening in the first half of the song. I’ll talk more about what I think the two main influences of this song are in IG Stories today. I say “I think” because it’s not always clear where the influences are coming from. You don’t set out to create music that is derivative, but it usually is.⠀
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This photo was taken behind the venue called The Gibson Amphitheatre from when we opened for Nightwish in LA. I've seen about 3 or 4 shows at this place. I saw Danzig, a KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Radio show with several big radio bands and the Brian Setzer Christmas Show. It's the biggest indoor venue Dommin has ever played. And only a month or so after this, the venue was shut down and demolished. Do you know what was built in its place? Check our Instagram Stories today. UPDATE: OUR IG STORIES ARE HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES SO I MAY HAVE TO POST THEM TOMORROW.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: DAMSEL IN DISTR

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: DAMSEL IN DISTRESS - I thought these ladies on the floor was a good photo for this song. I remember how some of them, when they had their masks on had trouble breathing and felt claustrophobic. So when there was a moment between takes during the My Heart, Your Hands video, they took the masks off to relax and breathe easy. ⁠I felt bad for them. ⠀
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The original song was meant to have a bit of a late 1950's type of vibe, musically. I'm not sure that comes across at all in the final recording. I just wanted to write a Dommin song that I felt had a bit of a groove to it. ⁠⠀
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Lyrically, it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. And the original title and lyric line was "I want a Damsel Undistressed." But I know “undistressed” is not really a word. It came from the desire to meet someone that was happy. After meeting too many people who always seemed to be in bad moods, I just wanted some positivity and happiness in my world. There is a lot to be grateful for in this life and by being so sour, you're not only choosing to ruin your own day, but the day of everyone you come into contact with. I once heard someone say, “to act happy is a moral obligation, even if you’re faking it.” ⠀
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What do you think?⠀
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I think I agree with this, especially when it comes to people who’s happiness relies on you like your partner or kids. ⠀
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Eventually, it made more sense to say "I've got a damsel in distress, I get the feeling that she's another mess." ⠀
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To this day, I'm convinced that happiness is one of the most attractive qualities in a person, which usually implies that someone is also grateful. We're all allowed to have a bad day or to be mad at something justifiably. And I know there are some conditions that are clinical and therefore harder to lift yourself out of. But irritability and moodiness as a steady-state is not a vibe I enjoy being around. ⁠I don’t want games. I don’t want manipulation. I think it’s important to surround yourself with good, happy & encouraging people that will also tell you the truth. ⠀
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Have you structured your life in this way?⠀
Did you have to make some hard choices?
Or⠀
Do you need to make some changes?⠀

Song a Day for the Month of May - WITHOUT END: Thi

Song a Day for the Month of May - WITHOUT END: This would often be the last song in our set. And it always makes me think of some of the technical difficulties we had in our earlier shows. We usually always had an intro to this song that we specifically made for live performances. The first trial by fire incident couldn't have come at a worse time. We were showcasing for Roadrunner Records in New York and during the showcase when this song was next in the set, there was a malfunction with Konstantine's keyboard, one which caused him to have to reboot, which when loading sounds and samples can take up to 2 minutes. And as he was supposed to start the song, I remember looking at him like...what are you waiting for? (as we all stood in an awkward silence) And he looked back at me like a deer in headlights trying to communicate "Houston, we have a problem" with his eyes, as the entire Roadrunner staff was watching. So, I started noodling around on the guitar...and needless to say it went on a little too long before we jumped to the next part of the intro. It was a pretty uncomfortable moment, and for a time, we thought it may have jeopardized our chances with Roadrunner. Konstantine felt awful. But he was always a champion, someone who when the pressure was on, met the challenge. Konstantine is like that. He loves a hard problem and is someone you can always count on to rise to the occasion. Similar things had happened a couple of more times. Usually it was a case of someone walking around on stage and tripping over and unplugging the power cable from the keyboard, causing the reboot to have to happen again. There were a couple of times during shows where we had to improvise in these situations. Eventually, it became a routine that Konstantine would excessively tape the cables to secure the power cable into the keyboard and into the power source. Often times, regardless of when we were performing, once soundcheck was done, the keyboard stayed powered on until our set was over. ⁠⠀This video is from The Key Club during the Sunset Strip Music Festival 🎥 @ndrewstuart

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: DARK HOLIDAY -

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: DARK HOLIDAY - I remember when this song was created. Konstantine and I were in our little jam space. He basically had the two piano parts that composed the verse and chorus music. When I heard it, it reminded me of The Doors, at least the verse. And I approached it that way with the guitar, doing little bends for a bit of quirky atmosphere. The vocal melody came almost immediately but the words came later. The word "holiday" kept rolling off my tongue, but the song felt dark and not what you would associate with that word. So I went in the direction of a dark celebration. The lyrics ended up being about hedonism to the point of self-destruction.⁠⠀
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The song always seemed to be a fan favorite when we played live. And because it was such a unique sounding song in the music landscape of everything happening at the time, it was our hope that it would be pushed as the second single from the album, after My Heart, Your Hands. I still feel that to this day, it would have been a smarter move.⁠⠀
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Because it had that dark celebratory vibe, it seemed like The Nightmare Before Christmas was the perfect type of vehicle when it came to creating a music video. So Konstantine worked on sourcing art and people to do a stop-motion claymation type music video. Unfortunately, it never really got off the ground. But we did include some of the artwork as the cover of the new recording of the song we released in February 2020 called the Decadent Version. If you haven't heard it, check it out.⁠⠀
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This photo was taken on our first attempt to tour outside California in October of 2007. We played The Ash Street Saloon in Portland, Oregon.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: VULNERABLE - th

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: VULNERABLE - this song comes from a place of really just wanting to be someone’s peace and sanctuary. In this song, the lyrics go, “I’ll let no harm or any trauma come to you” and then emphasizes, “not to you.” Meaning that I actually do expect harm and trauma, but I’m willing to throw myself in front of it. ⠀
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I’m not sure I could write this song today, knowing what I know now. I used to think love could cure all. I think it was more ignorance than ego. I didn’t have the understanding that I do now about how damaged the psyche can be and how the daily triggers can make people relive their most horrible memories. It takes more than love to soothe unhealable wounds. But I still think it’s a beautiful tune expressing a truly selfless sentiment, just wanting to take care of someone who is deeply hurt and has suffered for too long. ⠀

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: MY HEART, YOUR

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: MY HEART, YOUR HANDS - Undoubtedly Dommin's biggest song and the one that put us on the map. It was the first song on our independent release and the first song on our record label debut, Love Is Gone. ⁠⠀
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What may not be known is we shot 3 videos for this song. The first was our self-shot/self-produced video for the Mend Your Misery version of the song. After we signed our record deal, the record company wanted to make a new video. We pushed for them to give us the budget so that we could shoot it ourselves, essentially making a nice looking version of the video we already had.⁠⠀
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What ended up happening was hiring Dean Karr, a great video director with a dark and twisted aesthetic. But the end result was something nobody seemed to be happy with, myself included. The band performance shots looked great. And if I remember correctly, it was shot on actual film. What was not great was the storyline. The idea was to turn me into some sort of Batman type character, fighting crime in the underworld. I remember there were these actors that played a crooked business man, a prostitute and a drug addict. It had me capturing these people and sadistically torturing them. I remember watching one of the final cuts thinking...why am I hurting people who are already hurting and just down and out. It made me look like a total dick! Everyone else seemed to agree. So the video was halfway salvaged by trashing all the narrative footage and putting in our old video footage into the story line which is playing on the TV. So when I watch the TV, I'm watching the old video, essentially upset at what was happening to me. It didn't make total sense, but we tried make it work.⁠⠀
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Eventually, a third attempt was made on the video which is the one most people know. What was funny, was we were told that we were going to get to use this house⁠ in Malibu that had never been in a music video before. Since then, I've seen several music videos including Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi."

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: FALLING INTO AS

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: FALLING INTO ASHES - I wrote this song with my friend and producer Lucas. ⁠⠀
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The more acoustic version or “Lounge Version” as it’s called on the RARE album of B-sides is the original version. I remember posting it to MySpace back in 2006 and I only left it up for about 24 hours. I immediately took it down when I saw that people had been ripping it right off the MySpace music player.
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When we were thinking of songs for RISE, we toyed with the idea of turning it into a full on rock song. I think it came across pretty awesome and seems to be a favorite among Dommin fans. I took the electric piano sound used in the Lounge version and put it through a distorted guitar amp. I think it sounds pretty cool. ⁠⠀
What are your thoughts on this song?

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: THE GIRLS - I c

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: THE GIRLS - I consider this song probably Dommin's best production in terms of sound quality. This is the song that initially convinced our record label to give the green light to our 2nd album. It was one of 3 songs ⁠that we submitted in order to move forward. But I think what probably stands out the most about this song is the video. I usually try to tell a story with videos, but Konstantine is always coming up with interesting ideas. He talked about one where we throw a GoPro camera around. We did a bunch of tests to see how it might come across. I had never seen anything like it. So then it was figuring out where we could do it. I don't remember what the other ideas were, but Konstantine knew a way we could get access to the roof of a building in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Los Angeles. I grew up about 20 minutes east of Los Angeles. I hated going into the city when we had gigs because it was dirty and there was too much traffic. Parking always sucked. Los Angeles is an interesting city in that, a good amount of people that live in the city, aren't from the city or even from California. They are from around the country and around the world that are here to escape or to "make it." And that makes for an interesting group. The majority of people that are born and raised here, seem to move out to the fringes of LA into the north or east valleys or toward Long Beach or Orange County. So it was always with a bit of hesitation that Dommin was presented as a LA band. But there is a lot to love about LA and Southern California more generally. It has a rich history and there is no shortage of things to do. It's one of those things where you tend to think poorly of a place when you're there, but when you represent it to the rest of the world, there is a sense of pride. I felt like this video represented that pride with the city skyscrapers on one side and the expanse into Hollywood and Santa Monica on the other. To this day, I'm proud of this video. We only had two worries making the video...getting caught and the camera getting tossed over the edge.

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: I DIE - This wa

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: I DIE - This was probably one of the hardest songs in the Dommin catalog to finish. Konstantine would always play this on piano. And I remember I would sing the opening line, "You're not alone..." and I would hum out the rest of it. But that's all we had for the longest time. I have very specific memories of this being played over and over again at sound checks throughout Europe in 2010 and on pianos that sat in hotel lobbies across America. Eventually, I came up with the chorus words, "I die..." But that's as far as I got for a good while. It seems like this is how that song came along, a couple of words at a time. ⁠⠀
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A while ago, Konstantine and I put out a YouTube video of us playing this song. We were in suits and it was in black and white. We wanted it to feel and look very classic. It was put out as sort of a teaser to the song. But the truth was, it's all we had. I was worried that we would never finish it. Because what existed was so cool, everything we attempted didn't improve on what was there. It made it very hard to complete. Just the piano line alone would stop people in their tracks and make them listen. ⁠⠀
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When I was preparing the songs for Beautiful Crutch, it was exactly where we had left it years earlier, but I knew I wanted to include it on the album. At this point it was either going to be our shortest song ever, or never be completed. It needed something else. And we had toyed with the idea of the song just going to a completely different place. So when I sat down to really make it happen, that's exactly what we did. The whole middle portion of the song departs from that singular chord progression. Eventually the second half of the chorus came to me as well. I'm pretty proud of where we ended up. However, I do feel like I could do a much better job at recording this song today. I've toyed with the idea of a re-record.⁠⠀
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Photo: somewhere in Europe 2010

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: UPSIDE DOWN - T

A Song A Day For The Month Of May: UPSIDE DOWN - This song is one of the newest Dommin songs floating out there. I've had a demo of it recorded for a while, probably before we put the Rise album out. However, it never really fit anywhere. But even though it was written over 8 years ago, I think it seems to be more and more relevant as time goes on. I think the lyrics speak for themselves. Anyone watching TV or spending time on social media probably has similar feelings from time to time. Sometimes I can't believe the things I see or read. You think to yourself...who are these people? Who raised them? Do they hear themselves? Do they own a mirror? Are they as disingenuous as they seem? God only knows!⁠⠀
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I would probably put it in the same universe as Dark Holiday or The Flame in terms of its quirky vibe. It's also a bit of a proud moment for me, as a lot of these newer singles are, because they are reflections of my ability to record, mix and master my own music. Before, I had to rely on producers or mixers. And with every song I do, I feel like I'm getting a little better and putting out songs that sound okay. I'm learning and still have a lot more to learn but I'm making good progress, I think. ⁠According to my Spotify statistics, it is the most played Dommin song on average.⁠⠀
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Is there anything in particular going on that makes you feel like the world is upside down?

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