Prog "Vacations"

King Crimson - Islands

Hmm, interesting. Whenever I'm composing stuff, I tend to just noodle around until I get a certain chord progression or melody going that evokes some sort of imagery, then I work to develop themes around those. Everyone takes their own approach, I suppose.

Anyhow, as per your album, I get a lot of industrial sorts of vibes, like I'm taking a train through a cyberpunk warehouse. 

Ex nihilo nihil fit. "Out of nothing comes nothing."

I did a rather way out track called "Ketamine Dream Machine". 

https://brotherhoodofthemachine.bandcamp.com/track/3-ketamine-dream-machine

Actually, it wasn't originally called anything. I was messing about on sax and came up with a very slurred and laid back solo. "I could use that", I thought - I'd already got drums in, so I added bass. It seemed to want some weird sound effects, so I played around with the frequency modulation on a Korg MS20 and then started added some background pads and effects. As it became a bit more clear that this was a pretty way out track, I thought why the hell not and added some middle Eastern style percussion and the whole thing went the way it did. 

Composition on the fly. It "sounds right" and that's how tracks - and solos - evolve. If I'm doing a sax solo, the whole thing kind of unfolds as I play it. 

Anyway, at the end of it, I'd come up with a track which sounded rather like a weird trip. I'd actually had a cough medicine overdose a few weeks before - so the phrase "ketamine" came up and then "dream machine" seemed an alliterative add on. ;-) Is it about drugs ? No, not really. Unless you count too much cough medicine as a Class A substance.

When played to other people, I get all kinds of weird and unexpected comments back like flying through space. Wow, weird. I've always wondered how non musicians perceive music, and I suppose a lot of it must be figurative, referring to impressions caused by the music and a response to the beat or rhythm itself. Doesn't work like that when composing music. It just sounds right.

Another example ? Try this. (Not trying to sell an album here, just giving an example.)

https://brotherhoodofthemachine.bandcamp.com/track/1-nocturnal-transmission

That track is mainly a sax solo which just completely evolved out of nowhere. There's a soundscape in the background. Break the solo up into 4 bar sections and you can see it develops on itself like a conversation. Becoming a musician, as opposed to someone who just "plays" music, is about developing a back catalogue of ideas gleaned from other musicians - you create a directory of ideas in your head and are capable of producing something which sounds right *by instinct*. There is no conscious thought or "I know, I'll play this, that'll bring in an image of...... " 

Nope. To quote Charlie Parker, "First master the instrument, then master the music and then...... just play."