Missed Me

More Dresden Dolls!

Why?

2 reasons. One, they are always relevant to the show, for as a friend once pointed out, i came up with the entire opera based on a song they wrote about a dildo, so, you know, there’s that.

AND, the other day i was riding a bus back home, toddler asleep on my lap, listening to this here song and suddenly i realized what was wrong with Act 4. Priscilla has no damn personality. She’s like… nice, which i figured was necessary since she needs to… well i can’t give away the plot, but she’s nice. And that’s about it. She has no outstanding personality, nothing that makes her stand out and be… a character. Her background story that i wrote actually HAS potential to draw some quirks from, but i did nothing of the sort and in the actual opera i just let her be… nothing of interest, relying only on the plot to be interesting, and not THE CHARACTER TO DRIVE THE PLOT.

(Or, no, the character does drive the plot, but what drives the character is just a cop out. Something artificial because i knew what the plot needed to do and so i just slapped together a character to do it.)

I know, right? I’m a jackass. So all this i realize while listening to this song, and i realize she needs some quirks. I don’t have the time in the Act to flush her out like i do Annabelle, but i have a more time and opportunity than i’m utilizing. She needs some quirks, some ticks, some…twists of her psyche. And furthermore, whatever this is, THIS needs to be the personality quirk that drives her actions later in the Act. So it doesn’t just happen. It isn’t just a decision. She isn’t just nice. It’s her little fucked-up-ness driving her.

And hopefully i can make the 4th Act stop tapping away at me annoyingly, like it has a problem and i know it but i just can’t see it (because i also REALLY like it, so i could be looking past its flaws, but it won’t stop really lightly tapping me like there’s something i should be seeing….)

So, since i can’t possibly feature enough Dresden Dolls, here’s Missed Me.

 

Dresden Dolls: First Orgasm Of The Morning

Let’s start the week off (okay, it’s Sunday, but for me it’s the beginning of my week back) with a wonderful song by the Dresden Dolls.

Just in case you really want to hear the lyrics and found the live version a bit too hard to follow, here is the album version with clear vocals:

 

Dresden Dolls: Sing

Let’s keep it short and sweet today, shall we? (i’m ironing out a lot of issues for Act 3 in preparation for beginning studio work on Monday.)

Here’s a wonderful, awesome song by the wonderful, awesome band The Dresden Dolls, who i mean to feature more than i actually do. (i thought when i began this blog 6 weeks or so ago i’d be starting to0 get desperate for post ideas by now, but actually the opposite is true.)

But it’s high time again we revisit them again. I’d ideally feature First Orgasm Of The Morning or Me And The Minibar, but i’m in the mood for an anthem (and anthems are part of my research tonight) so let’s hear it. Sing.

 

The Dresden Dolls

Let’s have a little Dresden Dolls in our day, shall we?

A great live recording, here’s the song Sex Changes.

Self described as Brechtian Punk Cabaret, the duo of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione came up with the description out of fear the press would use the word Gothic.

Highly melodic and dripping with attitude, Amanda Palmer’s personality rails, rages and wreaks into every number. Simply piano and drums viciously attack the numbers and even the soft, nice ones drip with subversion.

I discovered them almost 3 years ago, just before leaving the states. My good friend Kevin recommended them and i used to listen to them every morning on my way to language school in Belgrade. (Where i learned just enough Serbo-Croatian to sound like a witty toddler) As a piano player who almost breaks himself over the piano, the energy the two can dish out was thrilling, but of course, the lyrics, the melodies and Palmer’s bloody BRAIN and attitudes are what makes the music exceptional.

Clearly, they are a prime influence on this Steampunk Opera, although to avoid having to pay Amanda Palmer a royalty check, i’m trying to NOT listen to them during the composition process.