Dubstar: MY LIFE

Those with long memories will recall that life was a little difficult all across the world in 2008. The financial crash, including the banking crisis, was turning assumptions about our wealth on their heads. We had experienced a period of sustained economic growth in the UK for well over a decade. This had characterised much of the late 90s and early to mid-00s as a boom time (dot com bubble excepted of course).

But by 2008 the wheels had fallen off. A generation who had grown up borrowing on credit cards and achieving 110% mortgages was facing a new financial reality, and it didn’t look good. We can examine the economics and politics of the situation another time (ideally in the pub) but you’ll find some superb analysis of the banking crisis here, here and here.

On a personal level, things were getting awkward. Friends of mine were landing in real trouble for the first time since the housing slump of the late Thatcher and John Major era. Bankruptcy was a serious option for some, a lifeline, and the situation was so stressful for one that I was commanded to never bring up the subject again.

I didn’t.

I was very fortunate to escape the 1990s without debt and had managed to buy a flat in Hove before the UK housing market went mad. But I did live in a world where I would meet other 90s veterans who had a look of pure fear in their eyes. This was not nice. The party, finally, was over. Now for the life-changing hangover.

This perilous situation inspired me to write the song you can hear for the first time today. My Life is a late Trip-Hop inspired slab of vintage Dubstar. The dub basslines are back (that’s my Roland Juno-106 wobbling along down there). The rolling breakbeats have returned and, for the first time we have the piano and guitar ‘wall of sound’. This shoegaze effect would appear on several other tunes, including this Parralox remix I completed in the same session.

The Roland Juno-106 as featured on dozens of Dubstar songs

On a more technical, songwriting level, I reused an old trick. The verses of the song would sit on one chord throughout, and then I'd break into the chord sequence for the chorus. This creates an enjoyable harmonic contrast between the sections, especially with the bass riff remaining unchanged in the first two choruses. The chorus then takes off in a very Dubstar way.

My Life, like so many of the United States of Being songs, had various incarnations along the way including a mix by famous music engineer and old friend Phil Bodger. I completed the version presented here a little later, where I carved away chunks of the wall of sound to let the vocal shine through. And after long last I wrote something that hit Sarah’s vocal sweet spot and stayed there without jumping around in pitch.

THINKING BACK NOW

I can imagine My Life as the opening song to the first version of United States of Being, much like Stars opened Disgraceful. As songs, they have a lot in common. I also think they serve the same function. What seems melodic and approachable eventually reveals a darker side with Sarah imploring you to ‘hear my prayer’ and to ‘take you on a journey through my life’. Gosh.

I like the way My Life nods its head to Depeche Mode, with more than a passing resemblance to their late career classic ‘Walking in My Shoes’. This is accidental of course, but Depeche Mode was the only act that all three of us liked. United in our admiration, I suppose their influence was bound to poke its head through at points.

Also, I find it fascinating to reflect on how far the world has changed politically and economically since that day. It was one thing to write a little song reflecting on how hard it is to be in debt. But…imagine if we’d known that not only would the UK economy not grow at all between 2010 and 2024, but that the country would eventually be worse off per capita than it was in 2008?

And a final thought... part of the inspiration for My Life was the idea of 1990s pop stars struggling to cope with the reality of the 2000s. Have you noticed how the very idea of pop stars being rich is now reserved for Taylor Swift and a handful of her friends?

I suppose we never had it so good.

This article includes excerpts from DUBSTAR.COM. Want more? You can find the story behind every Dubstar song ever recorded including dozens of unreleased songs right here at Dubstar.com

And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter to be the first to hear new releases and up-to-the-minute news