the complete idiot’s guide to Erase This

My debut full-length album, Erase This, is being released today by DFTBA Records. The artist attribution is “Alan Lastufka & Luke Conard”, which sometimes confuses people, because they don’t hear me singing (though if you listen carefully, you can hear me playing the bass guitar on every track). Erase This is a wonderfully collaborative project which required the direct time and talent of fourteen different people; Luke and I were simply the ringleaders.

I wrote all of the lyrics and was the executive producer (read: I covered all costs) on the project. Luke Conard was the vocalist and handled most of the actual production right up to the end, when drummer Christian Caldeira stepped in to help. Jason Munday played guitars and wrote the music to four of the songs. Raven Zoe wrote the music to four songs as well, while Ted Hu played piano and composed the music for one song.

Then there were the additional vocalists, the saxophone player, the cover artist, the DVD authoring guy, etc etc. It took all of us working under my, and Luke’s, direction to bring this project to light. Erase This would not be what it is today without any one of us.

I starting writing the first song in August of 2009. I started with a rough idea of a couple stuck in a relationship out of habit, not desire, and decided to figure out the story backwards from there.

My debut EP, Taking Leave, was a very linear concept piece; there was a beginning, a middle and an end, with a story arc, told within the lyrics. Erase This is less linear, but also tells a story.

Before reading on, I encourage you to listen to the album first, all the way through, as it was meant to be played. The following discussions are only my interpretations of the songs. You are free to, and encouraged to, draw your own interpretations based on your own experiences. Good lyrics draw you in and flip switches in your mind. They’re specific enough to leave a mark, but general enough that they can be applied to your own past and present just as easily as mine. If after listening to the album you want another interpretation of the lyrics, then please, read on.

“Making A Scene” is the blissful high point of our couple’s relationship. Dancing in empty parking lots, driving together with the radio loud, the destination unknown. Just being together is enough, and our male lead finally feels he’s living the dream, acting out his movie script ending. The sax solo was performed by Robert Kyle, the brother-in-law of the drummer in my first band from when I was fifteen years old.

“Shortwave, Part 1” is the first hint of any dissatisfaction as the narrator (it’s not revealed whether it’s the male or female character) begs for the daily, repeated static to end, and for their partner to simply talk to them, to simply say ‘hello’. The radio DJ heard in excerpts here and in interludes throughout the album is Hollywood film star Kevin Pollak.

“All I Am” flashes forward to after the relationship has clearly ended and our male lead sits alone, rereading letters from his ex-girlfriend. He’s not sure how all the fragmented pieces of memories should fit together, but he cherishes each and every piece. “All I Am” was the last song recorded for the album, and was inspired, lyrically, by Tori Amos’ “Tear In Your Hand”, which also tells a story of the aftermath of a break-up.

“Mirror Song” continues “All I Am”’s scene as our male lead comes across a few photos of him and his ex together. He has forgotten how happy they once looked together, and begins to understand that maybe he never really heard her voice until now, after she was gone. “Mirror Song” was originally recorded by Tom Milsom and Kristina Horner for my debut EP. Kristina reprises her vocal role here.

“Turn Signal” uses the metaphor of running away to illustrate our female lead’s desire to leave the relationship. Even if she just retreats in her mind, not the physical world, the result is the same. “Turn Signal” sets the stage for the leading single from the album, “Boxcar Blood”.

“Boxcar Blood” tells the story of our young couple attempting to run away together. But our male lead can’t really commit to ‘the plan’ like his girlfriend can. In the music video for “Boxcar Blood”, our male lead can’t catch the train as it’s pulling away with his girlfriend on board. This displays another non-literal example of her leaving and the situation being out of his control.

“Winter’s Song” was released as a digital single back in December of 2009, six months before Erase This was released. In “Winter’s Song”, our male lead attempts to express how he feels about his girlfriend through song, but she doesn’t hear him; she’s in her own world, singing her own ending.

“Shortwave, Part 2” uses the metaphor again of singing to express feeling, only this time our female lead has finally found her ‘voice’. For the first time, what she wants to say and how she feels comes easy to her. She sings it out loud for everyone to hear. The vocal chorus at the end features Kristina Horner, Rebecca Brickley and Caitlin Rielly with Luke Conard and Christian Caldeira.

“Forgiven” is an updated recording from my previous EP, performed by my new band. While the song isn’t directly a part of the storyline, I believe we all have times in our life when we need someone to understand, empathize, and tell us they’re there for us or forgive us for whatever mistakes we’ve made. Maybe our female lead wants to be forgiven for stringing her boyfriend along for so long. Maybe our male lead wants to find his place or calling, now that he’s lost without his partner. As stated earlier, ultimately, it’s up to you as the listener.

“Erase This” was the first song written for the album, but ended up being the last track. In a desperate attempt at reminding the woman he still has feelings for that, at one time, she shared those feelings, our male lead sends fallen autumn leaves for her to burn in her back yard. The one smell she loves so much. The one smell that instantly reminds him of her. The one smell that brings many of us home.

Not included on the album, but important nonetheless is “Summer of ’09”, the digital single I released with ALL CAPS. “Summer of ’09” was originally written for Erase This, which some of you have figured out as its lyrics fit in perfectly with the storyline and overall theme of the album. But I didn’t think it brought anything new to the table and once the melody was written, I didn’t think it fit in with the rest of this batch of songs. So I cut it and gave it to Luke’s pop band, ALL CAPS, for their album Bmin/E.

So, there it is. “That’s all?” you say? Well, the “Complete” in this article’s title refers to the Idiot, not the Guide, so, no, this isn’t all of it, this is just to get you started. There is a lot for you to discover on your own through repeated listens to the album, if you care to (and I really hope you care to).

I am extremely proud of Erase This. I hope you find one, or many, songs here to connect with. One song to tell you you’re not alone in feeling however you feel. One song to smile with in some inside joke that I’ll never get, because now it’s between you, whatever switch I flipped in your mind, and the song. And maybe one song to just rock out to, even if you don’t analyze it within the context of the album as a whole.

If you’d like to share your review, or your own interpretations of these songs below, I’ll leave the comments section open, and will be here to discuss all of the above with you. If you don’t yet own Erase This, you can purchase a copy here: http://erasethis.com

Share the Complete Idiot’s Guide with a friend: