User:Captain Waters/band/stairs up
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| "Stairs Up to Heaven" | ||
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| Song by The Auximenes | ||
| from the album Performance | ||
| Released | June 1, 2015 | |
| Recorded | January 8 – May 22, 2015 | |
| Genre | Progressive Rock/Folk Rock | |
| Length | ?:?? | |
| Label | Sony Music | |
| Writer(s) | May/Gibson | |
| Producer(s) | Robert "Robby" Piché, Dan Gibson & Peter May |
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| Hit-Parade track listing | ||
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"Stairs Up to Heaven" is a song by the Quebec progressive rock band The Auximenes, composed by bassist Peter May and guitarist Dan Gibson, and recorded on their first studio album, Performance.
[edit] History
In summer 2007, when May and Gibson were in a camping for school vacancies, where May's aunt was living, they composed a song with their guitars, based on the Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" song. « Dan played the song and I though we could make another song like that » said Peter May at the occasion of the album's release. The two men made the song's composition, and May wrote the lyrics, inspirated by the landscape and the blue sky.
Peter May :
We had two guitars, Dan's and mine. We wrote the song and recorded it on the tape recorder we had there. I listened to the tape and I wrote the lyrics. I looked at the fabulous landscape there, green trees, caravans, grass... There was a beach near the place we were, and a lake. That was a paradise place. I had the idea of a camping in heaven. I had thought of Led Zep's song, and I wrote something about stairs leading to this heaven. That's why we called it "Stairs Up to Heaven".
Next day, the tandem worked all the time on the song, working on the multiple song parts. Then, they added bass lines and keyboards, and Dan worked on the middle song's guitar solo, that Gibson told it was his best guitar solo he ever composed. May composed the following synth solo, then they re-recorded the song on the tape recorder. When they came back home, they presented the demo to Keith Young and Mike Jones. They were excited by the song, and Mike added his drum parts. Young didn't agree this song, because he thought that only him could write his parts. Finally, after a conversation with May, he decided to keep the solo, but he reworked on.
The song has been recorded a first time, at Victor Studios, in Montreal, in 2009 as a demo to get a contract with Sony Music Entertainment. When they recorded the "Hit-Parade" sessions, they added it on the album.
[edit] Music
The song is a multi-movement suite. A quiet introduction featuring Gibson's 6-string acoustic guitar, May's 12-string acoustic guitar and flute gradually moves into the middle verses, before an energic rock part with Mike Jones and Keith Young, then lead guitar and synthesizer solos.
[edit] Personnel
- Peter May - Bass Guitar, 12-string Acoustic Guitar, Flute, Vocals.
- Dan Gibson - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals.
- Keith Young - Organ, Synthesizer, Harmony Vocals.
- Mike Jones - Drums, Tambourine.
Template:The Auximenes
