First release of 2023!

Right, so this was a long time coming, to say the least. According to FL, I started this project — get this — on the 14th of October 2022. And the history of this song starts even before then, so let me take you through how this came to be.

Before 12 June 2022 (any dates before that FL didn’t record), I was listening to Kansas and decided to make a sequel to it that I aptly named “Kansas 2.” This song was meant to take the things I liked about the original and update the rest. I made it to the drop with a dramatic buildup but never got around to actually starting to make anything past the intro. As a result, the project sat dormant for MONTHS until the aforementioned October 14, at which point I had finally conjured up the idea to use the classic dubsteppy synth Justish yet again (first time since Nevada by the way!).

I came up with the drop rhythm right then and there. It sounded really nice but didn’t fit the song at all, so I split it off into its own track. In my eyes, this is the ONLY real use of dubstep on this account (not counting Nevada or New Jersey). I actually leaned hard into it this time, letting it take the lead for extended periods of time.

I came up with a beginning melody that I specifically made to be layered on top of the synth, then proceeded to make this song slowly over the course of three months. I wasn’t dormant in the time between West Virginia and Utah; I was just doing like four projects at once, and with this release, my only project left is the finale.

I added in piano late into production because I wanted it to tie in more with North Dakota, a song that only gets good when the piano comes in. I’m not 100% satisfied with the way I used it here, but I do think it does its job well. Also I must say that this is the first time I have ever mixed based on the fact that the louder a section is, the more I’m going to have to turn down the whole track to compensate. As a result it’s better to quiet that section down to leave room for the rest, even at the sacrifice of volumetric impact. I’m also doing something similar for the finale. I think this new style really helped all the sections stand out, rather than just the most climactic.

That’s a very long description, sorry about that. Enjoy!

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