Robert James

The First Day

My plan for the 2009 RPM Challenge was to get up a couple of hours early every day and take care of business before the business day started. I didn't want to take any time away from the family so... (more)

Underground

One of three songs with lyrics written about my RPM 2009 strategy. Something about this song appeals to me. I think it's my favorite one out of the ten.

Early morning
no sun in the... (more)

Pathway

Just a dumb rocker. I like those now and then. The lyrics were pulled from two discarded ideas. One is about being nuts about my fiancé, the other... I have no idea. Donald Fagen maybe? No clue.(more)

Follow the Leader

The riff was inspired by an electronic device that has two speeds. I kept switching back and forth and listening to the hum popped this into my head. The lyric was supposed to be George W Bush... (more)

I Belong Here

FAWM suggested we write something with time signature changes. I wanted to try it without messing with the 8 beat format I use to program my drum machine. This piece of crap was the result. I didn... (more)

Gee

Volume pedal plus digital delay equals drone.

come to me I love you
be with me for always

Come Along With Me

My attempt at a 12-bar non-blues. Did it work? eh. The lyrics represent the first time in my life when I can write a love song and not feel like a liar.

somethings you can't control... (more)

You Cost Us Too Much

Beginning to run low on ideas. I went back to my standard add-a-minor-seventh-to-every-chord gimmick. As for the lyrics, I wrote them on NHL trade deadline day and couldn't believe my Bruins... (more)

Never Again

I had more or less run out of ideas so I tried noodling in drop D tuning and this is the result. I almost like this. Not quite though. The lyrics are nonsense.

over flow and over blown... (more)

Face the Day

This was supposed to be a 3+ minute fade out to end the album, but I was too lazy to do it so I just let it play. The rhythm guitar is my original scratch track, note the screw up in the last verse... (more)

Four Walls

"Four Walls" is the oldest song of the bunch. It was written early in 1992. I had been working with a drummer friend of mine for a while during the Fall 1991 semester. We'd get together once every few... (more)

Stupid Punk Song #1

"Stupid Punk Song" is... well... stupid. I woke up one morning and the entire song, lyrics and all, was stuck in my head. I let it rattle around for a few days before putting it down on my new... (more)

Mall Rat Blues

"Mall Rat Blues" was written by Prime Meridian in 1997. It was the 2nd song we wrote. It was also the first song we dropped. I don't think we ever played it live. It's stupid and boring, but I have... (more)

Vanishing Point

"Vanishing Point" was an attempt to force myself to write a full song. I had been playing in Break Even for about a year and found myself completely unable to write music. I had just set up a nice... (more)

Prime Meridian - Overexposed

One of our attempts at an actual demo. The lyrics are about being completely sick of the constant media coverage of the OJ Simpson trial. It was topical at the time I wrote it. Not so much anymore.

Prime Meridian - Instinct

One of our attempts at an overdubbed demo. It doesn't work. There is actually a couple of bars missing after the first verse. We had no isolation and no monitors when we recorded it so... (more)

Prime Meridian - Halloween

A holiday song. If I remember it came together in about 5 minutes. We started noodling on some goofy little riff and before we knew it the song was complete. It's been a long time, but... (more)

Prime Meridian - Blink of an Eye

This was a rehearsal. We called the song Mega-Closer because we used to sit on the last chord for about a week at a time. I liked the little instrumental riff, and I loved the dynamic changes. Otherwise the song is kinda hokey, but I still like it.

Prime Meridian - Accidently

A very sloppy attempt at a demo. We all liked this song a lot back then. Now that I listen to it again I can't figure out why. Enjoy!

Break Even - Black Mark (Live)

A live take of a song from the band's first record. I recorded this onto my 8-track right off the board. I had versions from two shows. One show had the band playing well but my leads... (more)

Break Even - Suicide

Steve Wyka wrote this one and played the leads. I added the lame little harmony parts at the end because I am a soloing whore and just needed to do something with this song.

Break Even - The Sun

One of those songs that I wrote ages ago that everyone wants to play.

Break Even - Four Walls

This recording came out absolutely terrible. Where'd the cymbals go? I knew I had them here a minute ago. Sorry about that guys, I totally dropped the ball on this one. Fitting seeing... (more)

Break Even - Turn Away

Steve Wyka, our other guitarist, wrote this one. He spent a ton of time on the leads trying to get the sound just right. The 12-string was my idea. Surely the most mileage I've ever gotten out of 6 notes.

Break Even - The Right Place

Bassist Dave Gammon wrote most of this one. I added the little 2 bar break in the middle of the verses and some how ended up with a writing credit. This is the best song of the bunch... (more)

Break Even - The Irony of it All

Steve's drop D grunge rocker mixed with Jeff's great lyric. This song and the title track make the whole experience worthwhile for me. Jeff played the drums on this one and tore it a new one. He is the King.

Thursday

Written during Spring Break 2001. Can you guess which day it comes from? The lyric is about how I was on day 4 and had already run out of ideas. Kinda typical.

Blink Your Eye

Early Prime Meridian song, also known as "Mega Closer" as we used to stretch out the ending in huge Rock fashion.

A Matter of Time

Written while working at Northeast Broadcasting School. Started out as a piano/bass/drums groove and sort of evolved into this forgettable number. The lyrics took about 4 seconds to write.

The Sun

Written at Northeast Broadcasting School as an experiment in replacing recorded sounds with samples. It was played pretty much as is by Prime Meridian in about '99 or '00 or so. It was heavily reworked... (more)

Photograph

Written during a spring break writing experiment in 1999. Write one song a day. I did it pretty easily. This is about a photo of my grandmother that I saw at her wake in 1998.

Something New

Originally written in my bedroom in 1992 or so. Later rewritten and played by Prime Meridian from 1998-2000. It was basically forgotten about until I found it on a tape in 2004 and brought it out for Break Even.