Thunder & Snow by Speed the Plough

There were long stretches of weeks into months last year when the notion of getting together to record was just out of the question. We found a workaround when it came to long distance vocals, guitars, and other solo parts. But there was really no way to facilitate remote recording of drum parts. So John started working with drum loops, which were the launching point for this song.

It was a gradual building process, starting with John’s organ, synth and bass parts. A while later, Toni did multi-tracking of vocal parts, then the sax stabs, and finally a “weird little flute.” During the winter, Michael started adding guitar parts, culminating in the wah-wah ending. John’s vocal, the lyrics of an unfinished song, were added on a last minute impulse.

We held on to the song for months, in case we ran into a blip in the monthly release schedule. And that’s exactly what happened. So here’s the penultimate song in the “Before & After Silence” series. A strictly in-house endeavor.

Speed the Plough is a New Jersey-based chamber pop band that has been playing since 1984. The band was formed by John & Toni Baumgartner and Marc Francia, the founders of The Trypes, a mainstay of the ’80s Hoboken scene, which included most members of The Feelies. STP has released 9 full-length albums (Coyote, ESD, Dromedary, and Bar-None), a single on French label Acetone, and a self-released EP.

speedtheplough.com