SEEN/SAW PODCAST: A weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) song challenge podcast with Logan Sorese & Friends. Join me each wednesday as I make myself crazy and make dubious artistic choices!
The End
Week #50 | Dec 30, 2018 – folk
So, we’re done here. 50 songs, 1 year. That’s pretty shocking, but I learned a lot.
Cheers to 2019, I guess. There’s more in store.
An Upbeat Afterlife
Week #48 | Dec 18, 2018 – folk
This song happened twice. It was posted as week 21 – “A Happy Afterlife” – but I never loved it. Here’s another, totally different version that feels less smaltzy.
Real People Jobs
Week #47 | Dec 12, 2018 – folk
So, I’ve spent a lot of my time this year writing about work. Working too much, finding too little time for myself; all sorts of navel-gazing shit and it’s not cute. It can be cute if done well, but that’s rare.
So, mark this as the last one for a while. I’m making a pact to stop because I’ve done enough of that for a while.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Fanfare to a Perfect Set
Week #46 | Dec 5, 2018 – punk
No such thing as a perfect sound, don’t worry yourself too much.
Conservatively Dressed
Week #45 | Nov 28, 2018 – punk
This was recorded on the top level of the Treasure Island parking garage. It’s my secret place (I guess not anymore) that I can go and yell at any time because the ambient noise is pretty high on the strip anyway and a guy yelling isn’t the weirdest thing happening.
That One Where Seen/Saw Realizes that Absolutely Nothing Matters
Week #44 | Nov 21, 2018 – noise
I decided to finger paint instead of use a brush. Sometimes, I don’t want to clean my workstation, so let’s just make it messier.
One of the Lucky Ones
Week #43 | Nov 13, 2018 – ukulele
A friend of mine did a bad thing. A very bad thing. This song is me, I think, trying to sort out how I feel about it. Enjoy.
Also, my adjusted goal is 50 songs by New Years. Then this project is OVER. 7 more and then I’M FREE, BABY.
Dear Camera, I Wish to be Tall
Week #42 | Nov 4, 2018 – punk
“Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.”
― Neil Postman
Holy Ghost
Week #41 | Oct 26, 2018 – folk
Happy Nevada Day? Ne-vah-da. Ne-vaa-duh. I’ll never be a local.
Enjoy this week’s song, featuring James Ingram.
Oh, Susanna!
Week #40 | Oct 17, 2018 – punk
40 weeks in? There are 40 songs on this website? What kind of crazy horseshit is that?
Anyway, this is a song about unrequited love, I think. The person this song is talking to is probably not having a great time or totally knows how to get out of this situation. Glad I’m not them.
Lucy Rose
Week #39 | Oct 9, 2018 – ballad
This song is for a person I haven’t met yet and for the two wonderful people who will give that mystery person a home. Too opaque? Rachel and Bryan are having a baby and it’s amazing. They’re going to be great and imperfect and just what the doctor ordered. I know it.
This is also the first song recorded from my new house. This is the house where we’ll bring home a kid of our own someday. Life is strange, y’all. Enjoy.
This is NPR
Week #38 | Oct 1, 2018 – metal
When I write music, I forget about everything else. There are very few things that do this to me; not even meditation most of the time (Sorry, Goenkaji). It’s a miracle in my life that I’m able to do this without trying too hard. Some would say that means I should try harder, but you know, I like that’s it’s a miracle. If I try too hard, it becomes a job. But I want it to be a goddamned miracle.
This is a metal song, a la The Chariot. Enjoy.
The Compassionate Bug Catcher
Week #37 | Sep 23, 2018 – ballad
“Faith is not superficial or sentimental. It doesn’t say everything will turn out all right, according to our wishes. Life is not likely to deliver only pleasant events. Faith entails the understanding that we don’t know how things will turn out. Faith allows us to claim the possibility that a helping hand will reach out to us. Have faith in our own innate goodness and capacity to love.” – Sharon Salzburg
Grow Your Hair Out
Week #35 | Sep 9, 2018 – punk
Not much to say except this track has a surprise midway. So, make sure to listen the whole way. Enjoy.
Cute Girl, Dead Squirrel
Week #34 | Sep 4, 2018 – rock
Mornin’ everyone. Hope you had a good labor day, I sure did. Here’s song #34, which is still wild that I’m saying I’ve written 34 songs this year.
This track is about working too hard for no benefit. Still trying to find that work-life balance.
First Person View
Week #33 | Aug 26, 2018 – folk
I went on the retreat. It was difficult and wonderful and I need more of it in my life, but for now I need to sleep.
This song was written in my head over the span of the retreat, scribbled, once again, on contraband paper – maybe on next year’s retreat I’ll actually follow the rules and not hide a notebook.
JonBenet, John Stamos, John 3:16
Week #32 | Aug 19, 2018 – punk
Another week, another song. I’m losing gusto, y’all. Not just with songs, but with everything in general. I’m working a lot, running a lot, recording a lot and generally just doing a lot. That’s a good thing, normally, but I’ve been really prone to burnout this year. This is my 4th or 5th burnout this year, which can’t be good for my heart.
I’m going to a 5 day meditation retreat this week to serve and share my love of meditation by cooking good vegan food and cleaning bathrooms. I can’t complain because someone did the same for me earlier this year. So, hopefully meditating 3 hours a day for a couple of days will do me a lot of good.
Life is Strange
Week #31 | Aug 11, 2018 – ballad
“That’s why we’ll always love you, Yankee Rose.”
This song has been brewing a while, but I finally got it out of me this week. I’m doing some gear selling/buying in the next few weeks, so I’ll probably be doing a lot more acoustic pieces for the rest of the month. I’ll try to make it worth your while.
Losing You
Week #30 | Aug 4, 2018 – punk
This week’s been weird. I’m working a lot and running a lot, but all I want to do is write music. Music didn’t feel that way last year; it felt like a thing I did for fun. Now it feels like it runs my life – possibly in a good way. Send my music to your friends, I wanna quit my job.
Anyway, this is an old noise track given new life. Also, inexplicably, about heaven’s gate. I’m gettin’ very cult-y lately.
True Compass
Week #29 | Jul 28, 2018 – punk
This track is going up late because I went on a roadtrip with some friends this week. We’ve known each other since we were kids; we went to shows; broke hearts; and somehow ended up together still. Each of us have changed in a bunch of ways and stayed exactly the same in others. It’s always interesting to see what time does to people.
“True Compass” is about using power to do damage to others even though you know it’s a bad move. I have violent tendencies – anyone who knows me knows that – but I’m doing everything I can to keep that from being the only thing about me.
Magnolium by GIMP
Week #28 | Jul 17, 2018 – metal
I can almost guarantee this song is not for you. This is a song for a cover album of the band GIMP that’s been delayed for literal years. It may never come out. Magnolium is, for sure, the worst song on the album, so I decided to do the the worst cover of it. It’s kind of like The Chariot, but if Josh Scogin wasn’t Christian and more disappointing.
Free Knitting Class Pt 2.
Week #27 | Jul 11, 2018 – folk
Pt. 2 of Free Knitting Class came sooner than I thought. These words have been in the back of my head for a while, but it took a good therapy session this week and a lot of shitty hands of fate to make them make sense. I’m halfway through this project and I’m not any closer to knowing what the fuck I’m supposed to be doing.
Free Knitting Class Pt 1.
Week #26 | Jul 4, 2018 – punk
Happy Anniversary, America. Chill out with the illegal fireworks. Anyway, here’s Part 1 of “Free Knitting Class”.
A Healthy Appetite
Week #25 | Jun 27, 2018 – pop
I started seeing a therapist this week for the first time in a couple of years. He’s solid; just as good as my previous one, which are big shoes to fill. I was struck by how similar seeing a therapist is to agreeing to be eaten by a german cannibal. You meet a stranger who you’ve only talked to over email; you sign a couple of contracts; and then you spill your guts despite having no common history.
So, that’s what this song is about getting eaten by a cannibal/seeing a therapist and being unsure if you’re doing the right thing or if it’s all in your head. Enjoy!
We Have Choices
Week #24 | Jun 19, 2018 – folk
I read a book this week called “Girlfriend in a Coma” and I’m still reeling from finishing it. It kinda fucked my brain in ways I wasn’t expecting – despite it being written by my favorite author, Douglas Coupland.
Anyway, this has been a hard week. I promise after this week I’m gonna stop navel-gazing, but it’s all I wanted to write this week. Anyway, enjoy.
Disappointing, but Sexy
Week #23 | Jun 13, 2018 – punk
Hello! I really wanted to make a hardcore song this week, but all I could come up with was this sweet funk lick. Soooo, I used it anyway.
This song is about an acquaintance who is obsessed with partying, fame, and living a glamorous lifestyle even if, admittedly, it means dying young and alienating people. This song is not so much about their life, but imagining what my life would look like if I decided to live that way.
The Wasatch Mountains
Week #22 | Jun 8, 2018 – folk
I was on vacation this past week with my grandparents and it was wonderful and tiring and exactly what my heart needed. This is a song I wish I had written on a week where I had more time. More time to record; more time to edit; more time for anything other than a one-shot recording and no additional instrumentation, but that’s the name of this game. There’s totally supposed to be a harmonica solo during the whistling solo.
This song is about The Oregon Trail and it feels like a campfire song that that one Scoutmaster would sing at Goshen Scout Camp. I just got the handheld version of the game and it’s all I did on the flight home. Enjoy!
A Happy Afterlife
Week #21 | May 29, 2018 – Ambient
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the process of doing this project, it’s that I’m learning to love my flaws. Or at least tolerate them. I’m not a natural born poet or a great singer. I’m not a trained anything; I’m a guy with an interest in getting better at music. I don’t want to be famous, I just don’t want to die having given up on the one thing I liked the most.
I wrote this song twice. The first time it was a weirdly fast folk song and I didn’t like where it went. Maybe I’ll release that later this year as an addendum. Anyway, enjoy.
Shania by Wisdom Tooth
Week #20.5 | May 25, 2018 – cover
This is a song that I’ve had in mind to cover for a while. This is by a San Francisco based artist named “Wisdom Tooth” who I was addicted to one summer in 2013. I listened to their music non-stop and became the soundtrack of my senior year. This song has always stuck with me because I grew up in a country music household and it describes my relationship to my family better than I probably could.
So, this song goes out to Meagan Day; thanks for the music.
Dance Party!!!
Week #20 | May 23, 2018 – ska
This song has been floating around in my life for a while, but it’s gotten new meaning since moving to Las Vegas. I’ve never been a partier; in college I never went to bars unless there was a show that night. In Las Vegas, I’ve been to the most incredible, well-produced night clubs in the world and I realllllly hate them. They always strike me as sad in a way I can’t place; it’s probably because I feel out of place at them and can’t imagine enjoying them in earnest.
This song is NSFW, it has naughty words and suggestive content. So, bear that mind.
Dirty Uncle Sal
Week #19 | May 16, 2018 – pop
The title is from Grey’s Anatomy; Meredith is scolding Izzie for ignoring Karev because he cheated on her (spoilers, sorry, but, like, Karev sucks). She says “He’s Dirty Uncle Sal. Who embarrasses everyone at family reunions, and who can’t be left alone with the teenage girls, but you invite him to the picnic anyway.”
Sometimes an idea arrives to you fully furnished and meaningful and other times you rip and scratch at your brain to, like, do something useful. This one is the latter. Hope you enjoy!
Crystal's Birthday Party
Week #18 | May 9, 2018 – folk
Another week, another song and this week is no different; there’s a new song. A ukulele song to be specific.
This song goes out to my high school self. That misguided misanthropist who stepped over bodies and heartbreak to get what he wanted. May he rot in hell.
All Purpose Machine
Week #17 | May 2, 2018 – folk
I was born with a stutter, so my parents put me in the church choir classes to learn how to breathe. I bet I wanted to as well, but they pushed me because the doctors said it would help. If I didn’t have a stutter, I would have never written a song; I would have never been in a choir; I would have never met my partner. That stutter has plagued me my whole life and, you know, I’d choose music and love over the ability to comfortably approach strangers in Safeway.
My partner always says I’m bad with change, but I think I’m bad at decision-making . Should I do this thing or that thing or change careers or keep the one I got or become a vegetarian or try keto. I’m just trying shit right now and, you know, it hasn’t gone too badly.
This song was written in the last 24 hours, enjoy.
Go West, Die Young
Week #16 | Apr 25, 2018 – folk
This song was written last year after a friend died. They died suddenly, unexpectedly, and it was a shock when it happened. This week is the 1 year anniversary of their death and I’ve been kind of saving this song for this week.
They weren’t the kind of friend who I kept up with often or went and got coffee when we crossed paths. They were the kind of person that just knowing they existed on this planet was more than enough. They moved away from home, out west, around the same time I did and we spent a lot of time talking about how different it was out here and how nice it was to get away from it all. I wish they were still around; the world needs more good people.
This one goes out to C. I love you and miss you.
Frankly, My Dear
Week #15 | Apr 18, 2018 – noiserock
Return to form! Still kinda sick, but it’s getting better every day. This week, I decided to leave it all on the court and write my first, legit, noise rock song. I listen to a lot of noise rock; The Paper Chase, Dananananaykroyd, Dismemberment Plan, Future of the Left. These bands redefined what rock could sound like; it can be tonally unreasonable and beautiful.
So, disclaimer; this song has a lot of screaming. If that’s not your thing, still give it a listen, keep an open mind.
Colder Than Your Balcony
Week #14 | Apr 11, 2018 – punk
Sometimes, things conspire to make sure you’re not on your game. Work, travel, friends, sickness, or just lack of energy; any of those can knock you off your pedestal. It’s possible that I’ve experienced all of these roadblocks this week and I’m still here, albeit a little haggard.
I’m writing this with a fever and a 3 and half hour drive ahead of me and I’m pretty wrecked. So, enjoy this track despite it’s flaws. Back to form next week, I hope! Enjoy.
(With all that said, there is a redesign, so that’s something!)
Take Rest
Week #13 | Apr 4, 2018 – punk
Week 13? Week 14? Hard to say because I missed last week for legitimately wonderful reasons. I took a 10 day silent meditation retreat via dhamma.org and I’d suggest it to basically anyone with an interest in meditation. It was difficult – incredibly difficult – but so wonderful and catalyzing.
So, this song was written in my mind during last week, scribbled on contraband scraps of paper in between sessions. I hope you like it!
Ducks
Week #12 | Mar 20, 2018 – ukulele
Week 12! I will be missing next week due to a trip, I’ll think about how to handle that, but I think I want to do some kind of punishment. Maybe covering a terrible song.
But this one is dear to my heart and a sort of lullaby for myself. Enjoy!
Beating, Beating, Beating
Week #11 | Mar 14, 2018 – punk
This track is really, really simple and I like it that way. I got bogged down this week on how to record songs well, with drums, bass and three part harmony and it drove me crazy before realizing I didn’t have to do any of that. Sometimes simple is good.
This song is kind of negative, but it was also pretty cathartic to record. I’m going on a meditation retreat next week, so I’m spending a lot of time thinking about the thing that is me and who I want to become. I’ll get there, just like you.
Speaking of retreat, not sure how I’m going to release the track next week since I’ll be gone. It may be released before or after, but I won’t miss a week, I promise you that.
Real Men Hunt in Packs
Week #10 | Mar 7, 2018 – rock
Week 10! And it figures this is the first one that I’m a day late.
This one was written this week because I wanted something funky. Not saying I know how to be funky, but this song is kinda funky – in more ways than one. Enjoy!
In the Words of Delaney Tarr
Week #9 | Feb 27, 2018 – rock
I remember getting out of rehearsals for the Gershwin play “Crazy for You” when I got a text from my mom telling me there was a shooting at Virginia Tech. I was 16, a year from applying to college and getting shot was the last thing on my mind in a rural hometown. Now, years later, it’s only gotten worse and I had completely given up on it ever getting fixed – that is until these kids from Florida started talking. This is the first time, in my memory, that students have been taken seriously in this conversation and it makes me so, so thankful.
I’ve spent this entire project talking for myself, thought I’d try on what it’d feel like to give someone else a chance to speak. Thanks, enjoy, call your representatives. I just did.
My Baby
Week #8 | Feb 21, 2018 – ukulele
I used to write a lot of ukulele children’s music in college and played them before punk shows. I got a kind response, but I’m sure they had no idea what to do with me playing ukulele songs about alligators and dance parties.
This was written about a month ago in my car while waiting for a nail appointment. The nails didn’t turn out well, but I think the song did. Enjoy!
Millennial Freelancer Blues
Week #7 | Feb 14, 2018 – punk
Happy Valentines Day, everyone! And as a gift, I’ve provided a 35 second hardcore punk song with a lot more screaming than some of you will want. Enjoy!
Who Loves You?
Week #6 | Feb 7, 2018 – folk
Hello! This is old shit turned new shit; there’s a bad version of this from 6 years ago on an old, abandoned soundcloud that was about something completely different, I changed words and structure and here we are.
This song goes out to my parents who raised me when I was younger and still raise me now. Thanks for everyone’s support, hope you enjoy!
Rose
Week #5 | Jan 31, 2018 – folk
This is an old song; a rare old-song gem that doesn’t completely embarrass me. I wrote it in Pittsburgh in 2014 at 2am, alone in my apartment, for a band that broke up a few weeks after learning how to play it. This one has some yelling over acoustic instruments which is so like me, I know.
This week marks the end of a full month of doing this nonsense and, you know, it ain’t getting easier, but it’s getting more fun.
I also got some rad new gear this week that should prove useful going forward and you can hear on this song. So, hopefully the quality is better despite the song quality being dubious.
Enjoy!
Hold Your Breath
Week #4 | Jan 23, 2018 – piano
Sometimes you make a song and you think it’s about one thing until you play it for a crowd. Earlier this week, I played this song at my weekly open mic and I got an emotional reaction from someone I admire greatly. Someone who treats art with the utmost respect and I love them so dearly and I aspire to be more like them. So, this song goes out to that person; you know who you are.
This song has piano, which is new for me. In general, I’m not good at it, but I can keep time and make things happen if I figure out chords and go from there.
Shapeshifter
Week #3 | Jan 15, 2018 – rock
This is the first public week of Seen/Saw so thanks to all the listeners tuning in for the first time! This is a track I wrote and recorded in Detroit with Jon Marsh on Drums.
Thanks (Cloud Cult cover)
Week #3.5 | Jan 14, 2018 – cover
Woke up with a song in my head, gonna get it out. Cloud Cult got me out of a huge funk this year and I’ve become an evangelist for their music. It’s beautiful and corny and wonderful and everything I want out of a band.
How Odd, How Suspect
Week #2 | Jan 7, 2018 – folk
I’ve spent a lot of time this year volunteering with a hospice. It’s an odd gig. Sitting in with people who are dying in the next six months. They know their days are numbered and they have an opportunity to make peace with that. Some do, some don’t, some are massively depressed, and some act like nothing is different. It’s made me realize that I want to know I’m dying. I don’t want it to be sudden, I want to know it’s name and follow it through.
This song has been brewing for a while and I’m happy with the way it came out. It’s kind of a sleepy one. Enjoy.
Let Me In
Week #1 | Jan 1, 2018 – punk
Ahem. Is this thing on? Welcome to Week #1. This week’s song is called “Let Me In” and I’m trying to not be overly precious about it. I say “try” because I’m fighting an intense urge to go back and edit it right now or re-record vocals or scrap this entire idea. But that’s exactly why I’m uploading as is.
