How "Emulator" Was Written

this song started with a slinky little bassline i came up with while recording smoke & scowl. i was like, ‘ooh…’ and dragged it to the side, knowing I’d do something with it later. later eventually came, and this little demo arrived so naturally. some basslines just pull something outta ya. i knew i was going for a mild ‘halloween’ vibe on this one. i was very intrigued with doing a vocal melody that was super stuttery and rhythmic.

the fuller version came when i recorded these chords for the chorus, but after recording them, aaron and i actually thought they were going to be instrumental sections. i knew that if there were going to be words, they were going to be sparse - and i think that’s how it ended up working out. one thing to note is that the piano that got added to this song was pretty serendipitous - aaron pulled up a piano patch in logic just to check the notes of what i had written, and in copying the bassline we both thought the sound was so cool, so i went home and added a piano of my own.

my guitar playing, all throughout college, was characterized as ‘sassy’. i absolutely loved being somewhat known for that. this riff felt like something i would totally go ham on in my college band, ‘strange appeal.'