Right when Daniel Paiken took leave of Soul Plane early September of ’07, Gideon took over the lead guitar position and Patrick filled what used to be Gideon’s shoes as a bassist. We also made moves to take Kevin off the keyboard completely so that he could focus his attention on being a rhythmic counterpart to Gideon’s lines. This near-complete renovation of our roster and their respective positions brought a change to our sound that no one could have foreseen.
First came the funk, then came the groove. Suddenly, the music had a vibe, a tone, a definition, an ambiance, a direction. Considering the fact that Aaron (drums) and I were the only two members of the band that were left untouched in the whole cabinet shuffle, Soul Plane was pretty much re-building the music from scratch. Patrick joined us armed with a jazz/blues background, so the basslines started really hitting hard, giving a lot more strength to the songs. Gideon’s guitar playing is very soulful-bluesy by nature, and the songs he composed (“Welcome to T-Dot City,” “Funk With It,” “Impossible”) are all powerfully energetic with driving, often-distorted riffs.
All these turning points in the musical direction of our band took place as Blythe was leaving Toronto for her first year of university at Queen’s, in Kingston, a city three hours away. As we parted ways, I wondered if we would be able to deal with the looming reality of our vocalist having to spend eight months out of the year, for the next four years (the time it would take to finish her undergrad program), three hours away from where Soul Plane band practices are held. I had faith, though, that Blythe would be able to keep up with the music, despite the incredibly fast pace at which we pumped our tracks out.
As a result of this faith, Kevin and I invested in a four-track mixer that we said we would use to record rough mixes of new songs to send to Blythe via email, so that she in turn could use them to practice or to write lyrics with. In addition to all this, Blythe assured us that she would come home one weekend a month for practices. Over the school year, however, I was hardly able to get in touch with Blythe once a month to find out if she was even coming home that particular month – whether it was by calling, text-messaging, MSN, Facebook, or email, communication between Soul Plane and Blythe was at an all-time low. I’d have to be mentally challenged to think she would have time to write to new riffs or practice on her own.
After the Black Box recording sessions and one or two practices together throughout the year (we were far from achieving the once-a-month practices we were hoping to get with Blythe after school started), it became apparent that Blythe’s voice and Soul Plane’s instrumentation had parted ways. As well trained as she is, as well practiced as she is, Blythe’s vocal background is in classical/opera and because of this, her graceful, melodic soprano voice lacked the power that Soul Plane now needed. Paiken’s leave prompted a metamorphic change for Soul Plane; we revamped our sound, and because Blythe wasn’t physically present for much of these changes, she was by default excluded in the adaptation process everyone else underwent.
In short, the distance between us had finally taken its toll, and although her absence did make our hearts grow fonder (even if it was for no reason other than the fact that practices sounded simply shitty without a vocalist), we had our music to think about… Blythe had to go. There was just no way any member of the band could spend eight months out of the year away from everything and come back in and fit right… and there was no way Soul Plane would be willing to rinse and repeat what we dealt with (no vocalist = take forever for vocal lines to be recorded for demo = we never get shows because Conor has nothing to promote us with because the demo’s never coming out = no one knows/cares what we’re about = low band morale = shitty vocal-less practices = band dilapidation = homelessness) over the winter season this year for the next three years, which is exactly the time it’d take for Blythe to get her degree. That’s plain nutty.
I want to make it clear right now to everyone that Blythe’s de-boarding from Soul Plane is no reflection on her skills and talents as a singer, or her personality as a friend. She is hands-down one of the best singers I’ve ever worked with as well as one of the most dedicated and flexible people I’ve ever met. Blythe literally, single-handedly screwed on the final bolt that first became Soul Plane: when Kevin played his riff for “Fly” on the piano that first night, and she came with her rendition of the chorus, we knew we had something magical that we had to hold onto at all costs. She’s what made me stick with Soul Plane in the first place (I’ve always felt that female vocalists are the shit and often so necessary in a band). People will continue to hear her, if on nothing else on my solo work where the beat calls for a Mariah Carey rather than a Fergie or a Mary J. Blige. Any rapper/vocalist, band, producer, label should feel so lucky to work with her; I know I did. This move was strictly business, and I think Blythe is smart enough to realize and accept the fact that this was inevitable. It’s just not reasonable to try to force a square peg into a circular slot, but give Blythe a square slot where’s she’ll fit proper and watch what the girl does with it – it’ll fuck you right up.
