About
About the Story:
Odiseo is a concept album, an oblique retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey with a Latino protagonist named Ulises Santiago. This modern version is set in North America spanning a period of time from 1975 to 2005. There are several references to other literary works as well. If you are interested in such things here is a partial list of literary allusions (although, technically, once you read this they will no longer be allusions, but will then magically transform themselves into references).
I am a fan of Umberto Eco, who makes frequent use of allusions in his works (such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum) and introduced me to the concept of intertextuality.
I had the idea early on for charting La Odisea in a visual way that also indicates the passage of time through the use of Google Maps, literally mapping Santiago’s journey by placing markers at key events (something I’m not aware of any other musician doing). For those of you who enjoy symbolism, be aware that the locations were NOT randomly chosen! Also, some actual locations were charted on the map (for instance The FBI Headquarters in Los Angeles). Most street addresses were picked solely because of their names, so do not take offense if an undercover FBI agent or a fictional drug dealer is shown living on your street – I have never actually been to LA, San Diego or Nogales, so the appropriateness and logicality of locations involved a lot of guesswork.
Another liberty I took was the creation of the motorcycle street gang the Dead Hand or los Mano Muerto. There is no such gang, so far as I know – I chose that name to represent a Dead Hand switch, a concept which Pazidon used with great effectiveness during his rise to power*.
Finally, although it is obvious, I will state that this work is a complete work of fiction, any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional.
*Even were Pazidon and his upper echelon to be assassinated, it was an accepted fact known to rival gangs that retaliation from his fanatical underlings would be swift and brutal. Although this is never actually mentioned anywhere, it is an example of Hemingway’s iceberg theory, wherein I purposefully omit important matters lurking beneath the surface, reporting only the facts crucial to the music’s storyline and concept. I do include many of these facts in the screenplay’s background, comments and annotations, because I feel the more information a director or actor has at his disposal strengthens them – enabling them to imbue their performance with a depth gleaned from sources of which the audience is unaware.
About the Music:
All of the music was written and recorded by Dave Ryder and Dan McHugh, very much as a collaborative effort. Here is a list of the instruments used on Odiseo:
Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Martin Acoustic, Takamine Acoustic, Gibson Grabber Bass, Fender Jazz Bass, Roland GR-30 Guitar Synth, Korg Triton, EMU Proteus, Hammond Organ, Korg M1, Harmonicas, Tama Drums and Zildjian Cymbals, LP congas and bongos, Mesa Boogie and Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Tube Amps. Vocals were usually an AKG c414 ran through a tube pre. The guitar FX include Boss pedals, Crybaby Wah Pedal and a Heil Talkbox.
Kent Hall plays drums on many of the tracks.
It was recorded using Adobe Audition 1.5 at my home studio, and at Dan’s home studio, we transferred files back and forth with flash drives. It was started in early April of 2008, the music was finished August 2010.
The voices interspersed throughout the album are recordings of numbers stations made by Simon Mason, who graciously allowed us to use them in this project. In our fiction, the numbers stations are the method by which Calypso remains in contact with her superiors – encrypted, secret messages that can only be deciphered with a one-time pad, making the code virtually unbreakable. If you desire to learn more about this very real phenomenon, Mason’s book about numbers stations is a fascinating read.
About the Art:
The artwork seen on this website is either in the Public Domain, or licensed under some type of Creative Commons license allowing us to use it. In every instance I credited the author, and attempted to contact them telling them about it’s inclusion on this site. If you are the author of a piece of art shown here and you don’t want it to be shown on this site, simply email me and I will take it down.
About the Website:
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