Mishkin Fitzgerald

✖️ H҉E҉X҉ ✖️ - a song like no other

Added 2023-02-28 21:57:00 +0000 UTC

Dear Demons,

February is drawing to a close. It's been a very full month, we've packed in so much to the last 28 days that I feel my battery is in need of a recharge... how are you all doing? Excited for the Spring? I am loving that extra bit of sunshine in the morning and the days getting longer and lighter.

It's hard to believe that over the last few weeks I launched my new project Mishkin Fitzgerald & The Chemical Perils with a brand new album and a party to celebrate. It feels good to finally have it out in the world and I can't thank you again for all the support - and an especially big shout out to Dietmar & Karen who flew over from Germany for the show, how to make a girl feel loved!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Reviews for the album are starting to trickle in, but this one might be my favourite.

Anyway, I am very glad to welcome March. The winter is never a good time for me - I feel the cold, I feel depressed and even though I'm always motivated to do things, it's hard to chase the feeling of pointlessness away from my head. The lack of social/outdoor activities makes me feel a bit disconnected from humanity and more inside my own head than normal. So yes, bring on the sun!

However, speaking of darkness... it can be a great space for writing and this song is probably the darkest place I have yet to go to, musically speaking. This song has been brewing for a long, long... long time.

✖️ H҉E҉X҉ ✖️

The Story

HEX unfolded before my eyes during the pandemic. Somehow I had begun playing a very fast piano pattern in 5/8 in F minor that just looped and looped and was really fun to play. The hands have to sit over each other in order to play it, making it one of the strangest "riffs" to come out of my weird little brain. It was Fun! I let it travel for a while to see where it would take off.

At the same time I had been reading a lot of old, occult books, including The Goetia of Dr Rudd - a fascinating translation of very old demonic symbols and some very far-out instructions on how to conjure them. If you're interested there is a wealth of information out there but the guy who explains it best is here. It's quite a beautiful book and the numerology of the system it describes appeals to my artistic side.

As with all my songs, it became apparent that this one would be heard by the world, and would not go away until it had been unleashed... or in this case "exorcised". I decided that this was probably along the same lines as Incitatus - completely bonkers but I had to just follow it and see where it would take me.

In the summer of 2020 I took it to Anna's house and told her the idea of a song that grew and grew, becoming more monstrous in each form. She took the idea and ran with it, forming some of the most astounding brilliant drum patterns I have ever heard. I think it also unsettled her, which is when I knew the song was on the right path.

Hana and I practically bled over the lyrics, they took soooo long. Not just to write but to sit in perfect syllables for each segment, the right harmony, the right sounds, the right timings... The latin bit especially took many forms before we finally found the right words. It's really a duet, oh and the cellos are masterful. If Opeth had been written for cello then this would be the song.

Weirdly enough, the guitars took shape pretty fast - I guess Garry was the only one in his comfort zone haha. It's very METAL and the riffs just keep coming.

I'm pretty chuffed with my death growls. I had to work hard to find them inside my body, so here is the sound of my darkest self in it's most pure form.

Three years later we have the final mix, slaved over by Evan Rodaniche. It's been a really big project, this one.

The music video is ridiculous. Just ask Simon how many hours/locations/costumes and he will shudder. It will be out next month, here. Don't go anywhere. Here are the...