Voltaire was a project that took a while to get underway and still took even longer to finish once it did.  I had been toying with the idea of recording an album for some time, and after the sudden halt of Cry Havoc, the band of which I was part of for its short existence, I decided to actually do it.

 

I had compiled a repertoire of more than 120 original songs, and I wanted to do something with a few of them before they drifted off into oblivion.  So, I first set down a list of about 50 songs that I would consider recording for this project.  When I was finished, I had a list of 16 songs that I felt would work together on one disc.

 

My next task was to find a drummer that I would not only feel comfortable working with, but who didn't mind putting in the rehearsal and recording time without seeing any dollars (I was near broke, considering the studio fees I was looking at).  I started looking around but, to my dismay, found no one I thought would do justice to the material.

 

I was at a Falstaff gig at Waterside in Norfolk one Saturday evening, talking to Greg Wikle, a good friend and band mate of mine from Shane's Last Stand, Greater Good, and Cry Havoc.  While I was explaining to Greg my plan of recording and my lack of a drummer, Kenny Stamey, the skin man for Falstaff, overheard the conversation and jumped right in with, "I'd be honored to play drums on your CD, Phil."  That was that.

 

Kenny was a real trooper through the whole process, making time around his work schedule to practice and record.  He pulled all the strings to get us into Jon Best's studio that summer.  We were the first people to record there, so all of us felt like guinea pigs.

 

Once all the drum tracks were laid down, I recorded all of the bass tracks, followed by all of the acoustic guitar tracks, then all of the mandolin tracks, after which came all of the electric guitar tracks, next all the keyboard tracks, and finally all of the vocals.  After we had finished layering all of my parts in, Greg came into the studio and laid down a few lead tracks on his guitar.  Kenny came in and laid down some shaker and tambourine tracks, and my brother Zach and Alyssa Nierman laid down two vocal tracks for Tally-Ho. 

 

After Jon mixed all of the tracks together, I headed to Boston to have the damn thing mastered.  Kerri Meyer, a friend of mine from Virginia Wesleyan College, road with me up there, and boy what a journey it was.  I had been sick, and my anti-biotics were tearing my stomach in two on the way up.  Some how we survived that half of the trip, but I'm not sure how.  It is all still a blur to me.

 

The next evening I drove downtown to M-Works studios, but I got lost on the way.  Being lost in downtown Boston with your gas gauge on "E" is not very comforting.  I finally got to M-Works an hour and a half late, but they were very understanding about it.  After four hours of mastering the tapes, Voltaire was ready to be pressed and printed.

 

Track Break Down

 

Not Scared

Written: December 1991

 

I had just finished a phone conversation with a high school friend, Samantha Bears, about our relationships, or lack thereof, when I immediately picked up my guitar and hammered this song out.

 

Rain

Written: April 1995

 

Ah, April showers.  Need I say more?

 

July 27th

Written: July 27, 1996

 

A former girlfriend of mine, whom I had dated on and off for about 3 1/2 years, was wed on this day.  We had only said our last goodbye's 10 months before, so it scraped off part of the scab on my wounded being.  I actually took my guitar down to a fountain off Dam Neck Road, sat on a bench, and wrote this song in less than 15 minutes.  When I was finished, I felt the world move off of my shoulders.  It truly was a day of closure.

 

Full

Written: September 1992

 

Ironically enough, this song was written about the same person that inspired "July 27th."  Before we were "dating," she felt nervous singing in front of me.  I would always try to coax her into singing, especially in the car, but she stood her ground.

 

Another Time

Written: February 1992

 

I was going to college down in North Carolina.  A friend of mine needed to go see his girlfriend after a huge fight they had on the phone, but she was about an hour away.  I had a car; he didn't, so after accepting a few of his bribes, I drove him to her apartment.  Not wanting to stick around and hear them argue or, God forbid, make up, I went to a little watering hole down the street and waited for his call.  The song pretty much tells what happened in the meantime.

 

Peter and Paul

Written: January 1988

 

To believe or not to believe, that was the question.  I wrote this song sitting on the edge of my bed, trying to see everything through the eyes of someone who doesn't.  I'm not sure if that approach helped or not, but I like the song I got from it.

 

Storm in Me

Written: May 1995 

 

Therapy.  Truly, this song was therapy to help me get through another break up (though short-term, again), exams, and other ailments that seem so trivial 10 plus years later.

 

Preston's Homicide

Written: June 1995

 

I was talking to a long time friend and band mate of mine, Chris Sawyer, about women and such.  I had this thought that when a person doesn't at least try to make a move, they are killing not their chance, but what could eventually be.  So, I wrote a song about it.  I used the name Preston because I like the name, and my best friend in California is named Preston Brimhall.

 

Tally-Ho

Written: August 7, 1996

 

Ah, Peter Pan.  One of my favorite Disney Classics, it has influenced my song writing more than once.  I happened to be chilling out alone on my birthday, the tune popped in my head, and I strummed off to Never-Never Land for a while.

 

Marked Sold

Written: July 1996

 

Have you ever noticed that when you are available, no one seems to be interested?  However, when you are in a relationship, the offers come from all angles.  Well, I was in the mists of noticing this really well.

 

Ode to Jack Daniels

Written: November 1996

 

I was talking to a friend about her alcoholic father.  The tone of the conversation was sarcastic, but I noticed that the song seemed a little more serious.  Hence, I use the word ode in the title.  I was just trying to be a little sarcastic, guys.

 

Man of the Hour

Written: May 1988

 

I always liked this song, but I'm not sure why.  It was one of those songs that I just wrote the lyrics in a notebook during math class with no real inspiration or reason.

 

State of Mind

Written: July 1992

 

Flirting can get you in to trouble.  It got me into some trouble for sure.  "State of Mind" was written by combining a poem I was writing with a song I was writing at the same time, which happened to be during the flirtatious beginning stages of what would become my on again, off again relationship mentioned earlier.  I chose to add it to Voltaire because, due to its simplicity, I thought it would fit well.  I said that I would never play that song again after I recorded it, and I haven't to this day.

 

Sometimes You

Written: September 1997

 

I wrote "Sometimes You" sitting on the floor of my girlfriend's college dorm room.  What inspired it or sparked it, I cannot say, but it is one of my top ten favorite songs that I have written.  Kenny and I had recorded a song called "Cry Wolf," but I was not very happy with how it turned out.  I wanted to record "Sometimes You" as a replacement for it on the disc, but knew it was too late.  As luck would have it, Jon called me and said that "July 27th" needed to be re-recorded due to a snag with the tape.  Kenny and I threw down both tracks in one evening, so "Sometimes You" snuck its way on the disc.  It also became the first of my songs to get airplay.

 

?

At the time of recording, "Peter and Paul" was probably my most popular song.  I hade a few different versions, and I decided to use this one as a hidden track.  When I was having the disc mastered, Paul, the engineer thought that it might get "lost" as a hidden track.  He convinced me to make Voltaire a 15 song disc rather than a 14 song disc.