Cedric Warner Sparkman Drops New Single "Black Rabbit"
Kentucky-based alt-rock artist Cedric Warner Sparkman has just unveiled his groovy new single Black Rabbit. Loving those guitars and drums that give the track a postpunk groove to it. Black Rabbit is a glam-tinged confection of great harmonies, killer riffs, and gooey melodies. Stream this gem below!
Speaking about the song and its composition and production Cedric said,
The lyrics were selected more for the sound of the words than their meaning. I tried writing different lyrics later, but sometimes the first thing your sub-conscious pulls out of the hat works best.
The third section of the song was written first with Jason S. Matuskiewicz in April 2013. I had been wanting to do something with fast, jangly nervous chords, sort of like something by Wire. Jason and I worked out the bass part together, it gave it a warmth that brought to mind mid-eighties Bowie production.
The first section of the song was written next, three years later. I had an electric drum kit that had been sitting around, and I really wanted to use the most artificial snare sound it had, something that reminded me of 8-bit NES snare, or Martin Hannett's drum treatments. I really wanted to play with the space between the instruments instead of layering tons of tracks.
The second section was written last, and I wanted to use it to interject a little more movement in the chords and melody. When I tested out some lyrics, the vocals came out fragile and higher than I usually sing, so I thought a sort of Marc Bolan glam-thing would work. Justin Craig really made the best of this with his guitar arrangement of us trading off staccato licks.
I'd always loved 70's British glam, even though I never recorded anything in the style. The old theater student in me saw this as a good opportunity to visit a costume shop and then shoot a music video.
Cedric Warner Sparkman grew up in the small Eastern Kentucky town of Hazard. His grandfather was in The Kentucky Hilltoppers, and his father was the lead guitar player in The Cornerstones. He was involved in musical theater from age ten, which pushed his musical inclinations towards melody and drama instead of the grunge rawk and country music that his peers preferred. Listening to his father's Beatles records and his brother's Pet Shop Boys tapes only developed that interest further. He was a member of Great Went, Varsovia, and Candidate before striking out on his own with his first solo single, PSB.