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clachnaben) wrote2019-09-13 02:24 pm
Down This Road (PK/Carey Fanmix) - Annotated
I wanted to try out a new take on fanmixes, and also I was thinking a lot about PK/Carey at the time, and started working on something experimental where I mixed found sounds and songs together in a single track, instead of making a playlist. It was really fun, and challenging, and I really enjoyed it, but it was a long process with a lot of thought into it, and I wanted to take the chance off-AO3 to make an annotated post about the project, with links to all the found sounds etc. So this is that!
One thing I loved about the found sounds, interviews, game broadcasts, and instagram videos was that it really helped me define the narrative I wanted the fanmix to take, and helped with the storytelling though sound and music, which was a really fun element of it. The process of finding specific sounds, whether that was finding PK's first NHL goal, or listening to tons of sportsnet coverage to find the right level of despair about Carey's bad years, was definitely long and arduous at points, but it was really fun, and I definitely collected way more content than I needed. I also think it works well in hockey where the sport and teams produce so much ephemera, so much content, that preserving it and including it in the narrative was really fun. For each "track" I've included a link to the source material, and some reasoning behind why I chose it/some background.
The cover came together much faster than the rest of the mixtape, but was still a lot of work, and I made a lot of alternates, with different backgrounds/positioning of PK & Carey/colour schemes/fonts until I settled on this. The background is actually a photograph of the Montreal sky at sunset (I got it off flickr). Carey is actually flipped from the original picture, and I had to do some creative layering/shading with the number on his shoulder to make it look the right way around. I don't think you can notice I've done that if you don't know, but if you look for it you can definitely see that the shadow on the number doesn't make visual sense. A fantastic image editor I am not, but here's your look behind the curtain.
Track Listing:
Carey Price annouced 2005 draft
This is Carey getting drafted 5th overall, the start of his NHL career. PK and Carey were actually drafted in the same draft, but PK was drafted later, and there's no video of it, so the audio start is just Carey getting drafted. This was probably my most obvious pick, and the clearest piece of found audio to find, because I knew I wanted to start it all "at the beginning" so to speak.
Hey Look Ma, I Made It - Panic! At The Disco
I waffled back and forth between High Hopes and this song, but settled for this one in the end, because I think it made the most sense to start with, and communicated the idea of this portion of the mix, which is that they've made it to the NHL, they're riding high, they're doing great together.
Also one of more obvious picks. I wanted to include PK's first goal, especially since there's no audio of him getting drafted, and I liked the voice over on this as part of the story setting, especially the line "Subban! the 20 year old!"
PK & Carey celebrate overtime goal
You can't quite be sure of it in the audio, but this is a video of PK and Carey celebrating together, and doing a hip check, which is why you hear the voice over "not only can he stop pucks he can hit as well". It's a really sweet moment of Carey and PK's friendship caught on camera, and I couldn't not include it.
I love this song so much, and I wanted to use it for the happy period, a time of being in love, especially for the line you know it's love heading your way, cause it makes it feel very true to that period of time at the beginning of a romance when everything's fluttery and happy and exciting. I conceptualised of this as more of a song at Carey, or as part of his internal monologue.
Let's make love in the summertime is just such a beautiful line, and the way Beyonce sings it always makes me feel like I can see an intense summer romance unfolding in front of me. I think of this as a "let's make hay while the sun shines" kind of song, like PK/Carey being in love, and enjoying it while they have it. That's a big reason I included the next three found audios as well, since they're all about success, and being at the top of your game.
PK & Carey combine for the save
PK Subban gives the crowd something to talk about
A save of substance from Carey Price
Three clips in quick succession from game footage. The first is one where Carey stops a shot, and then scrambles in a scrum and PK dives in to prevent the rebound. It's a fun clip. The next two are highlights from PK scoring, and Carey's saves that had good audio - I wanted some clips to emphasise their success, and the idea of "riding high".
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to include King Kunta. When it first came out I listened obsessively for weeks, and I especially wanted to include the lines Bitch, where you when I was walkin'? / Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin' / King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him / Kunta, black man taking no losses, oh yeah. Obviously the American experience of race in the USA is different than the Canadian experience of race, but I wanted to include a song that spoke to the experience of being a black man, of success and the consequences of succeeding as a black man in a world dominated by the power of male whiteness. King Kunta is really fundamentally a song about that - about success, and that you can never sit easy, but also have to be willing to defend what you've won.
Soft Stud - Black Belt Eagle Scout
I first heard Black Belt Eagle Scout on All Songs Considered, actually on this specific song, and they read out a statement from them about their music, and it mentioned how they made music about the experience of being a "indigenous queer feminist" in a world where that is difficult or painful. Soft Stud is mostly a song about loss, and growing apart, and longing, but I wanted to include a song by an indigenous artist, and this song fit really well into this part of the mixtape, the kind of "turning" point where the success of the early songs turns towards the loss, the longing, the struggle, of the latter half. I like how the song is repetitive (I need you I want you), and the simple music. You should check Black Belt Eagle Scout out.
I waffled over including this, but I really liked the chorus Up and down, it all comes back around / Push and shove, do you feel better now? / Knock, knock, knock, you'll come tumblin' down / Karma's got a kiss for you and Lipa's kind of mournful crooning between verses, and the line Do you feel complete?. The song feels like a really honest post-mortum of a fight with a partner, and I think it worked well for the idea of PK & Carey disagreeing, arguing, the feeling of not having enough space for two people in your life.
I love this song. The tempo is a little more upbeat, especially for such a sad song, which I liked because I had actually kept this section kind of mid-tempo, and I love the mood the song creates of travelling and the sinking realisation that you're going to someone for the last time. A good song to precipitate the trade I think.
PK Subban trade announced
Steve Dangle reacts to Subban trade
Steve Dangle discusses Subban trade
Some clips from the trade coverage. I ended up using two clips from Steve's video, but seperated by some static, because I wanted to have Steve's shouting as a "reaction" and the the calm clip so that the audio made it clear what had happened, as a clear sign-posting of where we were in the narrative.
PK Subban reacts to own trade(links to instagram}
This is the instagram video PK posted right after the trade was annouced celebrating being part of the Preds, because that's who he is as a guy. The audio quality is terrible because someone is filming it while he rides behind on a boat on an inner-tube, because he's also 12, so I had to muck around with it for ages in Audacity, and then eventually had to give up on ever getting it better than it was, but I think it's at least audible.
Things Happen - Dawes
I Don't Want U Back - Børns
I mean, mostly I'm really happy with the transition I did between these two songs. Mixing music is hard! I wanted Things Happen to be included, because I think it's a song that communicates well the feeling of "shit keeps happening to me but what can you do", like things happen / that's all they ever do. I also wanted I Don't Want U Back because it really communicates that vindictiveness I think we all feel after a bad breakup, the anger and the urge to strike back in the way someone hurt you.
Sportsnet discuss Carey Price poor performance
This clip took me ages to find, and was very emotionally devastating when I did, because when they say he doesn't even look like an NHL goalie? Ow.
I listened to a lot of country music for this segment, because I wanted this to be from "Carey's POV", which I feel would obviously be largely country. and I think this is a good song for being like, fine, blame me, I blame myself, and holding up the anger and sense of failure that comes from struggling with a breakup, messy end to a relationship.
I think this is a good song to use in hockey mixes in general (also a country song), because I think hockey often covers that sensation of feeling run down, ground down, working towards a goal without end or reward, and the way that can take a toll. I wanted to follow the "poor performance" clip with this, as a kind of narrative direction towards Carey (and PK) both not being closer to each other, or cups, whichever goal you think is the narrative, and how that can grind you down.
Carey remembers history with PK
This clip killed me, Carey softly remembering having good times with PK, and mentioning them still talking. I wanted this to be the first time we actually hear Carey's voice (the only time we hear PK is in the instagram video), as the kind of hopeful turn to the mixtape, maybe time has healed wounds, they're still in touch, the way memory can become healing when looked back on.
When I first listened to this song, I knew immediately it would be the closing track to the mixtape, and I wanted to play the track in full. I wanted a hopeful ending, something that suggested maybe there was a future for PK & Carey, after hard times, that sometimes you can turn a corner and things can get better.