Stephen George Smith – German Laughter

I had been reading a book about Germany, and their role in world war two, and, being of German heritage, I felt a lot of guilt. I recorded this piece, mixed it, and, days later, listened to it, and heard a stark, German soundscape , I thought, jeez! this is friggin’ harsh, stark, menacing! all the stereotypes I had had for all things German. I thought to myself, “Well, this came out of me, nothing to do but laugh.” and there it was, German laughter.

I used a simple “pad” distortion, with heavy pans, simple piano, and an old stratocaster, a whiff of reverb on the piano.

Discover Sounds was an unpublished book project by GAJOOB in 2010 featuring over 100 tracks by artists discussing them.