Singled Out: Middle Child Syndrome's Slate

Middle Child Syndrome just released a new single called "Slate" from the forthcoming album "Listen To Me", and to celebrate we asked mastermind Matt Mueller to tell us about the new song. Here is the story:

"Slate" was a song of contrasts from the start. While the chorus, hook, and first two verses fell right into place, finishing it out demanded significant effort and rework. Some of this complexity arose from its two sections: a soulful, free-tempo intro/outro and a more driven, percussive stomp/clap midsection. This juxtaposition is further recognized between the melody and instrumentation (upbeat and catchy) and the song's true, poignant meaning of a farmer mourning his late wife.

To help tie things together, I recognized the intro/outro needed a little more than just acoustic guitar, so I initially tried adding a VST pedal steel guitar since I've had some success with digital instrumentation. However, it just wasn't realistic enough, so I almost scrapped the idea...until I found a reasonably priced, used Sho-Bud Maverick on Facebook Marketplace in June 2023, and I was soon its proud owner. Fast forward several months (& many mistakes later!) to me learning enough to eke out a track for "Slate."

As much as I love pedal steel guitar, the instrumental centerpiece of 'Slate' is undoubtedly the piano. Its percussive, emotional nature fit the theme perfectly, but when it takes lead, it can easily overpower the soundscape, so fitting it in was significant challenge. I finally settled on a digital Bösendorfer while learning quite a bit about production & how to best tame its presence.

I got a lot of help from Grammy-winning mixing engineer Brian Vibberts, who had quite the challenge ahead of him, given all the tracks were recorded in my residence with minimal sound engineering. How he managed to fit everything together shows both his range of talent and appreciation for smaller artists, both of which I'm very grateful for!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself below and learn more here

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