jonahgn.com » Music

SmazE

Jonah — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:14:36 +0000

This post is a blog post about the past. My first rock band was a band called SmazE (a name that comes from the union of the words smoke and haze) that existed from 2003-2007. I played drums and was the lead singer of the band.

Although SmazE no longer exists, I was listening to our music the other day and realized that I wanted to preserve what we had accomplished in those years as a first-rock-band experience. All three members of the band now play in The Audians, but we don’t play SmazE songs. SmazE released two albums, White Eyed Darkness (2004) and All The More Reason to Spend These Years Up in a Tree (2006).

Below, I have provided three songs from our last album, so that I can preserve the memories and so that you all can hear SmazE for the first time in a long time or the first time ever. Also, I’ve made up a little downloadable file with all of the tracks to both albums, plus some pictures of SmazE, all for free! The download might take a bit, but its worth it.

Have fun listening + Love,

Jonah

Click Here to Download SmazE: The Master Collection.

Riddle in Your Ear

Jonah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:55:41 +0000

Hey everyone,

So I’ve got another great new song to show you all. My friend Isaac Holeman wrote the text and is singing on this song, and I wrote the chords and am playing the guitar parts in the recording. It is the first collaborative effort between Isaac and I, and I hope it will not be the last.

Have fun listening. Lyrics below:

A couple three weeks ago the leaves turned the color of your hair
I threw handfuls in the wind and I laughed out a riddle in your ear
When you winked at my empathy I placed a white feather on you
When my sight parts the shadows of a darkening forest you’re smiling too.

Over hedgerows and hobbits our talk mirrored our wandering feet
Though the mud was not frozen we glided on over the lea
That November your smile was so meek and wily I chuckled right outta my skin
At the end of the day I could say that I’d do it again.

Discography of My Life

Jonah — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:11:01 +0000

A while ago, I compiled a list of studio albums that I have been a part of. This post is mostly for my own records, but wouldn’t it look impressive on a résumé? The list is in backwards chronological order.

1. Busted Peach – O Heavy Hour! (2008) The Yard Studio

2. The Audians – Aliens and Friends (2008) Riverbend Studio

3. Busted Peach – Brown Paper Bag (2007) Riverbend Studio

4. The Audians – The Audians (2007) Engine Studios

5. Sima Cunningham – Squeeze (2006) Engine Studios

6. The Cajun Vagabonds – Grounded (2006) Riverbend Studio

7. SmazE – All The More Reason to Spend These Years in a Tree (2006) The Yard Studio

8. SmazE – White Eyed Darkness (2004) The Yard Studio

9. Sunflower Community School – The Setting of the Seal (2003) Delmark Studios

10. The Cajun Vagabonds – Not From Concentrate (2003) Delmark Studios

11. Sunflower Community School – Sunflower Volume Two: The Sunflower Family (2003)
Delmark Studios

12. The Cajun Vagabonds – Episode I: The Phantom Accordion (2001) Delmark Studios

13. Sunflower Community School – Blue Sunflowers (2001) Delmark Studios

I Can Remember

Jonah — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:39:29 +0000

Hey all,

Here’s another song I recorded in my dorm room the other night. It’s quite a simple song, just guitar and vocals. I hope you enjoy it.

Click Here to Play the Song

Lyrics:

I Can Remember
Jonah Geil-Neufeld

I was crying on the way home
And I felt like rain drops

I was skipping down the pavement
And I felt like summer

CHORUS:
And I know we’re never going back there
But I can remember

I was laughing through the fog
And I felt like clouds

CHORUS:

Love,
Jonah

I Don’t Need You to Know

Jonah — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:01:23 +0000

For your listening pleasure, here’s a song that I wrote and recorded in my dorm room with friends Jon Wash and Annie Fassler.
The song was originally performed and recorded by my band Busted Peach.

Here’s a list of the instruments you will hear in the track:

Acoustic Guitar: Jonah
Lead Vox: Jonah
Backing Vox: Jon Wash, Annie Fassler
Vocal Bass and Beat Boxing: Jonah
6 OZ box of Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese: Jonah

Click the play button to play, or you can download the song.

Here are the lyrics:

I Don’t Need You To Know
Jonah Geil-Neufeld

I was taken in
on account that I don’t want to go to war
And I was trying to tell you
that my beliefs are what I do
and there ain’t nothing that’s worth killing for

I know we disagree
but we act like everything’s fine
But now I’m really glad
to tell you that I’m really mad
I’m done pretending like these problems are mine

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
This ain’t no give and take
this ain’t no quid pro quo

I was thrown in jail
on account that I know who I am
But these words that I am writing
are not getting up and fighting
they’re just making a quiet stand

I know I’ve done some things
I might not have in retrospect
But when I look back and I see them
I would only want to keep them
Because I haven’t finished living yet

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
This ain’t no mistake
this ain’t no leaving home

I was shipped off
to spend days cutting big old trees
And all the time I was complying
while the government was lying
That’s the moment I was finally freed

I know that I can’t speak
for all of us or any other living soul
But there are things I will discuss
and there are things that I will trust
and there are things that I don’t need you to know

CHORUS:
I don’t need you to,
I don’t need you to know
‘Cause I can make it,
I can make it on my own

It’s such a good feeling.

A New Song

Jonah — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:55:46 +0000

So I was bored tonight, and I’ve been thinking about experimenting with this kind of music for a while.

I took out my MacBook, booted up Garageband, and sang. The result: Six tracks of Jonah, all a cappella. I made up the lyrics on the spot, as I was singing.

Enjoy.

-Jonah

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Update: Here’s two other experiments. Enjoy.