Travis Orbin Silly String

Travis Orbin plays drums in the band Darkest Hour, along with doing other studio work. He is becoming a well-known teacher and you can visit his website (www.travisorbin.com) to learn more about lessons.

I began composing ‘Silly String’ back in 2009 while in Sky Eats Airplane. We had parted ways with our vocalist and were holding auditions whilst writing 'The Sound of Symmetry'; it was at this time that I wrote "Watchpork", "From Riches to Rags", and "Lollygag (Clown Nose)". Then, while on tour in 2010, I instigated the seeds for both "Big Dogs" and "Hold On". I didn't compose again until the Fall of 2012 after I had decided to record 'Projects', and ended up completing the closing tune of said EP; it was at this time that I finished "Big Dogs", "Hold On" and composed "Desensitization".

I decided to record the drums for "Watchpork" in the Fall of 2012 to release as a single. I hired Pete Peterson to record the bass guitar parts and to do VST production. It was released on 04MAY2013. Due to session recording, touring, life obligations, etc, I didn't get to tracking the drums for the other five tunes until September/October of 2013 (I also tracked the 'Projects' drums concurrently).

I knew I wanted Pete Peterson on board to continue mixing and for the VST portions of the EP. Initially, I had some great players lined up to bring the live instrumentation to life, but for various reasons they didn't pan out. I didn't focus again on scouting for talent until after 'Projects' was released in September of 2014. Once this motley crew was in place, everyone turned their tracks over and Pete P worked up some mixes. Eventually, when they were dialed in, my good buddy/associate Justin Bonfini mastered it.

1. Lollygag (Clown Nose)
2. From Riches to Rags
3. Hold On
4. Big Dogs
5. Desensitization
6. Watchpork