Hello everyone,
We have a CounterPlot double feature to share with you all today 
Dan @DDye Jeff @nzmetal and I have been diligently working behind the scenes on a self-produced CounterPlot album. We originally were just going to try for an EP, but we actually ended up with enough material for a full album! Itâs still a work in progress, but we are all very excited with the direction itâs going.
The Limit is one of our album tracks. Also going on the album is Bananas, a 90s style âhidden bonus trackâ that would play 30ish or so seconds after the end of the last song. We ended up loving our little hidden track so much that we decided it needed a video too- although it will remain unlisted on our channel until the album is done. We really wanted to share it with the community, so we are posting it here for everyone to see
As you will see/hear, both of these songs are very different. The tie in is that they were both essentially surprise songs for us. If you are interested in learning more about why, click through the sections below. Otherwise, feel free to skip ahead and have a watch!
Thank you for stopping by to check it out!
Jennifer, Jeff and Dan
The Limit- about the song
One morning, Dan and I woke up to request for assistance from Jeff. He had written something, but was struggling to add vocals/a vocal melody to it. He wasnât sure that it would fit CounterPlotâs sound, but thought he would chuck it our way in case we could help him make something out of it.
Itâs no secret at this point that I LOVE writing lyrics/vocals. Iâm fortunate that my band mates usually let me have at it without too much pushback 
I used to write a lot of poetry when I was younger (I have two huge notebooks full of my old stuff) and I think that this part of the songwriting process allows me to tap into that area of my brain. So, if you ask for vocals, vocals you will get!
I creatively connected with what Jeff had written almost immediately. I had what would become the chorus by my second listen. I spent a good portion of that day coming up with a first draft of the lyrics and by the next morning Jeff had a file that included me singing it. We had also decided at this point that we were going to develop the song for CounterPlot.
One of the great things about having Jeff as our band mate is that he has an excellent critical ear. The original lyrics I sent over were more wordy than what the song really needed. Jeff recognized that this was more of an âatmosphereâ piece and as such, a little breathing room was required to let the music shine. We kept my original lyrics, but selectively trimmed them back a bit. What you hear on the song now is the result of a couple back and forth edits to that effect.
Then it came time for me to add my guitar. I loved Jeffâs rhythm work so much that my initial plan was to add some supporting backup rhythm to allow his guitar to be front and center. I recorded what I thought would sound good and shot it over to Jeff for mixing.
We ended up with a version that we thought was going to be the final one. But I think we all kind of had the sense that something was still missing. We discussed it as a group and I suggested a potential fix. I would scrap my backup rhythm and try to see if I could instead come up with some lead lines that would compliment Jeffâs work without competing with it.
The most difficult part of the songwriting process for me is writing lead. I knew that I wanted to push myself to do it. I spent a good portion of one weekend day playing along with the track to see what, if anything, would come of it. I got something that I thought sounded good and shot it over to Jeff to get his thoughts, hoping that I hadnât changed the sound of the song too much.
To my relief, everyone loved it and agreed that it was the songâs missing element. Jeff ended up doing the final mix later that night and the result is what you hear on the completed track now.
As far as the content of the song, Iâll describe it in D&D terms, just as I did to my band mates at one point. Its the tale of an evolving relationship between a lawful good and a chaotic neutral
The Limit- about the video
Typically, when we get close to completing a song, we already have some idea of what direction we want to go with the video. This song was the exception to that as none of us had really come up with a concept yet. Dan and I ended up brainstorming some ideas on our end and then ran them by Jeff to get his thoughts.
The idea that kept coming up was doing a âSin Cityâ style color story in a kind of Gotham City style setting. We loved the way our full band shot came out in our last video, so we wanted to make sure we had a full band shot here as well.
We took that concept and ran with it. We are getting to be quite the green screen aficionados now 
Due to the distance, using a green screen really works for us and allows our creativity to really shine through in the final edit since there are so many directions you can go!
Jeff was our main editor for this video and did an absolutely phenomenal job! Dan was responsible for the âSin Cityâ color wash and the credits.
We hope you enjoy the final outcome as much as we enjoyed making it
The Limit lyrics
(Verse)
I know you like it when weâre so far gone
I know youâre going to wanna push past it
I know youâll say weâd better get in this
You skip right over the coals
Straight into flames
(Pre chorus)
Just when I think Iâve figured you out
You rewind and I land
Somewhere to begin with
Or do you expect me to walk your line
I donât know which button youâll try but
I feel the gears as they spin
You walk right on up and give it one good push
(Chorus)
You take it to the limit
You take it to the limit
Can you take me to the limit
You take it to the limit
You take me to the limit
Feel your way right up to the edge
Straight into flames
(Chorus)
You take it to the limit
You take it to the limit
The limit
Can you take me to the limit
The limit
You take it to the limit
The limit
You take me
(Bridge)
Maybe youâve jumped in too far
I think that was your plan
Pull the pin on the grenade
The damage is already done
You think youâre testing the waters
Youâre already waist deep in
Thereâs no going back to where
You end and I begin
When youâve reached
The limit
(Pre-chorus)
Just when I think Iâve figured you out
You rewind and I land
You walk right on up
and give it one good push
(Chorus)
You take it to the limit
You take it to the limit
Can you take me to the limit
You take it to the limit
The limit
You take me to the limit
Bananas- about the song
One evening, Dan and I were hanging out watching TV in our living room. I had a guitar with me and was kind of mindlessly strumming away, not working on anything in particular. While I was messing around, I kept wanting to return to the same chord progression. Dan and I were joking around, taking turns singing ridiculous lyrics over the top. It started to get late and I put my guitar away not thinking much more about it.
A few days later we were having a virtual band meeting with Jeff. I had my guitar with me and once we were done talking about official (very serious, Iâm sure 
) CounterPlot business, I jokingly played my chord progression for Jeff. Dan went and grabbed our bongos to play along. To our surprise, Jeff really loved it and instinctively started trying to play along with us (on mute of course, due to the audio delay )
The three of us came up with an idea for a potential concept for the song and ended our meeting. Dan and I immediately went and started to flesh out the complete song, including the lyrics and Danâs whistling section. Over the next couple of hours, we recorded a very rough demo and sent it over to Jeff, mostly as a joke to show him that we finished it.
To our surprise, when we got up the next morning, Jeff had gone in and added lead work to the demo! We were floored by how good it was! Dan and I immediately got to work re-recording our parts, for real this time, and sent it back over to Jeff so he could add bass and his lead guitar. Roughly 24 hours from when I played the chord progression for Jeff, we had a completed song.
This was, by far, the fastest we have ever finished any song. Sometimes the creative lighting strikes and you have to take advantage of it before it goes away. I told Jeff and Dan after the fact that if someone told the three of us that we had to go sit in a room for two weeks and write an album, that not only would we likely do it, but it would probably be really good. I think we all feel that would be true.
As far as the tone of the song- we wanted it to be more lighthearted and a bit silly. We liked the fact that it still is very much CounterPlot (no acoustic guitars here ) but that it had a different sound/feel to the rest of our material. We think it serves its purpose as a hidden bonus track well.
And yes, just so you all know, I actually really do hate bananas
Bananas- about the video
Our band has been playing around for a while with the idea of having one of our videos be the three of us sitting around together having a casual jam session. We had a different song that we thought this concept would potentially work for and tabled the idea so that we could use it when we were ready.
Then we unexpectedly ended up writing this song. We all agreed that this one would be the best fit for that concept.
Dan was our video editor for this song. His crowning achievement was the 360 degree spin during the whistling section. He wasnât sure how he was going to achieve that effect, but was determined to do it. We all ended up being floored by how good it looked! If we get anyone asking about when did Jeff go to our house, then Dan will be very happy
Bananas lyrics
(Verse 1)
I woke up this morning
Was gonna have good a day
I wasnât thinking about you at all
But now youâre in my smoothie
I taste nothing but you
It was supposed to be pineapple
(What the hell)
(Chorus)
Oh bananas, why you gotta taste so bad
Oh bananas, why you gotta make me mad
You are so stupid
(Verse 2)
Gonna send you to Mars
With your cousin plantains
They say it tastes just like potato
But itâs exactly the same
As all the ones that came before
We were doomed from the get go
(Chorus)
Oh bananas, why you gotta taste so bad
Oh bananas, why you gotta make me mad
You are so stupid
(Bridge)
You stick that mush into dessert
Then act like itâs okay
But when fruit gets old and moldy
Youâre supposed to throw it away
We have nothing to discuss
Stick you back up in your tree
Ruin everything that youâre in
Including democracy
(Chorus)
Oh bananas, why you gotta taste so bad
Oh bananas, why you gotta make me sad
You are so stupid
(Verse 3)
I woke up this morning
Was gonna have good a day
I wasnât thinking about you at all
I think everyone should go to YouTube immediately to like and subscribe! 
I was just joking with Dan and Jeff yesterday that we have done our one allotted open chord song for this album so we will have to wait for the next one to do another one 
!
The weird grip came about because I wanted to use bongos in the song (in the actual song track Iâm playing them on top of my snare), I picked up the sticks and played them in the grip youâre seeing so that I could get the sound of my hands and the sharp rap of the sticks at the same time. This not only made it sound more like a CounterPlot song, but also helped pick up the sound of them without reconfiguring the microphones. When we went to do the video I considered ditching the sticks (because who plays bongos with sticks?), but Jennifer argued that it was actually how I played them (minus the snare), so I went with it. I think it adds to the fun vibe. 