We’re back 
Jeff @nzmetal Dan @DDye and I are super excited to share our latest musical creation with you all. Buckle up everyone, this one’s a bit of a crazy ride! 
I apologize in advance for the lengthy write up, but there’s so much to say here!
This is our third original song and video collab together. Shortly after we completed work on Time Bomb we decided that our trio deserved a proper band name. So… we will now be releasing our music as CounterPlot 
We had way too much fun brainstorming band names and this one really just fit the feel and content of our music the best.
Now a little info about the song and video…
This was by far our most ambitious project to date, both in terms of the music and the video. We have been steadily plugging away at this one behind the scenes for about 2 months now. We were joking with each other that if this song were a Beatles album, this would definitely be our Sgt Peppers This song was actually written as a kind of a natural extension of Time Bomb. They were designed to be played together back to back on an album seamlessly with no pause in between. While each song has its own distinct character and flavor, they were written to complement each other. While Time Bomb explored a developing psychosis while attempting to maintain a semblance of humanity, The Queen is an imagining of what happens when that humanity disappears.
If you’ve watched either of our previous two videos, you’ll know that we have a liking for songs with a bit of a longer length- this song clocks in at about 6 minutes. While we know that a 6 minute song is not going to be for everyone, we hope that you stick around with us The bulk of the actual structured part of the song is actually a little over 3 minutes. The second half of the song is what we are calling an outro jam. If that is not your thing, you can exit out the graffiti castle (will make sense when you watch ) However, Jeff does some absolutely PHENOMENAL guitar work here, so you should definitely stick around to give it a watch/listen.
As for the video- this one was definitely a big undertaking! Our first video, Sirens, was done using physical sets and real world backgrounds. Time bomb was entirely green screened. The Queen is a hybrid of both and uses some special effects. Even my guitar gets in on the action 
The video was filmed over the course of two weekends and took about a full week to edit once we had all the footage. Both Dan and Jeff split the editing duties this time and both did an incredible job!!
We are learning so much making music together and are having an absolute blast! We hope that joy comes across on screen. Every song we do sparks more creativity and we figure out ways to do new and more interesting things. You have definitely not heard the last from CounterPlot…
Full song lyrics below. We hope you enjoy
The Queen Lyrics
(Verse1)
I’ve got you right where I want you
Down on all fours
Signs of fear
That flash on your face
Are begging for an encore
I take no prisoners
You are free to leave
But once you get a taste of the action
You’ll know better than
To deceive
You’ll be begging for mercy
(Chorus)
Give me your loyalty
I don’t ask, I receive
Is this real or Fairytale
I want you to believe
You want a piece of this
Then down on your knees
It’s too late to resist now
You’d better bow
Bow down
Bow down to your
Queen
(Verse 2)
Got you locked into my sights
Threw away the key
You know too much
to earn your freedom
You’ll surrender to me
Only I understand you
You know this to be true
Wipe the tears
away from your face
Euphoria ensues
You’ll be begging for mercy
(Chorus)
Give me your loyalty
I don’t ask, I receive
Is this real or Fairytale
I want you to believe
You want a piece of this
Then down on your knees
It’s too late to resist now
You’d Better bow
Bow down
Bow down to your
Queen
(Outro jam)
You’ll be begging for mercy
!
I’ve always had decent singing ability, but I feel that since I’ve picked up guitar, that it’s just gotten that much better since I do it a lot more! I’ve gotten a lot more used to hearing what my voice sounds like recorded.
Thinking back on putting this one together, much like the previous two, it was so much fun! 
Somehow, Jennifer has the ability to just step up and deliver! 
For example, with the “outro jam”, we had all come together and discussed how the second half of the song would play out and, as Jennifer mentioned, we unanimously agreed that we should go for the jam-type concept, with a build, working to a fade out. We didn’t put any specific length around it, but the next day I had a 3min jam section added to the end of the original version, with drums and rhythm guitar to play over… not daunting at all! 
This had the outro jam vocals that are on the track, recorded in basically one or two takes by Jennifer with help from Dan! Blown away! 
….
However, when I finally settled on the one in the song, that did kind of come together more fluidly. I think all the time I had spent just listening to the song on rotation, it eventually evolved into an idea I could live with. It isn’t complex and perhaps a bit simplistic for many, but I liked that it had some melody and momentum. Something I did find though was that my lack of in-depth theory knowledge really held me back as I struggled for ideas of where to take it. I spent a lot of time playing the minor pentatonic over it, but it just didn’t work for me, so eventually switched to the major and that opened up a door. The benefit of Jennifer playing power chords, gave me the freedom to go either way I suppose.