"Eclectic is the kiss of death in the major label music industry. All the marketing gurus for the past 30 years have chanted the mantra 'focus'," says Curtis Wayne. "Problem is, many artists have a development period, where they're still feeling out what their particular style is. Experimentation along the way is essential. And many fans enjoy being part of that- hearing the different, unexpected directions you may choose along the way. Most artists with real longevity had that period- the Beatles, Rolling Stones, U2, Billy Joel, Sting, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Aerosmith, KISS, and others. Some of those groups (like Led Zep) even made 'eclectic' their calling card. Some reinvent themselves every few years. Today, most big labels won't give you that experimental time- they want you focused from Day One. Which means that your fifth album sounds pretty much the same as your first, except that 90% of today's artists don't get to make a fifth album before they're dropped from the label (fired, basically). Well, this album was my experimental time. But it's not all navel-gazing and whiny, like most of the Brit-pop at that time. My Dad was in radio for 20 years, so the whole notion of solid melody and lyric has been pretty well drummed into my head. Rather than being about a partiuclar musical style, this album is about a particular state of mind. I was living in England for nine months on a academic scholarship. When that was done, I stayed on (uh, not too legally) to write, play, and record music. I had fallen in with some really good blokes, and top musos, and my muse was flowing. For the next three years, I cleaned toilets, worked construction, demolition, and various office jobs just to be able to stay and make music. I was experiencing a world outside myself, and I wanted to write about it. I got songs like 'Them', about the Crazy Bus Lady, who used to stalk passengers on our daily commute, but who was a lot of fun to share a movie with (she stalked movie-goers, too). Or 'Squidgy', which is just a fun song about following your bliss. 'Cop Funk', written by my friend Dan Woodward, is our tribute to 1970's TV cop show themes (Dan's really into stripped down old-school funk). I also came up with a few songs that reflected my confusion, and decisions to pursue music, like 'Time to Die', which isn't quite as depressing as it sounds. It's more about living an examined life than just out-and-out depression. Some of these songs actually had pretty good commercial potential, and on my next album, Groove Tales, I re-cut them with different arrangements, as my style became more defined. I especially thank producer Carl Rosamond; drummer, co-writer, and artist extraordinaire Daniel Woodward; and my good friend Lydia Ramoutar for the encouragement, support, and talent they all lent to this project."