Making music from the ground up can be a complex yet infinitely rewarding process. Last weekend I had an amazing opportunity to participate in some of the activities that guide musicians along a path that begins with an idea and culminates in performance. Songwriters Mark Godwin and Jeff Farrow presented their new work at the New Mexico Jazz Workshop. Godwin is from New York, known for his work as a super-competent guitarist and producer. Farrow, a singer with an awesome vibrato and stage presence was formerly featured as the front man for local rockers The Cobra Effect. Together, the duo is in the midst of creating a new sound; ambitious, ornate pop with far-reaching possibilities. I spoke to them afterwards to learn more about the journey they are undertaking.Alibi: Tell our readers about your new musical project.Mark: About ten years ago, I decided I was going to form an alt-rock band. My vision at the time was to create a band like The Who or The Rolling Stones, which basically had a singer/guitarist duo forming the core of the group. I was never able to come across a singer that fit with what I was doing in New York. It wasn’t until I moved to Albuquerque that I was able to do that. I heard Jeff playing here in town and asked him to listen to a song I had written. He liked the song, I liked his sound. So we decided to collaborate. Initially we wrote four songs; that began in January. We felt we had to have substantive material to make our next move and spent the spring and summer writing. Now we’re talking about putting a band together. Our songs reflect experiences from our lives.Jeff: I played with The Cobra Effect for about three years until the end of 2014. Mark and I are continuing to the next level with a challenging but listenable take on rock music that we believe listeners will really identify with.I was really struck by the complexity of what I heard, it reminded me of work by Mini Mansions for instance. Your music seems to be informed by a plethora of influences … where are you all coming from, musically speaking?Mark: I love the shine and the jangle of the guitar. So anything along the lines of The Byrds, The Smiths and R.E.M. has had quite an effect on me personally and as a songwriter, too. Jeff comes from a grungier point of view, his heart is made of grunge.With those sorts of wide-ranging but pop-based aspirations in your ken, where do you see this project going?Mark: We’d like to start rehearsing a band soon with the goal of debuting at SXSW next March. I think we’d do well in approaching small festival audiences, Telluride for example. I don’t want to go any further in terms of predictions, but we’re both really determined and focused, so anything’s possible.Jeff: When we write songs, we always end up in a totally different place from where we started—which is something that may mirror our trajectory as a band. It’s a journey, but we can’t predict where we’re going. That’s an intrinsic part of the experience.Do you all have a name for your new rock and roll project?Jeff: We’re going to wait until we have players in place. Since Mark and I don’t have a name yet, we’re hopping to raise interest in what we’re doing through the internet. Our past projects and well as information about our latest endeavors can be seen and heard at www.triplepointsound.com. We’ve already started to get feedback on what we’re doing.What kind of reaction have you had so far?Mark: What’s really interesting is that the songs we thought were the strongest weren’t necessarily the songs the audience liked. The group at the Jazz Workshop event tended to identify with the quieter, easier work. Jeff and myself tend to gravitate to the heavy stuff. One song that everyone agreed was great is called “Catch the Sun.” Some people said that it could potentially be a really big hit and we agree that it is among our best songs. Generally we’ve had a very encouraging beginning.
Next week, the trip from ideas to demos to touring band takes shape as Godwin and Farrow describe the next steps on their road to rock and roll.
