You say we'll get coffee at quarter to 8
you make a promise you won't be late
you must have lied again
cause baby, it's half past 9

You say we'll split even but you're always broke
won't buy packs, but you'll bum a smoke
you'll trade five for ten,
Well you ain't no friend of mine

Okay, those lyrics are terrible; nobody ever accused me of being a librettist. Most music from this genre/era originated as a song, so it's fitting to think of something singable when writing a melody. I tend to think more in terms of syllables, general character, and plausible phrasing than concrete words (though "ain't no friend of mine" seemed to fit pretty early on). I figured the lyrics would have been something in the spirit of "The Lady Is a Tramp" or "Hit That Jive, Jack". The rest was improvised for this post. What do you want from me?

This track was inspired by a humorous montage of "Things Animation Girls Say"created by the very talented Rebecca Parham of Let Me Explain Studios. I was impressed by the writing, artistic style, and overall execution. Despite the absence of music I kept hearing this gypsy jazz-ish clarinet riff in my head. I had some time before I needed to start the next project, so I sketched out fragments of the melody and changes over the next few evenings while riding the subway to and from various engagements, and produced the track in a little over an evening. While the production is a little rough in some spots, I'm happy with how this one turned out considering it's a first attempt at producing something in this specific style of jazz.

_{This is the original video which inspired the music. While Rebecca was extremely supportive, she was understandably unable to alter the video without losing the current number of views, commentary, and general stats in the process. Please subscribe to her YouTube channel. It's full of creatively awesome things.}

This loopable track is distributed with several options. Clarinets have the tendency to fight with the frequency range of spoken word, and the guitar solo may be too busy to work as background material for your project. Because of this, I've included a version with JUST rhythm guitar, drums, and bass as well as a sololess version with separate stems for the clarinet and guitar. This way you can edit together whatever version of the track works best with your project. I've also included the ending tag melody as a separate stinger so you can edit in an ending wherever you see fit.

As with all the things posted here, this is freely available for use in games and/or animation projects. It also works as a sort of demo of my style and abilities. I’m actively looking for new gigs, so if you enjoy anything here please get in touch to discuss some custom work.

I’ve provided separate intro/loop files for ease of editing. If you would like to use this free loop, please message me for attribution requirements.

GL019 Ain't No Friend of Mine Files