Final Project Written Paper

Marianas Trench-Josh Ramsay

Claire Malloy-Music 1010

Biography
Joshua Ramsay is the musical genius behind the band Marianas Trench,
Carly Rae Jepsen's single Call Me Maybe, and two songs for Nickelback.
Ramsay was born in Vancouver, Canada, on June 11th, 1985. His mother was
a vocal coach and his father owned a recording studio; creating a musical

appreciation and curiosity early in his life. Ramsay decided to start a solo
career at age 14 but it didnt go as well as hoped and so he decided to look
for some backup which lead to the creation of, Ramsay Fiction. Ramsay
Fiction was created by Josh, a school friend (Matt Webb), and two local
musicians (Steve Marshall and Morgan Hempsted) which was eventually
disbanded. In high school Ramsay developed an addiction to heroin all while
he suffered from depression, bulimia, and anorexia which eventually got him
kicked out of school, led to his rehab, and ended Ramsay Fiction.
The members of Marianas Trench include; Joshua Ramsay, Mike Ayley,
Matt Webb, and Ian Casselman, their first album as Marianas Trench, Fix Me
(2006), was written to represent all of the struggles that Josh faced in school.
The band toured along with Faber Drive in order to promote their new album
and gain more popularity. It was the release of the album, Masterpiece
Theatre (2009), that the band started to experiment with stringed
instruments and harmonies different from their first album. This album was
also different than Fix Me as it was a concept album. Masterpiece Theatre
was nominated for eleven different awards and won four including; Western
Canadian Music Awards Pop Recording of the Year, Independent Music
Awards Astral Media Radio Favourite Single, MuchMusic Video Awards
Director of the Year, and Independent Music Awards Favourite Video.
Ever After is the third album released by Marianas Trench and is the
second of their concept albums: an album that is all written around a single
theme or idea, but the first that is a continuous song, meaning that there are
no pauses in between the tracks that all have intro and outros that flow with
the song before and after it. The theme for the album is an adventure that
takes place from Joshs point of view; an adventure through a mysterious
land where he must face many different individuals that will eventually lead
to the unlocking of his way home. Each track of the album tells a different
chapter or interaction along his adventure searching for love and ending
with the song, Theres No Place Like Home.
The band has released two albums in the year 2015, the first an EP
titled Something Old/Something New and a full album titled Astoria. The
EP is made of four different songs, two that were written but never produced
with their first album Fix Me and two songs that were meant to be on the
album Astoria but no longer fit into the concept. The band is currently
touring in their biggest yet U.S. and Canadian tour, Hey You Guys!, for the
album Astoria. The album got its name from Astoria, Oregon where the
movie The Goonies took place, all as an ode to the 80s. The album was
created entirely with instruments and technology that could be found in the
1980s giving the album a very retro style.

Musical Selections
The band promotes the album Ever After as a continuous track that tells of a
fairytale adventure. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find any sort of history
for the individual songs so instead I have included some of the main ideas
throughout the album.
Ever After
The first song on the album, Ever After, it plays as an
introduction to the hour long album that plays like a continuous piece.
Desperate Measures
Porcelain
Is the other inhabitant of the Toyland in the storyline of Ever
After.
Toy Soldiers
The large obstacle in the fairytale adventure, this song talks
about the struggle of love and effort.
Pop 101
Written as a comical description of what it is to write songs after
the release of Carly Rae Jepsons, Call Me Maybe.

Listening Guide
Ever
0:00
0:08
0:29

After
- Acapella oohing at different pitches
- Second voice comes in creating polyphony
- Word vocals begin

0:59 - Piano enters as accompaniment

1:29 - Violin enters as additional accompaniment
1:58 - Drums enter and tempo increases
2:13 - Polyphony returns
1:35 - Second voice enters as a harmony
3:28 - Instruments take over carrying the music to final verse
3:44 - Four voices are combined creating polyphony
3:55 - Tempo is Meno Mosso
3:59 - Strings Spiccato
4:27 - Crescendoing polyphony
6:09 - Transition music begins to introduce the next track (Havent Had
Enough)
Desperate Measures
0:00 - Transition from previous track (Truth or Dare) is Monophony
0:16 - Guitar begins the introduction of new song
0:25 - Vocals Begin
1:09 - Oohing begins and creates polyphony
2:56 - Monophony
3:48 - Transition music begins to introduce the next track (Porcelain)
Pop 101
0:00 - Monophony oohing introduction
0:15 - Drums and Vocals begin
0:24 - Minor Chord tension grows
0:27 - Bass fades in
0:44 - Three note harmony
0:48 - Pre chorus begins
1:52 - Gregorian Chant
2:09 - Chorus repeats
2:40 - Vocals are pitch shifted
3:12 - Chorus repeats
3:20 - Descant occurs