INTRODUCTION by Paul Duet

Code Orange was my 3rd full length album. The album was produced by me and was recorded in my home studio. The songs included on the album were written from October 1998 to September 2000. The actual recording sessions for the album began in August of 1999 and ran through February of 2001.

The album was performed by myself along with Wayne Bourg (drums on selected tracks) and Wilson Cheramie (bass on selected tracks). All of the songs on the album were written by me except for Father of Lies, which was co-written by Wilson Cheramie; and Call My Name, which contains lyrics written by Willie Brunet.

TRACK LISTING for Code Orange

1) So Far Away
2) Hello
3) Pill Popper
4) Stumble
5) Call My Name
6) Godless
7) Alright
8) Father of Lies
9) Down On Me
10) Sexy Bitch
11) Ghost
12) Close the World

ALBUM NOTES on Code Orange by Paul Duet

• The album title "Code Orange" was suggested by Nick Hebert. "Code Orange" is the intercom code for chemicals among Wal-Mart employees.

• This is the first album I've done digitally... absolutely no analog tape was used in the final recording. I still didn't have a mixer, though (grrr).

• Code Orange spent more time in the studio than any of my other projects to date. Partially because I was busy learning how to do the computer recording thing, but mostly because I put a lot of hours into mixing each track. Once I decided on the 12 songs that would make it to the album, I stopped writing, recording, and even thinking about other songs and devoted 100% of my efforts to those 12 songs. Consequently, there are over 20 songs that were dropped from the album.

• The majority of the live drum tracks that were recorded for the album were performed by Wayne Bourg, who also played on "Chemicals". Wayne and I had been knowing eachother since high school, and during a chance meeting at a local grocery store in 1998, I mentioned that I was working on a new album and asked him to play on it. He seemed to like the idea and agreed to play on my 1999 "Chemicals" album. When work began on Code Orange, I immediately contacted Wayne and he agreed to work with me again. This time, Wayne played a much larger role on the album as he performed the majority of the drum tracks.

• This album also marks the return of Wilson Cheramie on Bass. Wilson was the bassist for my band "The Sparklers". The album includes a track "Father of Lies" that was co-written by Wilson and I. This is the last song that we wrote together before the Sparklers disbanded in 1999. This also marks the first time that we've played on an album together since the band broke up.

• Some small contributions to the album that went unmentioned on the inlay are as follows: Luke Bellanger wrote 1 lyric that appears in the song "Alright", and Willie Brunet wrote a few lines that appear in the song "Call My Name".

SONG NOTES on Code Orange by Paul Duet

Each song on the album has it's own unique history... some of the songs were written as early as 1998 while a few of them were finished just months before the album was complete. Here are a few notes about the origins of each track:

1) So Far Away (Duet)
Written in April of 2000, this track was always meant for Code Orange. I actually built this song from the ground up using the drum sequencer. The lyrics mean nothing... I even tried while writing this to make up some kind of meaning for the song, but there's really none. It has a good vibe, though... sets the tone for the rest of the album.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drum Programming: Paul

2) Hello (Duet)
Written in December of 1998, this track is sort of a sequel of "Wasting Time" (from the 1999 album "Chemicals") written while I was still finishing songs for the 1999 album, I wrote this one with The Sparklers in mind. We (The Sparklers) were supposed to be recording a new album shortly after I finished "Chemicals" but it never came to be... and that's why this one stayed on the shelf for so long. I originally wanted this song to open Code Orange, but I decided against it in favor of the more powerful "So Far Away". This is by far the happiest sounding pop song on the album, although the lyrics are a little harsh.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Wilson Cheramie
Drums: Wayne Bourg

3) Pill Popper (Duet)
Written in August of 1999, this song has a unique sound because of the heavy use of looping and programming. It has a cold and electronic sound. Very much an experiment on my part, I'd never done a song that was so computer-driven. Originally written to be performed with live drums, the song is the first on the album that came from the last Sparklers album that I wrote. Here's a bit of info on that album. Shortly after releasing "The Japanese Album" in 1998, The Sparklers broke up when drummer Willie Brunet moved to California. In the Summer of 1999, I found out that Willie was heading back home and immediately started working on a new album for the Sparklers. I actually finished the album (called "The Sexy Album") before Willie came back and although we got together a few times to rehearse, we didn't stay together and "The Sexy Album" was never recorded. So beside the 15 or so tracks that I already had for "Code Orange", I ended up with a whole other album's worth of material. This was one of those tracks.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drum Programming: Paul
Sampling / Looping: Paul

4) Stumble (Duet)
Written in December of 1999, this song was written specifically for Code Orange... and this one actually is about something. It's not based on a true story, but here's the thrilling plot (har har):
Two kids are playing outside and they get a little crazy and go farther away from home than they've ever been... one of the kids falls into the lake and drowns as the other one stands there helplessly watching. Written in first person by the one kid that survived... Oooohh, scary. The music was built around that great chord I use during the chorus... my "Oasis" chord... I've been waiting to use that chord in a song forever.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drums: Paul

5) Call My Name (Duet)
This one was written in September of 1999. Being such a rocker, this one feels out of place on this album. Sounding a bit like something from the last Sparklers album ("The Japanese Album") this bitch rocks... and it's very progressive. A few notables here: I sing the highest notes I've ever hit in this song during the chorus... while recording, I actually had to redo the chorus vocals on 3 separate occasions before I hit them. Although it is not listed, Wayne deserves a lot of credit for his work on this song... we worked closely on this one together from the start. And what's the song about?? It's about this guy who totally licks his girlfriend's ass and doesn't get anything in return, so he decides to kill her.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drums: Wayne
Keyboards: Paul

6) Godless (Duet)
Damn, this one's weird. Let me first tell you what it is about. It's about Jesus and it puts a spin on what he was possibly going through while he suffered on the cross. A bit of a touchy subject, I guess, but it makes for a very emotional song. Written in August of 1999, this one was actually from the same batch of sex songs that comprised the unreleased fourth Sparklers album. One of the few all-acoustic tracks to make this album.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul

7) Alright (Duet)
Written in September of 2000, this was one of the last songs I wrote for the album. It basically tells the tale of a guy who can be a bit of an ass to his friends, but he somehow manages to hang on to them... all the while, they're conspiring against him and just waiting for the day when he'll hit the wall. You ever hear of the saying "What you do to others comes back to you twice as hard"?... that's the basic premise.
The song itself is a sing-a-long pop-rocker with a rad breakdown at the end.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Wilson
Drums: Paul

8) Father of Lies (Duet, Cheramie)
Here's one of the unreleased Sparklers songs. Wilson gave me most of the riffs in this one and I crafted it into this rocker. It's basically about a guy fighting the temptation of evil (and the devil... the Father of Lies... get it?). Pretty deep stuff if you listen to the lyrics. I love Wilson for writing these great riffs... this one was definitely meant for the unreleased Sparklers album, as it was written way back in January of 1999.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Wilson
Drums: Wayne

9) Down on Me (Duet)
The other acoustic track to make the album, I'd been playing this one live for years before I recorded it... written in February of 1999, this song is also one of the few happy sounding songs. It's a bit personal. More of this is explored in the darker songs that I wrote at that time (those will be on "FASD").

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul

10) Sexy Bitch (Duet)
This is another one that was written in August of 1999 for "The Sexy Album" that never saw the light of day. Simple, heavy, with a sharp punk-pop breakdown after the second chorus. One of the more playful sounding tracks on the album. The obnoxious lyrics are meant to invoke humor, and I hope they're not taken too seriously. I pumped out a whole album worth of songs in that month, and this one took but a few hours to finish... where else can you hear me sing the phrase "honey pot"?

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drums: Wayne

11) Ghost (Duet)
Written all the way back in October of 1998! This is the oldest track on the album. I was in the middle of writing songs for the Chemicals 1999 album when this one popped out. I put it aside as a Sparklers song, and it was ultimately forgotten. When I originally demoed it in early 1999, I had a hellish time getting it to sound right within the confining restrictions of the 4 track cassette based recorder I was still using back then. I had to put it aside for when I'd get better equipment to record with. I figured I'd need at least 10 tracks to properly record this one... the finished product weighs in at a hefty 26 tracks! This is the one song I spent the most time on for this album. I'm super pumped that it's finally out.
The song is about a guy who is in love with this girl... they get married and become very close and often say things like "I want to be with you forever" and stuff like that... well she dies and comes back to be with him as a ghost and he wigs out a bit. The lyrics are from his point of view.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drums: Paul

12) Close the World (Duet)
This one was more recently written (in September of 2000)... with this album in mind. This one rocks. I figured I'd be different and close the album with a heavy-ass rocker for a change.
Written about Masami Eiri, a Japanese scientist who was involved with some creepy-ass experiments that dealt with collective consciousness and things like that. He killed himself by stepping in front of a train after being dismissed from the institute that was funding his project.
I learned about him when he was portrayed as the villian in the Japanese Anime "Serial Experiments: LAIN" in which he'd actually achieved his dream of connecting the whole planet subconsciously and went around calling himself God. If you have not seen this show, then you absolutely must... it's a damn good show. The samples in the song are taken directly from the "Serial Experiments: LAIN" series.

All Guitar: Paul
Vocals: Paul
Bass: Paul
Drums: Wayne

Code Orange LYRICS