Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

It began as Phoenix Bay, a stripped-down groove with a lot of 'tude and li'l bit of funk. While I dug some of its qualities (including the name, inspired by Jean Grey's experience in Jamaica Bay), it didn't resonate with me. It felt too minimal.

Determined to not abandon the framework, I built upon the foundation of Phoenix Bay and added extra layers, amping up the funk and rechanneling the flow. And thus Remix the Phoenix was born.

Remix the Phoenix by Nik Furious [ 2:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The most obvious addition was a heavy coating of frantic percussion, making the song feel twice as fast as before. I also decided to rework the melody, something which was seriously lacking in the original. And that's where things got interesting.

See, I wasn't happy with all of my new melodic synth performances. In fact, I recorded several different versions because I was having a hard time picking a favorite. And that's when a mistake turned into inspiration.

Any musician who multi-tracks can relate to what happened next -- I left on both of my synth performances by mistake while replaying the reworked Phoenix Bay... and I liked what I heard. Two similar-yet-unique synths swirling back at me, challenging my brain to a game of "Can You Follow the Melody?"

INTERMISSION! Remix the Phoenix on SoundCloud:

Instead of trying to pick one single melodic line, I decided to use both. It was a trick I'd learned from listening to Pavement as a kid. Often, their guitarists would solo at the same time, creating an experimental and sometimes exciting sound.

After a lot more editing, I finally had something I liked. Phoenix Bay was saved! But in the process of my rescue, I'd created a different body of work. So I changed the title to indicate its remixed status. And that's how this song was born.

NEXT: How falling asleep on my keyboard led to some interestingly long results.

Psssst! Here's a secret.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

RAW stands for Really Awesome Woman. And I gave this song as a gift to Justique... my really awesome girlfriend!

RAW by Nik Furious [ 11:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I'm a bit ashamed to say that I can't remember the holiday/occasion that was behind the gifting of this jam. Uhhh, maybe it was xmas? Or maybe a birthday? Or our anniversary? Damn, I just can't recall.

But I do remember the particulars of the recording because I composed, performed, and mixed this song at work (back when I had a day job, that is). In fact, The only thing I did at home was master this puppy.

I used to work for the marketing department of a Pittsburgh law firm. It was a good job, but it could get really dull. To the credit of my employers, they tried to keep me interested as best they could. So when they needed a jingle for a TV commercial, they asked if I'd like to take a crack at it.

I jumped at the opportunity to get paid to make music in my office. I brought in my drum machine, synthesizer, and guitar to record a few demos. And guess what? They hated my jingles!!!

INTERMISSION! RAW on SoundCloud:

I was bummed that it didn't work out. To pick my mood up, I spent my lunch break playing music. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I'd spent hours writing and performing nearly all of RAW! The song came together that easily.

I'd say that the entire performance -- largely improvised, because that's how I roll -- couldn't have taken more than two days. I mixed it in short order and I knew that I had a new Nik Furious album track on my hands!

The finished product reminded me of something Justique might like. She was already a big fan of Purple Suite and Speechless, my two longest songs. So I decided to make RAW -- my longest track to date -- a gift for her.

NEXT: A song so tricky that it had to be reborn before it could breathe.

Brilliant Shower artwork by Shawn Atkins

It was night. All of the lights were off, but it wasn't pitch black in my apartment. See, the Pittsburgh city sky never goes black -- it goes purple.

Purple Suite by Nik Furious [ 9:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I started laying down a beat on my Zoom MRT-3 drum machine. As the rhythm grew more complex, the lights on the drum machine formed a hypnotic pattern of flashing reds and blues.

Purple Suite began as that drum pattern. And later that night, I laid down a few synth tracks on top of the beat. But the different parts didn't gel.

I can't remember if it was hours, days, or weeks later... but eventually, I added the thick bass (playing it with a pick, which is something I rarely do). Once the bassline was in place, I improvised the synth on top. And it was complete.

Purple Suite on SoundCloud:

I've never been totally satisfied by Purple Suite. For years, I used a different mix of the song that featured a far quieter lead synth. When it came time to finish up all of the tracks for Brilliant Shower, I remastered this song and raised the solo.

While I'm unashamed to say that I enjoy listening to my own music, I don't always enjoy listening to Purple Suite. I like the drums and certain parts of the synth performance. But overall, it's not the type of song that I usually seek out.

Still, I'm proud of this track. I hope you enjoying listening to it more than I do!!!

NEXT: If you think Purple Suite is long, just wait until you hear the next song on Brilliant Shower.