Entry #2: No Through Road by Michael Dermot

Track: “No Through Road” 3:46
Artist: Michael Dermot
Year: 2013
Album: “Pilot” (30^th April 2013)
First Release: “The No Through Road EP” (22^nd January 2013)

Sometimes the music you love the most comes from the most unexpected places. On the 6^th December 2012, a user on the Smiley Smile Message Board under the username “Gohi” created a thread in the “Smiley Smilers Who Make Music” sub-forum for “No Through Road – my new music video”, going completely unnoticed bar a complimentary reply from user “rab2591” that day. Fast forward to the following day, and one Harrison Hedges would link me to this thread, after it had also been posted on a forum called “AllThingsWeezer”, a place I would come to frequent within the next few months. I clicked on the link and was greeted with the following:

“This is my new single. It's a bit alt-rock and a bit 60s in some parts. There's another song on the album that sounds much more beach boys-like but I didn't wanna spoil that one for you guys before the album's even out. Lemme know what you think!”

With my friend’s good graces and the small amount of info contained here, I clicked the enclosed YouTube link and watched the video. Poor editing, Cheap Camera Work and Terrible lip-syncing was seen, some mirth was had, and most all, catchy hooks were remembered. I had the words “Don’t follow me” stuck in my head for days, and I’d only played it once. I immediately messaged this “Gohi” to see if I could get a hold of this track. I was soon greeted with a file labelled as “No Through Road rough sept 13”, The first of many erroneous files I would garner under the “Michael Dermot” tag.

Following this, the track went everywhere with me. I played it solidly during free periods at Sixth-Form, between every LP I played at home, and even called my dad up to give it a test run on him. The ironic thing here is that the rough mix, while uncompressed [woo!] pales in comparison to the powerful final mix, and yet it was perfect to me. I would anticipate any further music by this “Michael Dermot”. And play them all to death. But that’s a story for another entry…

The track itself is a 90s Alt-Rock classic in my book, with a bit of 60s Pop blended in for good measure [See the Spector-esque Bridge… broken down live one expects “Be My Baby” to kick in!], and carries itself solidly throughout. The melody is mostly solid, with some neat guitar work, especially going into the chorus, and a structure that develops rather than repeats, ensuring an enduring listen. The last chorus especially stands out, taking the extended 2^nd chorus and adding in extra backing vocals to create a worth climax to a great song. Don’t follow me tonight indeed.

Regardless, to musically examine this song, as I did “Please Let Me Wonder”, would defy the point of its inclusion here. This song introduced me to Michael Dermot [Rowland], who, as many of you reading this will likely know, forms a huge part of my life. I try to turn everyone I possibly can onto his music, I have near enough officially played the Pilot LP more than anyone else in the world, and, through interactions with the man himself, have “attempted” [successfully or not] to shape his next impending musical project. His comments during his acoustic set on the Weezer Cruise 2014 near enough summarise how I feel about the whole endeavour, or more why I feel the way I do about it:

“…He keeps me goin’ sometimes… y’know… I make music in my mind and in the basement, but I know with his help and support, I’m gonna go onto something great”

I sincerely hope you are Michael. I really do.

Just don’t forget me on the way.

- Freddie

Get The No Through Road EP on Bandcamp Here
Get Pilot on Bandcamp Here
“like” Michael Dermot on Facebook Here