2025-Mar-15 - Dust Storm
This week's randomly selected song Dust Storm is track #3 from disc #3 of my triple CD album It Was All Just a Dream.
Dust Storm first appeared on my 2019 album Electric Sky. The final version on It Was All Just a Dream features cleaned up rhythm guitar parts, a punchy new mix, and updated drums.
The Story Behind The Song
The inspiration behind Dust Storm came from a summer trip to Phoenix, Arizona for some work-related training. It was easily some of the hottest outdoor temperatures I'd ever experienced, with midday highs approaching 120ºF (~49ºC). Late in the evening, it wasn't exactly any more comfortable with temperatures still hovering around 100ºF (~38ºC). It was BRUTAL!!! 🥵
One evening while I was sitting in my 12th floor hotel room after dinner getting ready for bed, I noticed a weird sound coming from my windows. It was almost as if massive raindrops were hitting the glass, but it didn't sound quite like rain. I got up and opened up the curtains, and it looked like little balls of mud were splattering all over the windows. It was right at that moment that my smartphone started blaring an emergency alert, urging everyone to take cover due to an imminent dust storm. I had never experienced anything like this before! Almost immediately, the wind picked up along with the intensity of the mud splatters and rain. Then of course came the thunder and lightning. It was fierce and violent, but it swept through the city very quickly.
It would end up happening a couple more of the nights I was there. This was DEFINITELY not weather I was used to experiencing!
Dust Storm features a guest guitar solo from my friend Al Fairweather at 3:09. Al also contributed a beautiful acoustic guitar solo on my song Interstellar (also originally from my Electric Sky album). Just over a year after the release of Electric Sky, Al lost his life to cancer. He was a wonderful musician and a kindhearted friend. I am beyond honored to have a small part of his musical legacy permanently intertwined with my music.
The Music Theory Behind The Song
Although I never felt as though I was in any danger, I readily admit that my first experience with a bona fide Arizona summer dust storm was unsettling. I wanted to capture that emotion with this song. One sure fire way to make a song sound unsettling is to use weird scales.
Dust Storm starts out with a riff on the bass guitar using the E Phrygian mode.
[ E F G A B C D ]
When the guitars enter, the bass riff pretty much stays on the notes E and D. The guitars play a series of diad chords (2-note chords) over the bass guitar riff. These chords really seem like they shouldn't work with each other:
[ G5 → G(b5) → E5 → E(b5) ]
Both the backing and lead guitar parts used a scale called E "Dorian #4" mode:
[ E F# G A# B C# D ]
The intro, verses, and Al's guitar solo all employ this unstable and uncomfortable scale.
The choruses in the song switch over to a much more stable E natural minor:
[ E F# G A B C D ]
The break between the chorus and the following verse use the E Phrygian mode again, basically as a heavier version of the intro bass riff.
After the second chorus and break, the E Phrygian mode continues with a high energy ascending power chord riff (2:11) that was intended to reflect the height of the intensity of the howling wind, swirling muddy rain, and thunder.
Just how the storm had moments of calm, the ascending power chord riff gives way to a half-tempo ambient section (2:30) that changes key again down a step to D minor:
[ D E F G A Bb C ]
I take my guitar solo in this quieter, slower ambient section starting at 2:48.
And just like a storm whipping back into full fury, Al blazes in at 3:09 with a searing guitar solo in E Dorian #4. Al's solo dovetails perfectly into the final chorus and outro riff.
So in addition to the unstable Dorian #4 scale, what also contributed to the unsettling feeling in the song was the constant shift in tonality between Dorian #4, Phrygian, and Minor.
Guitars and Amps
I used six guitars on Dust Storm. For the heavy rhythm guitar parts, I played a pair of hard tail Ibanez guitars, my S5521 and my J.Custom RG 8571 both through my Mesa Boogie Mark V:25 IIC+ voice. For the clean guitar parts, I played my Ibanez J. Custom RG 8571, and my Sully Guitars 624 and 622 all played through my Mark V:25 Fat voice. For the lead guitar parts, I played all of the verses and chorus parts on my Ibanez RG 5120 through my Mark V:25 IIC+ voice. I played my guitar solo using my Fender American Elite Stratocaster through the Mark V:25 Fat voice.
Rhythm Guitars:
 2015 Ibanez RG8571 |
 2014 Ibanez S5521 |
Clean Guitars:
2015 Ibanez RG8571 |
 2018 Sully 624 Conspiracy Series |
 2021 Sully 622 US Custom |
Lead Guitars:
 2019 Ibanez RG5120M |
 2016 Fender American Elite Stratocaster |
If you love what you hear and want to support the music I make, please consider purchasing It Was All Just a Dream on CD or digital download. I will gladly personalize and autograph your copy.
https://chrisstark.com/it-was-all-just-a-dream
Keep an eye out for next Saturday's song spotlight, and as always, thank you sincerely for all of your support!
Love, Aloha, and Rock!
❤️😎🎸