9. In Plain Sight

Brody Hampson (u/s Paul Gauguin) & Elsa Gustafson (u/s Vincent) - 2025 LIU

Orchestration-wise, the song was originally guitar-driven, with the strings held back until the bridge. Eventually, I realized that letting the strings carry the waltz from the beginning gave the chorus more impact once the guitars dropped into the heavy chorus. It created a MUCH clearer sense of escalation.

During the Long Island University run, Griffin dropped a Purdie shuffle into the second verse. Everyone in the band made the same involuntary face musicians make when something cool happens. (ya know…that stank face.) It was immediately the canon way to play the tune.

You really can’t argue with a Purdie shuffle.

Kenny Doyle (Paul Gauguin) & Matt DeMaria (Vincent) - 2021 Cultural Arts Playhouse

In order to get that cymbal choke at the end of the song…I had to personally stand in the drum booth…no ear protection and no headphones….and physically choke them myself while Griffin was busy starting the next bar. I think the result was worth the tinnitus.

This is one of the few songs that hasn’t changed much since it was written with the exception of the removal of an extremely wordy lyric. (“stressing output is key to productivity, increase activity and my friend you will see totally salvation” …yes really.) The waltz always felt right. It’s two people orbiting each other, locked into the same pattern but arguing from completely different places.

The harmony keeps shifting who’s on top as they trade positions in the argument. No one stays in control for long. The final harmony lands on a perfect fifth. Wide, open, and unresolved. A musical way to show just how far apart they are ideologically by the end.

Matt Drinkwater (Paul Gauguin) & Elise Killian (Vincent) - 2023 NYTF

Cristian Velasquez (Paul Gauguin) & Kaira Gula (Vincent) - 2025 LIU