Remixing Joshua Dennis’ “I'll Be Yours Tomorrow”

March 16, 2021

Unlike remixes that I had previously produced for bands like Avenpitch, Mystechs, or Noxious Emotion, I felt like I was in new territory. “I’ll Be Yours Tomorrow” is incredibly, but beautifully organic - a far cry from the electronic-based bands that I had worked with before.

In December 2020, I saw a post in my Facebook feed. It said, “My new album, Brand New Day, is available for presale starting today!” I replied, “My order has been put in.” In response and in proper form, I got a “like”.

2020 for me (like it was for many others) was eventful in more ways than one: COVID, politics, division, joy, sorrow, life… So, when January rolled around, my mind was still somewhere else. I had just made it through the busy holidays (albeit shelter-in-place) while managing the feelings brought about by the suspense of world events, including those in the United States. “Brand New Day” released January 1.

It wasn’t until February that I downloaded my copy of his new album. I immediately connected with the music… the hooks... and lyrics of tracks like “Can’t Hold Back the Tide”, “Hold On Till Dawn”, and "Drink Until You're Dry Again". I connected because the events of 2020 were subsiding and 2021 was starting us anew. I immediately reached out to Joshua. “Just wanted to drop you a note to tell you I'm enjoying ‘Brand New Day’. ... If you're up for it, I'd love a try at remixing or reworking one of these tracks; of course, nothing beats the original - just a try of a different flavor.“ We exchanged a few more messages, and he agreed to me remixing “I’ll Be Yours Tomorrow”, as that was my favorite of his tracks.

Unlike remixes that I had previously produced for bands like Avenpitch, Mystechs, or Noxious Emotion, I felt like I was in new territory. “I’ll Be Yours Tomorrow” is incredibly, but beautifully organic - a far cry from the electronic-based bands that I had worked with before. With electronic music, my brain is wired to “splitting the atom” on the original songs: break them down to their core and build them in different ways, even going so far as changing their overall moods. So, having just appreciated “Willow - dancing witch version (Elvira remix)”, I felt that I had some inspiration for the direction to take: keep the feel of Joshua’s original, but give it a new flair.

So, I went “to work”. At this point, I prohibit myself from listening to the original to minimize any influence to the growth of the remix. I listened to each instrument track. I looked for those hooks, the ones that brought me into Joshua Dennis’ original. I soon found myself looping the piano, studying the bass pattern, and listening to the energy of the beat. I layered in Joshua’s voice. Before adding in the guitars, I felt a drive to add in strings, with a very simple progression (melody?). While maintaining much of the original’s arrangement, the strings also called for some slight changes: the melody that came after the first chorus was moved to the bridge, the role of the guitars shifted, and the closing was aligned with the feeling of the piano progression.

I’m very happy with and proud of the end result. Rather than turn the song on its head, like I had done for remixes with electronic-based bands, I made a twin of “I’ll Be Yours Tomorrow”, but with its own distinct qualities. I feel like it could be a new member of the “Brand New Day” family. As for the “Sunflower Mix” title, it came from my appreciation of the original song that acted as the sunflower to produce the seed from which I grew something new.

Learn more about Joshua Dennis.