This song has an accompanying music video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8FkzhvaHQ4
*Song Description By Noles*
While the Plaid On Flannel band officially started on February 15, 2014, the group didn't become a 4-piece until keyboardist Jen Doyon joined a year later on February 22, 2015. I was impressed with what she could bring to the table for the band. And the fact that she could sing harmony backup vocals was a huge bonus. Jen had a range of keyboard effects that she used. But her signature was the organ. When we played the song "Potential", the keyboard added a whole new elemental characteristic to the song that fit in so well. My first thought was carnival music. Or music you would hear at a circus. I thought of clowns and amusement park rides. This opened up a whole new artistic world for me with the direction I could take the band in as a songwriter. That's when I came up with the term "Carnival Rock".
After a couple of Plaid On Flannel gigs with Jen on keyboards, I wrote the music for "Get On!" on April 28, 2015. The guitar riff came first. There are actually 2 guitar riffs in "Get On!". But the first one was intended to sound and feel like it moves in a circular motion. Both physically on the fretboard of the guitar and audibly using the E-minor pentatonic scale. The circular motion sound was intended to feel like a ferris wheel, or any carnival/amusement park ride that moves in circles. The 2nd riff has a similar feel, but it hits the lower power notes. That riff was influenced by the "Monsters!" section of "La Villa Strangiato" by Rush. Which guitarist Alex Lifeson borrowed from a Looney Tunes (cartoon) song called "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott.
I wrote the lyrics for "Get On!" on August 18, 2015 while recording the 3rd POF album Primitive Normative. The lyrics use the idea of a carnival as a metaphor for life itself. Exploring the unknown. Going on unfamiliar rides despite fearing some of them. Experiencing the ups and downs. The ebbs and flows. And the desire to find the best rides by trying them all out. I began recording the Primitive Normative version of "Get On!" on August 1, 2015 and finished it on September 19, 2015. After I uploaded the finished song online, POF drummer Minas insisted we try it out and that was my plan. While we had already figured out which songs were going to be on the Rising Above EP, we saved "Get On!" for the next EP. After performing "Get On!" live several times over the next year, we finally took it to the studio on February 4, 2017. And that's when we also recorded the music video for the tune.
There are some improved differences between the Primitive Normative version of "Get On!" and the version we recorded as a band. The drums use a swing beat over the 2nd guitar riff which really gives it a dynamic boost. All 4 of us sang into one mic for every "Get On!" in the song. That was fun and elevated the choruses in a big way. The guitar solo in "Get On!" largely follows the verse melody. The entire Get On! EP was finished in the spring of 2017, and released on August 28, 2017. "Get On!" is one of my finest songs and I feel like it will remain a staple in Plaid On Flannel's live repertoire for years to come.