All Star, But It’s…

for electric guitar, percussion, and electronics
commissioned by Miller || Phelps

Smash Mouth’s “All Star” is one of the most popular musical memes of all time. The intention of this work for electric guitar, percussion, and electronics is to contribute to this tradition, as well as explore meme culture’s ethos as a vehicle for expression. The piece follows a symmetrical form with sampler-driven outer movements that flank a reflective canon in the style of a renaissance parody mass. The fast interior alphabetical movements abstract the source material over a bed of rhythmic interlocking guitar and vibraphone patterns. In the final movement, the meme’s inherit self-referential qualities are taken to the extreme where all four previous movements become the foundation for parody and exploitation.