Music > Portal
Portal is my first full-length record.
It downloaded into my head over the course of a night of rock and roll mayhem on a Mendocino County mountaintop.
In the summer of 2013, some friends of mine threw a festival and invited the band I was in to come play. We played as the sun went down, and things only got weirder from there.
By morning, I had 11 songs — named and in order — about what had happened to all of us that night. It took them a few more months to develop, but the names, key lines, and basic sounds were all there that bright morning.
With the help of my friend and drummer, Kirk, my muse and collaborator, Root, my old friend, Mike, my new friend, Stephen, and a few other trusty friends on the ground, I released Portal on February 25, 2014.
Read About Portal
Liner Notes
I wrote this song after my mother’s father died, when I was 18. I had recently returned from China, and the sounds of that trip reminded me of him.
He once showed me this little green box with dragons on it that contained two black metal balls. He explained they were for maintaining the strength in his hands. I sometimes think of that Chinese medicine when I play guitar. I performed the piece at his funeral.
When my father’s father died, not long after, I performed this at his memorial, too. It’s a song about life and death for me now, sad but sweet. It was untitled until I decided to play it on this record.
Guitar: Jon Mitchell
Written by Jon Mitchell
Lani, Lani
come dance with me
My sister, my lover
show me how to move
I wanna get telepathic with you
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
In the city by the sea,
people look like ants and bees
in the hive, in the nest
never stop, never rest
you’re the best
In the house, on the couch,
nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
disappear away from here
being nothing, drinking beer
this is weird
We’re all tangled up forever
being stuff together
In the car, on the road
where do we go? ask the phone
we’re alone all together
getting tangled up forever
and forever
On the steps, a cigarette
you don’t smoke, you just need a breath
some fresh air, we can share
our fair city doesn’t care
we are there
It’s a knot
not a lie
let’s unite
or just untie
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Bass/stuff: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
Special thanks to Zoe Young
I can’t help it
it just pours out
all over the ground
I’m spilling sound
it mixes with water
and turns to mud
a splash of blood
and it’s ready
to be molded and made
it’s done
I built it out of blocks
it’s a portal to your thoughts
it’s a house with a living room
it’s an Earth with a silver moon
it’s a record with 11 tunes
and I wrote them just for you
to see what you will do
when you come through
You have permission
to sing this song
at the top of your lungs
it’s never been sung
until you sing it
don’t just hum the tune
it’s me or the moon, you said
and I don’t know how to choose
Don’t you wonder why you dream so deep
you’re stealing all my sleep
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
The robot’s calling
she’s buzzing in my pocket
I am falling
for her logic
I am being
beta tested
rat or lizard
I am human
Please just be here
while I disappear
and then I’ll let you go
run your fingers through my hair
I’m a sucker for despair
I’ll kiss you on your microphone
I’m talking to the robot
my thumbs are on the glass
the drones with the microphones
are coming in fast
my body’s made of water
but I have iron in my bones
maybe I am just a robot in human clothes
The robot needs sleep to recharge her power
the robot needs to dream of glowing flowers
wake up pretty robot, your wires are live
I’ll bet you’re just like me inside
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
It’s a million miles across this empty bed
I’m lying awake at night pretending you instead
I don’t know where you sleep
don’t even know where you stand
you keep changing colors
This shape is solid, regular
it’s platonic, a form
you can look at it from any angle
but it will look just the same as before
You are so close to me know
I can reach out and touch your hair
but the glowing flower between us
keeps changing colors
You can use me to grow
I don’t know, I don’t know
Vocals/guitar/bass: Jon Mitchell
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
The sun is low
the day is almost done
and you don’t want
to bother anyone
You can’t please anyone else
you’ve given all your help
This is the right place to start
in the room on top of your heart
where you can hear yourself
I go inside
when my ears are ringing
when I go out
I’ll go out singing
Enough of the buzzes and bells
we’re only fooling ourselves
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
You gotta be a giant to stand with me
you gotta stand taller than the tallest trees
so I believe that you can see
over the horizon
But I haven’t learned not to trust what I see
witches and wizards know how to trick me
I’ve been deceived, and so I try to read
the skies my heart flies in
If I see storm clouds coming in
I’ll try so hard to descend
but the currents always catch me in the end
I know where I’m headed
and I know where I’ve been
but my compass just spins and spins
Now I see a maze when I look in your eyes
when you hold my gaze, I feel surprised
It delights me to see you
playing with the lights
But now I’ve gotten lost and turned around
I used to grow up, but now I’m growing down
I’m growing down, growing down
to my friends on the ground
So I’m going down
I’m going down
mayday, baby
I’m going down
So come on down,
come on down
to your friends on the ground
Vocals/guitar/piano: Jon Mitchell
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Friends on the ground: Irina Alexander, Ring Bear, Kirk Benttinen, Josh Cohen, Megan Doak, Stephen Feinberg, Randall Leeds, Jenna Rose Marek, Sam Mitchell, Nat Rosenzweig, Lauren Thomas, Jesse Alexander Eunoia Wolfe, Ariel Root Wolpe
Written by Jon Mitchell
Everything’s suspended on the surface
of a bubble filled with air
we all just pretended we were
separate and solid and scared
I’m in on a secret
I can’t believe is true
I knew I should go
into the field with you
Let’s go out to the field
where we can’t tell if anything’s real
grab all the blankets you’ll find
let’s go lie in the field tonight
We are like cities
our tunnels and alleys
are quiet at night
our bodies are busy
rebuilding the bridges
we cross in the light
The streetlights are glowing
out of your eyes
let’s get back to the dark
and wander outside
Let’s go out to the field
where we can’t tell if anything’s real
we’ll feel better outside
it is cold, but it’s clear and bright
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Piano: Nat Rosenzweig
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Drums: Kirk Benttinen
Written by Jon Mitchell
Don’t be scared to let someone know you
the world is waking up around us
Do you know how you’re feeling?
can’t you see you’re still smiling?
I believe in finding out
What are your intentions?
show me your intentions
I feel lost
do you feel lost?
We’re not so different you and I
Vocals: Ariel Root Wolpe
Vocals/guitar: Jon Mitchell
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Written by Jon Mitchell & Ariel Root Wolpe
It never happened.
Vocals, synthesizer, and drums: Kirk Benttinen
The Kirk machine: Ian Pellicci
Guitar/subliminal stimuli: Jon Mitchell
Bass: Michael Feinberg
Credits
Portal
by Jon Mitchell
Produced by Kirk Benttinen
Engineered by Ian Pellicci and Stephen Feinberg at Tiny Telephone Recording in San Francisco
Cover by Irina Alexander
Jon’s guitar teacher: Travis Andrews
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.
Portal and all songs by Jon Mitchell (Ablaze Interactions/ASCAP)
© 2014, @taalumot
