Rough Mixing
Sitting in the mixing room at Scream in Los Angeles. Been here before, we mixed "Last Girl on Earth" for the Skycycle record here. Nice place. It's raining angrily outside, really potent for Los Angeles. Everytime I think "Damn it's really raining hard", I snap back and think of the Indian ocean Tsunami and have to stop for a second and take it all in again. Unbelievable. So horribly sad.
Gummo is mixing 6 songs (Bloody Mary is basically done), he's got "Go On", and "Half Hearted" done, and now he's on to "Ashes". It's 8:40, looks like we'll be here pretty late. It goes like this: he brings up a song on ProTools, then puts together a mix, which entails sorting all the parts out, setting up the automation that moves the faders up and down, and applying whatever effects he needs. He spends about an hour and a half getting a mix, then I come in and listen, make notes, he tweaks it, we agree on it, then he "prints" it and we move on. A full mixing session at the end of a record is more like a day per song, but this is only for rough mixes so we will do all 6 in one day.
It gets boring waiting around, so I went home and got my acoustic so I could write in the pool table room. I spent all night working on the new "Project P" song last night. Went to bed at 8:30am this morning. Woke up at 1:30pm and felt like shit. Still lagging a bit, but last night's session was worth it. I am in a kind of undiscovered country with my project right now, there is a lot of "business" to do with tying up the "plot", so the song I am working on ("N2") is unlike anything I have ever written, by far. It's really difficult. There is so much that needs to happen that I am finding it necessary to write it like a theatre piece, instead of a traditional song. Even "Night One" which is really long and "part-y" still has traditional song structure holding it together. Not this new one. I am having to write it piece by piece, play it over and over and over and over and tape it each time. I have had to throw out the idea of a chorus or any repeating parts, and hopefully it will be sonically interesting enough not to loose the listener. As I am writing this, I am also thinking that a label won't ever let me/us ever put this out. I can hope that everything will be fine, it will be a band thing and will be released, but I am starting to have my doubts.
ok, have to go, "Ashes" is up...
"Sarah lights candles, bright lives threatened by the wind"
Comments
Yo, Steve, excuse the rough language, but FUCK the labels man...isn't that what your vision is all about, the music, not the manipulation, the art, not the marketing?
Isn't that why you and the rest of the band have brought us in from the beginning, through the communicative powers of the Internet?
You already have fans from Japan, France, Finland, South Africa, oh, and the IE...Do NOT let ANYONE dictate the direction of your creativity!!
Remember Field of Dreams? If you build it, he will come
I keep thinking of Billy Joel's song "The Entertainer". Almost 30 years ago, and the rules stay the same, 'if you want to make a hit, you have to make it fit'
Break the chain..
ok, going away now, I haven't had much sleep lately either, can you tell?
jezzi
Posted by: jezebel | December 28, 2004 09:00 PM
Steve,
Have you not seen the way the audience looks at you? Have you not felt the love from your site and 6767?
Write what you feel, play how you write, and feel like you play.
So you are writing outside the box? Good! It's about time someone did. Rock needs you guys! Let the big dogs run with a vengeance.
Cheers,
Mike C. (FLA)
Posted by: Mike | December 29, 2004 04:23 AM
I must echo the sentiments above. In the vein of the "Gothic Rush" comparison, may I remind you that "Xanadu" was the whole side of an album. I'd love to see that happen again in the industry. In the 70s, you had bands put out records without any regard to radio play. Unfortunately, as the business has changed, that's a label's primary concern: Will the 15 yr olds buy the singles? Anyway, keep up the great work, undaunted by doubt. Besides, we all know that "Lyn", the album, will be platinum by August:)
Posted by: Lyn | December 29, 2004 04:33 AM
One more thought. No one would touch the "Passion of the Christ". Gibson puts in 30 MIL of his own money to make the film. Industry critics pounce on it, naysayers rip it. To date, the film has grossed well in excess of 400 MIL.
Peace!
Posted by: Lyn | December 29, 2004 05:04 AM