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 Last week and this coming week have been set aside to work on new song ideas. Last week we wrote a new one that we had started work on before the last studio session, but didn't have time to finish. It is still untitled at the moment, but the lyrics and form are all pretty much in place. Everyone is still working on individual parts, but at the moment the song sounds great. There is a floaty, kind of ephemeral verse section, and a really aggressive contrasting chorus. I have been listening to this one on infinite loop lately, allowing the lyrics ideas to filter in.
Played the poker game on Saturday, and while I can't tell you what happened, I can say that I look forward to our next Panic Channel show (whenever that may be) when I will be playing Dave's beautiful white Gibson SG. The Poker show really seemed to emphasize the "table talk" and chit chat of the game instead of the actual game play, so while it was a fun day, it was pretty frustrating in the competition sense. I don't really like to mess around with my cards, I come to play.
Yesterday Riss and I went to Disneyland as kind of a late Valentine's day couple thing to do since all of my time in the last month or so has been all about the band. I never, ever go to Disneyland on the weekends, cause the crowds are just ridiculous, but Riss got me a season pass as a Christmas present, so we went anyway. Ended up just going on the Haunted Mansion once and spending the rest of the day just walking around. It ended up being a really good time.
We got home and turned on the Oscars, and TiVo zipped around to the good (?) bits. Here is my take:
Chris Rock: Not feelin' it. I love Chris' stand up, but as the host he seemed a weird fit, and not super comfortable. The introduction with the allusion to Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz' breasts was flat out retarded. Nice suit, tho. He said some funny stuff, but hosting that show is a weird gig, and I think he's not the right kind of weird.
Beyonce: Um, that first song in French was really really beautiful, and quite impressive, but seeing her every 20 minutes was pointless. What about the people who sang the original versions of the songs? I really didn't get why she was honorary Oscar staff singer all night. Hell, they let Counting Crows with Adam Duritz' and his goofy-ass Sideshow Bob haircut do their song, why not the others? And that Santana/Antonio Banderas thing made me feel dirty, like I needed a bath, or he did. Or something.
Jaime Foxx: I still haven't seen Ray, but apparently the guy nailed the shit out of it, God bless 'him. He seems like a smart, talented guy, and it was cool to see him win. The speech seemed maybe just a little bit, ... um, rehearsed, but that's appropriate.
Hillary Swank: Fucking shut up already. All you really had to do is make sure that you didn't blow your weeping husband off again, thank Morgan and Clint, and get your ass cleavage out of there, but no, you had to do the "acceptance speech battle with the Oscar band" bit and thank everyone from "the dead relative/mentor who is looking down on your accomplishments proudly" (always a favorite), to your frigging cleaning woman and everyone in between. Said with Love, Hilary, said with love. Have to give you points for the backless dress/visible nipple HO's on the red carpet. Kind of evens it all out.
Penelope/Salma: Like I said, the intro was just dank, but having them on TV in a two-shot like that just seemed to make my TV happy, but trying to follow the talking was rough going.
Morgan Freeman: Finally! Good for him. How many really good movies does this guy have to make to get a frigging trophy? Shoulda gotten it for Shawhank.
All in all, another pretty boring show, with a ham-handed attempt by the producers to look all "current" and happening by having Chris Rock host. If we're talking SNL almuni, I say give Mike Myers a call, he's due to get his funny back on, and I think he would do a fine job.
Today Dave invited me to play a televised poker tourney that will be on a new show on E!. Last year when I tagged along to Vegas for Dave's two appearances on Celebrity Poker Showdown, I had a great time, but have to admit I was a little envious. I love poker, and before the band, I would get in a game 2-3 times a week. Always No-Limit, usually home tourneys. These days all my time is writing, recording, working on the band site, and now the album artwork, so poker is now something I try to get in a couple times a month. And Jezzi - no, I did not teach Dave everything he knows, not at all, he actually has been playing poker way longer than I have, but I have played more No Limit Texas Hold'em. I've never really played against him, just sat at a table or two in Vegas in a NL ring game, and once at a hotel room tourney. Interested to see how this one will pan out.
The bad-ass thing is that this isn't for Charity. The winner gets 10k, and I think it's only 5 people playing. Not bad chances. They did a pre-show interview and asked me what I would do with the money. I told them the truth: rent. Car Payment. Food. Gas. And If I could swing it, maybe I can buy my new guitar. I have decided on a blue Gibson Les Paul or a white Gibson SG. Lately I have been borrowing Dave's SG.
One thing I have learned about poker is that personally, I have to be focused and disciplined, but not to get too bent about the outcome. So this means bring my "A" game, but if I get knocked out, still be able to have a good time just playing. This has served me pretty well. Poker is the best game in the world, and it's more important to me that I have fun playing than be a frustrated, angry player. That said, if I get knocked out first, I am throwing Shannon Elizabeth's TV out her window ...Just sayin'.
I can't tell you the outcome of the game of course, the show won't let us, but suffice it to say that if you see us play a gig in the next month or two and I am playing a blue Les Paul, maybe the game went okay.
...Just sayin'.
Sunday. Couldn't sleep until 7am last night. Can't stop my head.
The rain is pouring down harder than ever. This is the last day of this stretch of tracking. We spent most of it adding vocals to "She Won't Last". Did some chorus "doubling", harmonies, and some figuring out of the first verse section and how it all unfolds. Gummo pulled it all together and made a good rough mix. Next we spent some time on "Left to Lose". I re-sung a verse line, and the last line of the song. Rough Mix. Then he rough mixed "She Won't Last".
The new "Go On" and "Ashes" will have to wait for the next studio session to be finished, as will the acoustic one, "Someone Else". There just wasn't time to get them all together in the 13 days. The priority was to get the newer somgs ready enough to listen to so we can hear them with the others and be thinking of what will go on the record, sequencing, etc.
Even though it was only a couple weeks in the studio, and I am really into getting a normal schedule back, when it is the last day it gets kinda sad when all the gear is being de-assembled, and loaded up. All the guitars put in their cases, all the remnants of our creative time here gone - except for the music.
Now it's time to see if there are any last minute inspirations to put together in the jam room for the next two weeks, then back in the studio to finish.
Today Dave went in first to get some guitar work done on "Ashes". I had most of the day free to myself before I was expected late afternoon/evening. Gummo sent me the first rough mix of "Said You'd Be" and then later the first rough of "She Won't Last". The rain slowed down, and I thought it might be a nice time for a long walk. I dumped the new versions on the iPod, got some warm clothes on, and hit the streets. I walked for about 45 minutes and just listened to "She Won't Last" over and over. It's still being built, but I am so happy with how it is turning out. The song has never sounded near as full and dramatic as it does now.
I got on the subway and took it to Hollywood Boulevard. With the streets wet with rain, all the neon lights reflect and it looks so pretty. I walked up and down Hollywood Blvd, past the tattoo and T-shirt shops, the frightened tourists, and pizza joints. In front of the Hollywood/Highland shopping center, they had erected the stands for next weekend's Academy Awards. I walked to the Capitol Records building and looked in the window at all the gold records on the wall. I walked for about 3 hours, and once I wound up at the studio, I realized I had been listening to "She Won't Last" on repeat the whole time. I am so happy with this one.
Some songs, like "Said You'd Be" are simple to track because you really know how you want it to sound, and the most important thing is to maintain the authenticity of the "live" sound. Here's an analogy: When a sculptor makes a statue out of stone, they have to have the idea of the finished statue perfectly laid out mentally before they begin, then they chip away the negative space, and what's left is ...voila! - a statue. I see songs like "Said You'd Be" this way... you know what's "inside" before you begin.
"She Won't Last" is different. I see this one more like a clay sculpture. With clay, you start with a blob, then add more and more on, until a shape starts to emerge. With more and more detail, the sculpture eventually becomes "finished". The "shape" of "She Won't Last" became clearer in the last day, and now I am so excited to keep "sculpting" until completion. There is no way to know how this one will truly turn out, and that's pretty exciting.
Tomorrow is our last day in the studio, and we will be working mainly (if not solely) on this one.
Meanwhile, back at the studio this evening, I arrived and found Dave still knee deep in "Ashes". At 10pm I laid down one guitar track, then went home to let Gummo comp the vocals to "Left to Lose". By the way, Gummo is really doing a great job, 12-14 hour days every day, and keeping the whole project focused and on track, and we really appreciate his creativity and hard work.
Afterwards, the rain turned into a full-on storm and beat Los Angeles with wall after wall of water.
Friday. Really wet and rainy. Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, actually I do most nights while at the studio. We are here for two more days, so I can catch up on sleep next week. Got in at 1pm and Gummo was working on “Go On”. With ProTools and digital recording, as you record and re-record all day long, an amount of “homework” piles up. Cleaning up messy tracks, making sure there isn’t any “trash” hanging around, like me mumbling on the mic before I start a vocal take, "comping" vocals, etc.
He worked alone for the first part of the day, then I got into singing. Last night’s work on “Go On” went pretty well for the verses, but the choruses are not working rhythmically for me. The faster tempo is making it hard to sing to. I am getting frustrated with this new version. I don’t think it should be difficult or something to re-learn how to sing. I think the first “Go On” version choruses were for lack of a better word, perfect. I love that version. I will try my hardest to fit the vocal on this newer version, but I have serious doubts. I listened to the old version today again to check myself, and I still love it. It’s all good, because this is the “hard work” part that makes the quality of the finished product satisfying.
It’s another Gummo and me day in the studio, quiet except for the music. Dave and Perk are getting ready to play the Anaheim Pond show. I wish I could see it, Camp Freddy shows are such a blast.
We worked on "Go On" for a while, then around 7pm, it became apparent that Gummo needed some serious alone time to get the vocals sorted out and ready to listen to. I went home in the rain and Riss and I got to go see "Constantine". We enjoyed it; good flick, great effects.
This afternoon on the way to the diner for my breakfast, I locked my front door and turned around. Looking at the ground, I saw thousands of little dark droplet marks. RAIN!!! Woo Hoo! I couldn’t have asked for more. Dave and Stephen have a Tsunami benefit Camp Freddy show at Anaheim Pond tomorrow night, and Chris is out of town, so today and tomorrow are all on me. Having the rain to make atmosphere is a wonderful bit of luck. I sure hope it lasts.
There are plenty of rhythm guitar tracks and vocals for me to do, and just getting to hash out ideas and brainstorm with only Gummo there is kinda nice. After all the effort and trials of yesterday, a quiet studio is a nice change.
She Won’t Last:
We got my 2nd verse guitars with the Les Paul going through the Matchless. For the 1st verse, which is really spacious and the part of the song that we are experimenting the most on, we tried some different ideas…
Gummo used the Vox Tonelab to get a Smiths “How Soon is Now” kind of effect. Again I played the Les Paul, this time through the Mesa Recto. I love how this part turned out. The effect is really subtle, but you can feel it.
We are trying to add some elements of tension that build up into the chorus, that aren’t “live” parts, but more subliminal, or “felt” parts. We tracked me getting some wicked loud feedback in the main room standing in front of the Marshall cabinet for one element. I also played a big loud piano chord that Gummo plays backwards in the mix. The effect is this really cinematic slow build that rises and rises, then BAM! – the chorus. It’s too early to see how all these parts will finally assimilate, but we have them recorded, and we’ll sort them out in the coming days.
Finally, we added a new guitar melody to the choruses that is my new favorite part. We used a red pedal called a "Whammy" that is apparently a Tom Morello/Radiohead fixture. It made a ridiculous amount of really diverse effects, and we settled on one that pulled the melody out from the wall of Dave's and my guitars that had been laid down. Dave also used this pedal on "The Loophole" during our last sessions. This band guitar-wise is all about Dave, and that is wonderful, but when I can come up with a part that I am proud of and think helps the song along, I get a kick out of it.
I keep seeing Rivers Cuomo in the hallway, they are working on the new Weezer record right across the hall. I can hear a song faintly through the walls.
Dave, Riss & Perk came by around 10pm to talk a little business. I know that it's all necessary, but this week the realization really started hitting home, that our band that we have been having so much fun with is now something to seriously work on and manage. It's not a good thing, and it's not a bad thing, it's just reality. After the meeting I went back in and got to work on the "Go On" vocals.
Glen darkened up the main tracking room, and lit some candles. I went out in the dark and sang the song for about an hour. Again I did the hand held mic thing, but this time used a larger, more substantial one. Since we have been watching "Some Kind of Monster" all week during dinner breaks, we now call this mic "The Hetfield Mic". Looks like this one might be a nice balance between sound quality and my new found enjoyment with tracking vocals with a hand held mic. We worked until around midnight, and Gummo stayed for a while to "comp" the vocals. Also a by-product of the Metallica movie, Gummo has somewhat perfected an impersonation of Lars Ulrich's Gandalf-like father and is dealing out comments like "I really, really don't think that is a good idea", and "delete that", while tracking. It seems that SKOM dialogue is the new "Spinal Tap" for endlessly repeatable studio soundbites.
Today Dave posted the live video of our first performance of "Said You'd Be" shot a few weeks ago at the showcase. The audio is rough, sadly all that came through on the DAT are a bit of drums and way too much vocal - but we thought we'd post it for you anyway, cause Marc and Jamie did such a good job filming it. The song has changed a bit since then. We added another chorus after the solo so it doesn't end so quickly (Mortisha8 should like that). When we wrote the song we were all excited to kick one out that was all energy, no big changes, no slowing down. It ended up being tremenously fun to play, but only just over two minutes. We thought we'd keep it going just a touch longer by addding the chorus. The lyrics changed a bit too. In the comments at 6767.com, some people were comparing my singing to Klaus from The Scorpions. That, I can say is something I never thought I would ever hear.
Started getting things together to re-track drums on “Ashes” around 1pm. This one is tricky. Gummo created a click map to guide Stephen on the different tempos for the different sections. We discovered that the choruses naturally want to be a bit faster than the verses. We worked all day on different versions, with the verse a touch slower, the chorus a touch faster, and poor Stephen every time went out and gave it hell. He was a machine today, and while patience was wearing thin for endless takes to get it right, Stephen hung in there and ripped it up every time. With the effortless recording of the two new ones (“Said” & “Left”) it was hard re-doing one of our first songs so many times. I see “Ashes” as a much more challenging song than those other two, so I am not surprised. It has more emotional depth, and a load of changes and feels. When this one is done right, and all this is over, I feel that it will be also one of the most satisfying. My personal agenda is that this song was about my friend Andie’s battle with cancer, and she died last October when we recorded this song the first time, so I don’t care if we have to record this song a hundred times, this song is for her and it’s going to be done right.
It took a while, but we got the right setup for the click map, and Perk nailed a really good drum take. Just fast enough for some urgency, but slow enough so that all the notes can swirl around and have space to breathe.
My buddy Dan came by to hang out and videotape us for a bit. Most of the video of the recording up until now is featuring 3 guys and mysteriously missing me, …cause I am holding the camera. Now we have a bit of help in that department.
Chris took a while to find his bass tone, and got to work on re-doing his bass part. It turned out to be another arduous tone hunt. Today in general was just a bitch.
Dave got into the chorus guitars around 9:30pm. Things started loosening up, and we started to have a some fun. We closed up shop around midnight.
We had a business meeting in Westwood and got back to the studio and were tracking at 3pm. Dave got into work on the new “Ashes”. As he started to work on the song, it became pretty apparent that in the hopes of getting a faster version, we tracked the song way too fast. Like, unusable fast. We experimented and found what seems to be a newer tempo that’s faster than the old, and slower then the new, a happy medium. The plan is to track the drums again tomorrow first thing. It’s pretty frustrating, but everyone really wants to be sure that we get the definitive version of the tune.
Last night I came to a realization: my black Telecaster is a complete piece of shit. It’s muddy and low, with no life. I knew this the last time in the studio, but since then, per Marc Vangool’s advice bought some replacement “Kinmann” pickups. While this helped, it brings to mind the old adage “you can’t polish a turd”. Wiser words never spake. I now fucking hate my Telecaster with a white hot anger I normally reserve for painful canker sores and the film works of Mr. Michael Bay. The drag is that months ago, when I bought the Divided by 13 and the Telecaster, I was spending the last of my dough. Now I don’t really have any options to upgrade until the record deal comes through. I am going to sell off the Divided, but that cash will go toward a little extravagance I like to call RENT. Patience, young Jedi, patience. Hopefully soon, all this business stuff will be behind us, and the Mesa I ordered will be here and I can shop for the right guitar for this band. I am thinking of a Les Paul or an SG at the moment, something more high output and warmer than a Fender, apparently it’s almost impossible to buy good Fender off the shelf these days.
At 6pm I started work on vocals in the main tracking room. Gummo got 4 different mics set up to find out which one sounded best. I am used to singing through a “capsule” mic, a big, expensive deal that I don’t hold, it’s clamped to the mic stand. After trying the first three of this type, Gummo recommended that I try the SM-58. A 58 is the basic, garden variety standard mic that is what you sing through every other time in life when you aren’t in the studio. They’re cheap and ubiquitous, and I never thought in a million years that you could use one for tracking vocals. Gummo says that at the end of the day, it would be good enough for tracking, and if I felt more rocking and comfortable, than that was most important. I tried the 58 and it was actually a blast to track the vocals. I lost myself… I could move around, stopped thinking about getting a “perfect” take and just felt it. Gummo was really happy with the takes, and so were the guys, so I kept on. I sang it about 8 times, then we set up “Left to Lose” and I gave it the business. Today felt like a revelation. Being able to move and feel “at home” while tracking vocals brought out so much more than I had let out on tape before. It was much more like playing live than being in the studio.
Riss came by and we had a band meeting for an hour or so. There are a lot of things happening and we needed to hash out some plans. Afterward, everybody was in a great mood collectively, and we got back to work on vocals. I sang it a few times with a big Capsule mic for a different sound, and a few times with the 58. The way tracking vocals works is that Gummo has these multiple takes to choose from, then he cuts the best lines, choruses, parts and makes a version. I check it out (in a day or so, whenever he has it ready) and see if there is anything I don’t like or think I can “top”. Usually, I’ll give it another pass (attempt) to see if the new day brings out anything new or better. If it seems good, then we get to work on “doubling” and harmonies. Doubling is when you sing or play the exact same part over top of itself. The effect is a heightened gloss or “finish” that works great for choruses and the like.
At 11pm Dave got back into solo mode and ripped away on “Said You’d Be”. As he was playing I was so happy and proud to be in this band (I always am, but some times more than others). Watching Dave tear away at that fucking guitar and being totally invested in THE ROCK and not concerned about anything at all that would weaken the power of what he’s capable of. I am so happy that I am in a band that has crazy, wild, fierce guitar solos. Fucking guitar solos. If you don’t want to hear any, don’t listen to this band. As I type this, Dave is about 4 feet away from me, making a sound that sounds like a he’s strangling a cat who is possessed by the devil, and it sounds beautiful.
We finished up around 1:45am.
Dave got in and started tracking at noon. Somebody was blocking my car in my driveway and I couldn’t get out til 2pm. Dave had gotten the choruses triple tracked, messed around with a little slide guitar, and was about to get to work on the solo. He spent some time working on getting the right tone for it: His PRS going into his Marshall for the main sound, and the repeats from the delay pedal running out to the Bogner for full effect. He decided to double track the solo playing the SG and using his Crybaby wah, and running through a Roger Mayer fuzz/ocataver pedal. When you hear the record, you will just hear a heroic solo, but it really takes hours of tone searching and trying different amps and recording approaches to find the one you fall in love with. When the tone is just right, it gets newly inspiring, and new parts and discoveries can appear in the moment and really change the recording. Right now the solo is sounding absolutely amazing. Dave is having a great time with all this sonic experimentation. The lights are low, and the vibe is great.
All day, parked in the lot was a gigantic blue “Oprah’s Best Wishes” Bus. All over the studio, extra people and a camera crew were buzzing around. Apparently, she hooks people up with “Make-A-Wish Foundation” type experiences, and a winner was in one of the rooms tracking a song with Mariah Carey. Randy Jackson was somehow involved, and during our daily Dinner/Metallica Movie break, he stopped by and talked to us. He was way cool, nice guy. The best thing about the Oprah crew was they sure knew how to roll: in one of the rooms, they had catering from Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles.
Watched the Grammys last night. Normally, I don’t even bother, no one I ever really like ever gets nominated, and the show is usually such a bore. I TiVo’ed it just in case, so I could zip through and check out the highlights. Riss and I were kind of blown away by how good it was. Short on ten minute long montages, and tedious speeches, and long on performances. I have to say I was fully blown away by Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx. That shit was sick. Very entertaining show. Also, Usher killed it. His music isn't really my cup, but he is really such an amazing performer. The opening with Gwen (She Who Can Do No Wrong), Maroon5, Los Lonely Boys (Um, who they hell are they?), and Black Eyed Peas all doing the live mash-up, was pretty impressive. Led Zeppelin finally got a lifetime achievement award, nice. The Jennifer Lopez/Marc Anthony duet - pure comedy gold! At the end of the show, John Shanks won Producer of the Year. John has a studio down the hall, and I have been seeing him everyday, he has been letting us use an effect or a guitar here and there. Well done, man!
Meanwhile, today in the studio:
By 6pm Dave was pretty burnt from playing different parts of the same song. Chris and Stephen broke early to go have some Valentine’s time with their ladies. I got to work on the choruses of “She Won’t Last”. It took a while to get the right sound, I need to fit into a track that already has three tracks of Dave rhythm already. We eventually ended up using Marc’s Les Paul through his Marshall. Someday I think I’ll need to pick me up one of those babies. We broke a little early to have just a little extra Valentine’s time at home…
 After six 12 hour days in the studio, I was ready for this one. Riss and I woke up and caught breakfast/lunch at the Good Earth. We've been on an exercise/healthy eating program for a couple months and hit this place every Sunday lately. I always get the same thing: "Tower of Pizza" egg white omelet (no mushrooms, cause they're gross), with a side of blueberry pancakes. Coffee. This has been starting the last few Sundays just right. Except for the fact that between the time we order, and the time the food gets to the table I could grow a full beard.
After, we went to the Panic jam room to pick up some amps. Mesa was very gracious in renting me one each of 3 different amps (Dual Recto, Lonestar, and Stiletto) and since I decided on buying a Dual Recto, it was time to take the others back. Also loaded up my Divided by 13. Before I sell it, I plan on using it for some of my tracks (especially the chorus of "She Won't Last") this week.
Tonight was the Grammy awards, and the band was invited to an EMI (Capitol's parent company) Grammy after party. We didn't go to the awards, but the party was down the hill from Dave & Carmen's so we all met there and drove down to check it out.
As we went in to the party (at the Beverly Hills Hotel), we stopped for photos on the red carpet as a band. This was a trip. All the flashbulbs going off, being blinded, gave me a tiny taste at what Dave & Carmen get ALL THE TIME when they go to one of these things.
They had the party around the pool. Everything was all dramatically lit, and people were everywhere. We got a booth, and I went out to do some serious free food investigation. I decided to eat everything I possibly could because... I could. So I did. Shrimp, Steak, and a beautiful dessert buffet. I must have loaded up seven plates of desserts. Shame to waste it.
They had this temporary walkway across the pool, which made this neat little bridge. At one point I walked across alone, stopped in the middle and looked around. The elegantly lit curves of the historic old Hollywood hotel looming above the palm trees. Hundreds of people in suits and dresses, chatting, schmoozing, cruising, all doing something or someone in the music business that got them there. I could only imagine what it was. I felt like an intruder as I wondered: What will this year hold for us? In one year from tonight what will I be looking back on? Will I be at this very same party and feel more like I belong here? Will I want to?
I fell out of my daydream and resumed my attack of the butterscotch covered strawberrries.
Once we all felt we'd had as much of the party as was worth having, we all piled into Dave's car and drove up the winding road to his house, laughed a bit, then got in our own cars and went our separate ways until tomorrow where we will get back to work on the record.
All bright and sunny out. Damn.
Had a hard time sleeping last night, finally powered down around 4:30am. Woke up at 11:30am and Riss and I went to our favorite café and fueled up. I read Dave’s post today, and he hit the nail right on the head. Days are smearing one into the next, all time perspective has been set askew. Kind of like a dream.
Dave was slated to start with his “Left to Lose” guitars, so I could come in just a little later. Got in at 2pm and Dave was rocking the SG on the verse parts, as Stephen and Chris looked on. It’s cool how everybody is usually here all the time to show support and keep the band vibe alive through the whole process.
The forecast is for more rain, I sure hope it comes, and if so, hope it does tomorrow on our day off, I want to enjoy it.
Dave turned the lights down in the control room and went to work on the solo and the new outro section. While we were tracking the song, Dave all of a sudden said “guys, start jamming, I have an idea”, and now there is this great live jam after the song has finishes. Dave took a few passes at the end solo. He seemed like he had a blast playing it and you can hear it.
Next on the agenda was “She Won’t Last”. After we chilled a bit, Dave started in on the verse. His part is a hypnotic part that’s U2-styled.
He, Gummo, and Marc spent some time getting a tone and a delay setting so the delay repeats kind of syncopate and swirl together. Dave tweaked his part and it has more of a sadness and depth to it now. He tracked it initially with Marc’s Gibson ES 135. It was good, but missing something...This lead us down a tone search superhighway for about an hour. Sometimes in the studio the hunt for the elusive "sound in the head" can be pretty time consuming and maddening when it doesn't show up right away, but is a necessary part of the process. We had a great tone with the Gibson, but there was a clear glassy top end vibe that was missing. It turned out that one track of the Gibson and one track of the vintage Strat did the trick. After hearing the bass intro over and over in this process, Chris decided to re-do his part. He went for a super low, D-tuned sound. We listened to our original Danny Saber demo once to remind us of the cool initial approach we had used to start the song.
We broke for dinner and watched some more Metallica “Some Kind of Monster”. I am taking this baby home with me tonight so Riss and I can check it out tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan on catching up on all the TV I have missed this week: 2 American Idols, an Apprentice, and a Battlestar Galactica. By the way, BG is my new favorite show. Watched the mini-series just to check it out a little while back and loved it. Got way hooked. Smart, inventive, really well acted, it’s got it all. It accomplishes what is practically impossible: being a believable, relevant, and exciting science fiction show on television.
After dinner, our friend Mark Racco brought by a rough cut of a live video he shot of “Said You’d Be” from the manager showcase last week. When it is done, we’ll put it up for everybody on the Panic Site.
We had a lot of fun tonight brainstorming on “She Won’t Last”. Dave did his louder 2nd verse guitars, then we put down some real Silverlake-y bridge parts down. Used the Gretch, The Gibson 135, and Phil’s Telecaster. All really cool, vintage type sounds that don’t appear anywhere else in the song. The idea is a whole “scene change” in the bridge, right before the solo. Dave made a wind noise in my ear during playback, and I don’t know if he was joking or not, but it gave me the idea of a sound I want to put in the first verse, I describe it as “medical distance”. Marc Vangool got to work on the computer trying to create a loop or sound of …“medical distance”. I could describe further what that supposed to indicate, but I like those two words alone. Gummo was feeling pretty burnt after 6 straight 12-14 hour days tracking, so we took off at midnight for our precious day off.
The main tracking room
Dave doing guitars in the control room
Vocal booth
It started raining last night, and it is still coming down very heavily. So great. If I could have my way, I would have it rain for a month or so from here on out. Love the rain.
We got started at 1pm. Dave resumed work on the "Go On" guitars. Chris showed up with the "Boogie Nights" DVD and we checked out the "John C. Reilly files". Oh my God. Great stuff.
Dave got most of it done, rocked an awesome solo, and only has a few tracks on the end spacey part to finish. I got to feeling a little claustrophobic in the control room, so I spent the afternoon out in the patio reading under an umbrella while it rained away.
He spent the afternoon and evening getting all the rhythm tracks done on "Said You'd Be". He has been liking the combination of one track of his PRS double tracked with the Gibson SG. Together it makes one really aggressive and full tone. He did some solo work on it, then took a break.
While he chilled for a while, I got in and tracked my parts on "Go On". I used Marc's sweet blue Telecaster Thinline and the Dual Rectifier through his Marshall cabinet. Chris and Stephen took off to get some precious home time. For the spacey end part of "Go On" we are doing it without drums to give Stephen some room to go into percussion world. We experimented with my part using different delays to get a soupy, dreamy vibe. For this bit, I used Marc's ES 135. Marc Vangool is really a great asset to the process, as his knowledge of amps, effects, guitars, and all the combinations thereof is extensive and leads to discovery of sounds that would have been difficult or impossible otherwise.
Dave came back in as I was finishing up, and then got to work on the main rhythm parts on "Left to Lose". Again he started with the SG. We are all so amped about these 2 new songs, they are really fast and quite meaty. He ended up playing for a bit then taking off, he's pretty burnt after 8 solid hours of playing.
I got back in there and worked on "Ashes". I used Marc's Les Paul through the Bogner. Afterwards, Marc, Gummo, Glen (who works at the studio), and I hung out and listened to Rush's 2112 and raised the Fist of Rock.
Outside, it was still raining.
Afri-Cola
Poseidon, the undersea resort being built in on the sea floor in the Bahamas.
John Bonham form Led Zeppelin Drum Outtakes
Outsider Videos - you must watch the Orson Welles Wine Commercial outtakes
Came in at 12 noon and after some food and chatting, got to work on re-tracking "Go On". Dave is mad crazy excited about re-doing this one. Like I said, I love the existing version, so I have been against it from the get-go. Stephen and Chris are into the recording of this new version a bit faster, more like we do it live. We got a great drum take with tons of energy, then Chris did his bass. The guys are really excited about this new version. I'm still not sold. If we get a better version from it, that's wonderful. But if we do, oh hell- I will never hear the end of it.
Greg Simon came by for a bit in the afternoon and we watched a series of Internet video courtesy of uselessjunk.com. It wouldn't really be the studio without a shitload of clips concerning skateboarding faceplants, motorcycle accidents, farting, creative German sex techniques, all things conducive to important creative expression.
By the way, here are some useful world peace links:
The Red Cross, Unicef, & Guidestar.
With the drums and bass all done, it's all on Dave and me now. For the next week it will be mainly Dave guitars, and a few of my rhythm guitar tracks. On "Said" and "Left" I don't play guitar, so guitar-wise I will just be doing "She Won't Last" , "Someone Else" and re-doing my parts on "Ashes" and "Go On".
The first guitar track of the day fell to me with the acoustic bed for "Someone Else". This is the one where I will lay the whole song down top-to-bottom, and we will all layer parts on top. We have no preconceived idea how it should be - gonna take this one part by part. I have been practicing it for the last few days, it's a bitch. My fingerpicking is okay, but not stellar. Also once you are recording, every tiny detail jumps out, and with acoustic, there is nowhere to hide. We hooked me up with a room mic, the direct from the guitar pickup line, and a weird little jury-rigged condenser mic Gummo taped on to the front of the guitar. I felt like I was wired by the cops to eavesdrop on myself.
I ran it down twice, and we punched me in where it got squirrelly. We tried using this expensive old Martin Guitar from John Shanks down the hall, but it wasn't quite right so we used my Taylor. That is cool, cause even with all this gear around to use, I am most happy when I can use my own stuff. I guess it makes me feel like my cash went to good use. Getting this acoustic part wasn't the nightmare I thought it would be. I still want to woodshed the part some more in the next week and give it one more pass later.
Dave started up on "Go On" guitars. He is super excited about this new version and it's infectious. When Dave is really into something he gets really passionate and it's fun to be around. He is half reproducing what he did on the "old" version of the song, and half just taking it from scratch and seeing what feels right in this new moment. I am just waiting til the new version is ready for singing to see how I like it against the old version. The new one does sound more energetic because it's faster, but I won't really know how it feels until then.
Marc Vangool, our guitar and amp tone wizard came by before dinner and set up his arsenal of amps for Dave to choose from for tracking. He has set up Dave's Marshall JCM 900, a Matchless, my rental Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Marshal plexi, a Bogner, and this crazy solid state "Wiggy" amp.
Today Dave has been playing his white Gibson SG, his white PRS, a sharp lookin Gibson ES 135 (a big hollowbody rockabilly guitar), and a Gibson Les Paul.
Marc needed some time to get the Guitarsenal together, so we broke for dinner. We all ate in the lounge (with my buddy Dan who came by to do some videotaping) and watched the beginning of the Metallica movie "Some Kind of Monster". Wow. Can't wait to watch this whole thing. So entertaining.
..."a little too much fucking perspective" ...
David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Dave got into full hero ripping mode after dinner and layered "Go On" guitars and did some great solo work. We got out around 12:30am.
The day began at 12noon. We all sauntered in and got back to work on "She Won't Last". Stephen wanted to re-address the verses after Chris laid down his parts, have them sit together a little tighter. He totally changed the first verse and is doing this almost Phil Collins-like "In the Air Tonight" kind of lead-in to the chorus that is fucking awesome. Everybody was freaking out in the control room when he hit it. This song has turned a serious corner in the last day. It's way more likely to be excited about a new songs, as they are so fresh in your mind, so "She Won't Last" was feeling like an "old" song until now. After the drums and bass have been put down, it seems really exciting again. Now I feel really impatient to lay all the other tracks down and see how it will sound finished.
We also re-tracked the "Ashes" drums and bass. Giving the song a whole new try a bit faster. It's a big job, completely re-doing the song, but everyone is into it. Dave brought up the idea of completely re-tracking "Go On" which I am not into (because I love the almost finished version we have), but if everybody backs it, then we do it.
We also worked on recording the live end jam to "She Won't Last" . It probably won't be on the record, but we wanted to track it anyway. Sounds insane.
Chris brought in a crazy Brazilian musical instrument called a Brimbau and experimented with some sounds for the beginning of "Ashes". I can't even begin to describe what this instrument looks or sounds like, but I must give it to Chaney for not only being able to play it, but also just for being able to pronounce it's name. You go!
Got a full night's sleep and felt pretty much 95% this morning (well, afternoon). Got up and went in the studio at 1pm. Stephen, Dave and Chris ran through "Left to Lose" a couple times last night after I went home and had a killer take of it. We tried it a few times today but ended up using last night's version. Next, Chris laid down the bass part using a 1960 Fender P bass. That finished made 2 songs done for the rhythm section. "She Won't Last" was next.
This one was more tricky. We found out that we naturally play the different parts of the song at different tempos, so Gummo made a "click map". This is a click track that Stephen can listen to as he plays so that the different parts stick to the different tempos. We tried it a few times, but it didn't feel very "live" so we played it with the click for the first verse (which is slower than the rest of the song) and Gummo took it out for the rest of the song from the first chorus so we played it more "live". This approach seemed to do the trick. Once we got the drum take, Chris got to work on the bass. We spent the rest of the night on that. He did some looking around and discovering of some cool new parts to the song. Tomorrow the plan is to track the "Someone Else" acoustic guitar, and "Ashes". We have decided that "Ashes" sounds much better live than how it came out in the studio, so we are going to try that one again a touch faster. I just checked out 6767.com and found out that Tom Morello and Nuno Bettencourt came by last night after I took off. Ahh, well, you snooze, you lose.
It's a drag, but I am getting the feeling that I won't have any time to work on the cover art til after the studio time is done. It sucks because I am really inspired to live in painting mode for a few days. All other areas of life get the mute button turned on when in the studio. I think when this run of studio days is finished I am going to lock myself in my work room and live in art world. It's 1:25 and Chris just finished his part, now we go home.
So begins our documentation of the second leg of sessions for our record. In October we spent two weeks in the studio and 3 weeks at Brian Virtue's house doing more tracks. The result was seven songs:
"Ashes", "The Loophole", "Half Hearted", "Unholy Ghost", "Bloody Mary", "Go On", and "Outsider". We spent a few days in December adding a track or two, and we recorded "Start of Darkness" in January with Scott Humphrey. That brings us up to 8 songs.
Today has been pretty mellow. Stephen got here at 12noon and he and Virtue set up the drums and got the drum sounds til 4pm when the rest of us got here. I, for some reason am feeling pretty under the weather today. I have a stuffed nose, and I am getting that ache-y, pain-ey crap going. Been taking Tylenol cold and I am a little dazed, too. The first couple days we will just be getting the drums. bass, and maybe a guitar track or two, so I have a bit of time to get up to speed before I sing.
We started off with "Said You'd Be". After we ran it and were satisfied with the levels, we started talking about maybe adding one more chorus at the end, like I said before, the song was clocking in at just over 2 minutes, so we decided to give it just a bit more time to breathe. I am really glad we did this. It's still a hella short song, but now at least it's around long enough to make its point.
Stephen got a drum take we are all excited about, now it's on to Chris laying down the bass. I went home early so I could get to sleep early and shake this thing. After Chris' bass take for "Said You'd Be", they were going to set up a different drum set for the next song "Left To Lose" - and we'll get the drums on that first thing tomorrow.
Ok, hopefully that all will catch me up somewhat. It's been nuts over here. I've been spending alot of time working on lyrics, writing, revising, scrapping, re-writing. Still need to set the lyrics for "Someone Else". I started taking "lyric walks" around Hollywood Forever Cemetery lately. I find my lyric walks are the best way to try to work on lyrics without working. When strolling around, listening to the music, and when not trying to "work" I usually find that some ideas will come. HFC is a beautiful Cemetery, and it puts me in a contemplative mood. Nothing morbid, it's just a very nice park when you get down to it, and it's hard not to look at life a bit differently when walking around a graveyard. Here is the new Johnny Ramone headstone near the lake:
Last Halloween season, Riss and I took a walking tour of the Cemetery and learned alot about the "residents" there, and about Cemeteries in general. One thing that struck me was that in the past, Cemetaries were thought of as nice places to hang out and spend time, that they were made not soley for grieving and feeling loss, but so that the living can spend time with the dead and remember them fondly.
This weekend I started working on the album artwork. This is a process that will take alot of discovery and time. I started painting an image I have seen for the band for months but have not had the time to work on it. I was thinking that it would be just a guide for what would ultimately be a photograph/image manipulation, but I am actually really liking just the painting. I am 3 days into it and have about a week more work I figure until it's ready to judge. At the moment I love it. When I say painting, I mean it's done on the computer in Photoshop with a graphics tablet.
Went to see "The Aviator" last night. Absolutely loved it. Thought it was fantastic, not a damn bit of criticism at all. Leo did a flat-out awesome job with the part. One of my favorite details was that as the film progressed, Scorsese used the color processing look of that time. So that in the beginning of the film when Hughes was young, the blues are all greenish and unreal, like they were in films of that period, and as the time line progresses, the colors become more rich and "Technicolor". Really great.
Today we head back into the studio to track 4 more songs. Brian Virtue (our Producer) is back from Connecticut where he was working on the Deftones record, for the time being, so we can get to work. Here are the songs we plan on tracking:
Said You’d Be: We wrote this one in December during a one week really productive writing session that also yielded “Start of Darkness”. It began with Dave’s verse riff, and he and Chris came up with the change. There isn’t really a chorus in this song. It’s our fastest and shortest song, it clocks in at just over 2 minutes. We were in the mood to have a straight up jam: get in, rock, get out.
She Won’t Last: this was the first Panic Channel song. When we started playing in Perkins’ garage last May, this was the first progression the guys had that I worked on and we got a song from.
Someone Else: This is a song that I wrote a little over a year ago. Riss and I were over at a friend’s Christmas Party and I was feeling kind of out of synch with everybody. Definitely not in the party mood. They had a guitar and I took it and went upstairs and found a quiet place to play. This song is what came out. It was written when I was working on finger picked pieces ala Elliott Smith.
I played it for Dave last Fall in the jam room and he liked it. We came up with the idea that maybe we track the acoustic guitar and vocals first, then each guy can lay on tracks and we build it in the studio. I am really excited to hear how we sound with this approach. I think this song might make a good record closer.
Left to Lose: Our latest song. Last week Dave bounded into the studio just knocking out all these cool new jams. The second one of the day was the verse riff to “Left to Lose”. We jammed the verse a bit, then I came up with a chorus progression, Chris tweaked it, and we all worked on a bridge. We played it for the first time last week at a manager showcase, and I had finished the lyrics about an hour before. This is another fast powerful one.
That’s the list, we have been in that last minute creative flurry mode that accompanies the weeks right before going into the studio. I have a new song idea I am working on, and have an older song called “Pay No Attention” that I have waiting in the wings, but they will probably have to wait.
Steve’s amp search 2004 had bled into Steve’s amp search 2005. At last count, my super amp to end all amps, my purple Divided by 13 boutique amp wasn’t quite the right fit for the band. It does have the best clean tone I think I have ever heard, but the gain channel is just a little too focused in this one frequency to mesh just right with Dave’s sound. I have been thinking about getting a more standard setup of a 100 watt head with cabinet by a non- boutique maker and see how that goes. Since Dave is playing his Marshall, I am trying to find something different (even though I love Marshalls) so we have some separation.
After the NAMM show, I went to the Mesa Boogie store in Hollywood and gave their new amps, the Stilletto and the Lonestar a try. The Lonestar had a great clean sound, but the gain sound wasn’t right for me, but the Stiletto sounded great. Wasn’t quite sure about the clean, but the dirty channel was sweet. Tim at Mesa let me try a rental of a Stilletto, a Lonestar, and their most popular amp, a Dual Rectifier. I had never even thought of a Recto, because I just assumed that it was a Nu-Metal amp, and not for me. After playing all 3, I found that I really liked the Recto. It is so much more than a super gain Nu Metal amp. The clean is really good, and the variety of dirty tones is wonderful. Also it has 3 separate channels, which is really cool, so I can have dirty, clean, and a midway dirty/clean. I have settled on the Dual Rectifier. Ordered a blue leather one. Would have gotten purple, but the purple was a little light, and the blue looks to be a really dark indigo color, almost purple. Should be ready in a few weeks. I have to say a really big thanks to Tim McKee from Mesa. He answered all of my questions and dealt with my search and was extremely helpful. I am keeping the rental Recto until the new blue amp is done, I used it for our showcase last Thursday, and will be bringing it to the studio for tracking this week.
Dave asked me to sing with Camp Freddy last week for a Tsunami benefit show at the Key Club (January 27th). Beside the fact that it was great to do something to help the situation over there in some way, being invited to sing with Camp Freddy is insanely fun. This was my third time, and as usual, it was a blur of great music, sweaty rock stars, and laughs. The only rehearsal was the day of the show onstage at the Key Club. I was asked to sing “She Sells Sanctuary” from the Cult. I love this song. When I was in high school, I had a drum set and used to play this song over and over. On the bill were Terri Nunn from Berlin, Jerry Cantrell, Slash, and Courtney Love. This was my first time playing with the “regular” CF drummer, Velvet Revolver’s Matt Sorum.
Michael Des Barres was a riot. I really like that guy, he has this kind of “elder statesman of all things rocking” vibe and he’s super cool. The lack of ego that accompanies the CF shows is the vital component to me. Most of those people don’t know me from a hole in the wall, but all treat me like an equal and I really appreciate that. Everybody is rooting for everybody else and the backstage vibe is way laid back.
Carmen Electra opened the show with her new burlesque troupe and they did two songs – super hot. The opening band was “The Tender Trio” and it was one of the guitarists from Blind Melon and the lead singer/bass player from Spacehog. Liked their set, good stuff.
Before my song (in last half of the set) Dave had asked if I’d sing harmonies for Annabella Lwin on “I Want Candy” earlier in the show. I love singing harmony, it’s something I haven’t gotten to do much of since I am usually singing lead, so this was going to be a treat. Well, almost… Once onstage I found out instantly the great challenge of the backup singer: How not to look like an asshole when waiting to sing. Once onstage, I realized that I was only singing the words “I Want Candy” …like 6 times total, and for the rest of the song, my job was to not look like a dumb ass. Well, better luck next time…
It came time for my song, and it was good times. The place was sold out and the energy in the place was great. Love the Camp Freddy.
On January 21st, Dave, Riss and I went to the NAMM show in Anaheim. I have heard about the NAMM show forever, it’s the yearly trade show where all the musical equipment manufacturers have booths and show off all the new gear. This year Dave had not one, but two signature guitars coming out and he had to go sign autographs, then play a PRS Guitars all star gig later that night. I had a pretty cool gig as a professional “guy who is hanging around with Dave” which means I could go anywhere and had zero responsibility. I had heard all these horror stories that the NAMM show that it was info overload and really cheesy and stuff, but I try to go to the E3 video game trade show every year, and there is no way that NAMM could have been more overload that that, no way. I am pretty into information overload, thank you very much. Also since I am in the process of finding a new amp setup – I was stoked to look around and check out the amp makers and see if anything was for me. I was especially interested in checking out the Mesa Boogie booth.
We got to the PRS booth first and Dave spent an hour or so signing stuff there. He has a white PRS signature model coming out later this year. I took off and looked at the Mesas. They have a new one called the Stilletto that was looking promising. Met a guy named Tim at the booth and he led me around the knobs and switches. Went and checked out a really good demo of the Logic 7 Pro music recording software from Apple. I have ProTools and the Mbox, but am not in love with it, someday I might move over to Logic to see if it is any better.
Later in the day, Dave had to sign stuff at the Yamaha booth, they are putting out a white Dave model acoustic guitar. It looks bad-ass, they put his unicorn symbol on the headstock, and it has black accents. Dave seemed really kind of humbled and blown away by the fact that he had two guitars bearing his name coming out. When you are a kid and just starting to play and practicing all the time, that this is what you dream about, and this was his day.
That night, we went to a PRS event where Carlos Santana, Al Dimeola, Alter Bridge, and about 40 other guitarists played. It started at 7pm and was still going when we left, around 11pm. Dave played the Hendrix tunes “Spanish Castle Magic” and “Easy Rider”. We wanted to stay for the whole thing, but it was going til 1am, and Dave had been going all day since 9am, and wanted to bail. Hell, I was only the professional “guy who is hanging around with Dave” with zero responsibility, and I was really tired. We got in the car and went back to town, NAMM show 2005: mission accomplished.
So much has been happening, I will try to do a massive recap. It might have looked as if we were in the studio for the last two weeks judging from my absence, and the “back into the vault” post, but not so. We were only in Scott Humphrey’s vault for a day. Since then we have been in furious songwriting mode, planning the new recording sessions (which start today), meeting with a record label, doing a manager showcase, going to NAMM, playing a Camp Freddy show, and trying to sleep and eat in the gaps between all that. Let’s go back to two weeks ago…
We went back in the jam room to start cracking out new song ideas. There were about 4 new progression and parts, but no clear songs out of that week’s jams.
We then had a meeting with Capitol Records. If all goes well, We will be signing a deal with them and they will put out our records. They offered us a deal in December after they heard “Bloody Mary”, and we now are in the whole “let the lawyers deal with it” mode. When we went to go meet with Capitol, it was a pretty surreal experience. We had a meeting with the President, the head of A&R, and the GM (General Manager).
First, here's a little back story...
A year and a half ago, I lived in a little one person apartment just two blocks down from Capitol, and everyday I would see that building. Ever since I moved to Los Angeles I have had kind of a special feeling about Capitol and that building. Some of my favorite music came from that label (The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Radiohead), and as you drive around Hollywood every day, that building has a feeling about it, like the Hollywood sign. A certain romance and inspiration. Hell, I love all of Hollywood, the dirty parts, the smelly bits, the decrepit stuff, so when there is an actual icon of the city's former glory, that's just fantastic to me.
A year and a half ago, when I was living down the street from that building, I thought that trying to make records and making music for a living was something in my past, that it would never happen for me. The sight of the Capitol Records building went from being a source of inspiration to a reminder of how happy I used to be making music and how much it hurt to think that I would never pursue that dream again.
Cut to 2 weeks ago, and I am standing at the window gazing out at the panoramic view of Los Angeles from the top of the Capitol building, waiting to meet with the President of thte label about a record deal for my new band. The view happened to look directly down on my old street. I stood there for a few minutes and drank in the moment. Some moments you need time to let happen, so you can return to them again for the rest of your life. This was one of those.
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