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 Got in to the studio around 2pm today and Gummo was busy comping the new lead vocals to "Outsider". He was pretty excited about what we got the other night. Dave and I had some time to kick back and wait to track. I can barely remember what we all got done today, we skipped around so much and tied up so many loose ends. I sang a new ending to "Left to Lose" and put a couple harmonies in the choruses, re-tracked my guitars to "The Loophole" with a more muscular tone, worked on "topping" my verse guitar tone to "Blue Bruises" and more that I can't think of right now. The new "Outsider" and "Go On" sound really great. I was very happy before with the existing versions, but these are even better.
Recording is a very organic experience (or at least it should be), and I am realizing that a producer's job is to keep tabs on the shape of the overall recording, and observe how performances are changing and how they can constantly be improved during the process. I always thought that once you laid down a track, then it was done, that's it, move on. Now I see that Gummo is always watching our performances, guitar tones and parts and letting us know if we are in a better place, or we sound stronger, or that we could "top" what we laid down previously. Once a song has most of the guitars and vocal overdubs "done", sometimes a part "sticks out" or his ears feel that it can be improved in the scope of things. Then we try to "top" it. If we can't, then we know it's a pretty good part, and we should probably lay off. This has been really good for the process, as it puts less pressure on having the "ultimate" inspiration and performance on THAT ONE DAY that you track it, and opening up the possibility for another pass or two in days ahead, when that part might flow better. Some days the subtle, sensitive stuff seems to flow naturally, and sometimes the more aggressive, powerful parts do.
Thankfully today the business side of things didn't raise it's head once, and we just went from song to song, filling out details and improving. We leave the studio tomorrow, and that's a bit sad, but we will have to go back in for a few days to really be done. All this work was done without a label being behind us, so when one is involved, we will surely have to go in and tweak a thing or two. We also still want to get a keyboardist friend of the guys' down to the studio for a day to lay down part or two on certain songs.
So this means in my opinion, that we are 95% done. Tomorrow we will just do a couple tracks, and then let Gummo do "rough mixes" of all 13 songs. We didn't get around to finishing "Someone Else", hopefully we will on our upcoming "final" sessions. Also, we aren't thinking "Start of Darkness" will be on the record, so we will hold off on that one as well.
Now, with some studio-free time, my attention goes back to the album artwork. Painting, design, fonts, images, and late, late nights. Also on the boards is the new version of the Panic website. Then we get the Panic Store up and running.
No rest for the wicked.
Man, the fucking business. Currently, life is plenty stocked up with lyrics, vocal parts, harmonies, doubles, guitar parts, re-doing guitar parts, tone searching, and trying to make a great record, without the business getting in the way. In the way it gets, though, and today was one of those days. Can't get into detail, but the point is that we have plenty to do trying to get inspiration and creativity captured on our precious two hard drives, without the insect-like buzzing of speakerphones mucking it up. All we can wish for is that the business will just help us get the music out the right way, and as soon as possible via a company that believes in us and what we are trying to do. We hope.
I got to work around 6pm on vocals. Gummo and I got a lot done tonight. I did my warm up routine, drank a few bottles of water, made some tea and honey, and chipped away at what is left to be sung. First was a re-sing of the verses to "Go On". Our new "version 3" has slightly quicker verses, so I re-did those, as well as the new slower "tag". A "tag" is a section at the end of a song that is completely different from anything else in the song, a "new" part that only happens once, at the end. In "Go On", it's the "close your naked eye and see" part.
Gummo needed some time to "comp" together the work we'd done, so I took the opportunity to take a night walk around Hollywood. I walked up La Brea avenue to Hollywood Blvd., past Hollywood and Highland, into the seedier side of town, down Wilcox to Sunset, then all the way back to La Brea. It was a good walk. I listened mostly to Brian Wilson's "Smile". A good record to listen to while recording, cause it's an orgy of multitracked vocal parts. This took about an hour, then I was back at the studio ready to get back to work.
Next it was time to start on harmonies to "Blue Bruises". I have been driving around with rough mixes our new songs lately to see what harmonies come to me. When I am driving around normally, I end up singing to whatever I am listening to, and coming up with harmonies, so writing harmonies to our music can work really well like this. Sometimes the best writing happens when you are not trying to do anything of the sort. Singing while driving keeps the motor skills (pun alert) occupied, and the vocal ideas come right from the ... whatever, they come from somewhere.
I tried out my part, and it seemed to fit in well, so we moved on and experimented with some other ideas. This chorus harmony isn't necessarily a "live" part, more of a "subliminal" harmonic support that really makes you feel the main melody. Well, that is the idea at least. This song took some time; once there is a harmony, usually we "double" it then move on. After listening down, something might stick out, like a consonant sound, or a weird annunciation, and you look at eachother and go - "ok, let's do 'em again". The goal is to get it so there is nothing that can be done better. Sometimes you know right away if you are at that point, and sometimes (usually the case for me) you need to listen away from the studio to really get a perspective if it's "finished".
That took most of the night, and I left Gummo to do some computer homework, and left at 12:30am.
Saturday was percussion/vocal day in the studio. Perk brought 2 full banquet tables full of every type of percussion instrument you could imagine down to the studio. It was pretty awesome. Shakers, castanets, tambourines, eggs, bells, blocks, marimbas, tom toms, congas, talking drums, spoons, and so much more. Many of the objects I stared at for a good long time before I gave up trying to figure out what they did. He has collected all these precious devices in his travels for years. Each one has a story, a global location, and type of music that it calls home. He worked with Brian most of the day, then I got there for the last two hours. Once he was finished with his ideas, he indulged me with a sound I have been hearing in my head for "Teahouse".
This is an up-tempo song, and over the main riff in the intro and after the first B section, I have been hearing a rhythm pattern on ... bottles. Don't know why, I just hear it. He was happy to give it a pass, so I ran down the street to 7-11 and bought 2 snapple, and two Sobas. Back at the studio, we drank different amounts of the teas to get different pitches from the bottles (the more you drink, the higher the pitch). We set them up in front of the mic, and he got all into position to be comfortable getting a part. He experimented with how you hit them, where you hit them, and got the part sounding great. I hope it stays in the final mix. We also ran some tape on Stephen just going to town on his makeshift glass drum set for a few minutes. It sounded so cool, would be good for some sonic texture for in-between songs. Basically, Stephen is so great, he can make absolutely anything into good music.
After he took off, I did some singing. Gave "Outsider" a few passes to see if something new comes out. I left around 11pm so Brian could get some comping homework done.
Today Dave is re-tackling "Go On" and hopefully "Ashes". We have decided to use the "old" version of "Go On" (my favorite version), and tack on the "tag" ending section from the second version; t came out more floaty and ethereal. This new version, we call "version 3" and I am really happy how it is shaping up. Dave, Chris and I need to re-do our parts to get better tones, and I plan on re-singing the verses.
The Panic Channel site has been pretty stagnant lately, here's why: We have enlisted the help of the uber-talented Robert Chafino, the guy who has done such great work on the Panic Channel Radio, to be my right hand man for the website. I designed and built the version that's up now, but he is completely rebuilding it, and making the content really easy to update, and installing things like the radio, video player, blog engines, etc. Once there next version is ready, it will go up, and the updates will be WAY more frequent. I am really excited to see how it all comes out.
Dave spent today finishing up alot of his guitar tracks with Gummo. I wasn't there, so let's just assume it was earth-shattering.
Ok...
At 7pm, I went in and got to work on some vocals. Since discovering that I get better takes while singing into a hand held mic, we have made a list of some of the previously "done" songs for me to give another shot to. Tonight we started on "Outsider". We got the studio all dark and moody, Tom lit about 50 candles and the Nag Champa incense, and I got to work. The vibe seemed good, and we got some good passes. Next I worked on "Awake". Singing this one just about gave me an aneurysm the other night, so this time, I got a better balance in the headphones and comfortably "beat" those takes. Gummo seemed stoked with the progress we were making, so I tried "Blue Bruises" a few times for good measure.
Tomorrow Stephen and Gummo are spending the day in percussion world. Stephen is bringing in his arsenal of click, buzz, tom tom, shake, sizzle, clank, and bam! makers form all over the globe, and will go song by song and see where he hears some space for the texture that only percussion brings. Percussion can be that sometimes heard, sometimes subliminal element that can provide energy, a secondary rhythmic feel, and atmosphere on a track. No one I believe in the world is better suited to use the subtle power of these instruments than Mr. Perkins. When he is finished tomorrow night, I go back in for some more singing.
Next week will be our last week of this studio stretch, and we have more vocals to do, a little more guitar, and a keyboardist coming in to drop some more melodies into our mix.
Monday Day 5:
Today’s main job is to listen to everything we’ve done so far since October, and make a list of what is left to work on. This was a much bigger job that I had originally thought, we were at it for a few hours. We listened to different versions of songs, isolated parts, discussed what we liked and didn’t, and came away with a master checklist of what needs to be done in the next 3 weeks.
After that, we got into the rest of Dave’s “Awake” guitar tracks. In rehearsal, he has been playing a cool wah wah part on the last chorus. Once this part was laid down, as is the case with a lot of stuff in the studio, it wasn’t sitting as well in the track as we thought it would. Dave went on a “part search” for a while. It’s funny to listen to this process. He’ll give the part pass after pass, wringing crazy, violent, wild screaming out of his guitar that a lesser guitar player would sell his soul to the devil to be able to play, and after each one, Dave would say simply: “that sucked”. That’s what makes him Dave; when something really excites him, it is something truly exciting. At one point, I downloaded a picture from “Apocalypse Now” of the gunboat cruising into Martlon Brando’s insane outpost at the end of a Vietnam river for inspiration. This song’s content is based around human aggression, and a young man’s growing distrust of the powers that wage war. I feel that Dave’s guitar part is the last stab of insanity and violence that the song needs to peak. The pic wasn’t quite enough inspiration apparently , so we broke for dinner and left it for later.
Speaking of dinner, for some reason, the Indian restaurant we normally order from apparently hates us. The food was spicy to the point of being physically painful. I tried to keep eating, out of sheer necessity, to stave off my hunger and keep me moving for the recording, but at every bite I found myself more and more yearning for my own death. It didn’t come, and eventually the sweat and stomach pains ended and I could concentrate on our work. Dave, a spice masochist, ate every bite without one drink of water, and seemed to enjoy it. If I wasn’t suffering from internal bleeding, I would have been impressed.
Dave left after dinner and I got to work on vocals. Brian and I have gotten the tracking vocal process pretty worked out. I used to stress about vocal day, and feel that all the planets had to be aligned because I was laying down THE ONE VERSION. I now see tracking vocals as a continuing process and that has made things go much smoother. Last night’s job was just to sing all 3 new songs down 4-5 times each, and get enough for Brian to make some “comped” versions together. Tom turned down the main room lights, lit a bunch of candles, and I sang. We finished up around midnight.
Tuesday, Day 6:
Rainstorm. Big time.
Got to the studio just as Dave was getting guitars started on “Blue Bruises”. This track we are giving extra attention to get the guitar tones tasty and right. We re-did almost all of Dave’s guitars and got some really cool, haunting, reverb soaked sounds. For a while the action slowed as Marc Vangool went on an Apocalypse Now-esqe hunt down the dark and lonely river of tone all by himself. He finally conjured up the perfect concoction for Dave’s part, and he laid it down. Like a diamond bullet.
I got on vocals around 8pm, and gave “Blue Bruises” and “Awake” some more love. Got some good “Bruises” passes, then did “Awake” until I had to stop. I was singing it way too hard and got a really bad headache. I don’t know why, maybe I was not breathing right, maybe I had the cans (headphones) up way too loud, but I felt like my head was going to explode after a few passes. It worked out ok, cause Brian needed some time to comp together what I’d done. I went home and slept for 12 hours.
Wednesday Day 7:
Dave spent the afternoon getting the solo to “Blue Bruises”. I got in around 6pm and warmed up and got to singing. Gave “Bruises” another couple passes. The benefit of trying songs multiple times, is that every day, something is bound to be different. Pitch, passion, looseness, even spontaneous new lyrics, you never know. Tonight turned out to have the choruses come out stronger than before. After Brian comped it together, I “doubled” the chorus. Next we worked on the choruses to “Teahouse of the Spirits”. This chorus has no lyrics, it’s all just open sung notes. The idea is to make a lush, majestic world of multitracked harmonies here. Brian and I have to do some experimenting to get the right approach together. We laid down some leads, some high harmonies, some gravelly low ones, and a simple melody over the last “D” to “B” change. We will see how this all sits over the next few days. This is a unique challenge, to have a lyric-less chorus open up a whole world, just musically. How this will work live on stage, we’ll have to see …;) At the moment, it sounds pretty mighty. Got out around 1:30am.
Thursday Day 8:
“Blue Bruises” is starting to sound really, really good. Dave came up to me while we were listening to it and said “can you believe that you wanted to scrap this song?? … what an asshole!!!”. He’s right, now it seems crazy to think that we wouldn’t record this song. I was just afraid we wouldn’t have enough jam room time to get it arranged before tracking it. It all played out just fine, it seems. Dave spent some time on a crazy guitars sound to go over the main riff in "Left To Lose" it sounds like rusty metal scraping against a microphone. Works great.
This afternoon, before heading to the studio, I got two good surprises:
It was sprinkling, and we all know how I love the wet weather...
...and my new Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amp was delivered! Yes, in all it's deep indigo blue fury, it came from the delivery truck into my hot little hands, then off to the studio. Damn it's pretty.
Then in the studio...
Dave got most of his rhythm guitars done on the three new tracks. No solos yet. He used his white PRS, Phil Hutson's red Telecaster, John Shanks' crazy old and uber-valuable Stratocaster ( I don't even what to know what that thing is worth), and some weird guitar I've never heard of called an L5. I worked at the end of the day when he was done on my "Awake" tracks. We ate Indian food at dinner break and watched "Some Kind of Monster"...again.
Tom, who works for the studio and is of great help in the control room, copied me a bunch of great live Mars Volta footage. This week they announced their L.A. date at the Greek Theatre in June. Am I going? Don't ask silly questions.
Tomorrow Dave and I are doing Camp Freddy radio and playing "Blue Bruises" acoustic. I copied some of my favorite songs and hope to play a few for the show.
My buddy Dan called and said that "The Ring Two" is a piece of shit. I was pretty excited to see it, but now am doubtful. Has anyone seen it yet? Let me know what you think...
Back in studio D where we did the first sessions on the record back in October. Here's a recap of this week's recording:
Tuesday (Day One) : Perk set up drums and got sounds with Brian for the first part of the day. We all got in and started with "Awake" around 4pm. Perk was right on the money. After working for a while, and him getting so many takes right off the bat, we started thinking that this room is just "luckier" for us. He got "Awake" on the first take, but we got a few more for good measure.
Next we took on "Teahouse of the Spirits". We found a good common tempo for this one, and laid it to a click so that it's rock solid. The charm of this song is the unchangeable riff pushing on and on, then when the choruses open up and hit, there should be a welcome release. The click was good for this.
Again, Stephen got good take after good take, and we settled on the third one, I believe.
Wednesday (Day Two) : We started at just after 1pm with the drums to "Blue Bruises". This one is a brand new one that we got together last week. It's a real thrill writing songs then recording them right away, and getting to hear them take shape so quickly. The only drawback is that with some tunes, they need some more attention to get the arrangement just right. "Blue Bruises" is musically a really simple song, basically the same progression in the verses and choruses, and the only change is the B section and the post chorus. Because it is so simple, having the right parts that fit together just right is very important. It's a strange principle of songwriting, that the most simple songs are usually the most difficult to put together, because everything is so naked. Every part means more because there are fewer of them.
At dinner break we watched a French bootleg DVD of Rush's "Exit Stage Left". We all sat in hushed amazement of these guys playing the most complex parts EVER ...just like the recorded versions and flawless. Man, say what you will about Rush, and then watch them play "Xanadu" live. If you still have problems with it, I invite you to go fuck yourself.
Chris got to work on the bass parts. As usual, he smoked them in rapid succession. Chris always does alot of creative re-examining of his parts in the recording process, often he will do a perfectly great part, then get an idea, do that, scrap the first one, then have a whole different part in a matter of minutes. It's a good thing not to be too married to your parts, so that they can always improve. After Chris got all his bass work done, I started up on my tracks.
First I got my rhythms on Blue Bruises done, then tackled "Teahouse". For both I am using my Mesa/SG combo. Virtue and I had a good time putting these together, and they went pretty quickly and well.
Monday Showcase:
We started one day late so that on Monday we could play a label showcase at S.I.R. in Hollywood. Our prospective record company wanted to see us (the main guy hadn't seen us live yet) before we sequestered ourselves in the studio. We invited some friends and Panic Community friends to see it. Without going into detail, I hated it. The actual room had about 5% of the vibe our rehearsal room does, and Dave and Chris had problem after problem getting their onstage sound right during sound check. For once, my setup sounded good from the get-go with no hassles! (I was using my rental Mesa Triple Rec and Dave's SG). That pleasure would be short-lived.
We were all set to rock the new songs and some of the favorites, then right at first downbeat, ...no sound from my guitar rig. That lasted until song 3, my cord had died. Then for the last two songs, I was completely out of tune, and couldn't hear myself so I didn't know until after it was over. No excuses, it was just a drag to play this music that we have worked so hard to write and record come out so far under the level that we are used to. Hey, "it is what it is" as Dave says. It was just nowhere near a "Zen" show.
Meanwhile, back in the studio...
Today, Thursday (Day Three):
Dave started up on his guitars. First he got his chugging rhythm part to "Blue Bruises", then the main part of "Teahouse". He used a Gold Top Les Paul for both. Once Marc Vangool arrived we could really dig into the serious guitar tone research for the more unique parts. On Teahouse, Dave fleshed out the main riff with some Telecaster, and then wanted to do the bridge part with a weird echo-ey tone. It got into the "Tone Hunt" section of the day, then Brian said the magic phrase: "How about a Leslie??".
A Leslie is an amplification device that (I hope I explain this right), is very old and very heavy. It's a large wooden box with a rotating speaker that when used, makes an old-school flange-y psychedelic sound. The flange comes from the simple fact that the sound is emanating from something that is rotating around. Not too sophisticated, but it's very unique, and sometimes just the right sound for the job.
...but not this time.
We spent the rest of the night working on Dave's parts on "Blue Bruises". Again, this one we are crafting track by track and building up in the studio. (Clay sculpture). Dave came up with some really cool melodic pieces. I think we are going to spend a little time tomorrow and get an acoustic version ready to play when we host Camp Freddy radio on Saturday.
Gummo filled in the empty spaces of the studio day with episodes of "Aqua Teen Hungerforce".
We lefft around 12:30pm.
Can't sleep.
Well, let's be honest, I am not really trying. I have been working on the lyrics to "Awake" for a while, there are two lines at the end of the chorus that I have changed about 200 times. Think I just about have it.
We are gearing up to play one quick showcase show on Monday before we go into the studio on Tuesday. We are going to play a short set for a few choice folks who haven't seen us yet. We are planning to play almost all new songs because they are so fresh, and the energy off them is so good. The drag is that we have been writing so fast, that I am needing every second to get my lyrics all put together right by Monday. This is what I call a "quality problem" - like, with all the misery and heartache in the world, putting together words for a song that my band and I have the privilege of writing and playing, is no problem whatsoever. It's more a challenge than a problem.
Camp Freddy Radio: Panic Channel Edition:
Next weekend (Saturday) Billy Morrison is off doing a gig, so Dave has invited me to join him for Camp Freddy radio. It should be a blast - we'll play an acoustic song or two, talk music and have a laugh. Tune in next week (Sat. 6-8pm) in L.A. on Indie 103.1, or just check the stream posted shortly after on the Panic Radio (big thanks to Robert Chafino for building the PR). We will link the Panic Radio from the Panic home page by then.
The Poker Gods have been smiling lately, I have cashed in my last two home tourneys, which is great because once I go into the studio, any and all outside interests (like earning a living) disappear. Have one more game on Sunday afternoon, crossing fingers for that one.
Aside from that, all thoughts and energy are spent focusing on the record and laying down these final tracks. Now with 15 songs, my attention is moving toward sequence, concepts, segues, and atmospherics. With all of our musical children almost born, it's time to set them up in a decent habitat, see how they all co-mingle, place them next to each other, and let them sing.
Started the last week of writing and "pre-production" before heading into the studio on the 14th. Today in my pre-rehearsal lyric work sesh, things were flowing nicely, and I got the lyrics to the new song ("churn"). It's called "Teahouse of the Spirits" now. We played this one a few times and tweaked the arrangement here and there, then moved on.
Next we played "Awake" once to keep it fresh. This one was called "Was it Worth All This", but this weekend it became "Awake". There are still some patches where the lyric isn't set yet, but the important thing is to have the band arrangement all dialed in, so Stephen can nail his parts at the top of next week. Vocals come last, so I have some time to let the right words find me. I am hesitant to tell what any of these songs are about yet, some have very clear meanings to me, and some are more impressions or combinations of ideas or moods I am trying to convey. I like the idea of keeping the meanings a secret, but making available my meanings to someone who can look hard enough online, and if they want the "spoilers" they can have them. The beautiful thing about songs is that a song can have a different meaning to everyone, and that's how it should be... although I would like to make the info available if someone is diligent enough to find it.
Finally we spent some time on the arrangement to "Blue Bruises". It gets better every day. This is another "clay sculpture" type song, I feel. Each time we work on it, it gains a little more shape and reality. Last week I was debating whether or not to shelve it for now, because I didn't think we would have it ready in time for tracking, but the guys all seem to be into working on it and finding out where it goes. This last 2 weeks has been really productive for the song writing. When we took this time off to work, I though maybe we'd get one good song out of it, maybe two... but we have 3 really strong diverse ones. Really pleased with that. Once these are tracked, that will make 15 to choose from for the record.
Ok, random info from other areas of life:
The rain stopped.
Came in 2nd at a poker game at Dave's cousin Johnny's house on Sunday. It was a tough game, so I feel pretty good about the showing. The 200 bucks doesn't hurt either.
Sold my purple Divided by 13 amp at True Tone music in Santa Monica. Have been really happy with my Mesa Boogie Dual/Triple Rectifier rental, and am stoked for my blue custom one to show up. At the moment, playing Dave's white SG through the recto is making me happy, so that looks to be the move for the time being.
Dave and I played a live acoustic version of "Outsider" on Dave's Camp Freddy radio show on Saturday. Man, they have such a good time doing that show, I see why it communicates on the air. Billy and Dave are really good together.
Still listening exclusively to "Frances the Mute". I tend to do this with music that I get really into. Kind of like the old saying: "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing". I have a rule when I am listening to it alone or in the car: NOT to skip any music, not to hit "next" when one of the big atmospheric movements starts. This is the knee-jerk reaction, when after say, "The Widow" ends, and there is still 3 minutes of psychedelic warbling sounds to come before the next song. I am getting a lot from letting the whole experience sink in each time, and not letting my listener's impatience or dependence on standard album structure and pacing get in the way of the Volta's vision. I read on a message board that the areas of sound scape take your attention off of the music, almost giving away it's self-importance, and letting your mind wander, then bringing the focus back to the music. I find this idea very interesting.
Watched "The Contender" tonight. Frigging great, another reality show staple for my TiVo to chew on. Also watched "Intervention" on A&E on Sunday. Very, very, heavy and very good.
...of your furthest reaches, there's no light...
Ending the second week of our two week writing sojourn before heading back into the studio. Due to scheduling commitments with our producer Brian Virtue (Gummo), we are going in on the 14th instead of this Monday the 7th. One more week to finish the new song ideas, and who knows... maybe something else will come.
Another song idea arrived yesterday, so this brings us to 3 new songs. With next week now open, we can spend more time and get these new musical offspring up and walking. With so much music around us currently, the task is now on me to rotate the satellite dish skyward and wait for what comes down. I plan on taking some of my "lyric walks" and seeing what comes of them. At the moment, not many lyrics are coming. These lyric walks involve me picking a location, and taking my sketchbook and iPod and wandering around with no goal in mind and losing myself a bit. This relatively new technique has been really useful with all the work on this record. I've explained this before, but I have found that sitting at home with pen in hand makes nothing but ... motionless ideas. I have been tricking my creative Channel by listening to the music while out in the world, and not specifically focusing on it. Then, the ideas seem to show themselves to me. I have learned a lot about the "Channel" recently, that you can't impatiently force it to appear, ...but also can't just sit around and wait for it, either. I am finding that it's a bit like achieving a state of readiness, respect and humility, and then "it" comes.
The 3 new songs are "Blue Bruises", "Was it Worth All This", and the new one, "Churn". "Churn" isn't the actual title, it's a codename-type title. With all these song ideas, I have been having to give a song idea a handle right away, so I can differentiate it. Since I record mp3's of a few different versions of an idea as we work on it day by day, it's become vital to have these code names.
The rain has stopped here in Los Angeles. People were complaining too much and it decided to leave us. I realized during this storm that I might at some time in the future need to move somewhere where it rains more. I thoroughly enjoyed the rainstorms this year. I came to see them like how I view my lyric walks: as creative inspiration "events" to try and enjoy.
I sure wish it would rain again.
Been listening to the new record from The Mars Volta, "Frances the Mute" non stop since it came out. Tuesday night I stayed up and listened to it alone in my room. Last night, the same. It's playing right now as well. I think it's a wondrous, fantastic work. Of course it's a bit difficult of a piece to get into I suppose, but who cares? It's magical. I gave a copy to a friend of mine whose opinion of music I respect greatly, and he said: "It's the most impressive horrible record I've ever heard", and "this is what I imagine hell sounding like". Well, you can't win them all. I'm actually a bit surprised that I like it so much, as I tend to gravitate toward more songwriter-focused music. I think what appeals to me is the melodic sense. A strong melodic component is the common denominator to all music I truly love (and why I can't stand Rap and most Hip-Hop), and "Frances" definitely has that in spades. This has been my introduction to the Mars Volta, and now I am set on getting "Deloused in the Comatorium" and the EP, and learning as much as I can about them. When "Deloused" came out I was in a dead space where I didn't want to hear any band music, or Rock specifically because I was kind of crushed about the whole Skycycle thing, and band music made me sad.
We rehearse tomorrow, then on Saturday, Dave and I are going to do an acoustic version of "Outsider" live on his Camp Freddy radio show.
Aha!!! I just turned down the music for a moment and heard the white noise of weather on the roof...
IT'S RAINING!!!!!
Today and yesterday we have been tightening up our new song from last week, at the moment titled "Was it All Worth It?", and starting work on another new one. This one is called "Blue Bruises" and it was started a few months ago. We were at rehearsal in the jam room, and I got a little idea and went outside with the acoustic to get it out. I came back in and taped it. I got lyrics a week or so later, and when I brought it in to the guys, I thought that they didn't like it, but Dave the other day suggested we jam it and see if it works, so I guess I was wrong.
I feel like changing the lyrics up a bit, but the title might stay the same. We got some work done on it today, but there is plenty more to do before we go in to the studio to track it.
Debbie VanStory, a photographer, and Bobbie, our PR contact from Capitol came down and took some pictures of us playing and just doing our thing in the studio. If we get a good shot from it, it might be in Rolling Stone soon.
After they left and we got to work, Gummo cruised by and we did a little "Pre-Production". Here's how this works: Right before going into the studio, where a really expensive clock is ticking, it's a good idea to play all the music for the producer, and they can chime in with their two cents. It can be good to get a set of fresh ears, too, and this new perspective can really help tighten up the song before setting it in stone on the record.
Today is March 1st and the new Mars Volta "Frances the Mute" comes out today. Riss bought it and is bringing it home. I am excited to hear it. I never got "Deloused in the Comatorium", but I have been reading a lot about these guys, and "The Widow" is growing on me. I really admire their whole approach, and hope I like the record.
The CD I have been listening to lately is a pre-release of the new Queens of the Stone Age "Lullabies to Paralyze". As with all their records, I love it. Still new, but really good shit.
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