Yesterday Dave and I showed up around 6:30, followed by Chris, then Perk. It was great having everybody in the same room together after all the post-recording downtime and the holidays.

 (parking in the alley, hit the buzzer, door opens, dark brown walls with 1970’s style cork and stone everywhere, head down the dimly lit hall to Studio B)

 Ryan had his mix of “Loophole” ready to go. He pretty much nailed it. We made small comments here and there; “can you raise the rhythm guitar in the last prechorus a CH?”, “we need more bass in the breakdown”, etc. He said that he had never mixed a song with so many tracks. Apparently the ProTools file for “Loophole” has 62 of them. We went a little crazy in the studio on that one. Some songs we left more sparse like “Said You’d Be” and “Left to Lose”, but some we just didn’t restrain ourselves. The idea is that even if you have tracks you don’t use in the final version at mix time, at least you tried all the ideas that were flowing. Sometimes it’s better to have something and not need it, then need something and not have it. Ryan split the difference and somehow found a place for almost everything we laid down. There are recording philosophy arguments like “you should just have what the song really must have and no more” - the Rick Rubin approach, but we just did what we wanted to do song by song. “Loophole” was definitely a giant job to mix, but again Ryan proved himself a really talented man behind the boards.

 We added a really thick, trippy effect on the repeated vocal after the solo: “This is the last time, I say it’s the last time, I pray it’s the last time, I swear…”  I was feeling that this section needed to be differentiated from the rest of the vocals in the song. The idea is that the words become very personal, internal. Like the rest of the lyrics are spoken out to someone, and for that vocal bridge, the words are spoken inwardly to oneself.

 (ONe) of the best things happening so far is hearing Perkins’ drums so clear and present in the mix. With all the rough mixes, coming straight from the ProTools rig, the drums have been sinking into the soup of all the guitars and vocals over time. I have been living with those versions for the last couple months, so now hearing the drums crack and thunder with true clarity, separation and depth is really exciting. Once again I am reminded that we are so blessed to have one of the best drummers in the world in this band.

 Today Ryan is mixing “Bloody Mary”. This is a special day. We’ve all been waiting to hear this song finished and tonight is the night, made even better by the fact that it’s Friday the 13^th. A good omen. I don’t buy into the “unlucky 13^th” bullshit. I feel just the opposite. The number thirteen has a rich and unique history of good fortune. The version he is mixing is the Bloody Mary “brown” version, the new version. This looks to be the one that will go on the record. It is a difficult choice between this one and the first “white” version, because they really became two completely different songs. I love the new version, but I used to really dig playing that bridge from the white version. Maybe someday we’ll take the bits we cut and make a whole new song.

 After we finished up, I went to the 3 of Clubs to check out my friends Boatel and Killola play a show.

 the fountain’s floor is blackened
with the wishes that I’ve thrown in
I found what I was searching for
has been what I was searching with