Here is the tale of last week's trip to New York City to master our record.

Part One: Through the Black Hole

We had just finished mixing the new version of "Blue Bruises" on Saturday night. The last minute whirlwind of it's re-recording left us exhausted and a bit scattered. That all gave way to excitement as the prospect of venturing out to New York was just hours away. Sunday afternoon was a blur of cars, luggage, and me getting my ATM card sucked into a bank machine leaving me with 40 bucks for the trip. Good times.

Dave, our manager Jared and I took a jetBlue flight out of Long Beach airport to JFK. I'd heard how great flying jetBlue was, and now I see why. Having a little TV screen with movies and satellite TV mounted right into the headrest in front of you makes a world of difference on a transcontinental flight. I watched some poker TV, most of "Jaws", and then we all watched part III of that great sexual predators stakeout show on MSNBC. Most of the time though, I had my iPod on and was working out album sequences. Although I'd spent days working on the final sequence, the perfect one was still hidden from me. All that we were really sure of (or at least pretty sure of) were which two out of the fourteen we were leaving off. Playlist after playlist, arrangements scribbled on sketchpads, and still I wasn't quite sure. I had each band member's favorite track listing, and some input from a few select friends that I'd played the music for, but still wasn't 100% sure of what sequence would work the best. I was trying to remain open to the fact that there are other forces at work than my own focus, and that at some point they would intervene and make the right path clear.

We touched down around 11pm, and went right to the W hotel in Union Square. The hotel was really nice - really well designed and elegant. Our producer, Josh Abraham had taken an earlier flight and was staying there too. He, Dave, and Jared were all done for the day and wanted to crash. Not me- I was amped about being in the city, and preoccupied with discovering our final song sequence before the next days mastering session, when the order would be set in stone (or so I thought). I bundled up, put my headphones on, and pushed "play" on my current song sequence, hitting the streets around 1am.

I used to live in New York. Lived there for a couple years, and my apartment was on the same street as the W hotel -about six blocks up. I started my walk by heading back there. I saw the little deli where I would order BLT's for delivery in the middle of the night (one of my favorite things about New York life: all night deliveries). The streets were pretty empty. The bracing air was exhilarating and masked any feelings of fatigue from the journey. All I felt was excitement and a new wonder at how amazing the city was, and gratitude for the reason I was there. Above me I began to see the Empire State Building, ominously poking out above the upper reaches of the skyline, it's upper floors bathed in red light for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday. I began to work my way westward towards it. At this point I was midway through our record, my current song sequence holding up pretty well.

In no mood to turn back, and getting used to the chill, I made my way northwest toward Times Square. As my walk went on, more and more memories of my time in New York came flooding back. The song sequence was coming to an end and just at the perfect moment, at the crescendo in "Listen", I turned the corner into Times Square.

All of a sudden I was awash in flashing, strobing, multicolored lights. The visual onslaught of the crossroads of the world hit me like an avalanche. I looked down at my legs and I had become multicolored being of reds, greens and blues. Changing. Transforming. I was actively alive and had passed through some sort of black hole, the music and the moment all mashing together to make a slice in time I will never forget. The thin brisk air, a warm world of light and color, and the climax of year and a half's work in my ears. The music ended, and I turned to walk back to the hotel, becoming human again.

I left Times Square changed.