It's Monday morning in America, and I am working from home!
And by working I mean, making coffee, trying to sell stuff on Craigslist, and wearing a bizarre hodgepodge of what may or may not qualify as clothing.
My current scheme is the Church of Sound Mobile Unit MU-001.
I have a little money set aside, and trying to decide where best to put it.
I want to have the capability to track cleanly and without interruption in any setting (provided two wall outlets).
Hoping that my little PowerBook G4 is up to the task. Perhaps I should give it a nice nickname for encouragement?
Silver Rocket.
So it's either, sell the computer and upgrade to a non-unibody MacBook Pro, or give the little bugger a chance.
Besides, it loved me when my luck was down.
SO, There has been much to discuss since my first posting.
The 3-day recording session with Bad Assets was a success on all fronts, and it was agreed that it was a fated match, a well-timed event that yielded a great result. I think we both knew, going into it, that they'd be taking a chance on me technically, however our budding friendship provided the backdrop to the business end.
The first day we had from 10am until 4:30 in which I had hoped to complete all live tracking of instruments.
Total isolation on guitar, bass and drums for this wild power trio? Check!
Were they up to the task and well practiced enough to nail six songs? Double Check!
Would the gods look favorably upon my noble venture, and thereby vanquish any circuit lurking techno gremlins? Si.
Come 4pm and we're getting killer sounds all day, happy with takes of all six songs!
There's a western, a couple punk rockers, even some power pop jams. All across the board, you can't pin Bad Assets down!
Next day :
Guitars, Guitars, Guitars. Wild, shrieking strings and gristling tubes belching.
Listened to Joe Mac shred through an estimated thirty-something guitar solos.
Set up for Congas? Yup.
Day three was all vocals - great sounds on the mic, great lyrics, harmonies, just enough to make things feel just a little - but not too - produced.
Phew! Anyways I just noticed that the band has posted a couple MP3's from our sessions on their myspace so I can quit trying to explain and you can just here it :
BAD ASSETS on MySpace
I'm off to change the laundry. Stay tuned for the next chilling chapter!!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
On Ennui
I read somewhere recently about an ennui that sets in once you get what you want.
Here are a few definitions of that funny little French word :
General lack of interest, boredom or depression. It may also refer to oppressive boredom. It refers to a state of being rather than a passing mood as is generally the case with 'boredom' [...]
A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression; boredom, weariness, dissatisfaction with life.
It's something we all experience daily, and it's even more prevalent in this age of convenience and technology... I think it's even worse when you're waiting on something big. You've mulled it over, imagined it, planned it, put it in motion... so much anticipation. So that by the time your toes are on the ledge, you're looking down at whatever it is and thinking, "Is This It"?
Is "change" just a trick of the mind?
Here are a few definitions of that funny little French word :
General lack of interest, boredom or depression. It may also refer to oppressive boredom. It refers to a state of being rather than a passing mood as is generally the case with 'boredom' [...]
A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression; boredom, weariness, dissatisfaction with life.
It's something we all experience daily, and it's even more prevalent in this age of convenience and technology... I think it's even worse when you're waiting on something big. You've mulled it over, imagined it, planned it, put it in motion... so much anticipation. So that by the time your toes are on the ledge, you're looking down at whatever it is and thinking, "Is This It"?
Is "change" just a trick of the mind?
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Soft Rock and Hard Times
This is it, my last week of gainful, taxed employment before going out on my own as a sound engineer ONLY. It's taken me almost 6 years (since graduating college) of toiling away in wage labor-land, in and out of some unbearable situations all in the name of survival.
But now it's paying off, or so it seems : My constant night jobs running live sound are now going to be my main source of income, instead of a bother to my ever-suffering employers.
So, it seems a fitting time to finally begin this blog I've been waiting to start. Really it's the current incarnation of "The Church of Sound", which I began as a series of shows in 2005. At some point it may end up being a label, in fact rather soon perhaps since we have to press a Groggs 7". In the meantime, it remains the umbrella for all my dealings in sound, booking, recording, etc.. And now it's a real-live digital rag.
So, to waste no further time with introductions, we begin.
Tomorrow I begin production on a 7" for a band from SLO, CA called BAD ASSETS. They are fronted by a friend named Joe Machamer, with whom I've crossed paths many time since I created The Church Of Sound. First time I met Joe it was a show I booked for his band, DARK SKIES, at The Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz. Denim warriors from the Northwest kicking out screaming blues and dirty rock & roll. High-flying shredinators like some japanese robotic Bruce Springsteen.
After many more encounters of the like, Joe and BAD ASSETS played Octamont, a driveway show I organized at the end of Summer 2009. Joe, Shea and John laid down some wicked rock right there on the concrete! Dark balladry with twisted melodies, doom and gloom and thunder! All with a tinge of things that I love - Dead Moon, Roky Erickson, even a little Cream. It became apparent to me that where most people have marrow in their bones, Joe Mac has instead some kind of undulating jalapeno napalm jelly that can only be sublimated by unholy stick riffage. And we're gonna harvest all that gooey goodness. Can't wait to hear it on wax.
Speaking of wax, as mentioned before, we are working on putting out The Groggs 7" which we recorded between October and December of last year. Nine songs were produced but we're picking the cream of the crop to go on this 4-song sampler, simply because we can't afford to put out a 12". I've been passing around the MP3 versions a bit, but I am really looking forward to hearing this one on record as it's just a wild mix of old and new sounds, drenched in reverb with a burning wall of sound throughout. The remaining tracks will be archived for future release, and two will appear on a cassette split for 1019 Records, with Tyred Eyes from Sweden. I've just got to take those tracks and blow the hell out of them on my old 4-track, to a cassette master. It's gonna sound sweet, sharp and sticky.
I'm also hoping to start round two of home recordings with my friend Matt Hintze, guitarist and crooner for THE SPURTS. We got together one day when we lived together and recorded in the bathroom upstairs at THE OCTAGON. Did some tricky stuff to milk that bathroom verb for all it was worth, laid down three of Matt's songs. Hoping he has a few more since I'm gonna have a lot more time to pace around my apartment, and it would be nice to have something I can work on at home.
Also hoping for some other gigs to come down the pipeline at THE COMPOUND, where I recently got promoted from intern to engineer. So hopefully I get to record some things that might not otherwise come my way.
Now if I could just find some new jams to listen to in the off time... I keep falling back on the few country records I own and a Nirvana tape that broke in my cassette deck recently. That's the irony of all this - the more time I spend in music, the further I get from it. Recommendations please.
Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next chapter posted with the quickness.
But now it's paying off, or so it seems : My constant night jobs running live sound are now going to be my main source of income, instead of a bother to my ever-suffering employers.
So, it seems a fitting time to finally begin this blog I've been waiting to start. Really it's the current incarnation of "The Church of Sound", which I began as a series of shows in 2005. At some point it may end up being a label, in fact rather soon perhaps since we have to press a Groggs 7". In the meantime, it remains the umbrella for all my dealings in sound, booking, recording, etc.. And now it's a real-live digital rag.
So, to waste no further time with introductions, we begin.
Tomorrow I begin production on a 7" for a band from SLO, CA called BAD ASSETS. They are fronted by a friend named Joe Machamer, with whom I've crossed paths many time since I created The Church Of Sound. First time I met Joe it was a show I booked for his band, DARK SKIES, at The Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz. Denim warriors from the Northwest kicking out screaming blues and dirty rock & roll. High-flying shredinators like some japanese robotic Bruce Springsteen.
After many more encounters of the like, Joe and BAD ASSETS played Octamont, a driveway show I organized at the end of Summer 2009. Joe, Shea and John laid down some wicked rock right there on the concrete! Dark balladry with twisted melodies, doom and gloom and thunder! All with a tinge of things that I love - Dead Moon, Roky Erickson, even a little Cream. It became apparent to me that where most people have marrow in their bones, Joe Mac has instead some kind of undulating jalapeno napalm jelly that can only be sublimated by unholy stick riffage. And we're gonna harvest all that gooey goodness. Can't wait to hear it on wax.
Speaking of wax, as mentioned before, we are working on putting out The Groggs 7" which we recorded between October and December of last year. Nine songs were produced but we're picking the cream of the crop to go on this 4-song sampler, simply because we can't afford to put out a 12". I've been passing around the MP3 versions a bit, but I am really looking forward to hearing this one on record as it's just a wild mix of old and new sounds, drenched in reverb with a burning wall of sound throughout. The remaining tracks will be archived for future release, and two will appear on a cassette split for 1019 Records, with Tyred Eyes from Sweden. I've just got to take those tracks and blow the hell out of them on my old 4-track, to a cassette master. It's gonna sound sweet, sharp and sticky.
I'm also hoping to start round two of home recordings with my friend Matt Hintze, guitarist and crooner for THE SPURTS. We got together one day when we lived together and recorded in the bathroom upstairs at THE OCTAGON. Did some tricky stuff to milk that bathroom verb for all it was worth, laid down three of Matt's songs. Hoping he has a few more since I'm gonna have a lot more time to pace around my apartment, and it would be nice to have something I can work on at home.
Also hoping for some other gigs to come down the pipeline at THE COMPOUND, where I recently got promoted from intern to engineer. So hopefully I get to record some things that might not otherwise come my way.
Now if I could just find some new jams to listen to in the off time... I keep falling back on the few country records I own and a Nirvana tape that broke in my cassette deck recently. That's the irony of all this - the more time I spend in music, the further I get from it. Recommendations please.
Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next chapter posted with the quickness.
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