July 2009
11 posts
Hey check out our good friend Kristen Kurtis at 92.9 KZZU. You can hear her live on the air Monday through Friday from 3 to 7pm up in Spokane, WA. She’s awesome and you can also listen online, so no excuses.
June 2009
53 posts
Percussion Day
So we’re back at Thud after a fun weekend. Thursday and Friday were vocal days that went from bad to good. After straining my voice on Thursday, I almost canceled the next session out of anxiety, but thanks to everyone’s encouragement and Jim’s direction I delivered performances I’m happy with so far. We haven’t heard the final comps yet, but for all intents and...
“Existence itself may be considered an abyss possessed of no meaning. I do not...”
– Hakim Bey
“Guns versus the greatness of God, armed forces versus mobile phones, batons...”
– Mir Hossein Mousavi, today on Facebook.
Check out Jade Catta-Preta, actress & comedienne. →
The Floppy Bob Show
Hey check out yesterday’s episode of The Floppy Bob Show featuring Jade Catta Preta who is a hilarious stand-up comic. She talked us up because we are awesome but also because she’s Shane’s girlfriend. Thanks, Jade!
correction
It has come to my attention that Ed McMahon and Bob Barker are, in fact, not the same person. Apologies. I deleted the line about McMahon hosting “The Price Is Right.” I guess old white guys all look the same to me. Is that racist? I’ve been in the studio too long.
Ed McMahon, RIP
Quick thought… In recent years, McMahon fell and hurt himself severely, and was also diagnosed with bone cancer. His injuries prevented him from working and his medical bills skyrocketed. What’s really striking about this is that if our healthcare system is so bad that even a lifelong celebrity like McMahon can’t stay on his financial legs due to hospital bills, how do the...
Recording Day 6 + 7
Lead guitar has been going well. We had some technical difficulties that led to a slow start yesterday - namely 2 separate trips to the music shop to buy the same set of strings twice. But in spite of the bumpy morning, Shane plowed through two of the songs. We are working on the other two now.
We had to duck out early yesterday to catch Wilco’s amazing set at the Wiltern. They...
Recording Day 5
After spending nearly all day in the iso booth with huge headphones on, I felt like I’d been on an 8-hour flight. Never thought recording could give you jetlag.
Everything is sounding awesome and the record is really coming together. This part of the process is definitely rewarding, but also painstaking as you push yourself to the very limit of your abilities and beyond. I used...
Recording Day 4
Exhausted after spending 8 hours tracking guitar. I’ll be going back tomorrow to do acoustic and then start on vocals. In other news, the t-shirts I ordered a couple weeks back finally arrived. And so did our XBox that was in the shop getting repaired which means video games until I fall asleep. Commencing now….
Vote for Google to change it's logo in solidarity... →
Recording Day 3
So we finished tracking bass today and got to hear the edited drums. They’re still raw but they sound incredible. We used a huge 8x12 Ampeg bass cab with a great head that actually belongs to Jeff Abercrombie - bass player for Fuel. Jeff was kind enough to let us use it and he really helped us out by rescheduling his project so we could use the drum room on Monday.
Shane really nailed...
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
As we all know by now, opposition forces in Iran are using Twitter to organize peaceful demonstrations, warn protesters of danger, and provide information to the outside world during a media blackout. Yesterday, Twitter announced they would be shutting down for regularly scheduled maintenance which happened to coincide with today’s national strike in Iran. Immediately, the entire Twitter...
Recording Update
So, we were supposed to start tracking bass today but had a slight change of plans. Mateo and I spent our newfound day off watching TV and nodding off. We’ll be back in the studio at 10am tomorrow to track bass and get started on guitars. Jim is going to take today to finish editing all the drums so we’ll be able to hear them tomorrow. According to Jim, these are the best drum...
Recording Day 2
Been in the studio over 3 hours now. Just finished getting all the right drum sounds. About to start tracking drums shortly. It’s already lunch time and we are getting kinda hungry, but we haven’t even technically started yet, so yeah. We ordered some excellent Greek food from Daphne’s. I’m a little apprehensive about getting done in time but that’s how these...
White Lights Recording Session
ahousementality:
So tomorrow is the first day of the White Lights recording session. We’re doing 4 songs with producer Jim Roach (www.jimroachmusic.com) at Thud Studios in North Hollywood. Tonight we set up the kit, hit some stuff, mic’d some stuff, and got set up for an easy start tomorrow morning.
I stopped by my endorser, Soultone Cymbals, this past Friday and grabbed a few new cymbals for...
“Many like Adam Smith believed that all governments in the world could be reduced...”
– Gordon Smith from “The Radicalism of the American Revolution.”
Recording Update
Day 1 went great yesterday. Shane came down to the studio to help fill out some of the scratch tracks. Played Jim’s Tele through a Bad Cat amp that sounded gorgeous. Pretty solid tone for a reference mix.
Packing up Mateo’s drums tonight and taking them over to the studio. We’ll be setting them up and mic’ing everything tonight so we’ll be ready to hit the...
Following the Iran election on Twitter. SMS replacing MSM? It’s sad when CNN is beaten by Facebook’s little sister. Step up your game, CNN. Is it any fucking wonder news companies are going bankrupt? While I was reading several liveblogs of the student uprising and watching videos of fires in the streets and kids being beaten, CNN was yammering on about Letterman insulting Palin -...
“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large...”
– Winston Churchill
To the protesters in Iran: Democracy is worth the fight. Be strong, be safe, and never give up. We are with you.
Recording Day 1
Listening to some Marley as I prep for the first day of tracking. We’re only doing scratch tracks today so it should be an easy day, but I’m still antsy to get started. Got up this morning and did some yoga, trimmed my fingernails, had some eggs, I’m ready to go.
I’ve been a bit congested the past week - I don’t think I’m sick exactly because I don’t...
“Disassemble that tower
to remember that power is infinitely yours
not for maladjusted sorcery
remember that tower
is a symbol of our impotence and your
potential luxury: it’s illusory.”
(White Lights - “Fate of the Fleet”)
...
Spent 8 hours yesterday playing keyboards and sitting in front of my computer trying to record a song. Fairly successful - I got a few verses laid down, but no chorus yet. I want to get outside but it looks like this June Gloom won’t lift. Recording scratch tracks tomorrow so I gotta take it easy today. I haven’t gone hiking in far too long and there’s really no excuse.
Hurry up & wait
The most frustrating aspect of being a musician is the waiting. Everything takes time and there’s no forcing anything. I’ve learned in the last year that putting pressure on people is not nearly as effective as providing incentives. The moment you stress and agonize over the details happening just as you demand is when things will fall to pieces around you.
Why? Because it...
Darkest before the dawn
The past few days I’ve had some great conversations about music. Yesterday’s meeting with Jim concluded with a lengthy conversation about the difference between playing precisely and playing with feel. There are a million technically skilled musicians out there, but it takes a certain kind of player to offer a performance that really *feels* right. Music is more than just hitting the...
Allison
You bolt toward the intersection. We catch you just in time and you struggle in our arms as you scream, “Don’t you see it? Don’t you see it?”
You point to the intersection frantically. We ask you, “What? What is it?”
And you cry and you beg, “Please tell me you can see it. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. Just tell me you see it.”...
“You have nothing
I have nothing to lose
You want nothing
I want nothing but...”
Art is a scheduling nightmare.
Trying to arrange full band rehearsals with our producer and scheduling recording dates has been a clusterfuck. Spent about an hour on Friday panicking because we had to reschedule all our preproduction sessions. Luckily, it all worked out (fingers crossed) and we’ll be meeting tonight. We are eager to hear what Jim has to say. We’ve been with these songs for over 6 months now, so...
Woke up with an incredible urge to smash. Will report back with results.
“For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that...”
– Don Juan
Remembering the Future
I keep having these recurring dreams, all on the same variation. You might classify it as a standard “chase” dream—you know, when you’re running like hell from something unspeakably horrible that pursues you relentlessly till the adrenaline rush wakes you up. When I was a kid, it used to be lions that were chasing me. But over the past year or two, I’ve been having...
Recording
Spent last night tracking guitar for an upcoming acoustic EP. I’ll be going back tonight to finish up vocals. Hopefully we’ll be posting them up within the week. Many thanks to Toby Karlin for taking the time to help us out so soon before he skips town.
I keep meaning to head down to Venice Beach for some much needed rejuvenation, but also to scope out the scene for busking. ...
“Everything is unfolding as it should.”
Dot-Communism
Check out this article over at Wired. Open source as a political movement? Mentioning peer-to-peer economies as a realistic alternative to modern hyper-capitalism has gotten me laughed out of many polite conversations, but could it be inevitable? The article points out that an economy based on sharing has been steadily building - could it swell to redefine government itself? A rising tide...
