The most annoying blog post is the one that goes "sorry i haven't updated in a while" so i'm just not going to say it. (hint: i just did)
So this is the RECORDING blog, and we're technically done recording but that's not the end of this. There's still all the other fun stuff like: waiting around for the mixing to happen, coming up with song and album titles, figuring out who's going to put this record out, going on tour between now and then, etc.
You know how much i love lists, so here's what we/I have been up to lately:
-We are going to be on the cover of the Riverfront Times this week. It hasn't really sunk in, and it's been pretty hush hush but for the few that read this i think it's okay to spill the beans. In addition, we're going to take over the always entertaining Riverfront Times A to Z blog for the week. We'll have a new post on there from a band member every day. This will be a true test of our blogging consistency.
-I have been interested in recording over the past few years, and have been collecting the necessary gear to record bands and such. Recording with Chris was so so inspiring that i've been diving head first into it lately. I just recorded a charming young band called Torchlight Red, and i'm recording some really sweet stuff in the near future: Berlin Whale, Thankful Tree, Cold Bear Scout, Target Market. It feels good.
-We played a Thor Axe show this weekend and it was a blast. Recording will start very soon for our debut EP-plus "making of" DVD and tablature book.
-We're going on tour to the east coast in October for CMJ. It's going to be really casual, really fun. We know we're going to be playing some shows with Cinemechanica, Pattern is Movement, and We Versus the Shark. We might also get to hook up with the Photo Atlas.
-We need to get a new van.
I think that's all for now. Keep fighting the good fight.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Our House: The Last Sessions
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Day 2 - fuckin' done/duckin' fun
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.
I'm done, Aaron's done, Norm's done and Griffin's done. We're done. All the tracking is done. It's finished. We don't have any more tracking to do.
That's not entirely true. We are doing group vocals tonight; we didn't quite have time to do them while Chris was around. It'll be more fun this way, much less pressure and the schedules work out so our bros can sing with us as well. Plus, I get to record it and it's a little bit of a personal accomplishment to be engineering something for the record. Yay.
By the way, we finished tracking. I don't know if i nailed that point in yet.
The last 48 hours were so very intense. Aaron basically lived in the tracking room (aka. Griffin's bedroom) the whole time, recording 5 songs in a day and a half. We were doing about one song a day in Portland, so it was quite a task. In addition, Norm and I had return blood draws at Gateway Medical at 6 PM friday and 6 AM today. We were up until 2 AM tracking, so i'm currently on that loopy feeling of not enough sleep/too much caffeine. I'm pretty jittery, and it's unfortunate that you can't tell exactly how many times i've hit the backspace key in writing this.
Sir Walla is currently heading to Lambert International Airport in a vehicle with Griffin. He has served his time, and now we play the waiting game. We won't get things started on mixing until September, but it will be nice to get this whole thing out of our heads for a month.
Time to live like normal people for a while.
I'm done, Aaron's done, Norm's done and Griffin's done. We're done. All the tracking is done. It's finished. We don't have any more tracking to do.
That's not entirely true. We are doing group vocals tonight; we didn't quite have time to do them while Chris was around. It'll be more fun this way, much less pressure and the schedules work out so our bros can sing with us as well. Plus, I get to record it and it's a little bit of a personal accomplishment to be engineering something for the record. Yay.
By the way, we finished tracking. I don't know if i nailed that point in yet.
The last 48 hours were so very intense. Aaron basically lived in the tracking room (aka. Griffin's bedroom) the whole time, recording 5 songs in a day and a half. We were doing about one song a day in Portland, so it was quite a task. In addition, Norm and I had return blood draws at Gateway Medical at 6 PM friday and 6 AM today. We were up until 2 AM tracking, so i'm currently on that loopy feeling of not enough sleep/too much caffeine. I'm pretty jittery, and it's unfortunate that you can't tell exactly how many times i've hit the backspace key in writing this.
Sir Walla is currently heading to Lambert International Airport in a vehicle with Griffin. He has served his time, and now we play the waiting game. We won't get things started on mixing until September, but it will be nice to get this whole thing out of our heads for a month.
Time to live like normal people for a while.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Day 1 of 2 at our house
Yesterday, Christopher Walla took an airplane from Portland to St. Louis, was picked up by Griffin Kay, and arrived at 700 Hale Avenue, Edwardsville, IL (our house) to finish up the So Many Dynamos record.
I wasn't there. I was at Gateway Medical Research, taking a pill for overactive bladders and getting my blood drawn 20 times. Norm is in the same study as me, so he was absent as well. No recording got done yesterday though, so i consider today day 1. And rightfully so.
Norm and I left Gateway Medical at 6:25 and 6:28 this morning. Around noon, Aaron started singing and he's been trapped in the makeshift vocal booth in Griffin's room ever since. Chris made a makeshift control room out of our living room, which is convenient in case you want to hear a record being made while watching shark week on mute (which we do). As of now (10:33 PM), Aaron is finishing the 3rd of 5 songs we have to finish this weekend. Tomorrow is group vocals, which is always fun.
Chris has to leave at about 4 PM tomorrow to catch his flight back, so we're pretty pressed for time. Things are going well and check this out:
ALL OF THE LYRICS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN!!!!
We accept payment in the form of high fives and one (1) shotgunned beer per capita. Pictures of our house fiesta soon.
I wasn't there. I was at Gateway Medical Research, taking a pill for overactive bladders and getting my blood drawn 20 times. Norm is in the same study as me, so he was absent as well. No recording got done yesterday though, so i consider today day 1. And rightfully so.
Norm and I left Gateway Medical at 6:25 and 6:28 this morning. Around noon, Aaron started singing and he's been trapped in the makeshift vocal booth in Griffin's room ever since. Chris made a makeshift control room out of our living room, which is convenient in case you want to hear a record being made while watching shark week on mute (which we do). As of now (10:33 PM), Aaron is finishing the 3rd of 5 songs we have to finish this weekend. Tomorrow is group vocals, which is always fun.
Chris has to leave at about 4 PM tomorrow to catch his flight back, so we're pretty pressed for time. Things are going well and check this out:
ALL OF THE LYRICS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN!!!!
We accept payment in the form of high fives and one (1) shotgunned beer per capita. Pictures of our house fiesta soon.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Correction on previous post
When i was writing the last post, listening to the new Animal Collective record, i could not comprehend how awful it was. It was so terrible that it made me suspicious, and after researching it, i realized that i had downloaded a fake version of the record that i guess somebody made as a joke. All the song titles/lengths are the same, but it's soo soo soo bad that it must be a very elaborate prank. Sorry about the negativity back there and sorry, Animal Collective.
One more day
Yo.
The night before something really big happens (a tour, recording, etc.) is like the night before Christmas and it's almost impossible to sleep. Chris gets here Thursday, and i guess since i'll be at Gateway Medical Research from tonight until Friday morning, my body decided to make last night my too-excited/nervous-to-sleep night.
Finished up the lyrics to one of the songs yesterday, and there is only one song that's hurting at the moment. I went to Sacred Grounds, the local Edwardsville coffee shop, to try to write lyrics. It was like a scene from a movie: i got my coffee, found a table, and sat down. As soon as i opened my notebook and took my pen cap off, the place went from dead silent to just BLASTING reggae over their little public address system. After about 20 minutes, they changed it to the sattelite radio equivalent to Lillith Fair. It was slightly better, but it's hard to focus when Alanis is thanking India, terror, and disillusionment just a few decibels louder than necessary.
Otherwise, we were recently given a fish tank, and Aaron got a crab for it (i'm pushing for the name "Rangoon").
While writing this, I'm listening to the new Animal Collective record, "Strawberry Jam". I can't help but feel like they're trying really hard to piss me off.
The night before something really big happens (a tour, recording, etc.) is like the night before Christmas and it's almost impossible to sleep. Chris gets here Thursday, and i guess since i'll be at Gateway Medical Research from tonight until Friday morning, my body decided to make last night my too-excited/nervous-to-sleep night.
Finished up the lyrics to one of the songs yesterday, and there is only one song that's hurting at the moment. I went to Sacred Grounds, the local Edwardsville coffee shop, to try to write lyrics. It was like a scene from a movie: i got my coffee, found a table, and sat down. As soon as i opened my notebook and took my pen cap off, the place went from dead silent to just BLASTING reggae over their little public address system. After about 20 minutes, they changed it to the sattelite radio equivalent to Lillith Fair. It was slightly better, but it's hard to focus when Alanis is thanking India, terror, and disillusionment just a few decibels louder than necessary.
Otherwise, we were recently given a fish tank, and Aaron got a crab for it (i'm pushing for the name "Rangoon").
While writing this, I'm listening to the new Animal Collective record, "Strawberry Jam". I can't help but feel like they're trying really hard to piss me off.
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