i've spent the summer here, back where i grew up, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling things i haven't experienced for a long time. brooke and i have decided to move again, this time much farther away than kentucky. but more on that later. for the moment, i just want to enjoy these last few hours here. so i better get to it.
it's hard to listen to this album and not wonder if it somehow encapsulates the last two years of my life. i think back to when i wrote the songs and recall how i felt and what led me to write a particular melody, rhythm, phrase, etc. naturally, there have been many emotions i've encountered over the past two years that don't have a song to accompany them. but does it all boil down to these 28 minutes? i hope not. life is more than that, right? a friend reminded me recently that it's not the day a process is finished that is paramount, but the entire journey getting there. it seems every moment of our lives is important, not just the instant of losing a loved one or learning you passed the bar or having your first orgasm. but truly, how do we become the people that we are? how do we adopt our personalities? here i am with this music i've created. is this me? i suppose. it's not all of me, but it's something.
i had dinner tonight with two taiwanese professors. their names were dr. chen and dr. chen. they told many interesting stories and lauded the effects of democracy versus communism in mainland china. one of the good doctors even gave me a ballpoint pen with a small flashlight and a laser pointer. and the other doctor gave my family a beautiful blue vase. all in all, it was an exciting evening. perhaps i should go live in taiwan for awhile.
i arrived back in louisville on wednesday night. well, actually, it was monday morning around 3, at which point i slept for a few hours before catching a plane to new york. at one point i attempted to navigate the ny subway during rush hour and found myself in an awkward predicament. in order to catch the 6 downtown after the transfer at union station i had to proceed down a narrow but traversable part of the platform. i saw the sign where i was supposed to go. i was feeling good about going there. then suddenly, a train pulls up on the opposite track and a millisecond later, i'm surrounded. bodies are everywhere and i'm pinned to a steele beam near the escalators. i received several dirty looks and someone called me a 'stupid ass.' so that was me on that particular morning. stupid-ass. here's a terribly drawn diagram of the occurence.
and here are some photos from my last few days in atlanta
ok. now we're really finished. we mastered everything today with alex lowe at red tuxedo studio. first of all, the mastering studio was pretty amazing. and alex is a very talented individual. there are actually several studios in the same building. aside from red tuxedo, there is also the rodney mills mastering lab. rodney actually lives upstairs and works downstairs in the basement. the house itself is enormous, beautiful, and very welcoming. and even cooler, alex has an old mini-moog signed by bob himself.
so anyway, the sound portion is over. i feel slightly sad honestly. i've experienced a certain amount of separation anxiety with all the projects on which i've been involved, but never so deep and resounding as right now. this is by far the most personal endeavor i have ever undertaken. when i left the studio today i was even slightly afraid. i was excited and moved about being finished, but for some reason i felt as if something awful was going to happen on my way home. maybe that's the way anyone feels when they reach the end of a chosen process. but still, it was a bit unnerving.
anyway, now we just have to finish the artwork and manufacture everything. dom has put together some great images. we'll also be doing different layouts and imagery for both the cd and vinyl releases. and since there will only be a limited amount of vinyl available, they will all be numbered in order of their sequence off the press. so one day they'll all be super duper valuable.
but seriously, thanks to those who've made it this far.
after our mastering session on thursday everything will be off to the manufacturer as soon as the artwork is complete. some presale information should be coming along soon. the album will be available on both cd and vinyl. thank you for your patience. please stay tuned.
well, on friday my body finally said "ok, that's enough" and proceeded to shut down at several points throughout the weekend. my hours have been fairly random lately i guess. and to supplement my overall sense of discomfort, i was also stung by a bee yesterday.
anyway, we finished recording on friday. in the morning we edited the last of the string sections before moving on to some background vocals. and i added a final keyboard part for a short instrumental i had been putting off for awhile. now it's monday as i sit here listening to glenn mix the first of ten songs we hope to include on the finished product. and honestly, my brain is too tired to type anything else. we have an album to mix. have a nice day.
today we worked on 2 songs for 7 hours. in the morning we edited vocals for a song and then switched to good old-fashioned singing during the afternoon. i'm not sure if it was the egg and cheese sandwich i ate this morning or the eight cups of coffee i consumed before lunch, but i certainly sang better than my last endeavor. we doubled a lot of the main vocals then laid some harmonies over top of them. so whoopee i suppose.
i've returned to atlanta for the final stretch now. yesterday morning we edited for a couple hours before recording some guitars in the afternoon. tomorrow and thursday we'll try to finish the rest of the vocals. oh, and friday some friends are coming to town to lend their vocal skillz on a few songs. plus, we'll be editing string parts in there somewhere. and i've almost settled on a sequence as well. all in all, everything appears to be coming along according to plan.
i also have to apologize for the lack of photos here lately. my camera is currently somewhere between here and idaho.
oh, and happy birthday america.
much of my time here in louisville recently has been spent walking to various places i haven't been to for a long time. it's nice to be walking more. i definitely haven't been able to do that much in atlanta. last thursday i stopped in for a drink at a bar on bardstown road named cahoots. during the early 80s to mid 90s, the space that cahoots now occupies was known as tewligans, a live music venue. it was (and this is an understatement) an amazing place to watch a show. the floor was always dirty, the lights were always low, and the smell was always distinctly magnificent. aside from watching scores of great local bands there, i was also able to see national acts such as fugazi, nation of ulysses, and bikini kill. most shows were all ages, five dollars, and very loud. anyway, i'm not sure why i'm sharing this with you. you've probably never been there. i guess i just miss those times.
more feedback and strange keyboard sounds today. tomorrow we start on vocals. but i believe we're finished with recording all the instruments. and since i'm such an extraordinarily talented singer, the vocals should most likely be finished tomorrow by around 2pm. that is unless i need to take half an hour to admire myself in the mirror.
yesterday i spent some time in the decatur cemetery. my seventh grade history teacher used to take us across the street to cave hill cemetery during class. colonel sanders is buried there. anyway, here are some names that caught my eye yesterday: okarma, ponder, strange, tuggle, crim, muscsik, zabenko, broniec, farrar, birdsong, luck.
and a headstone of interest:
in memory of
goodrich cook white, jr.
lieutenant u.s. army air corps
son of helen chappell and
goodrich c. white
born aug. 8 1918
died in combat over the baltic sea
sept. 12, 1944
"he went out on wings like an eagle
even accompanied by the music he loved to make."
“living, you made it goodlier to live.
dead, you make it easier to die."
and we edited more. big surprise. at the moment, i've settled on ten songs to focus on for the finished product. one or two might still be added though. this coming monday i have more feedback to record before we start on the vocals. after consideration, i may keep some of the original demo vocal tracks.
also, i've decided to start work on another 'mini-release' of 4-6 songs after this current project is finished. most of the songs for this new endeavor are comprised of selections that aren't making it onto the current album for whatever reason. it's not that they're not good enough. they just don't fit alongside the other songs i've been working on lately.
i arrived back in atlanta at 3am this morning for my session at 10. driving at night really is the best option. however, when i tried to buy beer around 2 at a gas station in north georgia i was told no sir, no beer after 1am. i said it was bunk. bunk i said! silly laws. at least in kentucky i can still order a rare hamburger.
anyway, here was my day in the studio...
wake up ... drive to orphan ... turn on computer ... begin to edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... coffee break ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... coffee break ... edit ... edit ... bathroom ... edit ... bathroom ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... outside screaming session ... deep sigh ... edit ... edit ... edit ... edit ... lunch ... edit ... edit ... edit ... drank a lot of water ... edit ... bathroom ... edit ... edit ... edit ... multiple ibuprofen ... deep sigh #2 ... edit ... edit ... edit ... fin.
tune in tomorrow for another exciting bulletin.
it feels great waking up here. what an amazing city. i've visited frequently over the past ten years to see friends and family, but it's been ages since i felt a true sense of ownership to where i live. there seems to be some sort of subconscious element here reminding everyone that they are a part of something, reinforcing their reason for being, pushing them to create an outstandingly unique habitat for each other.
we recorded drums for three new songs today. tomorrow we'll edit today's tracks as well as those from our previous drum session. but lo and behold, we are now finished with all of the drums. sweet...
last night was the first evening at my new temporary housing situation in atlanta. endless thanks to the cliftons for letting me stay in their guesthouse. although the floors are concrete and there's not much furniture (none really), it has air conditioning, a shower, and a kitchen. much more than adequate. no devil television either. and there are dogs. i like dogs. i've also brought an air mattress for lounging/sleeping. and as a first impression, avondale estates feels pretty nice. i've already found a good coffeehouse and david tells me there's a good farmer's market nearby. so now all i need is a pub of some sort.
on a completely different subject, i saw mc hammer in concert last thursday. he performed several irresistible hits such as 'pumps and a bump', 'pray', 'too legit to quit', and 'u can't touch this'. no 'have you seen her?' for me though. but it's nice to know that he's officially a master of ceremonies again.
i attended the irongrass cd release party at the evening muse in charlotte. it was a rather bittersweet evening, but it turned out better than my last visit there when i was the victim of a three legged chair (i almost recovered two or three separate times, but eventually i fell and spilled a beer on myself. it was quite a spectacle. just ask lauren dennis).
anyway, i knew last night would be the last time i would see some people for a long time. as excited as i am about moving, there are so many individuals here that can never be replaced. i suppose they'll remain with me in my head somehow, but that's not the same, is it? i've lived in north carolina for ten years now. the first four were for school. the next four were for a band. the last two i'm still trying to figure out. but the time has come for a change, so next week i move to kentucky. and that is bittersweet indeed...
at the end of this post is a link to a new song. for various reasons, i've chosen not to include it on the upcoming album, but wanted to share the demo version with you. not putting it on the album has nothing to do with me not liking it. i like this song, but it doesn't fit into the 'big picture' as well as some of the others do. the production value also isn't that great since everything was recorded at home on my computer. for the most part, i had no idea what i was doing.
but now i present you with a choice.
you can either 1) read the following - a short reflection / defense / description of the song, 2) scroll down, click the link, and skip the obiter dictum, or 3) close this window and do something else. if you want to learn before you listen, the first option may give you a bit of insight. if you want to be surprised, i suggest the second. no option is better than another. that is unless you choose the last option and go drop-kick a puppy or something. the choice is yours.
this song is called BAD AUTHORITY.
i wrote it sometime in december 2004. bush had just won the election, our band was falling apart, and i was generally pissed off and depressed. i turned on my drum machine one morning with the intention of writing something loud, dark, and aggressive. i guess i was upset. i wrote and recorded the rhythm tracks, then layered bass and guitars on top of it, then added words over the next couple days. i felt a new sense of energy after i had finished everything, but was also confused at the fact that i had never written anything like this before. this was a new direction from the songs i had created in the past, whether as part of CIF or bands from high school. but it also left me with a 'what the hell was all that about?' sort of feeling. nevertheless, it was purged from my head for whatever reason as an outlet for how i was feeling at the time about 'the state of things.' it was me or some version of me in december 2004. and that's it. as far as what the actual words mean, i'll leave that up to you to decipher. here they are. the link for the song comes right after them. and whether or not you enjoy this, thanks for reading. and listening...
BAD AUTHORITY
is the keeper of the uncarved
always searching for a blade?
has the ism that you've trusted
now become a masquerade?
do you think there's something out there
coming for you in the night?
won't you tell me, what's your pleasure sir,
out of mind or out of sight?
oh, they're watching over me!
i'm ready to betray the bad authority!
does confusion from messiahs
leave you nothing to control?
do you think there's something better
than just doing what you're told?
can't you see the soldiers marching
as you scream your favorite tune?
is there reason to believe
when all you see is sun and moon?
oh, they're watching over me!
i'm ready to betray the bad authority!
so come away with me tonight
we'll travel at the speed of light
we'll drop our faith to join the craze
our dreams are full of golden rays
oh, they're watching over me!
i'm ready to betray the bad authority!
the derby party at glenn's on saturday was awesome. i met several nice people like the guy who does the music for "good eats with alton brown" and a couple producers for adult swim. i guess the latter was no surprise since glenn has a signed picture of space ghost in his studio.
we recorded drums on four songs this afternoon. dom showed up about halfway through and hung out for a while. we went to dinner later with my dad who happened to be in town. i ate too much. pieces of steak kept showing up on my plate. very cool artwork ideas from dom, by the way. too bad i can't show you any of it.
saturday is the yard sale back in charlotte. if you need a lamp or a small gnome statue, please drop in. i cannot wait to be liberated from my possessions. you are not what you own, it seems.
i should have a new song uploaded sometime next week. until then...
hopefully we'll get through 4-5 new songs. dom is driving up from tallahassee to talk about artwork too. nothing much new here over the last few days. just more work on manufacturing and vinyl layout ideas. and i won't bore you with that again. however, i may be uploading a new song or two for you to hear soon. probably next week.
alright then. that's all for now.
we did more keyboard edits. again, not very exciting, but necessary. after lunch i recorded more pads and fx with the omnichord and then did a quick bass part for a short acoustic song. then we moved on to feedback. we ran my robelli through a fender pro deluxe and turned everything up as loud as we could. i think we got some good stuff, but i need to listen to it again. i might bring in a pedal or two for some added strangeness. anyway, overall we accomplished a ton yesterday.
last night beth and michael cooked some cinco de mayo tacos. they have been unbelievably hospitable. and they make very tasty tacos. after dinner michael showed me a place down the street where people sell crack (don't worry - i just say no to crack). then we stayed up late with some alcohol and did some 'philosophizing'. basically, we came to the conclusion that there is no conclusion.
alright then. today is derby and glenn has invited me over for a PARTY.
more insignificant banter next week....
we recorded some lap steel with my new friend bret. then we moved on to more keyboard and bass edits in the afternoon. lots of progress there. regardless, once again today i did not pick up an instrument. sessions like this are difficult. just sitting and staring at the computer screen becomes taxing very quickly. tomorrow i'm planning to have a good time recording feedback. nothing quells the boredom of editing quite like making strange loud noises with no sense of melody.
now i have to go program some ideas on my drum machine for tomorrow. then i'll try to get some sleep. haven't been doing much of that lately. at least very well.
that's all for tonight. hope everyone is doing well.