After posting about our low budget recording setup, I took some quick photos around our "studio". Polaroid effect added for...um, effect.
This is our DIY vocal booth. It's basically two microphone stands in a "V" with a blanket and Lightning McQueen sleeping bag draped over them. We stand in the center of the V when we track vocals. The wall directly behind this setup is covered with a large blue comforter, held up by painters tape. Vocal cheat sheet visible on the left. It gets a little tight in there and since the air conditioning vent rattles, it has to be closed when we track.
One advantage of recording at home is that I get to hoard all of the amps. Not just mine, but all the amps owned by the other band members. I'd like to be on Hoarders one day, surrounded by nothing but amplifiers and guitars. My wife has the same recurring dream, only she wakes up screaming.
More amp and geetar porn.
Finally, here's our computer and the ridiculously small screen. Note the size ratio of said screen with the studio monitors.
It's been a ridiculously long time since this we've given any type of update, so I thought I'd check in and give an accounting of how we've spent the last 9 months.
As we had previously mentioned, all non-album related band activities came to a halt while we finished up Palace Amusements. I'm sorry to say that this meant passing on some wonderful show offers and that always sucks. We made two exceptions for our January 2011 shows with The Seldon Plan as part of their farewell (or hopefully just "see you later") tour. It's weird looking back at the first half of the calendar for 2011 and seeing only two dates. It's our least productive year by far (performance wise, anyway). But the good news is that all of that self-imposed solitude actually worked. We've finished the overdubs and we're halfway through the vocal tracking and a third of the way through mixing. The mixing is being handled by Frank Marchand who has worked on the last few Bob Mould records as well as The Seldon Plan's The Collective Now. The artwork for Palace Amusements is being handled by our good friend, Mr. Chris Gash. Unfortunately, my idea to feature a baby elephant on the cover (partially as a reference to their gestational period and partially as a reference to this album cover) was overruled. We're very excited to have Chris and Frank (and their amazing talents) on our record. On our end of the record needs to wrap by the end of July and it will wrap on time. I say that with certainty because a) we have no other option and b) we are all ready for this thing to come out. Very ready.
We're looking at an early November release date on The Beechfields record label which means that when all is said and done, Palace Amusements will have taken us a ghastly two years to finish. I could write volumes as to why this happened and what we would have done differently, but I won't bore you with these things. There isn't one right or wrong way to make a record, but we definitely discovered one of the wrong ways. In contrast, we knocked out Sudden Fiction in two weekends, but that isn't exactly the right way to go about it either. In the end, most of this comes down to money or a lack of it. All we really want to do is make records and if that means tracking in the spare bedroom and using your son's Lightning McQueen sleeping bag as a vocal booth, then so be it.
Now that we are on the back nine, we are resuming our normal band activities. We had all four members together in a rehearsal room last Tuesday for the first time in six months, which felt kind of like the first day of school. With Chinese food. We're also booking shows again starting with two dates with those fine chaps The Anderson Council (7/29 at Crossroads and 8/26 at Asbury Lanes) and we've got some things in the works for September and beyond but I'm probably getting (way) ahead of myself again.
So that's the update for now, but we'll be around a lot more often.
And I'm back to the makeshift sleeping bag vocal booth.
A year is a long time. A lot gets crammed into those 365 days.
But for us, it turns out that a year is not enough.
A brief pass through the blog posts shows that right around 12 months ago, we we're getting excited about tracking our first record at Arcade Audio. With the tracking behind us, it sure felt like we were "almost done", or at the very least, pretty close. Oh, how wrong we were. And now that we're getting close for this dubious "anniversary", it's hard not to feel at least a little...I'm not sure what the word is - lazy? Guilty? Perhaps a bit of each.
I originally intended not to update this blog until the overdubs were finished. They're not done, but we are close - of the 15 original songs, 10 are in the books and three are in progress. Getting to this point has taken a lot more work then I expected. We have been fairly active tracking at my house for the last four months. My three-year old asks "Is Mark coming over?" on a nightly basis now. I think he has enjoyed this process more than we have, probably because our "studio" is one corner and one wall in his playroom (allowing for rousing games of Don't Break The Ice between takes).
Tracking usually takes place after work on weekdays, between the hours of 7 PM and midnight. Some nights, we start a little later and go until around 1 AM. Then it's back to work the next morning until the whole cycle starts over again. Getting motivated after working all day is difficult. There are a lot of distractions, including the always popular options of sleep or even just crashing on the couch. Fortunately, we've had some help - thank you to the New York Yankees for their rapid postseason exit and Cablevision for blocking Fox 5 during the World Series. You kept me focused, and I'll keep checking my mailbox for those refund checks.
I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer making predictions on "when" it will be done, at least not in the form of firm calendar time. The short answer is soon - later then Christmas, but earlier than spring training...oh please, let it be earlier then spring training.
We've started making preparations for our first shows of 2011, including two very optimistic dates in January. We're playing back-to-back shows in Baltimore and Hoboken with the Seldon Plan (MINI TOUR!!!). We'll be posting more about these dates in the next few weeks in all of the usual places.
For those of you who are have been asking about where we are at with the record, thanks for your patience. We think you're going to like it.
Every once in a while, we get a nice little surprise. Like flipping through the pages of Q Magazine and finding this (thanks for the heads-up, John)...
Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Niven.
We now return to our self-imposed exile in the studio. We are slowly inching our way towards the finish line...
Getting setup over hear at SilverBEAT (a.k.a. my house...I borrowed the name from The Bats record) to track some guitars. It's an interesting setup with no microphones - the guitar amps are patched directly into the board, along with a clean signal direct from the guitar (no pedals, no amp). This allows us to mic a guitar amp up after we capture the performance. It also means Mark and I can sit in the room with the monitors blaring and crank the amps, without having to worry about microphones picking up our conversation - making it feel much more like a live recording with the band then overdubbing parts.
My new neighbors are moving in today. Welcome to the neighborhood.
Jerry
UPDATE: We did alright today - finished Mark's guitar parts on "Canvas Shoes", "Signal To Noise" and "Carmelita", which was a bit tricky. Not a bad day's work.
After going to see the Feelies this past weekend and running into an old friend from college, I started feeling nostalgic about my old college radio show. Another Fine Mess aired on 91.7 WLFR from 1994 to 1998 on various days and timeslots. This was way before the Internet was a viable music research tool (or even the file swapping heyday of Napster), so most of these songs were discovered by combing through WLFR's CD and vinyl catalog and previewing tracks (and also through the help of some knowledgable DJs who helped steer me in the right direction). Some of these songs are still among my favorites, others I haven't heard much since the mid-90's.
I tried to keep this as "true to form" as possible; I not only picked the artists and albums that I specifically played on the show, but also the tracks that were featured most often - even if there are tracks on these records that I now prefer more. I was also careful not to "revise" the lists - I liked Pulp and The Stone Roses, but didn't discover them until after college, so they aren't on either list.
Hello again, StN readers. Memorial Day is on last month's calendar, we've already broken 90 degrees a handful of times and the Garden State's beaches are clogged with the cosmetically inflated and pharmacutically enhanced. It is summer in New Jersey once again.
It's been a month since we last checked in from TRUCK America. We've continued work on our debut LP, which is taking about as long as painting a house with a toothbrush. Recording at home has it's share of pros and cons and all that "free studio time" that once felt like a luxury is starting to hurt more then help. There's something to be said for working on the clock and the urgency it brings. Not to say we haven't made progress. Things are moving forward, but sometimes you need someone to crack the whip to keep you honest. Of course, what better way to keep it honest than to put it in writing. Our goal is to complete all tracking (minus vocals) by our next show on July 9th, which is probably more optimistic than likely at this point.
The working title for the record is Palace Amusements, a reference to the now defunct amusement park and Jersey Shore landmark. Despite the name, the record is not about Asbury Park but that (in)famous town comes up a few times. We've recorded 15 originals (going all the way back to our start in 2007 and stretching to our most recent songs) as well as a cover of The Mighty Lemon Drop's "Inside Out". 15 is a lot for a record, so that list will probably shake out to 10-12 tracks on the final cut.
One final note about the record, and it's a bit of good news/bad news. The good: Palace Amusements will be released on the Baltimore based Beechfields label (a formal announcement will come in the next month). We are very excited to be working with such talented and dedicated individuals and we're looking forward to playing more shows together. The bad: this marks the end of the line for Tabbycat Records. It was a lot of fun, but it simply became too expensive and took too much time to do things "the right way". The point of the label was to release our music and after a while it started getting in the way of that goal. I don't think this will be our last venture releasing our own records, but for now this chapter is over.
// LIVE SHOWS //
We've got two shows on the calendar for July and possibly a third one in the works.
On Friday, July 9th we return to our favorite spot south of the Driscoll bridge, the one and only Asbury Lanes. This time around we are the gracious guests as the fine lads from Mod Fun host their fourth MODSBURY PARK concert series. The theme is "Mods vs. Rockers" - that makes us the rockers, but we're not complaining. We are really excited to play with Mod Fun again. We shared a bill at The Loop Lounge a couple of years back and they were great. Also on the bill are Dr Void & The Deathmatchines, bringing their awesome rockabilly via punk tones. It's a Friday night, so don't be such a square, Daddy-O....
Friday, July 9th - 10 PM THE BRIXTON RIOT / MOD FUN / DR VOID & THE DEATHMACHINES
* DJ Bill Luther all nite between sets * Guest dub/ska DJ set by Mick Hale * 18+ up event (all ages can enter for bowling, if *with* a parent/guardian) * GIVEAWAYS courtesy VESPA Bkly'n & B-Unique Clothing (AP) * MP4 presented by Making Tyme/Kool-Aid-Kid Music * sponsored by Weekend MIX-Up! http://www.modfun.com/WMU
Our second July show is a rare mid-week performance and an even rarer outdoor show (only our second or third). But the real change here is the venue. On Tuesday, July 13th, we will be performing at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. This show is part of 90.5 The Night's Live and Local series hosted by The Night's own Jeff Raspe. Joining us will be our good friend Jon Caspi and the Jon Caspi Band. This one is an all ages show with a 6 PM start, and tickets are covered as part of the park admission.
Great Adventure can get pricey, so here are some ways to keep the admission price down:
If you want to come all day and ride some coasters with us, discounted tickets are available online at https://shopsixflags.accesso.com/clients/sixflags/affiliate/index.php?m=13302
USERNAME: livega PASSWORD: SixFlags1
Username and Password are Case Sensitive These tickets also include a free Wild Safari Ticket
If you can't make it out for the whole day but would still like to see the show (and maybe ride some coasters), tickets are only $19.99 plus tax after 5:00pm on Tuesdays.
Not bad for a day at Great Adventure. Bring the kids if you are so inclined (we'll keep the stage banter clean); being able to bring our own kids was a huge part of why we took this show in the first place.
90.5 THE NIGHT'S LIVE & LOCAL PRESENTS
THE BRIXTON RIOT / JON CASPI BAND
GREAT ADVENTURE 1 Six Flags Boulevard Jackson, NJ
Tuesday, July 13th - 5:30 PM
Long post. That's all I've got. See you next time.
