Secondly, sorry there’s so few photos in this post.  I’m collecting stuff from everyone, including some good video bits, and will post stuff as I get it.

However, here’s a shot Dave took from the plane to set the scene:

Yes, it was the week of the big freeze here in Chicago.  It just so happened that the four days the guys were in town were the coldest days I’ve ever seen.  Ever.  -35 below (with windchill) at it’s worst.  Perfect weather for staying cooped up in a recording studio for 12 hour a day:)

PREGAME : High of 13˚

The guys arrived Wednesday night at the KEROSENE offices shortly after 5 and after hugs and handshakes we headed over to Shirk’s for a short reunion and a tour of the studio. From there we all headed over to Schubas Tavern near my place for some dinner and reminiscing.

Things were pretty much the same since the last time we got together:)  John and I debated politics and his ultra-liberal to my moderate-liberal discrepancies; we got filled in on Dave’s love life and the trials of his continuing battle to balance his music and computer career….  same ‘ol John and Dave.  No music talk that night  (that I can remember)… just catching up, a few beers (tea for Dave, as usual) and easy conversation.

DAY 1 : High of 7˚

We met around 10am at Shirk’s and jumped right into working on drum sounds.  As with most things this time out, everything went much faster than I’d remembered.  Dave was set up and Shirk had gotten the kit sounding great in under an hour. Before I knew it, we were tracking “Flora”.

We decided to track John and Dave separately for most of these session tracks. Since the material was so new to both the guys, we all agreed that tracking the two voices independently would give them a little more freedom to experiment and hone the parts while we recorded.  I assumed there would be a little writing on the fly….

However, once we started, it was a moot point… the first tune coulnd’t have gone smoother. Dave was really on point right out of the gate.  He’d clearly rehearsed this one and got his part in place relatively fast, within 2-3 hours. After a few hours, John jumped it and, in usual Johnny-Ace form, he locked in the part in just over an hour.  I think Shirk will agree, there are few bass players we know as good in the studio (and out) as John.  Rock solid focus and impeccable taste.

“Flora” was in the bag.

After a brief lunch we moved onto “Wedding Song”…

This went even better than “Flora”, and I think we were all knocked out at how well this song was turning out, even in it’s raw un-mixed state…. the trio blends really nicely here.  John and Dave both knocked there parts out quickly, by 10pm we were closing up shop and heading home for the night.

Day one was great!  Stress free… looked like it was gonna be a breeze.

DAY 2: high of -1˚

Well, as the deep cold set it, the sessions became more challenging.  I won’t lie… Day 2 was a struggle.

Over the last few weeks, I’d been telling the guys how I thought “Spinning On”, besides potentially being the title track of the record, was the standout tune of the set.  It’s probably the most catchy, upbeat tune on the record, and the song’s message really defines where I’m at in my life right now.  Perhaps a little too much pressure?

Drums took some time.  There was a lot of refining and re-taking, and section-by-section taking (which we know is never a good idea.)  Shirk was sounding pretty sick too, to the point where I took over all the producing so he could rest his voice. To top it off, we had to break mid-day for a PR interview with a local magazine that’s doing a piece on KEROSENE.

By about 9pm, we were just finishing bass parts, and I think we were all irritable, frustrated, and just plain spent. We listened back to the progress so far, and I hated ALL OF IT, even the stuff we did the day before.  So at this point, even though I had set a 2-song per day recording schedule, we called it a night.

What I had forgotten was…. this happens!! In all the years I’ve worked in the studio, it’s never a breeze and it’s USUALLY frustrating.  It was a good smack in the face for me, and I think helped keep things focused on Day 3.

Day 3: high of -3˚

Yes, it got COLDER. But Day 3 was the highlight:)

We arrived at noon (some rest was needed after the night before) and started tracking a new song that I wrote just before I left for the holiday in December.  The writing of it had come together very very quickly, and the drums and bass fell into place just as fast.  In 3 hours, it was locked, and things were looking up!

We moved onto “Taking Time” next, one of my favorites on the new album. After some noodling, Shirk and Dave found an incredible drum sound for the kick and toms… with some massive, MSG verb that really heightens the emotional peak of the song.  John quickly layered in a simple complimentary bass part, and we were done.

Holy crap!  We’d made up the lost time… I thought we might actually pull this off.

After a quick dinner, we set up for “The Knowledge Tree”.  This was the first song I’d ever written, back in art school when I first picked up Steve Steigbigel’s crappy Squire electric and began teaching myself how to play. The three of us had performed this song SO many times… so Shirk changed the set up for live tracking.  I was in the control room on a scratch mic, playing electric DI so that the guys had a reference point.  John and Dave were in the main room, all listening on headphones, playing simultaneously.

IT WAS A BLAST.

After all the stop-and-start tracking and nit picking, it was so nice to plug-in with the guys and just PLAY! This is the part we always enjoyed most (and excelled at best I think), and it flowed like wine.

We tracked the song from beginning to end 10 times…. each version having a little character of it’s own.  Some of the best playing we’ve done together….

by 10:30 pm, we’d gotten all 3 tunes in the can – an extremely productive day, and headed out for the night.

DAY 4: high of 4˚

Well, the temperature was slowly beginning to climb back up as the session were coming to a close.  We had 7 hours and 1 song to track, so I had no doubt we’d be in great shape.

And we were.  We tracked parts for “Mystified and Bruised”, which the guys hadn’t really had a chance to prepare for at all, and in the end, it’s one of my favorite tracks from the 4 days.  Fresh, vibrant, and smart.  Can’t wait for you all to hear.

Before we all left, we kicked back and listened to all the work we’d accomplished in that short span of time.  Low and behold, days 1 and 2 actually sounded great and all the newest stuff was as solid as we’d remembered.

Big thanks to John and Dave for sticking it out and delivering the goods. And thanks to you for reading this huge blog post. As I said, I’ll be posting photos, video and audio samples from the stint as soon as I get em.

Shirk and I will start mixing and tracking vocals next week.  Stay tuned.

PJ

Most of the writing of the tune came together in one night, I rehearsed it with the guys when I was in NYC, and wrote the bridge when I was in Mexico last week. So nice when it’s easy because it rarely is. I’m very excited about this one… have a listen:
no-title-song

John should be arriving in a few hours and Dave later tonight for 4 days of recording.  Shooting to get their parts done on 6 of the album’s 10 songs before Monday. We’ll be posting pics and video over the next four days so stay tuned… should be a blast.

PJ

All in prep for John and Dave coming to town… recording “Wedding Song” tracks this Sunday and another unnamed new song the following week.  Janurary will be a very productive month for us…

Anyhow, some of you kind folks have been asking for some lyrics for the new songs.  Here’s the words to “Spinning On”… hope you like em.

SPINNING ON

We met on Church and held some coffees /

We reminisced about the days /

Of lovers fumbling through the laundry /

Of simple lives and endless lays….

That day we drove up 87 /

I’m guessing you might not recall /

We actually did go picking pumpkins that day /

On our fondling lovers fall

CHORUS

But that’s not the way it happened /

You’ve got yours now and I’ve got mine /

But despite our best intentions /

The world…

Oh the world… Keeps Spinning On.

VERSE 2

When I was 12 you fought beside me /

at 19 you just left the room /

But when I finally got my nerve up /

You came back and took my gloom away /

CHORUS

But that’s not the way it happened /

You’ve got yours now and I’ve got mine /

But despite our best intentions /

The world…

Oh the world… Keeps Spinning On.

VERSE 3

I used to say of our aquaintance /

That we’d be friends until the grave /

But look at us now, the lines trace all the wine of wicked days /

The years go by, the years go by, and you and I remain the same.

CHORUS

But that’s not the way it happened /

You’ve got yours now and I’ve got mine /

But despite our best intentions /

The world…

Oh the world… Keeps Spinning On.

“The Flow” represents the moment in a task or activity when a person’s skills meet a challenge that engages them to their fullest capacity and potentially pushes their skill set beyond where it was before. It usually generates a “feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.”

I dig this feeling.

And last weeks sessions put me smack in the middle of it.

Last Monday was EWI day.  If you’ve been following the blog since early on,  you may recall an early post regarding saxophone parts and the fact that Shirk hasn’t been a huge fan of them, or the EWI for that matter.  (EWI stands for Electronic Wind Instrument, basically, a synthesizer that also responds to the fluctuations in the breath of the player).  In some ways, it’s kind of ironic we’ve worked together this long given my background and affinity for the instrument and his dislike for it, but it’s this push and pull between us that often nets the best results I think.

Anyhow, I picked up a replacement EWI a few weeks ago (you may recall my original one died), and I’ve had my heart set on giving it a try on “Spinning On”.  I’d found some voices that I though fit perfectly for the tune, giving it an almost analog 70′s synth sound.  Far from cheesy, and really pretty unique. And I found some simple ways of toning down the breath control so it didn’t have that lame smooth jazz vibe.

Shirk kept a very open mind to it, and we spent the majority of the day tracking parts.

Challenging is an understatement.  The instrument doesn’t exactly respond like a saxophone, even though the fingerings are the same.  Initially, I struggled to get the ideas in my head out through this device… I had the licks, but the touch had to be just right.

At longest stretch, I was tracking for about 5 or 6 hours straight and totally lost track of time.  And eventually, it clicked. I found the feel, we had a great tone, and Shirk was actually digging it.  The parts really elevate the tune and give it the unique character I think.  GREAT day.

Tuesday, we found the flow again, tracking “Taking Time”.

I came in with much less than usual that day. I hadn’t figured out the phrasing of the vocals (I’d never actually sang the whole tune on my own yet!) but I had a complete set of lyrics and I knew I liked what I’d written. The other concern was the song itself… it’s by far the simplest song I’ve written yet, really just a 8 bar vamp with some layering and dynamics variation throughout.  But the short sketch I’d created had gotten some very positive reactions from folks I shared it with (including blog visitors), and I felt pretty sure we had something worth while to develop. So we just dove in…

Shirk was on point, doing a fine job or getting sounds for my 4-5 guitar parts, creating an extremely complimentary set…. they all add something to the tune without fighting one another.  I came right out of the gate laying down vocals and phrasing ideas, struggling LOTS at first, but eventually finding my way. We added some basic percussion cues, and in under 6 or 7 hours the song was pretty complete.

Here’s a some shorts clips… you’ll recognize “Taking Time” from the sketch I posted a couple weeks back:

“Spinning On” (guitars, EWI, kick drum, vocal scratch track):

spinning-sample_1-21

“Taking Time” (guitars, basic percussion, vocal scratch track):

taking-time-clip_1-21

Next week I’m back to the acoustic, tracking guitars for “Wedding Song”, “Down”, “Flora” and another song with no name, as we continue some more good Flow hunting.

PJ

First, the pleasurable part…. it was so nice to record again. SO nice. I’m not sure I realized how much I missed it. I mean, the itch has clearly returned in the last few months, considering all the new songs that are spilling out of me lately, but  I forgot how completely contenting the experience is for me. The quiet of the room, the hum of the gear, the extended focus… There really are few things I enjoy more than hearing a bunch of these thoughts and ideas I’ve had rattling around in my head being realized into something tangible.  I walked away from yesterday’s session floating.

And the whole endeavor feels less anxious then it did before….  no managers or agents giving me direction, no timetables.  And the process overall… there’s so much less mystery to it.  Shirk and I’ve had recorded about 20-25 tunes together now and I think we both have a very good idea of what to expect from each other.

That being said, it’s awesome to see the evolution of it.  When Shirk and I first started recording, we were coming in after hours at Pink Noise (the Music house in Soho Shirk worked as Executive Producer at), working with 2 or 3 mics, a few preamps that Shirk had begun accumulating and a trimmed down pro tools rig. We would track instruments in the office’s small common area (no quiet rooms or sound proof spaces), experimenting with sound dampening and mic techniques.  I had barely been playing guitar for 3 years and had only been hitting open mics for about 6 months before.  The whole experience was exciting and challenging and completely fulfilling, but also chaotic, frustrating and totally messy at times. It was relatively new ground for everyone involved.

These days, Shirk has a fully loaded studio, a beautiful sound-proof tracking space and countless hours working with bands under his belt. And I don’t suck as much.

We get the sounds faster, lay the parts down faster… there’s so much less trepidation.

Now the painful part…

Besides the shredded finger from 7 hours of guitar playing, I quickly remembered how hard this shit is!  Recording for me is one of the most humbling experiences.  No matter how much you practice, or how tight you think you’ve got your stuff buttoned up, you’re NEVER as good as you think you are once you get in there (my scratch vocals were beyond embarrassing yesterday.)

So, despite a little rustiness, it was a good first day over all. We started recording guitar parts on a big fun happy song called “Spinning On” and a bluesy song that I haven’t given a name to yet.  Mostly sketching, but a fruitful day nonetheless.

Was GREAT to open up my new Tele… really glad I picked it up.  Shirk quickly found a slew of great guitar sounds that worked perfectly on these tracks.

This is gonna be fun…

-PJ