Engineering a "Trainwreck" (with a little help from my friends)

When the recording of "It only hurts when we breathe" was nearly complete, I sent a few of the mixes to some friends and fellow musicians for feedback. "Trainwreck", a straightforward rock song, had existed for a while in different forms but this was the first time it was recorded, other than on a 1983-era boom box in a rehearsal space. I sent it off to my friend Jason, whose taste in music has always been ahead of the curve.

His comment was..."cool tune - can you make it more distorted?"

"In what way?" I asked.

"Like this..." and he sent me a link to a song: "Ibitsu" by Boris

So I listened to the song.

"Oh.... you mean make is sound like it was recorded live on a 1983-era boom box?"

"Exactly" Jason replied.

Here's the result.... ("boom box" on the choruses)

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10 songs you can't live without?

If your iPod only held 10 songs, what would you fill it with? 10 songs you wouldn't get sick of... Ever. When you listen in shuffle mode, what songs do you never skip? I thought I'd post a few in the order they entered my mind....

Deftones - "Change"

No Doubt - "Hella Good"

Nine Inch Nails - "Wish"

The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind"

The Jesus Lizard - "Zachariah"

Fiona Apple - "Fast As You Can"

Come - "Brand New Vein"

Veruca Salt - "25"

Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"

Sneaker Pimps - "6 Underground"

Alright... stopping at 10. What's your list?

how [the] Jesus [Lizard] saved my [musical] life

I'm not much for organized religion. Enough said about that.

For those not in the know, The Jesus Lizard is a band formed in the late 80's. There are heavier bands out there in a number of genres, but there may not be or have ever been a scarier band than The Jesus Lizard. Their songs aren't great. The singer is awful, most of the time. But when they lock into a groove, it will crush you, preform oral sex on you, kick you in the head, then get you in trouble with your boss. The riffs are absolutely undeniable. Seeing them live will set the bar for all other live shows for the rest of your life. What these guys can do with one bass, one guitar, one drumkit and one microphone is terrifying.

So as I may or may not have mentioned, I hit musical overload 7 or 8 years ago and quit cold turkey. It just wasn't fun anymore. Since the pay is terrible, the hours are terrible, the chance of success is very low, you need to love music to keep doing it. I hit a point where it wasn't fun anymore. Without the fun, there was no reason continue. All the equipment went into the attic and I didn't touch a guitar or keyboard for years. And despite the lack of music, I was quite happy. 

For the first time in my life, I truly became a music consumer. I bought cd's of many of the bands I had been listening to on the radio for years. I replaced music long gone missing (where'd my vinyl and cassettes wander off to?): the Pixies, Faith No More, Fleetwood Mac.... all kinds of stuff. And of course, The Jesus Lizard.

The singer for The Jesus Lizard... David Yow. There are moments of brilliance, but they are surrounded by unintelligible, out of tune, poorly written, self-indulgent slobber. But when those brilliant moments do occur, they are spectacular (check out "Zachariah" - the most beautiful ugly song you'll ever hear).  He finds notes that don't exactly fit, and barely, barely hits them. For the most part, I think I'd have preferred another singer for this band, but since it's not my choice, I'll rather listen to Yow than skip the band because of him.

Yow aside, the guitar and especially the bass and drums are what have always drawn me to this band. Their use of the space between the notes makes the notes huge, powerful, sludgy... the dissonance of the guitar gives the bass room to crawl; their use of rhythm is unsurpassed. Think about what the band that could destroy Rage Against The Machine would sound like. Monsters live in the basslines, and the guitars have learned to scream. And every hit of the drums has reason.

Alright, so you get the picture. When a friend called and said they were coming to town in Nov (2009), I knew I needed to go. And as soon as the show started, I knew I needed to play and write again. 

Thanks Jesus Lizard, I owe you one.

live music - cream of the crop

So this past week was a good one for live music in Boston - I saw Hole (yes, the Hole with Courtney in it), Silversun Pickups, Nada Surf, Foxy Shazam, Metric, Against Me, Matt & Kim, Gogol Bordello and Mean Creek. The thing that struck me was how some of the performers, not necessarily the bands, could leave such a lasting impression. 

I'll give a Steven Colbert-style "tip of the hat" to the keyboard player from Foxy Shazam - a crazy-eyed, crazy-bearded madman who was all over the place - standing on his keyboard, jumping up and down on it - all in all a fantastic showman. Shame that the singer might be the worst frontman I've ever seen (you can quote me on that). 

Another "tip" to the drummer in Silversun Pickups. I could watch this guy all day. He set a crash cymbal up at a height a good 3 feet above the rest of the kit, and seeing him hit it was like watching a backwards softball pitcher holding a drumstick. Tons of energy - this guy does more with a snare drum than many can do with the whole kit.

Gogol Bordello... played an "acoustic" set which meant guitar, accordion, violin, percussion and vocals. I can't say I like the music, but it was a great performance. To see a gypsy / polka / whatever band ignite a crowd of altrockers.... nice job. Most of the credit has to go to the singer / guitarist - straight out of a 70's porno - this dude hit the ground running and never looked back. I doubt I'll ever but a record of theirs, but I might catch another show.

Courtney Love.... I saw Hole years ago when she was on drugs. It was awesome. This time, she seemed, clear and focused......and well... by comparison... boring. Courtney: please pretend you're on drugs even if you aren't. I miss the crazy. Oh, and P.S.: your band is boring, and I think they're scared of you.

Well, back to the studio to work on some new tracks....

music promotion in an age of digital apathy, part 1

It's interesting seeing the difference in the way music moves on the web since 2000. It used to be that an artist could put up a website, get listed on a few music sites (like mp3.com and cdbaby) and fans of the artist's genre would simply find them and buy cds (yeah, the things that crackle in the microwave). The number of fans (or friends) was dramatically lower, but the intensity of those fans was much higher - as a music listener it was cool to find a new artist with a great record - it was activity on the part of the listener that created the initial contact, that sparked the new musical relationship.

Enter 2010, when the search of a genre like "rock" brings up hundreds of thousands of artists. As a fan, what do you do if you're looking for new music? (Seriously, music fans, what do you do? lol) Sites like last.fm and Pandora offer a good option by playing song that they see as similar to an artist you already like, but sometimes the suggestions are way off. You can wander around MySpace or facebook, but it's easy to get bored trying to sift through all the content looking for something you like. 

From the perspective of the artist, the challenge is to rise above the din. How do I get you to check out my music video instead of the 15 other videos your friends posted on facebook today (of babies or sports bloopers or Lady Gaga)? Access to everything sometimes turns into interest in nothing. What I want (as an artist) is a small piece of your time, a chance to spark interest with the eventual goal of selling a song or an album. Leaning how to get you to spend your online time with me instead of Bejewelled is the question....

But the upside is the potential, the scope of contact, the number of ways an artist can be in contact with fans and the public. The technology that makes us invisible can also make us famous. More on that coming soon....

Army of 1

No, not the military... There's some definite benefits to writing and recording as a solo artist; no one ever skips band practice, no ego battles... It's very productive to be able to switch and add instruments like pieces in a puzzle. The ability to record as I write has been an amazing experience and it's something that's available to anyone with a computer and a few instruments. The...... ok, a little aside here.... I'm watching current tv as I write this and they're showing a wrestling match between a guy dressed as a can of chicken noodle soup and a guy dressed as a plantain and they're kicking the piss out of each other....

Anyway..... One of the concepts behind Cancer Killing Gemini is to let the music dictate the instrumentation. In a traditional rock band, there is a finite and specific lineup which can cause the arrangement to stagnate, whereas a more producer-driven approach leaves the doors open to anything. The two sides of CKG (hard rock and downtempo) live side by side and can sometimes collide, without consequences. As I continue to write the next record, I see the two sides (the Cancer and the Gemini) becoming more separate and defined, for better or for worse. It will be interesting to see how it fits together in the end.

"Christcontrol" - the beginning

So a while ago, after the Battershell tour ended, I bought a pc, got some drum loops from a producer friend of mine, and set out to see what would happen if I tried to make some industrial music of my own. I had been listening to Ministry, Big Black (one of producer Steve Albini's early projects), Sisters of Mercy, Nine Inch Nails, Filter.... American guitar-driven music with drum machines and resonant synths. 

"Christcontrol" was originally called "bubble" before the lyrics manifested - and the song was easily 5 or 6 minutes long. Back then, the computer audio software was 16 bit and my converters were pretty cheap, so all the guitars and vocals sounded murky yet brittle, but it was better than cassette 4-tracks so onward and upward. The song lacked focus but I knew there was a kernel of something good. Almost no one heard it... it wasn't time yet for it to surface. 

I met Heidi and kittymonkey began, so "Christcontrol" went on a shelf for a while. But it was always in the back of my mind, something that deserved to see the light of day when the time was right....



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