Making a Record: Gimme Some Rivum Guitar

When you start making a record and you’re doing so without a drummer, the songwriting process can be different, especially if you are a rock band. After writing a huge batch of new material in the last six months, we knew we were going to have to arrange these on our own with little or no rehearsal.

We finished up the first batch of drums last week and decided our first instrument after that should be rhythm (rivum for you slangsters) guitar. We made a conscious decision on this record to stay away from too much acoustic guitar as it tends to be a little sonically messy. We wanted a tighter, more focused sound.

As an experiment, we decided that I should play one batch of electric rhythm guitars. Not only would it be a different approach in tone and in style from Chris, but it would be simple enough that George could easily reproduce it live on electric – something he’s been working on.

So, Chris and I sat down tonight to get started. We both felt his Fender Strat was the guitar to use since he’ll be using his Les Paul and his Gibson 355 for most of the record. The Strat is a nice contrast.

We also really wanted a very raw, barely distorted and kinda nasty sound for me. Think Neil Young or Tom Petty or Jeff Tweedy – something that would fit but also make sense for a front person. We got some really great, bright and biting sounds running the Strat through Chris’ Mesa Boogie tube distortion and his Fulltone Full Drive, alternating between the two. As usual, we ran through his 100 watt Boogie combo amp with a Sennheiser mic in front.

We managed to knock off five songs and they really sounded great. Adding rhythm guitars really helped to bring the songs into focus as ROCK songs, not just skeleton outlines of acoustic guitar, bass and drums.

It also re-emphasized just how great the drums are going to sound with the rest of the band. They are SO different from what we’ve done in the past, but the fit in SO well with what we are doing now and the whole thing just makes sense.

I’ve got a couple more to go in this batch before we’ll move on to other stuff and get ready for another batch of drums, but the results this time were really promising.

Recording Day 1: I’m a Drummer Myself

Day 1 of recording is in the books and it was quite a day. You can see the carnage that was Chris’ living room. As our engineer put it to Chris’ wife, “This isn’t a living room today. It’s a studio.”

Chris and I spent the better part of Wednesday making some drum baffles and planning on how to deaden the sound somewhat in this room with very high ceilings and concrete floors. Mission accomplished for the most part.

Leesa Harrington-Squyres, our original drummer and fresh off her stint with the well-known tribute band Lez Zeppelin, sat in on our initial eight songs. Steve Christian, who recently engineered the critically-acclaimed (aren’t they all?) Steve Earle album “Townes,” sat in the engineers chair. We managed to borrow drums and cymbals from our good friends Mando Perez (LL Cooper), Joe Araujo (Skillit) and Andy McWilliams (Scattered Pages) and got some killer tracks.

The sheer number of mics, cable and craziness was pure insanity. I’ll admit I don’t know much about the mic choices – that was for Chris and Steve – but they did an amazing job.

We worked from 10am to around midnight and had a good, exhausting time. Leesa was fantastic and we are really happy with what we have so far. Here’s the rundown of drum gear.

Drum Kit:

Pacific Drums 10″, 12″ and 14″ toms, 22″ kick

Snares:

14″ Ludwig Star Classic
14″ Pearl (similar to an old Ludwig)
14″ Custom Maple snare (made by Joe Araujo)

Cymbals:

13″ Zildjian A Quick Beat Hi Hats
21″ Zildjian A Sweet Ride
22″ Zildjian K Ride
18″ Zildjian A 18″ Crash/Ride (really old and awesome)
15″ Zildjian A Custom 15″ Crash
17″ Zildjian A Custom 17″ Crash
17″ Zildjian A Fast Crash

Big thanks to everyone that helped out mentioned above and to my friend, Mandy, for loaning us her awesome faux oriental rug!

Recording the demo…

Guero’s, Austin (SXSW) – March 21, 2009

A few months ago we were panicked because we had only three, maybe four new songs to record. Well, all that’s changed. About a month ago, we hopped on the the writing train and we haven’t yet pulled into station. We now have 19 songs to choose from, all of which, have very catchy hooks. I know every band says that, but we actually mean it.

It was Chris’ idea to build these songs from the ground up. In other words, record demos and build parts around them. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been in the studio laying down drum tracks. What I actually mean is that Jeff was programming drums and Chris and I were giving him our two cents worth. The process was long, but in the end it will be worth it because we will be able to give the tracks to a drummer (Steve Salazar is no longer in the band. Another story for another day) who will be able to play what we want, or at least close to what we want.

Last night, Jeff and I finished recording the acoustic guitar and vocal parts for ten songs and were happy with the results. Finishing this step will give me a chance to perfect the vocals before I record them and Chris a chance to work out guitar parts. It will also give us all the opportunity to “hear” other instruments and vocal parts that will work. I like this process alot. It gives you alot of room to be creative and find things in songs that you wouldn’t find any other way.

Normally, we book a CD release party before we are done with the disc to give ourselves a deadline. What has happened in the past is that we procrastinate and then have to rush at the end. We don’t want to do that this time around. The pace with which we having been working has been great and we made a pact not to rush things with this record. We feel this is the time to make “the” record, and we are going to take the time necessary to do it. The way things are looking, we should probably have something ready to release in the spring of 2010.

Stay tuned. It’s going to be a fun ride. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

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“Run Towards the Warmth of the Sun” video

>watch?v=-2RfksykeXo

This video was put together by Chris a couple of years ago. It features our first drummer, Leesa Harrington, who is currently the drummer for Lez Zeppelin, and former violinist, Amy Price. This is the first track off our first disc, Another Lame Semi-Tragedy, which is available on iTunes. Enjoy.

Loud Rock Band Seeks Drummer for Gigs, Rehearsals and Long Walks on the Beach in the Moonlight

Ok, maybe not that last one so much, but still.

We have recently parted ways with our drummer of nearly 3 years, Steve Salazar. Steve is a phenomenal musician and an even better person. We had a great time working with him and wish him nothing but the best.

That means we are on an all out search for a new drummer. So, if you fling the sticks -- no that is not a euphemism for sex -- here are some things we’re looking for.

• Live performance experience -- circus performing doesn’t count
• Solid rock music skills -- i.e. big foot on beat 1
• Reliable Transportation -- preferably a 1970’s Kustom van with shag carpet, but we’re not picky
• Quality gear -- that Wal-Mart kit you have in your garage won’t cut it
• Personal reliability -- make us wait and we start to cry because we’re sensitive like that and clearly you don’t love us any more 
• Good attitude -- well, as much as can be expected from a drummer (I keed!)
• Availability for minimum 1 rehearsal per week and average a couple gigs per month -- mostly biker bars and tupperware parties
• Ability to travel -- mostly short weekenders in state, but the occasional small tour (1-3 weeks) - willingness to sleep on the roof of a van a PLUS!

We don’t need someone utterly dedicated to what we do. This isn’t Single White Female. We just want a rock solid, reliable musician who is willing to rehearse enough for us to learn new material and have some fun.

We’re serious about what we do, but we want to have a good time too.

Also, if you can play this, that would be awesome (the fun starts at the 3:10 mark). Kthxbye!

New Pre-Production Videos

Monday night was another big night of pre-production, which has been great overall. As usual, we shot a bunch of goofy video, so here you go:

First up is what is destined to be our next big hit, “Soft Green Leaves.”

Jeff works on drum programming. It’s tedious.

…from the Greek. Chris and Jeff try to explain what quantizing is with not much success.

My favorite. George tries to explain to Chris the kind of drum beat he wants.

The Kovacik Family Singers

George and his kids got together to make some videos. The first is he and his son, Andrew, performing at the 2nd grade talent show. Check out the awesome drum skills.

The second is George singing Run Towards the Warmth of the Sun with his daughter, Julianne. Andrew plays his part by singing Chris’ guitar solo while playing the guitar from Rock Band.

To quote Tom Petty, “You guys are gonna put me out of a job.”

“Sticky Finger” Video

This is our official video for the song “Sticky Finger,” the first track off our second CD, Come and Take It. It chronicles our weeklong tour of the Northeast in October, 2008. The disc, along with our first one Another Lame Semi-Tragedy, are available on iTunes.

“The First Single”

As we begin to record a new CD, we are looking for the “breakout” hit. The song that will send us into the stratosphere of wine, women and financial bliss. While we’ve written 10 good ones, I think this tune from the 1970s is going to be the tune that will finally get us some “groupie love” like my boy “Fitty Cent” say. Imagine this colorful tune on your iPod and let us know what you think.

The Gods of “Something” Continue the Pre-Production

The act of practicing things that you are going to record soon is a pesky part of the recording process known as pre-production.  It’s sorta like a football team doing a walkthrough the day before the game – kinda like practice but without the pain and blown knee tendons.

In our case, pre-production involves going through each song we want to record and making decisions about style, groove, sound, tempo, etc.

Last night, we worked on one of the songs and put together a couple videos with my new handy dandy little iFlip video recorder. It’s sweeter than winter molasses covered in sugar, gumballs and crushed angel wings.

The first video is some random drum stuff with a very stylish Star Wars theme intro. George Lucas directed and by George Lucas, I mean my cat, Dexter.

The second video is about how we have decided to name ourselves The Gods of “Something” with the “something” part being a variable like the X in an algebra equation or the speed of a drill. In short, we are awesome to the square root of X.

The truth is, this “pre-production” is really just time to goof off and pretend to be recording engineers. When we do this, I call Chris “Steve Albini” and he refers to me as “Daniel Lanois” because I’m dark, dirty and mysterious. George is “Bruce Dickinson” and is constantly yelling for more cowbell, which is sweet and sad all at the same time since George doesn’t know that was just a character on SNL and the real Bruce Dickinson is the singer from Iron Maiden.

As far as we know, unlike the SNL character played by Christopher Walken, the real Dickinson doesn’t put his spandex pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. He has them held in place by groupies while he leaps from a table directly into them. And THAT is why we call George “Bruce Dickinson,” not because of the cowbell thing, but don’t tell him because he thinks it’s HILARIOUS.