Year Two Day 99 – June 15th 2010
Sixth Day in The Studio
It's really funny. As independent and “the guy who calls the shots” as I claim to be (and am more often than not) I felt a little strange that I'd be spending the majority of the final day of tracking for the new album without Joe there. Every producer is different and plays a different role when making an album and different artists require different things. Whereas Angie took a more passive approach producing Superego lending a more big picture vision and allowing me to figure out how best to execute it, Joe micromanages just about everything. He has a specific idea about how things should sound from the bass knob on the guitar to the proper shaker used on a song to the lead vocal. I decided that I was just going to trust him and it was a little like mommy dropping you off for preschool. He'd been holding my hand through the process.
But with Brian from Range Standing in I was sure things would be just fine and quickly settled in to get the work done that we needed to get done. The plan; go through each song one by one and do the leads and the backgrounds. For the first time since I've been making records I'm singing all of the background vocals as well as the leads. I've always been fascinated by using voices other than my own when doing recordings. I figure that's what you'd hear at a concert so it's best to hear on a record. Often when I'd bring this up Joe would go “Oh, I see this more as a...You kinda record” I imagined people like Michael Jackson or Sting stacking their voices on top of each other making that big sweet vocal sound.
I got a chance to take a lil breather as Today was also collab day. There are three musicians on this new record other than Jake and Rob and Two were coming in today.
If there's one thing I've carried over from my days in film school it's casting. When I was making movies in high school and college (and even beyond) I always tended to cast a person who's look and personality was closest to the role as opposed to casting a super talented actor who would have had to work harder to create the reality and exist in the world of the movie. There are some skilled people out there but if they're not right for the role it doesn't work. Same with music. You have to look at the tune itself and put the right person in a kind of position that allows them to shine. Otherwise your record's gonna sound like crap.
Bob Beach was in at 1:10 to lay down some harmonica on one of the record's blusier numbers, At 1:25 he had finished. The man is a phenomenal musician and an even better human being. I think we spent more time chatting about music and life then he did actually laying down his track. I know a few other guys that play harmonica, but they never get called because Bob always seems to know exactly what to do. I wanted the song to capture the chaos that comes with certain kinds of...ahem romantic issues how certain events can really turn into a tornado that turns your life upside down, I had gotten the pain part down but Bob was really the one that brought the ruckus. I'm really proud of the track Bob bounces and I get back to work. Getting these harmonies right is a lot tougher than I thought. Maybe I'll be nicer to singers when they come in to do backgrounds...lol
Joe rolled in around 4. He listened to the songs I had worked on with Brian. He surprisingly hears Bob's Harmonica
Joe: What?!
Me: What?
Joe: Did Bob Beach Come In?
Me: Yeah
Joe: How long was he here for?
Me: 15 Minutes
Joe: That's Nuts
We did some patchwork on some of the vocals as Katherine Mundy walks into the room with her guy Kent. Probably the most normal couple I've ever met.
Kat has a quiet confidence, behind quite a few layers of modesty I always get a sense that she knows that she can handle anything that's thrown at her. I don't generally ask a whole lot of people anyway because the music's never that complex. Did I mention she's one of the most talented pure singers I've ever met, a pure clear tone with just enough blues to make it interesting. This is the second time she's done background vocals for me (she did quite a bit of work on Superego) probably because out of all of the female vocalists that I've encountered her voice is the closest to mine. She's done her homework and is prepared to lay down the vocals when she walks in the room which is so important (not knowing what you're doing in the studio wastes time and money) 30 minutes later she's finished. Her vocal makes the track sparkle, like Andy Summers always did with Sting.
Kat bounces and we go through everything just to make sure we're satisfied. This is the last day of tracking and Joe is going to mix the record this week. Six days in the studio and I'm done tracking . By Monday we master. Should be awesome.
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