Oh, the times they are a changin'

i know, i know, i haven't done any entries in over a month. i apologize to the 10 people who might read this blog but i have been busy doing other stuff but who hasn't, right? a pretty crappy excuse all the way around...

so, i've been working a LOT on the studio trying to get it up and running. my studio has been in a constant flux since i moved here in the new place 4 or so years ago. i have changed and remodelled rooms in the studio almost constantly since i moved and have added gear all along as well. it's been a bit of a struggle, really, because i've had to record as all this other stuff is goin' on. case in point was this past saturday when Amy Rigby, who now lives in cleveland, came down to record a song for a Clash tribute album. she brought along her very cool daughter, Hazel, along to play bass and Tin Huey/Waitresses all-around genius dude, Chris Butler to play drums. now, Chris is awesome and as we were getting his drums all set up and mic'ed he was blowing our minds with a story about how he got to spend 4 hours on a plane sitting next to, and talking to, Hal Blaine!!! well, needless to say i was awe-struck and wished we could've talked more but there was work to be done...so, anyway, getting back to my original point. the studio was half done, so of course, the headphones were only working in mono, so poor Chris had to drum with that and the guitar amp was acting up right from the start but we got that sorted out but i still wasn't thrilled with the sound we got, but these things happen. it was kind of a quick session, so i had to kinda do it all on the fly. but overall it sounds good. very rock n roll...the best thing was Chris brought along his Neumann U47 mic. the greatest mic in the history of man. it sounded good when we used it as distant mic on the guitar amp and really shined in figure-8 mode on backing vocals going through my Helios vintage mic-pre but when it came to doing Amy's lead vocals, we were getting too much of a "boxy" tone. i was able to improve it a bit with the eq but in the end we tried a vintage $21 and then settled on another 60's-era mic, a Shure 545 (which some of you may know was actually a favorite vocal mic of Brian Wilson's. in fact, i'm pretty sure Mark Linett mentioned in an interview that they used it on the new "Smile" album) and that worked out well. so, the $10, 000 mic lost out to the $100 mic but that happens...

also continuing work on the Orange Cake Mix album. it's going very well. Jim and i are pretty kindred spirits musically, so it's been really fun to comke up with stuff for his songs. his stuff is so varied as well, so it's been keeping me on my toes to come up with new sounds and not keep repeating the same sounds. though i do have a few "pet sounds," like Mellotron strings, ARP and Moog synths, etc.

i've also continued to work on songs of my own. April March was in the studio here last week as well, picking up some demos of hers we recorded a few months ago and also taking about 9 songs that i have written to see if she likes any of them for possible use for her next album. she brought along her oldest son, Lucian along and it turns out, April tells me, that Lucian is a HUGE Witch Hazel Sound fan! well, actually a fan of our last album. April says he plays it all the time and has fun picking out the different instrument sounds. he also calls me "Mr. Witch Hazel," which it too cute...

i am also going to be doing a remix for a french band called Signal Electrique. they are a really eclectic dance/electronica group whom i met through my old french label. i am really excited about the track i am remixing and i will give you more details about when it will be released, etc. soon...

i was told that Kevin Junior of the Chamber Strings in down in New Orleans now. he's really depressed as he's good friend Nikki Sudden just died. i have tried to contact Kevin through his myspace page but he has not responded as of yet. he has one of the demos we did here at the Endless Summer Institute of Sound last year on his myspace page if any of you would like to hear it. keep in mind it's a demo but it does have some nice sloppy rock n roll charm to it...

ok, that's all for now but i promise to write more soon. more politics next time maybe???

cheers,
kevin