Loud Guitars Been Berry Berry Good To Me. Issue #72

COLLIDER and I are pressing full and hard to complete our album in these past few months and on Sunday took a big chunk out of the work to-do list with a 13 hour day in Shoreline at engineer Don Gunn's studio.




With the state of today's technology and the progressive quality of DIY recording, most of the the overdubs and arrangements have been done at Matt and my respective studios after most of the drums early in the summer. Still, we found that though convenient to record at home, it really isn't the place to get BIG guitar sounds. This is the reason we decided to do it right and block out some time at a different studio.


Our drummer Ian had been in Europe for the past 2 weeks (let me tell you a story about eating a 1 lb. peice of veal in Prague), so putting practice on the back burner for that time Matt and I had been focusing on finalizing writing and recording final bass tracks to be plucked by our yet-to-be-hired new bassist (is it YOU?). Let me to you, I truly have been having a blast playing bass on the album and it's been almost freeing in a way to get creative on an instrument that though I do play, rarely have the opportunity to get this creative/collaborative on. Groove has been the rule of thumb during the recording sessions and I think we were successful in adding another dimension with the new low end ideas.

I also laid down some new vocal tracks with a few more to go next week before all is said and done. I've always had a hard time finding a vocal mic that I felt really suited me and got all the nuances that I felt were there but just wasn't hearing. Engineer Don introduce me to new one made by LAWSON that is my new love and it's gonna be hard singing into anything else for the foreseeable future! Ian also brought by a new toy for us to sample in the form of the Matchless "Badcat" amplifier; a bruiser that literally feels as heavy as it sounds. We wanted big guitars, and this was BIG. Smiles all around as I cranked out the chorus bar-chords of "Backdrive", and it was hard for me to stop playing. Thanks to JT for trusting us with his baby and I think that's worth many guest list admissions to shows in the future. Does that work as a barter system in general? Hmmmm...does anyone have a brand new tour bus they want to trade for drink tickets? Hit me up...



Lots of good final tracks laid down this week for KIRBY KRACKLE as well! As both of these projects come to completion I'm getting a clearer idea of how they are different and how fun it's gonna be when they are done. The KK album is shaping up to be 9 or 10 songs and COLLIDER is looking to be about 7 in length. I really really really want to put up some samples soon so let's hope, huh?



I've got a birthday coming up this Saturday which marks the starting line for my last year of enjoying being a 20-something. As my Mom would say...one year older; one year stinkier. Hope to hit up a pumpkin patch, grab some Eggs Benedict and hang with people I love; all of which are all good for the soul. Well, that and HALO.


Mind on my Money and my Money on my Mind,

KS