Flying to Los Angeles first thing tomorrow morning for the next Sevendys session and some hanging with Avi and the gang. I’m really psyched. We have five songs that I believe are very strong, and it’s an even better band than last time: Sheridan, Avi, Chuck and I will be joined by Jerry Marotta on percussion!

We’re gonna track live to tape as an ensemble, just like we did in Houston. This time, we’ll be set up Wrecking Crew-style in EastWest’s Studio Three, birthplace of Pet Sounds and many Mamas & Papas hits. I’ve picked some material, mostly new stuff (just finished the last of the lyrics on Valentine’s Day), which I think is appropriate for the room, the band and the city, and arranged it with the history of the space in mind. I’m not trying to be Brian Wilson or John Phillips – I obviously could never – but of the five songs we’ll be recording, two apiece pay tribute to their respective groups. I’ve worked really hard on the vocal arrangements, and I hope they feel right.

The fifth song is a complete stylistic departure, though still very LA: a hair-metal tune called “Ride The Party Bus”. Yes, I am going to ask Chuck Rainey to pedal on roots for four minutes. Let me apologize to the bass gods right now…

I’ll try to post video, and maybe even some audio, as the session unfolds, and I expect to be tweeting about it as well. We have two days in the studio to make the magic… then we’re going to Disneyland! Oh, and we have a Sevendys gig on Wednesday night in Long Beach. See you there, West Coast friends?

This Green Plaid shit is awesome fun. I’ve found more than an album’s worth of very decent Skyscape material I didn’t even know existed; a 4-track demo of Physics in its entirety; two Pavlov’s Dogs songs; several live performances multitracked on the Portastudio; all the raw components of Jed Has Too Much Free Time. A lot of it is so poorly performed and recorded as to be unusable, but the ideas are there. Combined with takes from other recorded versions of the songs, original MIDI sequences and brand-new elements, these tracks could be the foundation of something really special.

I’ll be working with Jerry Marotta on adding drums to a few of these songs next week. The basic idea: bring the 4-track Portastudio to a real studio and record the kit to cassette through three good microphones and proper outboard gear. We’ll probably Pro-Tools it simultaneously, but I think the low-tech versions will sound fantastic and more in the spirit.

Songs I’m considering for next week’s session, some by request:
- Skyscape’s “My Family”
- “Deep Deep Down”
- “The Yellow Wallpaper”
- “The Boy Who Tripped On His Mother’s Head”
- Skyscape’s cover of “I’m Too Sexy”
- “Smoke More Crack”
- “Autopsy”

If you were around in my early-90s demo days (or if you were a deep-cut user of the Collider Jukebox) and there’s something from that era you’d like me to revisit, just let me know. You can comment here or reply to the Green Plaid post on the wall of my Facebook music page.

——-

My friend Joe Aversano e-mailed me this excellent question: How do you know when a mix is done?

First of all, if I’m the one mixing, it’s never done. I’m not a mix engineer. A proper mix involves mathematics I don’t understand, gear I’m not qualified to use, and better hearing than I possess. Proper EQ of each element, balance, and application of effects are the baselines for which I trust an engineer. That said, a lot of it is subjective, and as the project’s, uh, “creative director”, I’m supposed to know what sort of thing I want to end up with.

Part of my job is prepping the track for what I consider to be a proper mix. Eliminating stray noises, making sure all the edits are clean – or at least intentional, maybe indicating where I’d like things panned (though that sort of thing should be flexible). Marking sections if necessary. Making notes. I also include only elements I want in the mix… and I should be confident in making those calls. The arrangement I give to the engineer – what sort of instrumentation and how it’s recorded – will go a long way towards dictating the timbre of the finished track.

Then, when I listen back to a mix in progress, I try to go in with more of an ear for what’s missing than what’s right, and I compile a list of things I still want to hear. Could be anything from “more bass” to “less of the vocal double” to “that one snare hit should have a delay, with an automated EQ sweep on it, that moves from center to right as it decays”. Once everything on my list is checked off, the mix is finished as far as I’m concerned.

At this point, I feel like I should give some well-deserved props to Eric Jarvis, who mixed the Sevendys material. He’s been getting the most out of my tracks for a while now, and when you add the mastering might of Dave McNair (under whom The Jarv once apprenticed), the result is some unstoppable shit!

——-

With all this Mets-Madoff crap going on, I have a thought I’d like to share regarding New York City sports teams. I don’t expect they should win it all every season, but New York franchises ought to be built and run well enough that year in and year out, the New York team is the team everybody else has to get past if they want to be the champ.

There was a period of time when every sports movie climaxed with the protagonists taking on the Yankees. To get where they wanted to be, they’d have to beat the scary New York team. With the resources available in NYC, I think that’s about right, and anything less should not be acceptable.

Of course, I feel the same way about New York City architecture and infrastructure, but the city is a reactionary disgrace on both counts…