Home

We did make it home around 3am Saturday morning. Lots of traffic delays on I75, but considering that we stopped about 8 times, 12.5 hours is decent time.

So, what next?

Tomorrow we have a photoshoot...we've got at least 2 shows scheduled so far in the coming weeks...in May we'll return to Ohio to finish tracking and mixing. Not exactly sure of all the dates yet...but it will most likely be mid-to-late May. We're hoping for a June release on the album...but a lot has to happen before then...artwork, album title, song sequence, etc...so don't hold us to that.

One more thing...we realized on Friday that something had been stolen out of our truck...we just missed is because we were so amazed that all the expensive stuff was still there. Unfortunately, what got taked was probably the most valuable thung in the truck on a personal level...my case of mixed CD's. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love making mix CD's for people...it's a bit of a compulsive art form for me...and I still do it the old fashioned way...no computers involved. Just piles of CD's and Vinyl...and a legal pad. In that case was around 100 mixed CD's that I've made for people over the last 6 or 7 years...mixes that reminded me of different times and different people...many who I don't get to see anymore. I also had 3 Dan Warren mixed CD's in there that I made from cassette masters he gave me in the 90's...plus some of his newer stuff...a bootleg live Normals show...and my iSLErO live anthology collection. Of all the things they could have taken from my truck...I would have given them the GPS, stereo, seats, battery, tires, whatever...but not my mixed CD case. They didn't touch my store-bought CD cases...and I had about 300 of those in the truck...I probably would have rather them taken them...because they're all replaceable. The mistake I made was that I used a computer laptop case as a CD holder...so they probably thought they were getting a laptop...and I'm certain that when they got down the road...and found out they just had a bunch of mixed CD's...they probably just chunked it in the trash. So, for nothing I lost 7 years worth of memories and a $200 window. Thanks.

-chall

Please pray for icarus aquanaut as Seth takes a shift at the wheel.

Chance's driving is infinitely excellent; Seth's driving, however, is not. Torch the Seth, Meatwad.
...
in other news, i'm already ready to return to Ohio.
...
we're back in Georgia, and we're listening to Stryper. how ya like them apples?
...
can we watch The Prestige again?
...
the band wouldn't stop at the wal-mart down from the Cracker Barrel so i could purchase the new Modest Mouse album.
...
the new Norah Jones album is infinitely excellent; Seth's driving, however, is not. Torch the Seth, Meatwad.
...
i have a monkey.

--john lake moss

On the road again...soon

We found a glass place that could squeeze us in this afternoon...so the window should be fixed right after lunch...and then we hit the road. Is is unlikely that we will make the whole drive today. We'll probably in up in Athens or Milledgeville tonite, then get up in the morning and drive the rest of the way...so we should be home by 2pm on Saturday. We had a blast last nite...good pizza, and a good film. I think we all managed to get a pretty good nite of sleep and we're ready to hit the road.
Here's the tally for this trip:

Drums tracks are finished
Bass Tracks are finished with maybe the exception of a few effects overdubs
Most of Seth's vocals are finished
Some of Hananel's vocals are finished
Most of Moss's guitar tracks are finished
I have finished guitar tracks for two songs
We have one broken window

We're coming home with some VERY rough mixes...but they're still pretty far from being finished...looks like the return trip will be in mid-May...but, we're still working out all the details for that.

We'll probably update some more at some point after we hit the road. Later.

-chall

Goodbye Ohio...we left you some Glass...

So we got done with a productive day of tracking to find this:








They didn't take anything...just broke a window...happened between lunch and 6pm...pretty gutsy breaking out a window in broad daylite. Arrrggghhh....sets us back leaving tomorrow cause we have to find a glass place that can squeeze us in. Anyway...this tracking session is officially over...we'll have one more tracking session on May, then mixing. We're all about to have some quality band hang out time...more thoughts later or maybe tomorrow.

-chall

Pics for Thursday

Quesadilla time:





We're very clean:





Vocal tracks today:




I'm not sure who took this...I found it on the camera:




-chall

Day 5

Quick update...we did vocals for 4 tunes this morning. We seem to be in a fairly steady rhythm at this point. Tomorrow we roll out...we haven't decided if we're gonna drive the whole thing in one day or drive to Athens and get up Saturday and go home...that's probably what will happen...but we'll see. Lunch is almost over...back to work in a few minutes...pics later.

-chall

Today's interesting tidbits

Well, we went to Sudsy Malone's. It's a laundromat/bar all-in-one venue. Sweet.

Okay, nothing more needs to be said...we decided to record and happened to come across Ric playing John's guitar. Enjoy this video.

Another clip

This has more stuff in it. Hope you enjoy.

Short Clip Uploaded

Well, I think I figured out how to work this thing. Ian sent gifts from afar. This is just a short clip from yesterday. I'll put up some longer, edited clips later on today (some amusing and some amazing, depending on what they are).

Pictures from today:

There's a lot of this going on today:














And some of this:





Because Moss is in the tracking room doing this:




I guess I'm up next. Did I mention it's raining today?




-chall

Guitars are loud

So, John's doing all of his clean-tone guitar stuff this morning. We've got tube amps cranked to 11, and we're rattling the walls real good. After a full day of rock...we are going to Mike's Music...we hear it's one of the best vintage guitar shops in the country. Also nearby is Sudsy Malone's...the Rock-and Roll Laundromat...we'll probably check that out also...seeing as Hannelore has some laundry to do. After all that fun, we'll probably cook some Quesadillas and Fajitas tonite and watch another film. That's all we got now.

-chall

MUTEMATH

That's all I have to say.

And Chance is a happy man when he has Doritos and Sweet tea.


Sleep soon...and guitars all day tomorrow.

-chall

Well, it's time to buy some earplugs

I finally finished all of my bass tracking. I'm happy with everything I've played so far. This means that Chance and Hananel and I (I think) have the next day or so off. Problem is, the pictures you saw of us chilling and sleeping were misleading. It's exceptionally hard to sleep with lots of sound happening just one room over. I'm sure seeing the eventual scene of Chance and I wearing our studio headphones with pillows clustered over our heads would be worth a good laugh. (Note: it didn't work so well. I'm still tired. And it's hot.)

An excerpt from recording earlier today (before bass was finished on the last song, Dreaming):

Chance: "Did you hear that spot? Missed a high-hat there."
Me: "Yeah. Heard it."
We listen to the track again, front to back, in the control room. None of us hear it. We move along, and I start recording my bass tracking. All of a sudden, in the middle of a bass riff...

...I hear it.

Me: "There it is, that part."
Ric (after a pause): "Do what, now?"
Me: "The missing high hat. Was...like, four or five seconds before you stopped the track."

We all listen again. No one hears it but me this time, and I can pick it out plainly over the headphones.

Ric: "I don't hear it."
Me: "It's there, though. Right...there."
Chris: "I don't hear it either."
John: "You're making it up."
Hananel: "I'm going to kill you, Seth."
Chance: "Uhh...I can't really hear it either."

I finish my bass tracking. We go back into the studio control room to review it.

Ric: "Just for my curiousity, tell me exactly where it is so I can mark it."

We listen. I point it out, he marks it.

John: "Whoa. He's right, there's something there!"
Ric: "That's...that's not even a missed hit. It was just a softer hit. You need to relax, man."
Me: "Oh. Well...I mean, I'm just saying. It was there...I mean, it's not a big deal, just wanted to make sure you guys were aware. If you're cool with it I am too."
Chris: "How do you feel about the bass track, though?"
Me: "It was good...well, except for this one part. Actually, that part where you marked it--I need to redo that part, I want it to be symmetrical with another part of the song..."
Hananel: "I'm gonna kill you, Seth."
Me: "It'll take like two seconds, promise..."

Yep. That's it...hope it made someone else smile.

Relax time

So a good bit of the day is spent like this:





Chance and Seth nap while Moss and I track guitars:





Moss offering up insightful commentary:





This is Tom the Intern. We like Tom. He has a sweet Mac and is skipping his real job to come see Mutemath with us tonite.






Today we finished bass and drums...got guitars done for Ghost...and about half the guitars done for Angel. Moving right along. Tomorrow will be 8 hours of guitars. Scary.

Currently, Hananel is playing some No Doubt song on her guitar, Moss has disappeared, Seth is on his computer, and Chance is on the phone. We're all trying to relax for a bit before we head downtown for the show. We're all eating very well thanks to some generous donations from friends...and most of us actually seem to be sleeping OK. It's kinda odd working on a schedule...we're not really used to it...but I think it's good. Left on our own, we'd just be sitting around making space noises and playing Creedence Clearwater Revival covers.

I think we're gonna go change some guitar strings now. Later.

-chall

Day 3?

I think it's Tuesday?

It's almost lunch...and we're working on the last bass part. All drums are done....After lunch we crank up guitar tracks...then tonite we go see Mutemath.

A few notes:

Seth has Golden ears...and I'm not just referring to his lineage.

Everyone should try living in an old church at some point.

I need to be able to hear the world through Neve Preamps.

I really like stained glass.

In Ohio...even if you have a current tag and copy of your registration...the cops still think your tag is expired. Wouldn't be rock and roll without a run-in with the law.

I like being able to hear the bass and drums by themselves...never gotten to analyze them before because everyone's usually playing. I really like what's happening here.

I think all the band members are going to write their individual critique/analysis of "The Prestige".

More after lunch.

-chall

public enemy #1. 5-0 said, "freeze!" and i got numb.

breaking the law, breaking the law.

yeah. so in ohio, they can just run your tag for no reason at all. we looked threatening, i guess. our tag was registered as expired. we pointed out that we had just renewed our tags, that our registration was current, that the tags had current stickers on them. huh? the officer walked back to her car; fifteen minutes later, another cop showed up. he tried to explain that they had a good reason for hassling us; he was unconvincing. the two officers walk back to the car to figure it out. fifteen minutes later, they return--no reasonable answers. cincinnati city police. 'nuff said.
...
on a good note:
altercations with the law--we're one step closer to rock stardom.

fight the power,
john

Pics from Monday

So...here's what it looks like up here:

Shower (biggest shower head ever):





I told you this this placed was haunted:





Tomorrow we start guitars:









Drums are almost finished:









Bass in your face:






I promised some images of the Control Room:





















This is for JRC (Neve preamps...Altec Comp and Gates Sta-Level)









Dinner:





We have two bedrooms...this is where Hananel and I sleep...she gets the couch...I've got the floor:





More photos tomorrow. We're gonna go watch "The Prestige" now. Alex, I'll let you know what I think. Thanks everyone for the comments and such. Talk to ya'll later.


-chall

Answering Questions

From Dr. Fred:

So how is it working with Mr. Hordinski?
Well, I've enjoyed it immensely thus far. He's a great guy, and easygoing. One part of my brain knows that he's one awesome guitarist, and a great producer--I've listened to his work quite a few times, and it's hard to think that I shot footage of him playing sections of "Daddy Untwisted" on John's guitar. At the same time, he's so laid back and quiet that I tend to forget.

What kind of feedback has he been giving you guys?
Well, thus far, we bounced around the idea of changing the bassline for one section of "Kite." I like the change. We kept it. That's about all we've gotten so far on feedback. Oh, and I changed my bass tone for about half of the songs. Too much high end...this bass is really freaking bright...

How is the overall feel for the project?
I'm impressed. It sounds professional. This place is conducive to making rock happen. Right now I'm tired, too, and so is Chance...Chance has been doing stuff in one take, usually--he's having to match the click, and that's his real job--make awesome drum sounds while keeping tempo. I overdub after that, putting the bass guitar in. It usually takes me about two, maybe three times to get what I consider is a perfect take. I have to give credit to the folks in this band for pushing me to excellence: I wasn't so worried about being spot-on before playing in Icarus. Originally, I thought I couldn't play "End of the World," and thought it was too difficult and complex to play it and sing it. Now I'm going back over bass parts because I didn't like the inflection of the bass tone in "Hero" near the end where I throw in a thirty-second note trill thing.

Post a photo of the control room & the man.
As odd as it sounds, we don't have any photos of the control room at the moment. Or of Ric. Those pictures are on the other cameras. I'll see if we can find some way of getting those on here. If not, we'll take some tomorrow.

I will be SO jealous if you get to see Mutemath.
Yeah. If? We're there, definitely...we'll take pictures of that, too. I'll get a shirt.

Word up. I think we're going to watch some Family Guy and eat some dinner, try and get to bed a little earlier.

Day Two

So...tally so far...we've got keeper bass and drums on 8 tunes:

Ghost in the Red Room
Simulacra
Kite
Sweeter Than Honey
Hero
Angel
Of Explaining
End of The World


Tomorrow morning we'll get Dreaming with the Upsides Down and Dear Justine...and if everything goes well we've got a new one that we've been working on up here...we might finish it for this record also.

Tonite we're gonna go for a drive...we hear a rumor that Cincinnati has the best Ice Cream in the world...Hananel would quit the band if we didn't take her there...so we're doing that...then probably cooking dinner and practicing. Will probably post some pics later.

-chall

Monkey Love (for alex)

Just finished bass/drum tracks to "Kite," "End of Seth's dress," and "Monkey Love."
Chance is cooking us some hamburgers, and then we're going to eat some freaking food...and then hopefully get bass and drums done for the last four (?) songs we have, which should be:

dear justine
cinnamon locken rockem sockem robots
did you ever know that you're my hero
some new song with lots of rock
upping with the dreamsides down

Then hopefully we can get the guitars done. John and Chris mentioned that the new song with lots of rock needed an introduction, so I wrote one on the bass. We'll see how it comes out on the record.

It must be said...Ric can punch parts in faster than anyone else I've recorded with. Half the time, I'm trying to figure out where he punched me in at and I miss the punch spot, so we do it again.

We'll have some more pictures posted later.

Another Day

So...we start another day...Today we're gonna try and get drums and bass done on Kite, Honey, End of The World, Justine, Upsides Down, and Hero. It's 10:30am and Kite is almost done...so it may actually happen. Tomorrow nite we're all going to see Mutemath...yes...Mutemath...you hear that?

Call our Rockline and leave us voicemails...if it's anything good you might make it on the album.

229-233-4724


-chall

This is how we roll

This is how we eat. I cooked it all myself. Note: it wasn't that hard.

This is what Chris does a lot of the time.

This is what happens when we watch Sealab for too long.

Crew

OK...so we're putting together our road crew...if you wanna be in on this...let us know.

Here's what we've got so far:

Alan Parsons - Bus Driver and Road Manager
John Cook - Bass Tech and Janitor
Matt Wilkerson - Guitar Tech and Theologian
Clint Wilkerson - Drum Tech and Webmaster
Anna Carol Sims - Road Comedian
Ian Fritzsche - Monitor Engineer and Archivist
John Clark - Front of House Engineer
Lucas Shearer - Security and Pyro
Patrick Morales - Opening Act
Sarah Clark and Joy Parsons - Merch
Kaitlin Grady-Ann Parramore - Wardrobe and Sarcasm
Sarah Wells - Road Pianist and Thinker
Alex Suarez - Vocal Coach, Sleep Coordinator, Montra Decider, and Peanut Gallery
Valerie Fritzsche - Road Chef
Fred Fritzsche - Road Physician
Jason Jones - Lighting Director
Joe Gordon - Band Counsel
Ken Jordan - Animal Wrangler

Talk to us

So, if you wanna talk to us...we'll be here sporadically:

http://www.whatstudios.net/chat/


Stop by and say howdy.

Chance is making Cold tea, Hananel is making hot tea, Seth is making Pasta, Moss is making movies, and I'm making internet. It's an interesting experiment trying to take 5 band members grocery stopping...you learn about how different everybody really is. Somehow, it's very hot in Ohio. We were expecting cold for some reason. Everything is moving along OK so far...somehow we got bass and drums to 3 tracks done today. Of course, we started with the easy stuff...

Seth just threw pasta at the wall...so I need to go see about that. Later.


-chall

It's hot up here.

But it's a dry heat, I guess. Something like 80 degrees over lunch. We just got back from shopping for groceries and stuff like that.

I've got to thank a couple of people for things that have kept me going and made me happy.

Parsons: you got me Sunkist. That stuff's still keeping me happy. Good stuff.
Lucas: We've watched some Sealab so far. About to start on some Aqua Teen.

Anyway, to backtrack to earlier today. As you know, we've gotten tracks for the rhythm section for three songs so far. We expect to be done with all of that tomorrow. The hardest bass track so far has definitely been "Of Explaining." I'll briefly explain why...

It's not that it's a difficult part to play (which it is, it basically is one of the neatest basslines I've worked with--props to Reggie "It's cool, it's cool, I'm black" Blackman for writing and recording the bass for it on the scratch track).
It's not that it's a new song (which it is, of course--we learned it this week).

It's that some crazy camera people came into my room while I was actually recording the song and messed it all up. I swear. John Moss infected Chance with whatever camera bug he has. Any other song would be okay except for the two newest songs we have.

Well, that's all I've got. The water on the stove is boiling so I've got to finish cooking food for this crew. Word up.

-seth

And..

Some pics:
















-chall

shock and aquanaut.

Today we did setup, and we tracked drums and bass (with some scratch guitar). My amp was experiencing technical difficulties, so Mr Hordinski let me use his Matchless. While he was setting up the amp, he played some of his old OTR riffs on my guitar. Hearing "Daddy Untwisted" being played on my guitar...friggin' awesome. ...
So far, we have basics for "Space Ghost in the Red Room," "Angel Song," and "Of Explaining." Translation: we're a bit ahead of schedule. Tomorrow we start early; hopefully we can finish the basics by tomorrow's end. So far, so good. ...
More to follow...
--john lake moss

Time to sleep...but first...

PICS:

Welcome to Ohio:





The Monastery:





Our Guitars:





The main tracking room:





More gear:





Old Sony Mic:





This place is haunted:






Rest:





Arrangements and pre-production starts in the morning. The internet here is fast...so expect lots of updates.

-chall

Welcome to Ohio...where the river bends...

So, we're here...we had good sandwiches and went shopping at Kroger. Pics later tonite.

-chall

One more hour...

Pics from the road:

icarus bloguanaut

testing. testing 1,2,3...
Yeah, that cat on the wall... gravity defying. Simply gravity defying. You have to appreciate a cat that can stand on a wall.
We're still on the road, driving on the yellow-brick interstate to Cincinnati, on the way to record our first album, all the while listening to the finest hair-metal that the 80's and early 90's had to offer. The current selection is Slaughter's STICK IT TO YA. Good times.
Now, back to that cat on the wall... We bonded. It's good to make new friends.
--john lake moss

We need about 100 more horsepower

Welcome to the truck. Here's your 2:30pm update:
We're close to Chattanooga...pretty slow moving pulling this heavy trailer and all. We've got Guava pastries, brownies pumpkin bread, Emily (our GPS) keeps barking orders at us, and Moss is wearing his game-day hat. This is getting serious.
-chall

So I said, "What about breakfast at...wait, are you guys even awake yet?"

So this is our update. It's shorter than I expected because of a few things like the internet crapping out in the middle of the lengthy update I just finished writing...





Anyway.





We got to Athens at about 2:00 AM without any major complications.


After paying homage to the cat superglued to the wall,

we all went to our respective couches, futons, and floors to catch some sleep. (Apologies for the picture quality above, I can't dig the real camera out of the stuff we have shoved in the back of the Burban.)

So we went to IHOP. Some codgy old lady made us move our rig out of the parking lot beside IHOP because it was some sort of business/restaurant/bar/wing place parking lot. John Moss made her feel bad with biting sarcasm. (Well, in all honesty, she probably didn't notice it.)

We're on the way to Cincinatti now. We'll have some of the better pictures from last night and today's trip uploaded later, I'm sure. I'm taking a nap, though.