The Official Band Blog

Dusting off the old blog.

2011-06-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

I just reread everything below. Wow. It's hard to believe all that life happened in the last few years. It's been a pretty tough road. I hope good things are ahead.

Icarus Aquanaut: News Update

2010-04-05T12:50:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone. Sorry for the lack of update-age. We have some of that for you now, and we hope to keep you updated on a weekly basis at the very least.

Icarus Aquanaut: 5-piece to 4-piece

This isn't something we report lightly. We've had some lineup changes over the past (almost) 4 years of our existence. Moss was out of our live lineup for more than a year as he attended school in Alabama, finishing out his degree. Shortly thereafter, we found a drummer to fill in temporarily as Chance's life was also turning busy. For a short while there, the live lineup of Icarus Aquanaut was pared down to Seth and Chris (Halloween 2008 FTW). We've had a new drummer, Dave Blackburn, for over a year now. We have made some tremendous progress over the past couple of years on new songwriting, keeping to the generally quirky mixture of styles that we have always had.

It is with this in mind that we let it be known that the talented and beautiful Hananel Mavity will be moving on from Icarus Aquanaut to pursue other things. She has been a great asset to the band, and she will be missed. We will likely be working with her in the future and we wish her well in everything she does!

Recording: Japanese Theocracy

We have a total of 12 songs for this album, as well as a general art concept for it. We expect to do more drum recording this month and begin work on tracking over the next two months. We do not have a release date slated yet--we want this thing to be done and done right. We'll be posting more regularly on the blog as we get more things set in stone for the album.

Shows

For now, we do not have any new shows scheduled. We will likely plan out our summer show schedule at the end of May. We'll be taking a look at a few venues in Tallahassee, the Submarine in Thomasville, and some other shows in the southeast area. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know!

Habitual.

2010-03-07T15:48:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to get into the habit of writing on this blog. I'm not sure we're even really using it anymore. But i'm using it.
The last few years have been really tough. Ridiculously tough since 2000. There have been a few high points, however; most of them involve music. That said, I can't wait to get the recording of our new album rolling. I feel like this is probably my last shot at making music in any capacity that can legitimately be considered beyond the "hobby" threshold. But these are good songs, so i hope it's a pretty good last shot. Viva la Aquanaut.
--jlm

Top 5 favorite songs. by jlm

2010-03-05T11:34:00.009-05:00

I've been thinking alot lately about the ingredients that go into what i bring to the icarus table. Here are my top five favorite songs.
*The Zero 7 song has my favorite lyric from a song: (last verse, 1:37) "Look what a terrible mess that we've made--the sun beats us down as we search for the shade."
*Lists of favorite songs are, of course, subject to small, gradual changes.
*Click to listen to these songs, except "Primrose," which has no online presence... such a shame. (Dan's song is on the whatstudios server. The rest came from youtube.)

1) "Primrose" by Black Eyed Sceva

2) "Vertical Asymptotes" by Dan Warren

3) "Would?" by Alice in Chains

4) "Summertime" by The Sundays

5) "Waiting to Die" by Zero 7

How about the other Aquanauts? Top 5 favorite songs?...

Do I get class credit for this?

2010-03-03T17:07:00.002-05:00

This is where I was this past weekend:

It made me remember how much I love making music.
--jlm

September Update

2009-09-11T09:17:00.003-04:00

Show Tomorrow at the Warehouse

We will be playing at the Warehouse tomorrow night (Saturday night) with Bit Collector and Fantome. If you are in the area, you will not want to miss this show! We will have good sound as well as a great show planned out for all involved, all for only $5! Grab a beer (or other frosty beverage) from the room next door and sit down (or stand up, or dance) while your ears are lovingly caressed by the sweet sounds emanating from the speakers. If you come early (8ish) you can hang out with the bands in advance.

Limited contest

The first two people that can sound off lyrics from any Icarus Aquanaut original song will receive a free CD at the end of the show. (Lyrics must be more than indefinite articles or the title to a song.)

Debut of new material

We will be debuting two new songs at this show--one as our opener. If you like what you hear, tell us afterwards!

CD Sales: Pay What You Can

We've had our album out for a couple of years now. We'd like you to own it. Pay us what you think it's worth (but do pay something, at least). Feel free to burn a song for a friend, but tell them who we are.

How Icarus Aquanaut Writes A Song

I don't think we've officially documented our songwriting processes for the general public. We've had three years to grow as songwriters and arrangers of material, and almost nine or ten months to grow together in this configuration of the band. A curious person might begin to ask questions of his or herself about how this works for writing new material. "Self," you might inquire, "How do you think Icarus Aquanaut manages to do this, what with five people in the band with different musical tastes?" If you get an answer other than silence or "maybe you should be asking the band that question," perhaps you should skip the show to re-enact one of your own within the confines of your mind (and a strait jacket).

Lyrics and concept: One of the band's lyrical writers (usually John Moss or Hananel Mavity) brings out one of their inventions for perusal. In almost every case, these songs are constructed with at least the full lyrical content of the song, as well as the general melodic bent of the piece.

Drop in the parts: A lot of work goes into the construction of a vehicle--the same is true for the construction of a collaborative work in music. In most cases, the original songwriter gives leave for each band member to come up with their own part to the song. For my part, I usually add a bassline, tweak it, and adjust it again before I come away with my part's finished product. As for the singing, we've come up with unspoken and unwritten (and pretty much unofficial) rules: If it sounds good, add it. If it doesn't, don't sing it. Make sure the words are clear. Make sure the parts are defined. Project as much as necessary.

Arrange the piece: This part takes the most time, as it affects parts and the concept of the song. Oftentimes, the songwriter brings in their work, and leaves with a piece that would not be possible without the rest of the band's input. A recent example would be "Drowning Tomorrow," one of our most complex pieces written yet. John Moss wrote the lyrics and the original concept. We all added our own parts. Then, through different band suggestions, we added a riff beneath the "solo" part of the song. (After all, you're not listening to an Icarus Aquanaut song unless there is some kind of instrumental solo in the song. This is basic science.) This part of the song is written in 6/8, with a riff that encompasses two measures of 6/8 followed by one of 3/8 (in improper notation I suppose it would be written as 15/8). Translation for the non-literate in music: It's hard to play, but fun to listen to. Chris and John later wrote an outro that transitions into an Irish/Celtic-influenced reprisal of the chorus.

There you have it: now you know the work that goes into an Icarus song.

Recording

I know, I know. We said we were going to start recording. Due to interference by this nagging little thing called "real life," we have all had difficulty meeting up in one place to begin recording. We'll make it up to you by blogging the recording process in more detail than we did last time.

Finally, an old picture of Icarus playing outdoors at Railroad Square before we got shut down by the cops:

-seth, IA

August Update

2009-08-08T10:42:00.001-04:00

Old Business: Pilates Show

We had a lot of fun at this show a couple of weeks ago. Lots of people showed up to the opening, and we played a few new covers.

New Business: Japanese Theocracy

Your Question for Doctorus Iquanaut: When are you recording Japanese Theocracy?

Japanese Theocracy is the working title for Icarus Aquanaut's next album. If you don't get the joke, see http://www.gunsnroses.us/ and come back later. We plan to release this album this year, or at least record it this year. August is the month we plan to start. We have a couple of songs that are still unlearned, so our starting time will be dependent on how many practices we have this month that the entire band will be present for. However, we have all of the equipment necessary to begin the process (or will within the next week).

Music on Facebook?

Yeah, we tried to put it up on facebook. It's still having difficulty verifying us. However, all of our music is now available for you to stream FREE from our website at www.icarusaquanaut.com. Take a listen and enjoy the sounds from our last album! Just click on the logo for our album on the right side of the page.

And now for something completely different:

Icarus Aquanaut at their first and only acoustic show in Savannah, GA. Debut show with Penelope the classical bass.

Icarus Aquanaut Stretch time, plus Doctorus Iquanaut's Super Math/Physics Answers

2009-07-23T10:09:00.000-04:00

Icarus Aquanaut Acoustic show: 7:00 PM on Monday, July 27 (beside Osaka's in Tallahassee)

Icarus Aquanaut is playing an acoustic show at a grand opening for a new pilates center in Tallahassee. That's right--we're not just rocking your face off, we're going to help you control the muscles that control your face. Keep your face on just a little bit longer with Icarus! We'll be playing outdoors near Osaka's in Tallahassee (the center is right beside it) at 7:00 PM on Monday, July 27th. Feel free to drop by--it's a free show, and Penelope will be there!

(Penelope is the bass.)

Doctorus Iquanaut answers your questions

Last week, we asked for questions from our fans to pass on to Doctorus Iquanaut. Here's the first one, from someone who likely expected to stump Doctorus Iquanaut:

---------------
Question:
A bullet is fired through a board 5.0 cm thick in such a way that the bullet's line of motion is perpendicular to the face of the board. The initial speed of the bullet is 350 m/s and it emerges from the other side of the board with a speed of 250 m/s.

(a) Find the acceleration of the bullet as it passes through the board. in meters/ second squared

(b) Find the total time the bullet is in contact with the board.
in seconds

thanks for your help!

--------------

I was told there would be no math. However, we always have a backup plan.

--------------

Answer (courtesy of Chall and Dr. Dan Warren, Ph.D)

This is kind of a tough problem, unless I'm missing an easy way to do
it. I'm guessing by the first question that you can assume the
acceleration is constant. That's a big assumption, but you'll need to
make an assumption about the nature of the acceleration to answer this
question, so it may as well be that one. It's probably reasonable to
do so; it's equivalent to assuming that friction is a constant force.
Now, acceleration is change in speed over time, so if the acceleration
is constant, then it must be the difference in the two speeds given,
over the time. You'll notice, however, that the time it takes to get
through the board is not given. So let's do some calculus.

If acceleration is constant, then velocity must be linear, as velocity
is the antiderivative of acceleration, and the antiderivative of a
constant function is a linear function. That is, v(t) = at + b, where
a and b are constants. We don't know what time it is when the bullet
leaves the board, so call it T. If we assume that the clock is at
zero when the bullet starts going through the board, we have

350 = a(0) + b,

so b = 350, and

250 = aT + b.

To find a we'll have to go up another step. The antiderivative of
velocity is position, i.e. the distance the bullet has traveled
through the board at time t, which is

x(t) = 1/2 a t^2 + bt + c

We assume the clock starts when the bullet hits the board, so c=0. We
already know b= 350, so

x(t) = 1/2 a t^2 + 350 t.

We know also that x(T) = .05, because the bullet goes .05 meters in T
seconds, that is,

.05 = 1/2 a T^2 + 350 T.

To find a and T, we now have two equations and two unknowns:

250 = aT + 350
.05 = 1/2 a T^2 + 350 T

Even this system is a pain to solve, because it's not linear in T, but
I get T = 1/6000 and a = -600000. So the acceleration is -600,000
m/s^2 (negative because it's slowing down, not speeding up), and it
takes 1/6000th of a second to get through the board.

----------------

Next question: Which is better for time travel, Quantum Tunelling or Gravitational Time Dilation?

Answer (courtesy of Gingerbread):
Quantum tunneling.

It is easier to produce results with gravitational time dilation, but the results (at least with current technology) cannot achieve much in the way of real time travel. To go off on a slight tangent from this into the expansion of Einstein's general theory of relativity (in which gravitational time dilation is predicted): in hypothetical scenarios, the closer one travels to the speed of light, the slower time will pass for that individual. This is Einstein's theory of special relativity, and it has been proven. To the individual, this seems like time travel, and to the rest of the universe, this likely seems like time travel as well. However, this method cannot send any individual into the past (at least not any farther back than the point that they leave), and technically, it only preserves the individual in a state until they emerge into normal time. If you're a stickler for definitions, this may as well be time travel since it looks like time travel and feels like time travel, but it is not the ideal method--and neither is gravitational time dilation.

Quantum tunneling is the ideal method to pursue this, but technology is not at any position to make it happen. Until then, we will have to rely on the trusty DeLorean DMC-12, a flux capacitor, and McFly.

-----------------

We've had more discussions about recording this summer/fall, so stay tuned for more. The Icarus music will be up on facebook as soon as facebook verifies our account.

July 2009 Update

2009-07-16T09:15:00.001-04:00

July News:

Recording: We're still planning to record another full-length album this summer. Life has gotten in the way of making this easy, but we have approximately twelve songs and an enthusiasm to get this done! We will be working (once again) with Ric Hordinski!

Shows: We are going to make the effort to play approximately two shows per month in local areas, with another show each quarter farther away.

Website: I've updated some things on the website. You can contact us with the e-mail address or phone number on the right--but if you would like to book us, it'd be best to use the Contact Icarus Aquanaut link, and fill out that form. We'll respond within a couple of days!

Ask Doctorus Iquanaut: Doctorus Iquanaut is the collective mind behind everything Icarus Aquanaut plays, says, and does--the combined brain-trust of five people dedicated to giving you the answers you need for everything from music to physics. We will do our best to answer your questions once per week, whether in text or by video. Ask here.

June Recording

2009-05-29T08:11:00.002-04:00

We'll start recording our next album in June, and we're all pretty excited about it. We're doing all of the tracking locally at the Submarine. After we're done tracking, we'll send the songs off to Ric Hordinski, our producer in Cincinnati.

Right now, we have about ten or eleven songs (depending on who you ask). This album definitely has a different flavor than the last album, and I don't have the words to describe what this difference is, yet. We've responded to feedback from the last album and we're ready to make this thing the best musical experience that we can.

More after these messages.

Icarus Aquanaut with matt.james at the Sub

2009-04-30T09:46:00.001-04:00

We're playing a show with matt.james opening at the Submarine.

Saturday, May 9, 8:00 PM, $3 at the door.

You should be there, because it'll be great.

Twitter? I just...

2009-04-17T10:29:00.001-04:00

www.twitter.com/icarusaquanaut

New Pictures

2009-04-09T09:02:00.001-04:00

Got new pictures on our website.

Informacion de Icarus Aquanaut

2009-03-09T12:30:00.002-04:00

http://portalternativo.com/banda/Icarus-Aquanaut

Related videos section: very appropriate for this group of people.

1. Yngwie Malmsteen

2. Kansas

3. Iron Maiden

4. Kid Icarus (the Nintendo game)

Similar artists: A bunch of european bands.

Licorice Astronaut

2009-03-02T03:19:00.001-05:00

...might be our new name...

Following our extended haitus.

2009-02-28T13:48:00.002-05:00

This explains things:

Modular Aquanaut

2009-02-27T15:12:00.005-05:00

Hey, Seth here. Going to try to start updating this on a more regular basis, as well as the rest of our multiple websites.

What's in the news today? We've got a new drummer:

On top of that, I have a new bass, Stella (most of you have already seen her):

And we've got a band logo:

Other things that are happening:

Moss is moving back to Thomasville, bringing the Icarus lineup mostly back to its roots.
Dave has been reliably showing up to both practices AND shows.
We have some new music.
Actually, we have more music than we have actually learned or practiced.
The tentative title for our new album is "Japanese Theocracy."
At this point, we're also looking forward to working on this album with the producer for our last album, Ric Hordinski.
We've figured out that we can function as Icarus Aquanaut with as few as two members, but one of those two has to be Seth or Hananel, and the other of those two has to be Moss or Chris. Hence the title of this blog post: Modular Aquanaut.

So that's that. What with technology and everything making leaps and bounds for the internet, who knows? We might start doing video blogs or something.

-Seth

Back where we started...

2008-12-19T05:55:00.002-05:00

So, the biggest news is that we seem to have found a new drummer...more on that in a separate post.

The more pressing announcement:

Icarus is playing an original lineup show...Tuesday, December 23, 8pm at The Submarine.

www.thesubmarine.net
www.myspace.com/thesubtville

Chance, Moss, Han, Seth, and myself....just like the good ole days. If you're in or near Tville on that date...please drop in, buy some CD's, and enjoy the show.

That's all for now, thanks.

-chall

And then there were two...

2008-10-29T00:17:00.001-04:00

Seth and I are playing a show at The Sub...Nov. 1.

This will probably be the first in a series of experimental shows we'll do in the near future.

Please come out and feel the noise.

-chall

Updates and Shows

2008-08-11T00:11:00.003-04:00

OK, well...we're still here.
First item of business: New Lineup

The current lineup looks like this:

Seth Rocken: Bass, Vocals, Thump
Hananel Rockity: Yanni Keyboards, Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Tambourine
Chris Rock: Guitar, Piano, Loops

Yep...three piece. Lighter to travel with I guess.

Second item of business: New Shows

The new lineup will debut Saturday, August 23 at The Submarine...8pm.

Assuming we don't rock so hard that we can never play again, more shows to follow.

In the meantime, here's some photos for your entertainment:

-chall

NEWS UPDATE

2007-11-21T10:52:00.000-05:00

CD'S ARE HERE!!!

CD Release party...Saturday nite...November 24...@ the Submarine in Thomasville, GA.

John David Cook and The Leftovers and Patrick Morales are also playing.

In other news, our drummer is taking a hiatus due to other commitments that really just don't leave him the necessary time to perform in a band. In the interim, Josh Rocknevious has stepped in to fill the drum throne.

He will make his debut with us at our CD release party this Saturday nite.

Exciting times.

See you this weekend.

-chall

Updates

2007-08-18T08:42:00.001-04:00

Just a few quick notes...

As most of you have probably heard by now...David Shaw is our new guitarist. That's right...don't act like you're not jealous. We played a warm up show with him last weekend in Cuthbert, GA...and we'll be making our hometown debut with the new lineup tonite at The Sub...8pm...oh, and did I mention Port City Music will be there also?

CD news...we're really close...we promise...the amount of work that goes into getting a full-blown CD release together is enormous...and when you don't have a full-time staff working on it...it tends to take awhile.

We have a new website up...

www.icarusaquanaut.com

Not much there yet...but we're working on it.

Thanks. See you tonite.

-chall

2007-07-10T01:21:00.000-04:00

OK...so for some reason, the Title field is not working. The title of this blog might have been "Ch,Ch,Ch,Ch,Changes"...Might have been...guess we'll never know.

So, we apologize in advance for the lack of news from Lake Icarus...but, honestly we've all been kinda taking a bit of a break. Besides a few great acoustic shows, most of our work lately has been on the upcoming CD release. If you don't know by now, the title of the album is: "What's Left Come Morning". We officially have the cover art...and have a rough design for the rest of the jacket. If you wanna hear a few preview tracks, they're up on the myspace: (www.myspace.com/icarusaquanaut). Currently, the anticipated release date is August 4. Those things are subject to change, so don't hold us to it just yet.

So, now to the hard part:
Before this band had a name, members, or was actually in fact a band...it was more of a "project"...an idea...maybe a dream? Starting about 4 years ago, John Moss and myself would convene in my living room for occasional late-nite writing/recording sessions. These sessions eventually became demos that would eventually morph into a band that would eventually record a real album in a proper studio with one of our musical heros. All of these things happened so fast that it's still hard to believe we played our first show only 7 months ago. A band is a fast-moving, fast-growing thing...and you're never sure what sort of life it will take on, or which way it will travel. This band has certainly gone somewhere that none of us would have ever expected. From Moss and I standing outside the Masquerade in Atlanta after an Eisley show naming the musicians we wanted to work with, to sitting in a Mexican restaurant in Alabaster, Alabama scribbling "Icarus Aquanaut" on a napkin, to playing our first run of shows in December, to going to Ohio in March to make an album, to the present where we sit making decisions concerning artwork for the album, it's been a very fast ride...kinda like "The Scrambler" at the fair...that thing that spins you around in a small car while the whole apparatus is also spinning. The 5 of us have all been hanging on with all we've got...maybe getting dizzy and throwing up a few times on the way, but for the most part it's been a lot of fun and we certainly have NO idea when or where it's gonna stop. The problem with that sort of ride though is that it's not for everyone. Some people prefer the safety of the solid ground underneath them...or maybe they have an aversion to spinning out of control. When one of these people goes ahead, jumps on and gives it their best shot anyway, you have to respect and applaud their efforts. Even if the end result is them getting off early because the spinning is not for them.
That being said, it's with a heavy heart that we bring you this news. John Moss, founding member of Icarus Aquanaut will be getting off the Scrambler. After careful consideration, prayers, and thought, he has decided the solid ground is what he needs in life right now. He will be returning to the University of Montevallo to finish up his English degree that he put on hold to jump on this ride with us. We respect his decision and support him fully in his academic endeavors, though he will be sorely missed.
So, where does that leave us? Currently, as a four-piece. We are still discussing the possibilities...talking to a few people, talking to ourselves, thinking, praying, etc... Sure, it's difficult when a founding member/driving force departs...Sure, Icarus Aquanaut will not be the same band ever again. Was Pink Floyd the same band after Syd Barrett left? How about after Roger Waters left? Of course not...but, the band continued to do amazing, new things regardless...and that's what we plan to do. Whether or not we add another 5th member is yet to be determined. Sure, some names have been kicked around. We're not rushing to any decision at this point. The current plan is that John will play the CD release show with us. Past that, we're just not sure yet. We will keep you updated on any more changes. I encourage everyone to support John and the great things he's gonna do in college and thereafter. It is likely that he will continue to write songs for us...after all, he's one of our favorite songwriters.

Here's what the coming weeks hold:

August 4 - Possible CD Release date. Details TBA.
August 11 - Icarus Aquanaut at Andrew College in Cuthbert, GA
August 18 - Port City Music and Icarus Aquanaut at The Submarine in Thomasville, GA

Peace.

-chall

Updates: Things you need to know

2007-07-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

1. MuteMath is on the "Transformers" soundtrack.
2. We have completed the majority of mixing for our album, minus some tweaks on a song or two.
3. We went to Savannah.
4. I have a new 3/4 classical bass. It has taught me that playing it makes it look like I know how to play it. I think the cool factor makes up for the lack of experience on it.
5. While we will not give a solid release date/CD release party date until we have the actual finished product in our hands, we are currently expecting a late July release. (This is, of course, subject to change.)
6. We decided on an album title. After last Friday's contest to determine the name, we decided that we would go with the following: Icarus Aquanaut: The Greatest Hits Collection.

-seth

6 down

2007-06-20T12:37:00.000-04:00

So, here's the only two pictures I've taken so far:

Enjoy.
Back to mixing now.

-chall

i own th cosmos now, and my first act as govnor of the cosmos is to abolish th lttr "E"

2007-06-20T10:03:00.000-04:00

So hav fun making sntncs without that lttr. Just kidding. You can all use the letter E--it's a good letter. It hasn't done anything to me, so why would i do something so mean as to banish it. E and I are good friends; we go fishing all the time. ... But i did buy the Cosmos. And for only $19.99. Plus tax. We managed to fit it into the suburban, but just barely. I also purchased Dubliners by James Joyce and look forward to reading it in between mixing sessions. Morales took home a copy of Ayn Rand's For the New Intellectual, and Chris bought an awe-inspiring volume concerning the making of the first Star Wars film (episode IV: a New Hope). Also a guitar magazine, a music review magazine, and one sentence fragment. And how could I have written this paragraph without my good friend E?

--JohnLakeMoss

Tuesday

2007-06-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

We've got a lot done.

Upsides Down is pretty much done.
Hero is pretty much done.
Of Explaining is pretty much done.
Kite is pretty much done.
Simulacra is pretty much done.
Ghost has been started.

Good progress. We're very happy with what we're hearing.

About to head to Mike's Vintage Guitars.

Holla at us.

-chall

This is what it means to be in a band

2007-06-18T21:02:00.000-04:00

So, we get asked a lot: "whats it like? What do ya'll do there?"

Well here's a small list of things that seem to be common to these trips:

We consume large amounts of the following: Ingelhoffer Mustard, Cranberry Juice, Pasta, Quesadillas, Grape Nutz, Kashi, and Graeter's Ice Cream.

It's Hot.

We eat at Chiplotles.

The Thomasville song plays at 830am.

We go back in time.

We goto Kroger.

We sit around the Philosophy table.

We drive to that street that has the Ice Cream shop.

We Skype people.

We go outside and look at the neighbors.

We take lots of pictures.

Moss takes lots of video.

We talk about Sufjan Stevens (not in a pleasant way most of the time).

That's pretty much what it means.

-chall

Olive Oil

2007-06-18T17:19:00.001-04:00

So, one day of mixing down.

We finished Hero, Of Explaining, and probably have finished Simulacra.

Amazing progress. This is all sounding real good. Exciting.

So, soon we're gonna venture into town, find a Best Buy, and a coffee shop.

Later, Patrick is gonna cook pasta.

I'll try and get some pics up later.

BTW...Final mix of Of Explaining is up on the Myspace. I would post it here, but I don't know how.

-chall

Does anyone actually read this?

2007-06-17T18:34:00.000-04:00

So, Patrick Morales, Moss, and myself set off this morning to return one last time to Cincinnati with the goal of getting this record mixed.

So, what's next?

Lots.

Mastering, artwork, photos, jacket design, printing...etc...

Pending the above items, we're hoping for a July release.

We have Skype...so if anyone knows how to use that and wants to hang out with us...holla. Honestly, I don't know how to use it yet...so if anyone wants to provide any insite, it would be greatly appreciated.

And speaking of Patrick Morales...he's one of our favorite singer-songwriters...go check his stuff:

http://www.myspace.com/extendedplayep

Enjoy.

-chall

On the way...

2007-05-26T08:04:00.000-04:00

En route...got out of Cincinnati around 745am.

Damage report is small this time:

1 car battery

That's it. We'll be in the car for the next 12 hours so send us messages.

Photos:

2007-05-25T16:57:00.000-04:00

Last nite, Ian, Justine, and Matt W came over for a while:

First Light:

Beds:

Uncle Tom hard at work:

(L to R) Ric, Seth, and Ric listening:

Weird Vox amp that Moss has been using:

THE solo:

One of the places where vocals happen:

Mine and Hananel's guitar junk:

Drums:

The last thing we did today was about 20 minutes of space noise:

Parting shot of the Control Room:

Done

2007-05-25T16:16:00.000-04:00

Tracking is DONE!

(pics soon)

It's just the end of the world (of warcraft)

2007-05-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

So it seems like we are only hours from the last tracking session on this album. All that'll be left to do after today will be mixing and producing, which got us wondering about what to do with the album artwork. I already know what company will be pressing the CDs for us (I've used them before and they have great PR, do great work, and have great prices), but thus far the actual artwork itself is lacking. One of the ideas was using a Chilean artist that Moss and I both admire greatly. We'll be blogging regularly once we get back after we have these ideas set down on paper...right now I think we need to really just brainstorm and get everything written down that we want to do for the album.

This is really shaping up to be the album that we really wanted it to be. It's hard to believe that nearly a year ago, Hananel and I were invited to come up to JRC's basement studio by Chris and Moss. I've really appreciated the freedom to express what I want to express by what I play or sing. There are parts on this album that I helped come up with, but I wouldn't have made any advances towards that end without the encouragement and support of the rest of the band. In fact, I'd say that without working with these guys extensively over the past few months, most of the ideas I've had regarding anything on this album would have never come to fruition.

Last night, we started up video chats with all sorts of people...Matt Wilkerson...Ian Fritzsche...even Justine Spinoza. We figured out how to conference call, too. If you have a moment during the day, download Skype to your computer and search for the name sethgolden. I'll leave this laptop on most of the day I think, and we'll all be here tonight after we go out to eat to celebrate.

Word.

-seth

states.

2007-05-24T09:27:00.000-04:00

...and just in case you were wondering, Matt Wilkerson, the score is now 11-2, and I'm the one who's layin' down the boom hand.

There is no spoon... There is no 3rd movie in the Matrix trilogy...

2007-05-24T09:07:00.000-04:00

Last night, we finally accomplished something notable: we made Chris watch The Matrix. It is such a good movie. I really wish they would finish the trilogy and make the third movie. Wouldn't it be wonderful to finally see the Winonaryderchowski siblings complete the story arc? Too bad there isn't a third Matrix movie...

Question:

2007-05-23T20:31:00.000-04:00

Has anyone been to The Sub? Is it still there?

-chall

Day 3?

2007-05-23T20:08:00.000-04:00

Lots of work is getting done...we're pretty much finished with vocals, a few stray guitar parts left and some atmosphere...and we might have a record tracked.

Here's some pics:

Han cutting vocals:

Moss finally gave in to the peer pressure and did a little tracking with a Vox:

Ric @ work:

Justin Golden (from the band Ellery) is engineering the tracking of a lot of our vocals:

This is where we live:

Earlier we went downtown to a bookstore and scored some print. Right now, Seth is cooking veggie and real burgers, Han is washing dishes, Moss is watching TV, and I'm writing. Tonite is a likely candidate for a film to be watched on. Tomorrow morning we tie up a few loose ends and then have a listening party after lunch to see if it all sounds like we think it does.

At this point it looks like we'll be exiting early Saturday morning.

And yes, I'm still working on the Podcast. The hard part was getting the M4a file out of the Mac, into the PC, and converted to .WAV so it could be edited. Yes, I find it ironic that I had to use my PC to edit the Podcast because the Mac didn't really know how. It's all digital.

-chall

Well, we're not THAT bored

2007-05-22T19:16:00.000-04:00

At least, Hananel isn't.

She's discovered Ninety-Nine Nights, a game I have on Xbox 360 that I brought up here. She's been playing it for the past hour I think...I think that makes her a gamer now.

So tonight will be a night of gaming, video watching, and enjoying the cool air provided by our fans.

Chris got many tracks done on guitar. So did John. We've had a productive day. I have not much else to report. Oh, other than quesadillas.

Kicking out the jams

2007-05-22T12:02:00.000-04:00

So Hannelore and I kicked out some vocal jams this morning. The best part is that we did a lot of scratch vocals last time that served their purpose far better than we thought they did originally. I'm practically done with vocals. I'm going to punch an extra part (previously unheard by any audience except the Mavity) for "Dreaming with the Upsides Down" that should add a bit of dynamic buildup for the end of the song.

As far as bass goes, I've got a synth bass track to put on "Simulacra." In addition, depending on how things go over the next few days, we might do noise tracks for the same song. We're moving along fairly quickly, almost on a par with the last trip up. I think we got more structure established the last time, so it formed a foundation for us to actually work on some of that this time.

I'm not sure what we're doing for lunch, but my belly says it needs to happen soon.

-seth

Day Two

2007-05-22T10:52:00.001-04:00

So, currently, vocals are happening...at least until lunch...then back to guitars.

We went to Indiana last nite. If Moss ever gets on here, I'll let him tell the story.

I think we recorded our first podcast last nite...I still have to edit it though...so maybe we'll have it up tonite.

More later.

-chall

One day done

2007-05-21T17:53:00.000-04:00

So...the count for the first day is:

Moss and myself made major ground on the guitar side...lots of keepers today...

Tomorrow, we're gonna split the day...half vocals, half guitar.

At the moment...Seth is cooking us a fine pasta dinner...then, we'll probably go for a drive around town...then possibly watch a film...yeah...the rockstar life.

Don't forget to call the rockline 229-233-4724, and send all donations/carepackages/hate mail/food to:
The Monastery
2601 Stanton Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45206

Maybe we'll start that Podcast tonite.

-chall

Enough about this recording stuff

2007-05-21T14:29:00.000-04:00

We just got done talking to Matt Wilkerson on Skype. By talking, we mean video chat.

So if you want to chat with the whole band, get Skype. Look for my name (sethgolden or Seth Golden) and the whole band will be on later tonight to chat. We may in fact do a philosophy table discussion with everyone that is invited to it.

Plus, here's cool photo editing this Mac does.

If anyone else gets bored, let us know...right now, Hananel and I are the only ones not having to do anything like work or whatever...

-seth

Manic Monday

2007-05-21T13:38:00.000-04:00

So...I got keeper tracks on 4 tunes before lunch...Moss is back to work now.

Here's some photos:

Me tracking guitfiddles:

This is what the other folks do while guitars happen:

(seth with his new Mac...I think it runs on Biodiesel)

Moss just started some guitar tracks:

Through these amps:

Uncle Tom:

Seth is trying to video chat on his Mac with the Wilkersons. I have to go see what that means.

-chall

Addition

2007-05-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

We have some new additions to the family:

1 Stroup Handmade Guitar
1 Ampeg Amp

Happy Graduation.

-chall

Hello

2007-05-20T12:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Kaitlin and Sarah.

Pics cause we're bored

2007-05-20T10:50:00.000-04:00

Habanela:

Seth:

Moss:

Chall:

Chance:

(photo not available)

Emily:

So, we are down a member....Chance was not able to join us this trip. We miss him already.

We had Cracker Barrel for lunch and I'm happy about that.

We're somewhere in Tennessee now...Emily predicts that we'll arive at 5:43EST. I hope she's correct.

-chall

Here we go again...

2007-05-20T10:07:00.001-04:00

We successfully exited Thomasville around 6am this morning....it's 10am now and we're just North of Atlanta...Moss is driving, Seth is Navigating...I'm writing, and Hannelore is sleeping. Actually, we're all still pretty much asleep (except for Moss hopefully) and don't have much else to say at this point...so we'll provide you with a running update of our soundtrack.

1. Dan Warren mixed CD
2. "Get A Grip" Aerosmith
3. "2.0" Garbage
4. "Absolutions" Muse
5. Best of The Pixies
6. "Heartbreak Station" Cinderella
7. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster II
8. "Abbey Road" The Beatles
9. "Blister Soul" Vigilantes of Love
10. "The Heath McNease Fanclub Meets Tonite" Heath McNease

-chall

Over the river and through the woods...

2007-05-17T12:50:00.000-04:00

...to Hordinski's house we go...

We're leaving Sunday morning at 5:30 AM. Same deal as last time....we'll keep everyone updated daily on this blog.

And for your viewing pleasure, a picture from our last show.

On to June?

2007-05-09T02:04:00.000-04:00

Alan Parsons has declared April to be officially over. In that case, come to our show Saturday night at The Sub...doors at 9pm. There's someone famous opening for us.

-chall

Not that we had any doubt...

2007-04-26T00:54:00.000-04:00

But, here is farther proof that Ben Noethe is important.

Yeah, he drew that on his pants.

-chall

It's official...

2007-04-23T14:53:00.001-04:00

We have the album title.

-chall

We've been working on our moves (updated)

2007-04-23T08:15:00.000-04:00

John's hair finally grew back out.

And Chris has been working on this move for jumping off of the stage.

Don't act like you aren't impressed...

Here's Chance with a wicked drum solo.

And I've been working on learning guitar to fill in here and there. I like to be versatile.

And here we have Hananel warming up at the piano for one of the slower songs in our set.

Is it April?

2007-04-17T00:53:00.000-04:00

So...updates...

Show on May 4th at The Submarine...us and Heath Mcnease. It'll pretty much change your life.

We're trying to book more shows for May/June/July...we'd like to play some more out of town shows...nothing too far...Probably from Gainesville to Macon, Dothan to Waycross...that's our area of interest right now. If anyone has venue info for any cities in that radius, let us know.

We'll be returning to Ohio in May to finish tracking for the album. We're hoping to have the album out in early to mid June...much has to happen...artwork, song sequence, title, etc...so let's make lists (herndon). How about some suggestions? Even if we don't use any of them, should be funny to kick around some album titles.

Seth and I were just kicking around the idea of doing a weekly band Podcast. I don't really know what that is, and I don't think any of us own Ipods or Macs, but we're gonna do it anyway. I'm not sure what it'll contain...a bit of rock, some stories, other music we like, new songs we're working on, theories, ramblings, Aqua Teen quotes, and most likely some John Herndon sentences. Look for it soon.

In other news, we need to hire a hype coordinator. Anyone wanna apply?

The Ums and Kid Hart are playing Big Daddy's Saturday nite. Since we didn't get to see them last weekend, I'm pretty sure we'll be in attendance for that...as you should be also.

Speaking of those bands...we're gonna try and have them up at The Sub real soon. I'll keep you posted.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Tallahassee Police department for stopping the rock Friday nite. We were one song away from melting the faces off of everyone in attendance...and that could have gotten messy.

All for now.

-chall

Authoritah.

2007-04-16T11:41:00.000-04:00

I wonder if The Police ever got shut down by the police. I wonder, in such a case, if that would be considered Police on police violence. I wonder if the rap song "#*%@ the Police" was talking about cops or the band, The Police. In the case of the latter, that would disgrace the name of The Police, which is "The Police"...
We should change our name to The Cops. That would be cool, because then when uptight baby-boomers call The Cops, we would could show up at their house and read them their rights with our amps turned up to 11. And they couldn't complain, because, "hey music-scrooges, you're the ones who called The Cops. I'm sorry we interrupted your American Idle, but we just wanted to let you know that you have the right to remain silent--use it, or we'll use it for ya..."

-- by jlm. puns fully intended. aquateen references completely fictional and not intended to resemble anyone living or dead.

The Police

2007-04-16T09:52:00.000-04:00

We seem to have a problem with authority...
So far, here's the score.

John Moss vs. Carvin Guitar Strap

John: 0

Carvin Guitar Strap: 1.

Seth Golden with straw vs. Strawberry within a Strawberry Milkshake
Seth: 0
Strawberry: 1

Hananel Mavity with two straws vs. Strawberry in Strawberry Milkshake
Hananel: 1
Strawberry: 0

Chance Holt vs. any pair of drumsticks for more than 30 minutes at a time
Chance: 1
Drumsticks: 0

Chris Hall vs. Steak & Shake (or, really, any restaurant)
Chris: 0
Steak & Shake: 1

And finally...
Icarus Aquanaut vs. Tallahassee's finest
IA: 0
Police: 1

But from what I hear, you aren't really a rockstar until you've gotten shut down by the police.
To be fair for our band, we did play for about 3 songs longer than the police wanted us to. We ended on a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." I think that was worth it.

Stay tuned. May 4th will be awesome.

-seth, IA

and we'll stroll to the edge of the world.

2007-04-05T10:59:00.000-04:00

we're back in Thomasville.
Ana took photos on Sunday, and those photos are good.
Chris continues to fight with the city of cincinnati, which, in turn, continues to prove that it is the most ridiculous city ever.
come to our show in Tallahassee next weekend.
that's all for now.
--jlm

Home

2007-03-31T18:36:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-03-30T22:16:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-30T09:38:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-03-29T21:39:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-29T13:33:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-28T18:53:00.000-04:00

This has more stuff in it. Hope you enjoy.

Short Clip Uploaded

2007-03-28T15:19:00.000-04:00

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:

2007-03-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-28T11:41:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-27T23:23:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-27T18:36:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

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?

2007-03-27T12:15:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-03-26T22:48:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-26T21:57:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-26T17:03:00.000-04:00

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)

2007-03-26T12:59:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-26T10:22:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-26T00:28:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-25T22:38:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-03-25T20:05:00.000-04:00

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..

2007-03-25T18:24:00.000-04:00

Some pics:

-chall

shock and aquanaut.

2007-03-25T18:03:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-03-25T00:46:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-03-24T22:05:00.000-04:00

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

-chall

One more hour...

2007-03-24T18:28:00.000-04:00

Pics from the road:

icarus bloguanaut

2007-03-24T16:25:00.000-04:00

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

2007-03-24T14:18:00.000-04:00

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?"

2007-03-24T12:16:00.000-04:00

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.

Leaving to Record

2007-03-23T09:23:00.000-04:00

Chris mentioned that we should probably create some sort of daily blog for our trip to Ohio to record our first album. So here it is. There'll be more info as soon as we are all together and such, but expect a new bit of commentary, pictures, and information every day until next Saturday. And maybe even farther along than that.