Not sure why I haven't been blogging right as things have picked up. The crew has been Kevin M on vocals, Kevin C on drums, Mike on bass, and myself on guitar. We worked Far Side for a number of weeks, and basically the 12/8 bar is the only part we need to lock down. Next came The Door, which came together relatively quickly. Only update there is the sparse guitar intro. Stooge and Tomorrow came together pretty quickly from there. Need to nail down the Tomorrow stop. After that its just polishing.
Trying to get a manager to book gigs. Need a name for the band. Wondering how Kevin M's first kid is going to affect us going forward. Things might get interesting again soon...
Anyway, band name ideas:
Team Badguys (From Jen C)
Bottleneck (From Steve N, C1NG)
Good Behavior (From Mike)
Kevin M apparently played in a band named Lesser Offense, so he was making the connection with Good Behavior...
Also, in recent news, somehow a cleanup effort popped the cap in my digital delay pedal. Wondering if I want to replace it or go a different route. Volume/Wah is still the mainstay, and I'm trying to get the Whammy pedal in the mix.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Back On
Started writing a couple things for the Stooge. Recorded an early version of the Lament. Have a couple more ideas floating around.
Should have the guys over tomorrow. We'll see what's going down with the band.
Should have the guys over tomorrow. We'll see what's going down with the band.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
What's going on
It's been a couple of weeks since our last rehearsal. Business travel, Spring events..a few things have been interfering with our Tuesday rehearsal time. The time off has given my back and shoulder some time to recover, so maybe its not all bad. Not sure where the motivation to pull everyone back in is going to come from.
I need to start writing again.
I need to start writing again.
12th Jam: Built to Spill
Date: 4/22/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C: Drums
Carl: Guitar
Had some good things going on in this one. There was a swung Em7-Bm jam going, and the C7-A7-Dm groove going again. Ripped off some good runs of the usual set...
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C: Drums
Carl: Guitar
Had some good things going on in this one. There was a swung Em7-Bm jam going, and the C7-A7-Dm groove going again. Ripped off some good runs of the usual set...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
11th Jam: Party Harder
Date: 4/15/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C: Drums
Carl: Guitar
So, I missed the Jazz show at Fitzgerald's, but this was worth it. Kevin C invited his friend Carl to jam. Kevin vouched for him, but I gotta admit I was a little worried when he pulled out the acoustic. No worries. He was solid, even over Stooge. I definitely never heard an acoustic part in Stooge, but it sounded good. Hopefully, we'll keep him showing up with Kevin C.
While we were waiting on Carl, we jammed through a little riff in Dm. Good stuff. Even remembered to turn on the 8-track. Someday, I'll have enough time to develop some of this stuff, but in the meantime, it's just fun to jam through it.
We whipped through Tomorrow and some Stooge after Carl arrived. The Stooge outro was rag-tag, but it finally held together. I know Mike is going to want some clean transitions, but I kinda liked how we followed each other through the mixed-meter stuff. Okay, maybe it was five minutes too long, but I was digging it. Kevin M had the idea to jump back in on vocals after our musical adventure, which was something I had in the back of my mind as well. Great minds, eh? Ha ha ha...
After Kevin M left, we worked through some Cowboy Song. We have a few parts now that are pretty cool. We're going to have to try to work some melody into the fold in the near future. And I haven't even busted out the original bridge I wrote for the song.
When we got bored, Kevin C took the mic and I laid down a beat. It was an upbeat blues groove. Kevin was spewing gibberish, but I liked the sound. I'd love to keep going, but...God forbid these guys let me start switching instruments.
Oh, one more milestone: This was officially the night I realized that my back problems were from extensive guitar jams. The Gibson is by far the heaviest guitar I've played, and thinking about it, I've rarely played standing up for 2+ hrs straight. If it's just me, I'll take a break or sit down. I'm usually on acoustic for composing anyway. Anyway, hanging a 12 pound weight off one shoulder for 2 hrs is a problem. I'll have to figure out how to handle that going forward.
And to think I blamed ice hockey. For shame!
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C: Drums
Carl: Guitar
So, I missed the Jazz show at Fitzgerald's, but this was worth it. Kevin C invited his friend Carl to jam. Kevin vouched for him, but I gotta admit I was a little worried when he pulled out the acoustic. No worries. He was solid, even over Stooge. I definitely never heard an acoustic part in Stooge, but it sounded good. Hopefully, we'll keep him showing up with Kevin C.
While we were waiting on Carl, we jammed through a little riff in Dm. Good stuff. Even remembered to turn on the 8-track. Someday, I'll have enough time to develop some of this stuff, but in the meantime, it's just fun to jam through it.
We whipped through Tomorrow and some Stooge after Carl arrived. The Stooge outro was rag-tag, but it finally held together. I know Mike is going to want some clean transitions, but I kinda liked how we followed each other through the mixed-meter stuff. Okay, maybe it was five minutes too long, but I was digging it. Kevin M had the idea to jump back in on vocals after our musical adventure, which was something I had in the back of my mind as well. Great minds, eh? Ha ha ha...
After Kevin M left, we worked through some Cowboy Song. We have a few parts now that are pretty cool. We're going to have to try to work some melody into the fold in the near future. And I haven't even busted out the original bridge I wrote for the song.
When we got bored, Kevin C took the mic and I laid down a beat. It was an upbeat blues groove. Kevin was spewing gibberish, but I liked the sound. I'd love to keep going, but...God forbid these guys let me start switching instruments.
Oh, one more milestone: This was officially the night I realized that my back problems were from extensive guitar jams. The Gibson is by far the heaviest guitar I've played, and thinking about it, I've rarely played standing up for 2+ hrs straight. If it's just me, I'll take a break or sit down. I'm usually on acoustic for composing anyway. Anyway, hanging a 12 pound weight off one shoulder for 2 hrs is a problem. I'll have to figure out how to handle that going forward.
And to think I blamed ice hockey. For shame!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Extra-curricular??!?
C had some NPR on this morning, and I'm not sure who the group was, but they were tearing up some jazz charts. All I caught was that they'd be at Fitzgeralds in Berwyn this Wednesday. Not that I'm pessimisstic enough to think we might not have a drummer again next week, but just in case...I might have to float the idea of catching a set in Berwyn instead of rehearsal this week. Hmmm....
Just used the power of the Interweb to find out who's playing that night: Rob Parton’s JazzTech Big Band.
http://www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com/listings.html#Apr15
Just used the power of the Interweb to find out who's playing that night: Rob Parton’s JazzTech Big Band.
http://www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com/listings.html#Apr15
10th Jam: Roll-back
Date: 4/9/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Our smallest jam in a while. Mike had a conflict on Wednesday, so we moved it to Thurs. Never heard from Kevin C...
Ran through the Door a couple of times. Still solid things happening there, still areas of improvement, but overall just some minor tweaks required. I feel like we're the closest we've ever been to remembering the break, so big ups to us.
We started talking about the random riffs I've collected. No one seems to pick up Jaunty without Ann around, so we moved on to the "Found You" riff. Didn't come up with any complimentary sections, but Mike did hear a different voicing for the last chord. Instead of an F5, he hears another Dm with a 3-5-Tonic voicing. It sounds good, but I guess it all depends on the melody and other sections we want to use.
We did some good work on "The Cowboy Song." Mike came up with a 6/8 rhythm, and I did a little lead line over Am-Am-C-Dm. After a few runs of that, we had something that modulated to Dm. Mike played a line Dm-Dm-A-F. However, with no drums, I heard it as A-F-Dm-Dm. We still haven't resolved what will constitute the beginning of the phrase, but we agreed it sounded sweet. I ended up playing an oblique line that created a lot of 4ths, and reminded me a very dark version of Westminster Chimes. How badass is that? Not very, I know, but it's kinda goofy regardless...
Kevin got bored, plinked around on the keyboard. If he continues to let Mike and I go off on our musical adventures, he'll soon learn an instrument (or two) to stay amused. To close out, we ripped through Tomorrow. Nothing too interesting there, except that Mike is going to revive the E-G-B-D feel in the song, which I think he was doing occasionally anyway. Now it's official!!!
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar
Our smallest jam in a while. Mike had a conflict on Wednesday, so we moved it to Thurs. Never heard from Kevin C...
Ran through the Door a couple of times. Still solid things happening there, still areas of improvement, but overall just some minor tweaks required. I feel like we're the closest we've ever been to remembering the break, so big ups to us.
We started talking about the random riffs I've collected. No one seems to pick up Jaunty without Ann around, so we moved on to the "Found You" riff. Didn't come up with any complimentary sections, but Mike did hear a different voicing for the last chord. Instead of an F5, he hears another Dm with a 3-5-Tonic voicing. It sounds good, but I guess it all depends on the melody and other sections we want to use.
We did some good work on "The Cowboy Song." Mike came up with a 6/8 rhythm, and I did a little lead line over Am-Am-C-Dm. After a few runs of that, we had something that modulated to Dm. Mike played a line Dm-Dm-A-F. However, with no drums, I heard it as A-F-Dm-Dm. We still haven't resolved what will constitute the beginning of the phrase, but we agreed it sounded sweet. I ended up playing an oblique line that created a lot of 4ths, and reminded me a very dark version of Westminster Chimes. How badass is that? Not very, I know, but it's kinda goofy regardless...
Kevin got bored, plinked around on the keyboard. If he continues to let Mike and I go off on our musical adventures, he'll soon learn an instrument (or two) to stay amused. To close out, we ripped through Tomorrow. Nothing too interesting there, except that Mike is going to revive the E-G-B-D feel in the song, which I think he was doing occasionally anyway. Now it's official!!!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Ideas?
Haven't found a lot of time for the musics the past couple of weeks, beyond rehearsals. Still have some ideas floating around...
Need to continue to makeover the lyrics to Keepsake, add Song About Myself, remove MWB, and get out the CD.
Also had a few ideas to further tweak the Door. To start, keeping it really sparse, and passing it around to each instrument for 3 bars (plus the downbeat of the 4th.) Even the vocals could get in. I think I'm hearing two bars of the theme in E, then switching to B--B--B-G- for the 3rd bar. Vocals would be "(E) Come----with (E) me. We'll (B) go for a (E) ride."
Eh, we'll figure it out Wednesday
Need to continue to makeover the lyrics to Keepsake, add Song About Myself, remove MWB, and get out the CD.
Also had a few ideas to further tweak the Door. To start, keeping it really sparse, and passing it around to each instrument for 3 bars (plus the downbeat of the 4th.) Even the vocals could get in. I think I'm hearing two bars of the theme in E, then switching to B--B--B-G- for the 3rd bar. Vocals would be "(E) Come----with (E) me. We'll (B) go for a (E) ride."
Eh, we'll figure it out Wednesday
9th Jam: Full-on
Date: 4/1/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar
Had pretty good instrumentation finally. Started out by playing around with Stooge. Still working on what we want to do as far the Outro theme, but we had some good instrumental stuff going on post-bridge.
The Door got its requisite tweaking, all good stuff. A sparse guitar opening, elongated bass progression, before finally kicking in with drums, then switching over to a distorted guitar line before having the vocals come in. The last bridge also had less guitar before coming in with a lead line, whereas the doubling of the rhythm on guitar led to 2 repeats into the outro. It's gonna be sweet.
Hit Tomorrow with Kevin C. for the first time. Being that it keeps to the 4/4, Kevin picked it up pretty fast. That one is sounding pretty good, with the drums complimenting the switches between the clean and distorted channels.
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar
Had pretty good instrumentation finally. Started out by playing around with Stooge. Still working on what we want to do as far the Outro theme, but we had some good instrumental stuff going on post-bridge.
The Door got its requisite tweaking, all good stuff. A sparse guitar opening, elongated bass progression, before finally kicking in with drums, then switching over to a distorted guitar line before having the vocals come in. The last bridge also had less guitar before coming in with a lead line, whereas the doubling of the rhythm on guitar led to 2 repeats into the outro. It's gonna be sweet.
Hit Tomorrow with Kevin C. for the first time. Being that it keeps to the 4/4, Kevin picked it up pretty fast. That one is sounding pretty good, with the drums complimenting the switches between the clean and distorted channels.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
8th Jam: The Build-up
Date: 3/25/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
John: Guitar
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C. caught the sickness, but we were able to get John back in the groove. Continued to work the Stooge outro. We've made it a 14-beat figure, but over the standard 8-beat Stooge groove, we're looking at 56 beats to sync up again. It's a work in progress.
Tomorrow's making some progress. Added a rhythm figure switching between the minor and major third for the main theme. Doing some different things with distortion coming out of the second refrain through the bridge, then again after the stop, which is adding some depth to the song. I'd love to hear how drums is going to sound behind this one...
Thinking the best way to go with the door is to pick rock or swing and stick with it. I'm thinking if we go rock, we'd want to remove the 6/4 bars, but we haven't worked through that in a while.
Adding I Miss You for next week?
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
John: Guitar
Ryan: Guitar
Kevin C. caught the sickness, but we were able to get John back in the groove. Continued to work the Stooge outro. We've made it a 14-beat figure, but over the standard 8-beat Stooge groove, we're looking at 56 beats to sync up again. It's a work in progress.
Tomorrow's making some progress. Added a rhythm figure switching between the minor and major third for the main theme. Doing some different things with distortion coming out of the second refrain through the bridge, then again after the stop, which is adding some depth to the song. I'd love to hear how drums is going to sound behind this one...
Thinking the best way to go with the door is to pick rock or swing and stick with it. I'm thinking if we go rock, we'd want to remove the 6/4 bars, but we haven't worked through that in a while.
Adding I Miss You for next week?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
7th Jam: Core
Date: 3/18/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar/Drums
Kevin C bailed late on this one. I was a little worried about being productive and having Mike drive all the way out here, but it was a very good session. We started with Tomorrow. After a run-through, we started moving it from its acoustic origins into a more dynamic full-band sound using a broad distorted sound for certain sections. I played with the third on the E chord, switching from minor to major within the measure.
The Door also got its mandatory update. I'm not sure why, but its the most malleable song I've ever dealt with. Anyway, I started with my new choppy intro (which no one is sold on yet), and tried to transition from a slower swing to a driving rock beat at the end. We're not quite there yet.
Ended the night on Stooge. I jumped on drums, and Mike worked through the locrian hemiola. I think he's got it. I hope he's got it, because I didn't really have a chance to practice it on guitar. Anyway, there's an opportunity to foreshadow the figure as a fill earlier in the song. I think we figured out that it works if you rest on 1 for the fill and start on 1 for the repeated figure, but we'll have to revisit. Mike also had a different bassline going at one point, so we'll see how to work that in.
At some point I also need to get serious about harmonizing the vocals...or get serious about having Kevin do it!
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar/Drums
Kevin C bailed late on this one. I was a little worried about being productive and having Mike drive all the way out here, but it was a very good session. We started with Tomorrow. After a run-through, we started moving it from its acoustic origins into a more dynamic full-band sound using a broad distorted sound for certain sections. I played with the third on the E chord, switching from minor to major within the measure.
The Door also got its mandatory update. I'm not sure why, but its the most malleable song I've ever dealt with. Anyway, I started with my new choppy intro (which no one is sold on yet), and tried to transition from a slower swing to a driving rock beat at the end. We're not quite there yet.
Ended the night on Stooge. I jumped on drums, and Mike worked through the locrian hemiola. I think he's got it. I hope he's got it, because I didn't really have a chance to practice it on guitar. Anyway, there's an opportunity to foreshadow the figure as a fill earlier in the song. I think we figured out that it works if you rest on 1 for the fill and start on 1 for the repeated figure, but we'll have to revisit. Mike also had a different bassline going at one point, so we'll see how to work that in.
At some point I also need to get serious about harmonizing the vocals...or get serious about having Kevin do it!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Jaunty Demo 1
Was watching a little NCAA basketball and had a couple ideas for lyrics for Jaunty. I wouldn't recommend hitting mute, sticking a mic near your acoustic, playing through it once, and calling it a demo, but it worked. I'm getting better with track editing, as I cut a few repeats out of the song.
I think I'll need to re-arrange the song, possibly add a minor segment.
I think I'll need to re-arrange the song, possibly add a minor segment.
6th Jam: Maintainance Jam
Date: 3/12/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ann: Keys
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
Came back from Austin Wednesday night, but I didn't want to go three weeks between rehearsals, so Thursday night it is. Mike got stuck in traffic, which gave me plenty of time to bother Ann into showing. She wanted dinner in return, and got ice-cream and beer. Pretty close.
Had a few ideas on how to start the Door. Two guitars would be nice, but I did like Mike taking the lead guitar idea and playing it on bass.
Mike's got the feel for Far Side, which allows us to hold it together without drums, usually a dubious task.
Whipped through Stooge, played a little Tomorrow. Since Ann was there, I jumped on the drums and we played through Fresh Air a couple of times.
Touched on Jaunty and The Cowboy Song. This reminds me that I need to name tracks before Ann weighs in on what they're to be called...
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ann: Keys
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
Came back from Austin Wednesday night, but I didn't want to go three weeks between rehearsals, so Thursday night it is. Mike got stuck in traffic, which gave me plenty of time to bother Ann into showing. She wanted dinner in return, and got ice-cream and beer. Pretty close.
Had a few ideas on how to start the Door. Two guitars would be nice, but I did like Mike taking the lead guitar idea and playing it on bass.
Mike's got the feel for Far Side, which allows us to hold it together without drums, usually a dubious task.
Whipped through Stooge, played a little Tomorrow. Since Ann was there, I jumped on the drums and we played through Fresh Air a couple of times.
Touched on Jaunty and The Cowboy Song. This reminds me that I need to name tracks before Ann weighs in on what they're to be called...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
No Jam Tonight
We had a couple of conflicts tonight, so no rocking. But I'm looking for a webpage for the exact quote from the scene in Boogie Nights where Dirk Diggler pitches his idea for Brock Landers and Chest Rockwell to Jack Horner in the van. It's kinda funny when I use my Mark Wahlberg voice to say "that's not cool. That's not sexy" in response to something I don't like, but if I knew more of that monologue: now that would be something.
...so tonight's not a total waste.
...so tonight's not a total waste.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
5th Jam: Peanut Butter Only
Date: 2/25
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
All bidness this week. Mike, Kevin M, and I worked through the door a bit. When Kevin C showed up, we worked Stooge a bit, then Far Side, then the Door. Kevin C then had to take off, and we worked Tomorrow without drums.
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
All bidness this week. Mike, Kevin M, and I worked through the door a bit. When Kevin C showed up, we worked Stooge a bit, then Far Side, then the Door. Kevin C then had to take off, and we worked Tomorrow without drums.
Monday, February 23, 2009
What To Do Next
So I have Windows Vista, and I want to use it and not be one of the millions that complains about it, but...
I had a list of tracks that I wanted to develop on the notes gadget on the sidebar. The notes gadget comes with Vista; it's not like the creepy, virus-laden gadgets that you can download from Windows site. Anyway, it's crashed twice and I've lost the data I have on it.
So, time to list my thoughts here. Next up is a vocals/lyrics/guitar solo remake of "Skin Deep." I've also wanted to get lyrics onto the trippy little song in F# I've been kicking around for 5 years. There's the track that Ann titled "Jaunty" to my dismay. "Save Me", "Found You", "Angel" and "Crazy Days" all in various states of completion as well.
I wouldn't mind new lyrics to "Damaged Goods," either...
I had a list of tracks that I wanted to develop on the notes gadget on the sidebar. The notes gadget comes with Vista; it's not like the creepy, virus-laden gadgets that you can download from Windows site. Anyway, it's crashed twice and I've lost the data I have on it.
So, time to list my thoughts here. Next up is a vocals/lyrics/guitar solo remake of "Skin Deep." I've also wanted to get lyrics onto the trippy little song in F# I've been kicking around for 5 years. There's the track that Ann titled "Jaunty" to my dismay. "Save Me", "Found You", "Angel" and "Crazy Days" all in various states of completion as well.
I wouldn't mind new lyrics to "Damaged Goods," either...
The Things I Do when I think No One is Watching
I had the place to myself Saturday morning, so I decided to tackle recording a song Mike and I had done a few years back, called "Song About Myself." I think this is one of the last songs that I've written and performed that I don't have a recording of.
We'd never played this song with a drummer, so I practiced a few beats and set up the mics. Mike pointed out that I screwing up the placement of the XLR mics at the last rehearsal, and I definitely fixed that this time around. I probably should have rethought my decision to dedicate a mic to the bass drum, but man can you feel the beat!
I got a basic feel for the tempo changes and laid down the drum tracks. I had gotten as far as laying down the rhythm and lead guitars before I realized I had omitted the first two Bm sections of the song. Nothing to do but jump back on the drums. Luckily, the mics and mic-levels were still there.
After I had rerecorded everything I laid down the bassline. I would have preferred to get Mike back on this one, but alas, he was not around in the 3 hours I decided to rehearse and record this song. I kept the lyrics intact, for better or worse. After I had recorded the rhythm twice, I wanted to lay down the vocals and call it done.
Just checked the lyrics folder; there is one song that I did with Mike and Will back in the day. It's a song called "Want It," based around an Em riff. There are some interesting dynamics and rhythmic stuff in there, maybe there's one more old song to bring to life yet; or maybe I should try writing something new...
We'd never played this song with a drummer, so I practiced a few beats and set up the mics. Mike pointed out that I screwing up the placement of the XLR mics at the last rehearsal, and I definitely fixed that this time around. I probably should have rethought my decision to dedicate a mic to the bass drum, but man can you feel the beat!
I got a basic feel for the tempo changes and laid down the drum tracks. I had gotten as far as laying down the rhythm and lead guitars before I realized I had omitted the first two Bm sections of the song. Nothing to do but jump back on the drums. Luckily, the mics and mic-levels were still there.
After I had rerecorded everything I laid down the bassline. I would have preferred to get Mike back on this one, but alas, he was not around in the 3 hours I decided to rehearse and record this song. I kept the lyrics intact, for better or worse. After I had recorded the rhythm twice, I wanted to lay down the vocals and call it done.
Just checked the lyrics folder; there is one song that I did with Mike and Will back in the day. It's a song called "Want It," based around an Em riff. There are some interesting dynamics and rhythmic stuff in there, maybe there's one more old song to bring to life yet; or maybe I should try writing something new...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Rock Hurts, Rock Scars, Rock Wounds and Marks
Jim sent out a very well written email detailing why it wouldn't be a good idea for him to continue playing with us.
What?
I wanted to be pissed, but he explained his thoughts very succinctly. He's not interested in gigging, and he wanted to step out at a time when we weren't relying on him. In retrospect, we had always talked about just getting together and jamming. After we quickly got a few songs sounding great quickly, I got excited about having a solid band. If anything, he should probably be mad at me for pushing in a different direction.
So, whereas Jim is a great guitarist, came to the jam every week and brought a ton of energy, and is generally a cool and interesting person to hang out with, it's probably a good call. Everyone's gotta be on the same page. I think Mike said it best: "Well I think I speak for everyone when I say this is a bummer."
Hopefully we can keep the informal and fun jam feel while putting a few things together. We'll see where all this leads...
What?
I wanted to be pissed, but he explained his thoughts very succinctly. He's not interested in gigging, and he wanted to step out at a time when we weren't relying on him. In retrospect, we had always talked about just getting together and jamming. After we quickly got a few songs sounding great quickly, I got excited about having a solid band. If anything, he should probably be mad at me for pushing in a different direction.
So, whereas Jim is a great guitarist, came to the jam every week and brought a ton of energy, and is generally a cool and interesting person to hang out with, it's probably a good call. Everyone's gotta be on the same page. I think Mike said it best: "Well I think I speak for everyone when I say this is a bummer."
Hopefully we can keep the informal and fun jam feel while putting a few things together. We'll see where all this leads...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
4th Jam: Multitasking
Date: 2/18
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar/Drums
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar/Drums
Kevin C had an unexpected conflict, and John was out of town, but we still got a solid groove going.
We kicked off on The Door and played through that a few times. Work on an intro was deferred to when we had a drummer. We did work on the stop in the third refrain. It looks like a long tradition of tweaking The Door shall continue, much to the benefit of Mike's and my sanity.
Mike mentioned that we should work the Outro dynamics more. I offered up my volume pedal, which amusingly did not serve this function very well.
We jumped over to Stooge next, and ran through it a couple of times with Kevin. Jim hopped on drums for the second go through, and we hit the Outro hard. A few times I had thought we were wrapping up, and Jim just kept the groove going. My failed attempt at using the volume pedal in the Door did have one benefit. I switched over to wah, and played wah guitar over the Stooge groove, with sick results. I wouldn't have thought to put a clean wah sound in there, but it worked.
Mike started messing around with playing 3's over the basic riff, and eventually came up with this locrian groove: A-Bb-C-D-Eb. We still have to figure out where to stick it in, but it should spice it up some.
Our search for a cover led us down much the same path of aborted Stones covers, Fire, before finally settling on "something from Weezer." My knowledge of only "Say it Ain't So" led us to launch into that. It held together on a once through, then somehow became a reggae grove, and we went through half the song again with the new feel. I wouldn't recommend ever doing that again, but it was a solid change in feel that everyone picked up quickly.
I hopped on the drums long enough to revive some 5/4 stuff Mike and I have messed around with in the past. I'm hoping to pull this into a track, possibly "Save Me."
We then launched into our coup d'etat: the Baba O'Reily Superjam. I kicked it off playing the basic keyboard part on guitar while sitting at the set. You can probably see where this is going. Jim came in with the guitar part, and I "quickly" jumped on drums.
For some reason, I had decided to sing backup while drumming. Unfortunately, the mic was at eye-level by the time I sat down, so during my Garth Algar drum solo I whipped my head into the mic. I sometimes play up minor injuries, but that mf'er hurt!
After that, we listened to the RM disc and picked out Far Side and Tomorrow to put together next week. Fresh Air was mentioned as a future possibility, and Mike brought up Damaged Goods.
Jim mentioned brining back the jam, possibly with the Crazy Days riff. I'm all for that, especially when it leads to new song ideas, but we also talked about putting together set songs for possible gigs in the future. Little did I know what that would lead to...
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar/Drums
Mike: Bass
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Guitar/Drums
Kevin C had an unexpected conflict, and John was out of town, but we still got a solid groove going.
We kicked off on The Door and played through that a few times. Work on an intro was deferred to when we had a drummer. We did work on the stop in the third refrain. It looks like a long tradition of tweaking The Door shall continue, much to the benefit of Mike's and my sanity.
Mike mentioned that we should work the Outro dynamics more. I offered up my volume pedal, which amusingly did not serve this function very well.
We jumped over to Stooge next, and ran through it a couple of times with Kevin. Jim hopped on drums for the second go through, and we hit the Outro hard. A few times I had thought we were wrapping up, and Jim just kept the groove going. My failed attempt at using the volume pedal in the Door did have one benefit. I switched over to wah, and played wah guitar over the Stooge groove, with sick results. I wouldn't have thought to put a clean wah sound in there, but it worked.
Mike started messing around with playing 3's over the basic riff, and eventually came up with this locrian groove: A-Bb-C-D-Eb. We still have to figure out where to stick it in, but it should spice it up some.
Our search for a cover led us down much the same path of aborted Stones covers, Fire, before finally settling on "something from Weezer." My knowledge of only "Say it Ain't So" led us to launch into that. It held together on a once through, then somehow became a reggae grove, and we went through half the song again with the new feel. I wouldn't recommend ever doing that again, but it was a solid change in feel that everyone picked up quickly.
I hopped on the drums long enough to revive some 5/4 stuff Mike and I have messed around with in the past. I'm hoping to pull this into a track, possibly "Save Me."
We then launched into our coup d'etat: the Baba O'Reily Superjam. I kicked it off playing the basic keyboard part on guitar while sitting at the set. You can probably see where this is going. Jim came in with the guitar part, and I "quickly" jumped on drums.
For some reason, I had decided to sing backup while drumming. Unfortunately, the mic was at eye-level by the time I sat down, so during my Garth Algar drum solo I whipped my head into the mic. I sometimes play up minor injuries, but that mf'er hurt!
After that, we listened to the RM disc and picked out Far Side and Tomorrow to put together next week. Fresh Air was mentioned as a future possibility, and Mike brought up Damaged Goods.
Jim mentioned brining back the jam, possibly with the Crazy Days riff. I'm all for that, especially when it leads to new song ideas, but we also talked about putting together set songs for possible gigs in the future. Little did I know what that would lead to...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
3rd Jam: Steady Beats
Date: 2/11
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar
Mike: Bass
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
Kevin C joins us on the drums this week. I also get Mike to come rock the burbs.
After a warm-up jam, we have dinner, and I finally get the PA working for vocals. There was a good, heavy groove going that eventually added a progression (Em-Em-G-D.)
We ran through Stooge a couple of times. I tried my hand at vocals, but a combination of never singing/playing the song and not remembering the lyrics made this difficult.
Jim keeps ripping off Stones riffs -- I gotta get these under my fingers. We did get a little Fire going, followed by some Knockin on Heaven's Door.
Kevin mentioned he had to go about 40 minutes before he actually left, which is always a good sign. We did play some P-Funk at Mike's suggestion to close out the jam. Mike's take, "Uh...that was good...didn't sound anything like the song, but it sounded good." Nice!
Rock
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar
Mike: Bass
Kevin C: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Vocals
Kevin C joins us on the drums this week. I also get Mike to come rock the burbs.
After a warm-up jam, we have dinner, and I finally get the PA working for vocals. There was a good, heavy groove going that eventually added a progression (Em-Em-G-D.)
We ran through Stooge a couple of times. I tried my hand at vocals, but a combination of never singing/playing the song and not remembering the lyrics made this difficult.
Jim keeps ripping off Stones riffs -- I gotta get these under my fingers. We did get a little Fire going, followed by some Knockin on Heaven's Door.
Kevin mentioned he had to go about 40 minutes before he actually left, which is always a good sign. We did play some P-Funk at Mike's suggestion to close out the jam. Mike's take, "Uh...that was good...didn't sound anything like the song, but it sounded good." Nice!
Rock
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Demotivation
Banged out some new lyrics for Fresh Air tonight. I was trying to strengthen the correlation of the verses to the 5 senses. Unfortunately, I realized I was changing the lines that sounded cool, so I quickly gave that up in favor of just changing the lines that didn't make sense and/or sounded really lame. Less was definitely more.
As I ripped through vocals that were pitchy and uneven dynamically, I realized that the more I record, the more my perfectionism wanes. It's not that I don't have a desire to rerecord certain tracks, or that I don't hear the mistakes on every playback. It's that the reward isn't worth the effort.
Perhaps if I were laying down tracks for a producible album, I might have the motivation to perfect what's going on. As it is, I'm going to bang out uneven drums, record barely audible bass-lines, do one take on guitars and solos, and slam out vocals. BOOM! MUSIC! DONE!
As I ripped through vocals that were pitchy and uneven dynamically, I realized that the more I record, the more my perfectionism wanes. It's not that I don't have a desire to rerecord certain tracks, or that I don't hear the mistakes on every playback. It's that the reward isn't worth the effort.
Perhaps if I were laying down tracks for a producible album, I might have the motivation to perfect what's going on. As it is, I'm going to bang out uneven drums, record barely audible bass-lines, do one take on guitars and solos, and slam out vocals. BOOM! MUSIC! DONE!
It is Growing
The shipment came in two parts. The set of microphones and stands came Thursday, whereas the rest had to be signed for on Friday. What a tease.
The Phonic Powerpod 780 Plus and two Phonic S715's came Friday afternoon. The most bang for the very least amount of buck. You never know when you will need a system that can pump out 500 watts of rock, but I hope that exact situation happens to me soon.
Still getting the hang of the powered-mixer. It looks like there's a monitor bus and a main bus, but I'm not sure if its set up to handle stereo recording. I at least have a way to get 6 mics mixed down into two input channels. I set up 4 mics to record the drums for a rough cut of Crazy Days. Did it sound better? Not sure. I was able to get a clearer snare sound, but it involved having a mic all in my junk, so it's probably not a long term solution.
Looking forward to the next jam. Kevin M. is out this week, so I might have the pick up the singing duties to break in the PA. Hmmm, I'd better learn the lyrics to my own songs...
The Phonic Powerpod 780 Plus and two Phonic S715's came Friday afternoon. The most bang for the very least amount of buck. You never know when you will need a system that can pump out 500 watts of rock, but I hope that exact situation happens to me soon.
Still getting the hang of the powered-mixer. It looks like there's a monitor bus and a main bus, but I'm not sure if its set up to handle stereo recording. I at least have a way to get 6 mics mixed down into two input channels. I set up 4 mics to record the drums for a rough cut of Crazy Days. Did it sound better? Not sure. I was able to get a clearer snare sound, but it involved having a mic all in my junk, so it's probably not a long term solution.
Looking forward to the next jam. Kevin M. is out this week, so I might have the pick up the singing duties to break in the PA. Hmmm, I'd better learn the lyrics to my own songs...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Song Revue
I put together a CD of original material. I made 10 copies and started handing them out to the people I've played with. Here's a little more information on the tracks:
2008
1) Far Side (Vocal Mix 1)
I had that Cm riff going since at least '07, if not '06. I used to play it over and over again until it was in Tom's head as well as mine. Anyway, I slowly pulled that into a song, and eventually added lyrics. It took a long time and many iterations to get a decent melody to sit on top, but I think we're getting closer.
I played it a few times with Mike, Ann, and sometimes Annie, sometimes me on the drums. However, I never got a recording of us doing it. This track is MIDI drums/bass, with me overdubbing guitars and vocals in Whipple Studios. I'm guessing early 2008.
2) Daddy's Little Angels
3) Sweet Thing
Annie came back in town in the summer of '08. We were working pretty hard to get some tracks together to perform, but it was going slowly. Then she found it harder and harder to make rehearsals, so we never got a set together. We did lay down these two tracks with Annie on drums, Ann on keyboards, Mike on bass, and myself on rhythm guitars. This was in the July/August time frame in Whipple Studios.
Daddy's Little Angels was a track I wrote for the Rhythm Method pretty early on (2002?). I was messing around with a few jazz chords, and the little E7#9/E9 riff came out. The A7/Cmaj7 followed the melody, as did the chorus progression. Ann heard it for the first time and added the echoed riff. If she continues to add dimension to every song, maybe in 5-10 years I will appreciate her work.
Sweet Thing was written much later, after RM had splintered. I think Mike and I were first performed this at Kaffein. I came up with the theme for guitar, but never fully incorporated the descending bassline into the riff. Not sure how the 5/4 bars got in there, but that happened early on as well. Once again, we added Ann right before we recorded, and she took over the theme.
We did two takes of Sweet Thing and three takes of Daddy's Little Angels. I had them in the can for a solid three/four months before I overdubbed vocals and lead guitars at Mt Prospect Studios on the last days of 2008.
4) Fresh Air (New Vox)
I had put together a cover of Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) where I had played all instruments, but this track is the first original where I played the drums. Mike played bass and Ann played the keys. The first two sections of this song were built around two of Mike's basslines. I have a vivid memory of the fourth section's melody
popping into my head in the shower at my parents' house, so I'm guessing that happened in late '07. It took me a while to transcribe the guitar line I was hearing underneath the melody, but I think I eventually nailed it. I threw together the third section's progression as a way to bridge the two sections. It still sounds like 2 or 3 separate ideas jammed together, but I dig it.
Recording took place at Whipple Studios, and I overdubbed guitars and vocals there as well. I didn't completely flesh out lyrics at the time, so I mumbled through a few sections. After many months of trying to come up with more coherent lyrics with a strong thematic tie-in to the five senses, I eventually scrapped that and settled on slightly more coherent lyrics. I was also messing around with the new PA, so I'm not completely happy with the new vocal recording, but the lyrics hold together a little better.
5) Stooge (Raw)
I think this counts as the first original that's all me. I laid down these drum tracks in late 2008 in Mt Prospect studios. They sat in the can for a while before I threw on bass and guitars in short order. The basic melody came quickly, but it took me a while to get the lyrics in a descent place. I eventually finished up the recording in early Jan 2009.
The premise was to get a song that's quick to pick up and jam over. Hence, the long outro with only the basic riff to solo and improvise over.
2005
This is a set of recordings Mike and I did at WNUR. Tomorrow is the only track I wrote after The Rhythm Method broke apart. "The Reason Why" was originally performed under the title "Simplified." More on these later...maybe...
1) The Door
2) I Miss You
3) The Reason Why
4) Tomorrow
2008
1) Far Side (Vocal Mix 1)
I had that Cm riff going since at least '07, if not '06. I used to play it over and over again until it was in Tom's head as well as mine. Anyway, I slowly pulled that into a song, and eventually added lyrics. It took a long time and many iterations to get a decent melody to sit on top, but I think we're getting closer.
I played it a few times with Mike, Ann, and sometimes Annie, sometimes me on the drums. However, I never got a recording of us doing it. This track is MIDI drums/bass, with me overdubbing guitars and vocals in Whipple Studios. I'm guessing early 2008.
2) Daddy's Little Angels
3) Sweet Thing
Annie came back in town in the summer of '08. We were working pretty hard to get some tracks together to perform, but it was going slowly. Then she found it harder and harder to make rehearsals, so we never got a set together. We did lay down these two tracks with Annie on drums, Ann on keyboards, Mike on bass, and myself on rhythm guitars. This was in the July/August time frame in Whipple Studios.
Daddy's Little Angels was a track I wrote for the Rhythm Method pretty early on (2002?). I was messing around with a few jazz chords, and the little E7#9/E9 riff came out. The A7/Cmaj7 followed the melody, as did the chorus progression. Ann heard it for the first time and added the echoed riff. If she continues to add dimension to every song, maybe in 5-10 years I will appreciate her work.
Sweet Thing was written much later, after RM had splintered. I think Mike and I were first performed this at Kaffein. I came up with the theme for guitar, but never fully incorporated the descending bassline into the riff. Not sure how the 5/4 bars got in there, but that happened early on as well. Once again, we added Ann right before we recorded, and she took over the theme.
We did two takes of Sweet Thing and three takes of Daddy's Little Angels. I had them in the can for a solid three/four months before I overdubbed vocals and lead guitars at Mt Prospect Studios on the last days of 2008.
4) Fresh Air (New Vox)
I had put together a cover of Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) where I had played all instruments, but this track is the first original where I played the drums. Mike played bass and Ann played the keys. The first two sections of this song were built around two of Mike's basslines. I have a vivid memory of the fourth section's melody
popping into my head in the shower at my parents' house, so I'm guessing that happened in late '07. It took me a while to transcribe the guitar line I was hearing underneath the melody, but I think I eventually nailed it. I threw together the third section's progression as a way to bridge the two sections. It still sounds like 2 or 3 separate ideas jammed together, but I dig it.
Recording took place at Whipple Studios, and I overdubbed guitars and vocals there as well. I didn't completely flesh out lyrics at the time, so I mumbled through a few sections. After many months of trying to come up with more coherent lyrics with a strong thematic tie-in to the five senses, I eventually scrapped that and settled on slightly more coherent lyrics. I was also messing around with the new PA, so I'm not completely happy with the new vocal recording, but the lyrics hold together a little better.
5) Stooge (Raw)
I think this counts as the first original that's all me. I laid down these drum tracks in late 2008 in Mt Prospect studios. They sat in the can for a while before I threw on bass and guitars in short order. The basic melody came quickly, but it took me a while to get the lyrics in a descent place. I eventually finished up the recording in early Jan 2009.
The premise was to get a song that's quick to pick up and jam over. Hence, the long outro with only the basic riff to solo and improvise over.
2005
This is a set of recordings Mike and I did at WNUR. Tomorrow is the only track I wrote after The Rhythm Method broke apart. "The Reason Why" was originally performed under the title "Simplified." More on these later...maybe...
1) The Door
2) I Miss You
3) The Reason Why
4) Tomorrow
The Rock Torments Me
Not sure if I'm getting old or what all, but I find myself up at 3:30 not able to sleep. I'm encouraged to get out of bed. What to do but start a blog about a rag-tag group of musicians who play at my house?
Gotta send lyrics to Kevin on the other songs. Thinking of sending out some older tracks in the catalogue. I've got these in mind:
1) The Door
2) Sweet Thing
3) Here
4) The Reason Why
I also have preliminary forms of Save Me and Crazy Days (Just to Be Difficult) on the 8-track that I should flesh out a bit. We'll try to get to that this weekend. Writing better lyrics for Fresh Air is also an option.
Gotta send lyrics to Kevin on the other songs. Thinking of sending out some older tracks in the catalogue. I've got these in mind:
1) The Door
2) Sweet Thing
3) Here
4) The Reason Why
I also have preliminary forms of Save Me and Crazy Days (Just to Be Difficult) on the 8-track that I should flesh out a bit. We'll try to get to that this weekend. Writing better lyrics for Fresh Air is also an option.
2nd Jam: Let's Rock just a Little Harder
Date: 2/4
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
John: Guitar
Jim: Guitar/Drums
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Bass/Drums/Guitar
After losing the argument with Kevin that he really should take my mumbles at face value and write his own lyrics, I relent and send him the lyrics to Stooge. Why did I not send the lyrics to the other songs? They were not on the computer from which I was sending emails to the group that day.* And I thought I could still win the argument that he should write lyrics.
Note to self: Befriend a poet, or at least someone who writes sweet lyrics to rock songs.
Note to self: Realize you're creating a band in which you will soon not have a spot, other than "sound guy" or "fly-dancer."
Note to self: Find some fly-dancers for the band.
Had to throw Kevin's vocals through the compressor and out the little Crate 15-watt practice amp. It actually worked pretty well. Hoping the PA comes by next week.
John, Kevin, and I pounded through Stooge before Jim arrived, and then again after he showed. We pulled that together fast enough that I wished I had planned more for the rehearsal. We messed around with a few songs trying to find something everybody knew. Kevin scoured the Interweb for lyrics of songs we were throwing at him. A little "You Really Got Me" happened.
While Kevin went off to the Interweb again, John, Jim and I got a little minor-rock groove going that alternated between quiet, rim-shot driven verses and harder choruses. John mentioned it was only two chords (I was on drums at the time.) We'll have to bust that out again and develop it in the future.
Plush was the closest we came to doing a cover. That's a possiblity going forward.
Jim mentioned the "Just-to-be-Difficult" riff again. I'll have to work on that one. Mike's gonna love the first rehearsal he attends!
Rock.
*Later discovered that the lyrics were on that computer, just not in the folder I expected them to be in. Even better.
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
John: Guitar
Jim: Guitar/Drums
Kevin M: Vocals
Ryan: Bass/Drums/Guitar
After losing the argument with Kevin that he really should take my mumbles at face value and write his own lyrics, I relent and send him the lyrics to Stooge. Why did I not send the lyrics to the other songs? They were not on the computer from which I was sending emails to the group that day.* And I thought I could still win the argument that he should write lyrics.
Note to self: Befriend a poet, or at least someone who writes sweet lyrics to rock songs.
Note to self: Realize you're creating a band in which you will soon not have a spot, other than "sound guy" or "fly-dancer."
Note to self: Find some fly-dancers for the band.
Had to throw Kevin's vocals through the compressor and out the little Crate 15-watt practice amp. It actually worked pretty well. Hoping the PA comes by next week.
John, Kevin, and I pounded through Stooge before Jim arrived, and then again after he showed. We pulled that together fast enough that I wished I had planned more for the rehearsal. We messed around with a few songs trying to find something everybody knew. Kevin scoured the Interweb for lyrics of songs we were throwing at him. A little "You Really Got Me" happened.
While Kevin went off to the Interweb again, John, Jim and I got a little minor-rock groove going that alternated between quiet, rim-shot driven verses and harder choruses. John mentioned it was only two chords (I was on drums at the time.) We'll have to bust that out again and develop it in the future.
Plush was the closest we came to doing a cover. That's a possiblity going forward.
Jim mentioned the "Just-to-be-Difficult" riff again. I'll have to work on that one. Mike's gonna love the first rehearsal he attends!
Rock.
*Later discovered that the lyrics were on that computer, just not in the folder I expected them to be in. Even better.
Blood Brothers
I sent out these tracks:
1) Far Side
2) Fresh Air
3) Daddy's Little Angels
At some point, Kyle again mentioned his affinity for his life outside of the Rock, and his resultant inability to commit the time necessary to be in a band. I thought we were four dudes who drank beer and played riffs in 10 minute bursts, but Kyle's statement now made us a band. Since we were a band, I reminded Kyle that our jam made us blood brothers.
Apparently blood brothers do not need to sacrifice other aspects of their life to Rock hard. I need to find out what relationship does, and make sure everyone in the band has that relationship with each other.
I finished up vocals and lead guitars on a rhythm track I had laid down over the holidays. I finshed that up 1/25, called it The Stooge, and sent it out.
Saw Kevin M at a Super Bowl party. He mentioned he was in a band before. He said he'd be in this band. Solid. Dedicated vocalist. What am I going to do in the band? These are things that can be figured out later.
Meanwhile, I called up the local members of the Rhythm Method. Mike was out this week, but said he'd be down. Ann was in, then realized she played keyboards, which do not rock, and quit. Or was kicked out of the band before she joined. Or actually she just had a doctor's appointment and said she'd make it next time. But probably the whole keyboard realization thing.
Also contacted a couple other drummers. Brian was going to a show the night, but said he would drop by sometime. Kevin C was taking the GMAT the next day, but would be into it.
What did I ever do to drummers?!??! I've got a set here. I try to write interesting parts for drummers. I buy cases of beer. I don't get it...
1) Far Side
2) Fresh Air
3) Daddy's Little Angels
At some point, Kyle again mentioned his affinity for his life outside of the Rock, and his resultant inability to commit the time necessary to be in a band. I thought we were four dudes who drank beer and played riffs in 10 minute bursts, but Kyle's statement now made us a band. Since we were a band, I reminded Kyle that our jam made us blood brothers.
Apparently blood brothers do not need to sacrifice other aspects of their life to Rock hard. I need to find out what relationship does, and make sure everyone in the band has that relationship with each other.
I finished up vocals and lead guitars on a rhythm track I had laid down over the holidays. I finshed that up 1/25, called it The Stooge, and sent it out.
Saw Kevin M at a Super Bowl party. He mentioned he was in a band before. He said he'd be in this band. Solid. Dedicated vocalist. What am I going to do in the band? These are things that can be figured out later.
Meanwhile, I called up the local members of the Rhythm Method. Mike was out this week, but said he'd be down. Ann was in, then realized she played keyboards, which do not rock, and quit. Or was kicked out of the band before she joined. Or actually she just had a doctor's appointment and said she'd make it next time. But probably the whole keyboard realization thing.
Also contacted a couple other drummers. Brian was going to a show the night, but said he would drop by sometime. Kevin C was taking the GMAT the next day, but would be into it.
What did I ever do to drummers?!??! I've got a set here. I try to write interesting parts for drummers. I buy cases of beer. I don't get it...
1st Jam: The Rock Trident
Date: 1/21/09
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar
John: Guitar
Kyle: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Bass
I had coordinated meeting up through emails. At some point, I mentioned the fact that it might have been a good idea to have a couple of songs in mind to play. This was generally acknowledged as a good idea and promptly not carried out.
So it was a good sign that the jam generally went well. I'm still not sure how the 15 minutes hard-rock-into-funk epic will be used in the future, but the fact that we pulled something together was solid, given the fact that the guys really had met before, let alone played together. After exploring E-Minor metal for a while, my acknowledgement of general distain for 12-bar blues promptly led to a 12-bar blues jam.
Jim said it was cool when I switched from guitar to bass midway through, but I know I was wrecking his dreams of a three-guitar attack, a veritable trident of power-rock. He put on a brave face all the same.
We tried to figure out a cover. The Who's Baba O'Reily was the closest we came to putting something together.
Also discussed: The riff that Mike claimed I wrote just to be difficult.
Rock.
Location: Mt Prospect Studios
Jim: Guitar
John: Guitar
Kyle: Drums
Ryan: Guitar/Bass
I had coordinated meeting up through emails. At some point, I mentioned the fact that it might have been a good idea to have a couple of songs in mind to play. This was generally acknowledged as a good idea and promptly not carried out.
So it was a good sign that the jam generally went well. I'm still not sure how the 15 minutes hard-rock-into-funk epic will be used in the future, but the fact that we pulled something together was solid, given the fact that the guys really had met before, let alone played together. After exploring E-Minor metal for a while, my acknowledgement of general distain for 12-bar blues promptly led to a 12-bar blues jam.
Jim said it was cool when I switched from guitar to bass midway through, but I know I was wrecking his dreams of a three-guitar attack, a veritable trident of power-rock. He put on a brave face all the same.
We tried to figure out a cover. The Who's Baba O'Reily was the closest we came to putting something together.
Also discussed: The riff that Mike claimed I wrote just to be difficult.
Rock.
It's 2009 and We Must Rock
How it got started:
January 10, 2009: Met up with Jim at Eller's birthday gathering at Jake's on Clark. Rock is discussed. Rock is decided upon.
January 10, 2009: Met up with Jim at Eller's birthday gathering at Jake's on Clark. Rock is discussed. Rock is decided upon.
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