NEW. {ELSE}. ALBUM. Again… NEW. {ELSE}. ALBUM. Another several-year project done. An album release show later tonight. Another month or two of rest and recovery planned before starting the next one.
This album, like our previous “Who Will Cry”, ended up taking way longer than anything should, beginning with recording my guitar parts back in November/December of 2017. Bass and the other guitar parts followed in January-March of 2018, followed by vocals in the summer of 2018. At this time, we had to pause in recording to train our new drummer, who did an amazing job learning the songs and recorded his parts at home in March of 2019. I spent several weeks of heavy mixing sessions after the drums were in, and then spent the summer slowly poking at the mixes every few weeks while planning the release show, eventually settling on what you hear now.
Though still very proud of our initial album, Through What We Knew is a colossal improvement in many ways. The newer songs are better written, with a greater variety of sounds, textures, and tempos, and the production value is better. I still am not happy with the guitar sounds on the first album, despite remastering, so this time around we focused on tighter, more-focused, more meaty guitars. It’s a big improvement, but honestly still something to work on for the next album. I learned a bit more about mixing bass, using a touch less volume but a more consistent low end to always fill the space without overpowering the rest of the mix. I focused on more present vocals with a more focused EQ, less reverb, and better compression, and used more suitable reverb and EQ on the drums for a more lively sound.
Anyway, I hope you like it! I’ve listened to the songs hundreds of times now and still like them, so I think that says something. Maybe.
After several years of focusing almost exclusively on my rock/folk band projects, string quartet arrangements, running live sound, and recording projects, I took a recent, quiet weekend alone at home to write a piano sonata. Read the rest of this entry »
Pay the Devil released a new single, featuring me on cello! The band has started to release singles in-between larger recording efforts, so this one comes relatively hot on the heels of another single and their full album from earlier this year. Take a listen!
It’s been another long writing, recording, mixing, and mastering journey, but the end is nigh! {ELSE} released a two-track preview of our new album, Through What We Knew. Take a listen!
Since early college, mandolin has been top on my “next instrument to learn” list. I did finally start playing a few years ago when my former bandmates from Whiskey Doubles gifted me a mandolin as a new-house gift, and I did end up playing two songs with that group on mandolin, but never really felt comfortable with the instrument. After a few years of it mostly just hanging on the wall, I started playing it near daily this year, usually 15-30 minutes a day, teaching myself some bluegrass and americana staples, as well as working on my own arrangements of songs like “Amazing Grace” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”. And now I’ve just finished my first gig with the instrument!
I don’t know where she found it, but my wife found this French video detailing the Bosch painting which features a good chunk of my metal version of the ancient music!
Milwaukee’s favorite “shanty-grass” ensemble, the gruff and lovable, Pay the Devil, released their sophomore album, “To Hell Luck” last night at the Walker’s Point Music Hall. Though I don’t play with the group regularly anymore, I actually did contribute bass to all but one track, and played cello on three others.
The band recorded all of their parts at banjo-Ivan’s house (yes, there are two Ivans in the band, one on banjo, one on guitar), usually in a group setting with the vocals added later. I then rented a stand-up bass to lay down the bass tracks in my home studio, where I also recorded the cello parts. Harmonica was layered in all the way from Erie, Pennsylvania, performed by banjo-Ivan’s dad. Once everything was recorded and mixed by Ivan, he headed into my home studio where we sat down to a night of mastering and Thai food. It was a long but enjoyable and collaborative process.
A particularly collaborative song is “Buffalo Bill”, written by a friend of the band, Lucas Riddle. Banjo-Ivan plays guitar and performs lead vocals, I play cello, Ivan’s dad added harmonica, and the band’s new bassist, Jacqueline, provided backup vocals. The track turned out fantastic despite none of the performers actually sitting down to play the tune together!
This song harkens back to my formative golden year of music, that period in middle or high school where you formed a strong bond with certain types of music that carries through the rest of your life. When I wasn’t listening to No Doubt, Bush, Stabbing Westward, or Garbage, there was a strong chance I was listening to this song. It’s still a favorite, and it’s fun and cute quality has helped it age well over some of the more angsty things from my teen years. I’ve always enjoyed the songs great melody (it seriously is a study in melody-writing 101) and jazzy harmonies provided by the guitar and backup vocals.
For the arrangement, I decided to make the first verse stand out from the rest by means of the entire accompaniment playing pizzicato, with the cello take some percussive slaps. As the song progresses, I dug more into the harmonies and countermelodies, even adding a bit more color to them than is in the original recording. It’s a relatively simple, but effective arrangement in the end.
Oh boy was this fun. This is such an incredible song, but I was afraid that it’s heavy use of a drum beat, very bassy synthesizers, and free-styled vocals would make it a poor choice for the more straight-laced string quartet. Once I set out on the arrangement though, I quickly found some intriguing harmonies I could dig into. I also heavily debated whether or not I should arrange the instrumental coda to the song not played on the radio, but when I eventually did start it, it turned out to be the best part of the song!
MKE-based rock band, Eponymous, just released their second full-length album, Sea of Tranquility, featuring myself on cello on two tracks!
The first song, “So They Say“, features some cello throughout, has an aggressive bridge breakdown where I added some wild cello parts, and ends with a small passage featuring two cello voices.
The second, “Extortion“, also features cello throughout, slowly building, and rising to a counter-melody in the last refrain.
Make sure to give a listen to the whole album on Spotify!
