hey. back and have been absorbed in new tunes. about last weekend…. big thanks to the netherlands promoters, for getting almost everything on the tech rider *correct*, and thus enabling the best possible show! wow, not rocket science. i could see, hear, and the gear worked. the set was great. it does add so much to the show when it all works like it should. of course when nothing works, it adds that extra FUCK YOU layer, which can be turned around into a good thing, but can go horribly wrong. i try to stay away from the escalating antagonistic feedback loop. nijmegen people got it right, mostly. my newly redesigned tech rider probably helped. i took a cue from the japanese, with their brilliant picture menus. when there’s a language gap, text is the enemy. PICTURE RIDER! well, it seems to have worked so far. i felt like a fool designing the thing, like i’m insulting their intelligence… but just make it easier on people so they can make it easier on you. next step is to build a 1/10 scale mesa boogie triple rec from toothpicks, a tiny guitar stand out of paper clips, spray them w/ shiny lacquer and put them in a little glass case. thoughts - i NEED to start doing van tours where i travel with 100% my own gear. being light and compact is fine for weekend one-offs, but if i could have all my own amps, guitars, stands, pedalboard, etc… instead of needing to break it all down into easily transportable rolling bags, and have the rest rented, the set could be that much better. yes, more gear. london saturday, was odd. not my favorite time in london. playing miles away from the crowd, in the corner of an echo chamber, through a redlining overblown techno soundsystem (extreme highs and lows, no clarity), and unable to hear anything but a big wash of echoey piercing highs and corner bassboom, tests the soul. nice organizers though, treated me great and handled everything else fine. oh it was my last jungle set in the uk for a bit. for those who came out, sorry about the muddy sound, i did my best, & thx for enjoying it anyway. bangface weekender was supposed to be the last jungle gig, but this one snuck in there. i have a few remaining jungle sets in berlin, czech, netherlands this summer and then will be doing only drumcorps….. more on that in a bit. be well.
06.20.08
mastering day is always a fun one. somehow i always end up forgetting some crucial detail back at the house, like the audio. but today i had learned for once and i had everything, on time. met some friends on the street, at 9:30, heading out for a leisurely cafe breakfast before work at hardwax. where else does that happen? berlin is so strange sometimes, you have to check yourself and remember that this isn’t normal. we’re musicians and sound enthusiasts making a cozy simple living, but it’s via the weirdest music on the planet.
walked all the way to kreuzberg, lovely morning, sun blazing, trees full green, pretty girls on bikes… and into d&m, where they have a pile of excellent esoteric audio gear sitting atop scavenged furniture. so berlin. no wasting money on a custom built swooping walnut desk that will look good in the fisheye promo shots, fuck it. get the best gear where it counts, build the rest yourself, and get on with it.
then it’s on to make decisions, but not too many. as i do this more, i offer less and less input at the mastering stage, put more and more trust in the engineer. just sit there and pay attention. my work is mostly done, just make sure there aren’t any glaring mistakes and we’re cool. things gradually shift…. okay, sounds a little bit better i guess. some squawky noises. what is he doing there? then with a certain microscopic flourish, he switches back into the unmastered version. the heavens open up and angels sing ten thousand harmonies. HOLY FUCK, my version sounds like charlie brown’s teacher, underwater. theirs sounds like a rainstick, or beans in a jar. ten million little details and full of life.
a few hours later, a new lacquer is done, and a new track mastered for an upcoming comp. the animosity record is going to be good. it was not easy to cram all that on a single sided 10″ at 45 rpm. we managed, and the test cuts sounded good. now it’s in the pressing plant’s hands. so many steps with making vinyl, something can go horribly wrong at every stage… this one is sorted so far. so we will see.
back home with the files on usb stick, to obsessively a/b/c/d the mastered version against my self-mastered one, the original, a few other different versions and tweaks. ears are shot at this point but i gotta just check it out so i can sleep right. next morning with fresh ears usually reveals the truth.
06.10.08
new jason forrest rmx up! i’m not focusing on these kind of tracks so much at the moment but i couldn’t say no to jason, he’s the man… learned a bunch. breaks and bass, fun. http://www.cockrockdisco.com/CRD2/albumpages/Crockp3-007.html
06.06.08
ooook, back from a spot of travel, 30686 miles in a month and a week. that’s 1x around the world with a roundtrip across the atlantic thrown in. so i’m a bit weary. sorting through all the a/v for you soon. right now, a quick thanks to all friends new and old who we met on the road, your support was brilliant. new japan/taiwan pics in the photo section, and there’s a bigger photo gallery on ye olde myspace. the upside of the berlin darkness is the berlin spring, and it was beyond awesome to step away from all that chaos and into the teleporter, a few hours later end up barbequeing w/ friends in the park, day of return….. berlin chillage is full-on now, like nothing has changed. be well.
06.02.08
