rockin' the suburbs

STUDIO DAY #12

Finished up with electric guitar parts as of right now. If we think of something we want to add later, so be it, but at the moment it's time to move on. Tomorrow we will try our hand at harmony parts for the vocals. This was something I always felt the last album lacked in, so this time around it's gonna get done right!

I'm still trying to figure out what will come of the bonus disc for Brighter Side. It might be an "Acoustic Sessions vol.2" as I mentioned before, but I also thought of the idea of putting together a bonus CD while on the road from August - November. I thought it might be cool to compile recordings done in hotel rooms, live shows, and then also extra tracks from the Brighter Side sessions. There's also the possibility of doing a DVD. I'm interested to know what you guys would like for a bonus disc. I want to give you the most bang for your buck once the album is released. let me know...

bringing out the goods

STUDIO DAY #11

Today we started tracking electric guitar parts for the album. I brought in a couple of my own electrics, which was nice because one of them I haven't used much since 2003.

Songs worked on today :
Beautiful Girls
Overrated
It's Not Over
One Way Road
Sunrise
Giving It All To You.

Other than that there's not too much to report. My cousin John came to visit for a little bit. Later in the day Toby and Todd and I had discussed certain things wrong with the music industry.


Enjoy the weekend and I'll see ya Monday

so... go green?

STUDIO DAY #10

We finished up vocals today and we are getting ready to rock the electric guitar tomorrow. Today would have been an un-interesting day to film, but luckily we had a visitor come in named Jesse. I never met the guy until today, but Todd took it upon himself to interview Jesse for the blog. Without any warning, Jesse deemed it a good time to discuss his thoughts on politics, needless to say he's voting "Green" .. and why? Because... they're... about green?

big wheels keep on turnin'

STUDIO DAY #9

I'm starting to find it difficult to report things other than "the drums are done" - "the bass is done" - "we are working on vocals now" - "vocals are almost done" but surprisingly that's pretty much how things are going at the moment. Todd mentioned today that the album has actually been annoyingly easy so far, which is a GOOD thing. A lot of bands go into the studio un-prepared which can cause difficulties in the album making process. I started writing songs for this album about two years ago so I've had some time to get to know them pretty well. We're knocking them out without any problems, but I don't want to jinx us - hopefully we don't run into any problems.

Vocals are almost complete. We have three more to finish tomorrow and then we'll start adding the extra stuff that will fill out the record (electric guitar, keys, background vocals, etc...)

One of the songs we tracked today is called 'The Good Life,' which I actually started about four years ago. I never finished it because I couldn't ever think of a chorus for some reason. Low and behold, a month or so ago I finished it and is now ready for pop music super smash hit stardom. For the hardcore fans of 'Better With You', this one knocks it out of the park.

Enjoy the video and the "bonus" footage at the end...

the emoto-transformer 3000

STUDIO DAY #8

We started vocals today, which means all eyes are on me. If my vocals aren't good, the whole record goes down the tanker. I've decided to skip over my worries by purchasing the emoto-transformer 3000. A new piece of studio gear where all you have to do is speak the words and then program the melody in the computer and choose which emotion you want to convey in the song, and you are all set with perfect pitch! Just kidding, I made that up. I will not be pulling any cheap stunts like that - you get the real deal baby!

Anyway, we tracked vocals for Who You Are, One Way Road, Beautiful Girls, Giving It All To You, and started on Here. As we started to work on Here I realized I was getting rather hungry, as I had previously informed Todd and Toby my interest in eating a Chicken Fried Steak. My two PB&J sandies and bag of Sun Chips didn't hold me over throughout the day as I had planned.

I do realize my lunch menu is a normal part of my recording blogs, but I should stress that food is an important part of my day. I like it, it tastes good. It makes me work better. It also fills in space for the worded portion of these blogs :)

kickin' it bass style

STUDIO DAY #7

Bass is now complete. Todd played on two of the tunes last Friday and Nolan knocked out the rest today. Piece by piece it's all coming together. I'm not sure how to describe the album yet - I want to say it'll be the next Sgt. Peppers, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself. I'm just kidding, but seriously, it's gonna be RAD. Easily the best songs I've written and best album I'll have made - that, I can guarantee.

I had a BLT (hold the mayo) for lunch, it was aight.

Tomorrow we start tracking vocals which I'm worried about because I told the guys I have an important yelling contest to go to tonight. NO MERCY!

moving right along

STUDIO DAY #6

We finished tracking acoustic guitar today and started working on bass parts. We'll be picking up on Monday again with more bass, then vocals the remainder of the week. Things are moving pleasantly fast and we are definitely on schedule. Toby and I made it a point to enjoy a delicious lunch from Dickey's again. Though I had been craving BBQ for quite sometime and had it for lunch a few days ago, apparently I was not satisfied. Today though, I think ended the BBQ craze for a while. I did, however, start up a Dickey's frequent customer card that entitles me to a free meal if I get 9 hole punches. We shall see if I accomplish this within the month.

I will be back Monday. Until then enjoy the video...