The Surefire Way Blog

Can you feel my onion?

2008-01-30T18:20:00.001-08:00

Hey gang - let me tell you something, it's about to get real interesting. It's a pretty cool time to be a Surefire Fan. But before we get into that, let me tell you a quick story to keep you entertained (be forewarned, I may cuss).

About 7 years ago I was getting back into being a rock star and was playing with a band called The Right Bastards. We were rehearsing in the Music Building, a building on 8th Ave. with 5-6 sound proofed rooms per floor that were specifically for bands/musicians to rehearse in. Allegedly, Madonna used to rehearse there before she was Evita or had a British accent. Because there were so many bands, and so much musical equipment in this place, they had a "security guard" which was basically a 95 pound guy eating collard greens watching a 5" black and white TV.

So one night I get to the building for rehearsal, and there's this scrawny guy arguing with the guard, who won't let him in. I quickly gleaned that the guy just wanted to go into the building to check out some of the rooms. I figured he wanted to scope it out to see if he'd want to rent one, so I told the guard he was with me and let him in. In a matter of moments, I learned that this guy had come all the way to 8th Avenue from Israel to become a star. He (from here on, referred to as WIG - Wacky Israeli Guy) was a singer/songwriter, whose first stop was to visit the place where his idol, Madonna, had started out.

On our way up in the elevator, WIG said to me "Can you feel my onion?" I had no idea what he meant. He explained to me that he had just eaten an onion bagel. I figured out that he was worried about his breath when he asked again "can you feel my onion?" It was at this moment that I realized that some of his translations to English were a little sketchy. More on this later.

We got up to the space, and I introduced WIG to the other guys in my band. He told us about how he had come to America to be a star (this was years before American Idol, mind you), and he offered to let us be his back-up band. He then proceeded to perform one of the songs he had written for us. The lyrics for his song were as follows:

I watch you, watch you, watch you.
Do you watch me, watch me too.
I watch you, watch you, watch you.
You, I watch you.

While performing this for us, he proceeded to gyrate. Have you ever seen a scrawny, delusional, slightly smelly, Israeli, Madonna fan gyrate? I have.

Following his performance he shouted to us - "Am I fucking your brain!" over and over. Completely confused, we asked him to leave. It was several hours later that I realized he was quite literally trying to translate into English - "Am I blowing your mind?" A fun example of 'lost in translation,' thanks for indulging me.

So, back to the present - we're going to be announcing some pretty cool stuff in the near future - an upcoming show at Mercury Lounge and our 2nd Mid-Atlantic road trip, this time to Philly. We've also got some fun new material that's starting to take form. And we might have another surprise up our sleeve - you'll just have to stay tuned.

Prepare to have your brain fucked. Hard.

-d

TSW Takes DC

2007-12-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, the Surefire Way invaded our nation's capitol and after a bloodless coup, are now officially America's favorite rock band. It's true - we held a vote, which was inconclusive, but the other bands conceded, and the Supreme Court declared us as the winners.

Vin, and his wife Laura, picked me up in the Surefire minivan on Saturday afternoon and we began our odyssey down I-95. Being the generous drummer that I am, I picked up lunch for the Fiorillo's at Ess-a-Bagel; lox spread on an onion bagel for Laura and tuna salad on a pumpernickel bagel for Vin. Here's a recommendation for all of you out there... tuna salad is not the easiest food to eat while driving. So Vin, who is not the neatest fellow to begin with, dropped tuna salad all over himself, had it all over his face and hands while driving. Since I was sitting shotgun, it was my responsibility to hand the man some napkins to try to clean up. Vin, however, didn't just want me to hand him napkins, he wanted me to actually wipe off his face and hands myself. After explaining to him, in no uncertain terms, that I was neither his wife, nor his mother, the lazy bastard cleaned himself up and we were through the Lincoln Tunnel and on the Jersey Turnpike. I also brought a case of Cherry Coke Zero for the ride and got the Fiorillo's hooked on its delicious, artificial cherry sweetness. As America's band, we are by default, also the official band of Cherry Coke Zero. And puppies.

Several hours later, we made it to Scott and Natalie, and had about an hour to hang out and eat cookies before the show. That's right, chocolate chip cookies - this is some serious rock n' roll stuff here. At Natalie's, Vin noticed that there was a black magic marker out in the living room, and stated, "Oh Weiss, when you fall asleep, I'm gonna draw a Hitler moustache on you." More on this later. We headed over to Grog and Tankard and prepared to rock DC.

We were psyched to have two hours to play, so we decided to kinda wing an acoustic set in the middle of our original tunes. Thankfully, Scott knows lots o'tunes, and the rest of us can fake it. About half way through, I broke out the cajon to accompany him for the stripped down set. We also reached into the way-back machine and pulled out an old TSW favorite - There She Was, which sounded great at a slower tempo with the cajon. We just might have to try that one again... Let me say this; I've been a big fan of Guster for years, primarily because of el conguero, the Thunder God - Brian Rosenworcel, who is the band's percussionist. If you don't know Guster, check them out, if for nothing else, to hear some of the most creative and energetic hand percussion you'll ever hear. I have a new appreciation for Mr. Rosenworcel, because after only 20 minutes of playing my cajon, my hands were wicked angry at me, and this guy beats the crap out of congas, cymbals, drums, whatever for hours each night, for years. There's a well documented rumor out there that a few professional baseball players who don't wear batting gloves, instead urinate on their hands to toughen their skin. There was a moment during the set, when my fingers were throbbing, where I saw the value in doing this. The moment was fleeting, but it was there.

All in all, we had a great time - Scott's new tune, What the Hell was solid, the sound at Grog and Tankard was excellent, we had a fantastic crowd, and a great time in our inaugural DC performance. Afterwards, we hung out with listeners who had stuck around - because if there's one thing TSW does well, it's bring the party to you. If there's another thing we do well, it's play music, but the first thing is party. We had a rockin' time, and Vin even lost a dance off with a guy who had some Michael Jackson-esque moves. There's no shame in that loss, buddy, that guy was like Kevin Bacon in Footloose. He was serious. Later that night, Vincenz passed out on Natalie's couch, and woke up with some magic marker on his face. Luckily for Vin, it was a smelly magic marker and having it right under his nose woke him up and kept him from getting more stuff drawn on his face, though Scott and I still found it to be quite amusing. The lesson, boys and girls, is if you're going to talk a big game, don't fall asleep first.

So until next time, this is America's favorite drummer, the official spokesmodel for Cherry Coke Zero, signing off. Hope to see you all Friday night at the Knitting Factory where we plan to rock your socks off. Join the barefoot revolution, friends, it's liberating.

-d

If you hear us on the radio... we want to know!

2007-10-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Radio Success!

Well, things are starting to heat up on the air waves. Two weeks ago we sent 350 CDs to college radio stations all across the country. So far 60 stations have added our CD to their rotation!!

A quick educational piece... college radio runs on an album format where DJs usually play multiple tracks from one CD. This is different from commercial (Top 40) radio where their format is based on singles (i.e. you hear the same song over and over and over).

Based on that newfound knowledge, it will make more sense to you when we say that songs from our album, "Ask Me For More", have been played so many times at some stations that it has (as they say in the industry) charted as one of the CDs receiving the most airplay. Here are some of those stations:

#8 on the charts!! - WSOE, 89.3 FM in Elon, NC (Elon University). Call them in the studio to request our music: 336-278-9763.

#12 - WVCW, 640 AM - Richmond, VA (Virginia Commonwealth U.) :: 804-828-1058
#15 - WVYC, 99.7 FM - York, PA (York College) :: 717-815-1311
#23 - WUMM - Machias, ME (U of Maine-Machias) :: 207-255-1371
#24 - WCWP, 88.1 FM - Long Island, NY (Long Island U.) :: 516-299-2626
#24 - WSIN, 1590 AM - New Haven, CT (Southern Conn. State U.) :: 203-392-6930

We Can Use Your Help!!

1) Call 1, 2, 3!!!... radio stations and tell them that you want to hear music by The Surefire Way. Request your favorite song if you wish. It doesn't matter if you live in the city of the radio station or not. Every call will help push us up the charts and receive more exposure. So pick a few stations to call and help us move up the charts! Email us to let us know how many radio stations you have contacted, info@thesurefireway.com. We will praise you in our next newsletter or podcast!

2) Forward this email (link at the bottom) on to people who may not receive this newsletter and ask them if they would be so kind as to contact a couple of radio stations.

Here are a few more stations playing our CD. Thanks a million if you can call a few to request that they play our music.

WTBU, 89.3 FM - Boston, MA (Boston University) :: 617-353-6400
WPUB, http://www.wpub.org/ - New York, NY (Pace University) :: 212-346-1073
WUIC, http://uicradio.pages.uic.edu/listen.php, Chicago, IL (U of Illinos-Chicago) :: 312-413-2191
WXVU, 89.1 FM - Villanova, PA :: 610-519-7201
WERW, 1570 AM - Syracuse, NY :: 315-443-2021
WHFR, 89.3 FM - Dearborn, MI :: 313-845-9676
WRTC, 89.3, FM - Hartford, CT :: 860-297-2450
WXBC, 540 AM - Annondale-on-Hudson, NY :: 845-752-5300
WDWN, 89.1 FM - Auburn, NY :: 315-253-0449
WSCS, 90.9 FM - New London, NH :: 603-526-3494
KMSC, 88.3 FM - Sioux City, IA :: 712-274-5665
WTSC, 91.1 FM - Potsdam, NY :: 315-268-7657

Introducing Bass Player, Vincent Fiorillo

Replacing Jim Kelly as bass player for the band is Vincent Fiorillo, aka Vinnie. Vinnie hails from Long Island. We recently did an interview with internet radio station, NextBigHit.com, where the host who was from the mountain region of the U.S. told our new bass player, "You know, you are the first true Vinnie that I ever met in New York." To which Vinnie replied, "Yeah, well your the first guy I ever met from Montana in my life!"

Vinnie’s approach to playing bass is rooted in jazz, Motown, and blues, learning to play from the great jazz bassist Milt “The Judge” Hinton. He holds a Bachelor of Music in cello performance from the University of Miami, and a Master of Music from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. We are currently in the process of updating our web site with Vinnie's full bio and pictures of his pretty face.

Upcoming NYC gig

2007-08-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Playing Arlene's Grocery - Thursday, August 30, 9pm -- This gig is our first in a couple of months. We are excited to be back on stage. This will be bass player, Jim Kelly's, last gig with the band. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Let's start Labor Day weekend a little early!!

The Surefire Way on the Radio -- We have decided to launch a national radio campaign with the support of the radio promotions firm, Planetary Group. Starting in late September program directors from around the country will be receiving our CD. We may be asking for your support to call into specific radio stations to support the band. You would be up for that, wouldn't you? Stayed tuned for updates on this exciting time for the band.

Thank You -- Thanks to everyone who has supported the band thus far, whether it was by buying our music, helping sell CDs, coming to our live shows, or just giving words of encouragement. You have made this journey all the more exciting.

We have been podcasted

2007-07-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Dear peeps... I'm sure you have been wondering what has been going on with the band since our big start to the year. As you know, in March 2007 we had a big party in NYC to commemorate our first, self-released, recording project. Since then we have been regrouping for another run.... writing new music.... working with publicists.... trying to break into the media. All of it high level, top notch activity.... of course.

Podcasting -- One place where we have had some success is with podcasters. Podcasting is one of those new media forms that has become extremely hot as a result of mobile digital music and the iPod. Basically, those with the proper equipment can record, well, whatever they want; content about anything. They can publish it on the internet and you can download them to your iPod. iTunes has recently developed a section specifically for podcasts.

Podcasters around the globe who produce radio-style programs have started to pick up The Surefire Way's music and include it in their podcast. We have been by played by people located in U.S. locations like Utah, Houston, Wisconsin, and Jersey, as well as international locales such as Germany, the UK, and Canada.

Luckily for all of us, the band produces a podcast from time-to-time as well. Go to www.thesurefireway.com and check out our latest podcast (#2) and hear clips of other podcasters around the world playing The Surefire Way.

The Surefire Way Live -- We are starting to book up gigs as the summer ends and autumn begins. The next NYC gig will be at our old favorite, Arlene's Grocery. We look forward to seeing you! Thursday, August 30th. 9pm. Arlene's Grocery. 95 Stanton - NYC.

Jim's last gig -- Our beloved bass player, Jim Kelly, is entering his 3rd year of law school in the fall. In order to prepare for his successful career in the legal field Jim has decided to focus his efforts on making sure he knows the law like the back of his hand. The August 30th gig at Arlene's will double as a "farewell" party and a "you-mean-you-chose-law-school-over-rock-star?" party. We are extremely sad to see him go. Please come out and see Jim rock out one more time.

Hot damn that was a party!!

2007-03-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

Whooooaaaaaa Nelly!! ---- did the house come down last Friday!

If you missed you are going to feel tears start coming to your eyes if you keep reading. You better move on to another, more mundane blog.

Anyway... last Friday night we played at Pianos to celebrated our new CD, "Ask Me For More." Guess what.... they asked for more. "Brazilian Eyes" has always been a crowd favorite, but I felt the energy of the crowd from the stage, both during and after the song, like I never felt it before. And then once we hit "Good Stuff" for the encore... forget about it!

Thank you to everyone who came to rock out. Thank you to everyone who took home a CD. Thank you to everyone who got ripped at the after party. Thank you to everyone who got me ripped at the after party.

Cheers!!

Scott

NEXT SHOW :::: APRIL 7, 2007 :::: ARLENE'S GROCERY - NYC :::: 9PM

Updates!!

2007-01-26T02:36:00.000-08:00

Last time we left you we were finishing up with the studio session. I was off to Brazil. (See pictures below and I'll let you decide for yourself how good of a time I had.)

So, let's see if I can make a real long story short. We got our first mixes of the songs from our producer, Jason, right before Christmas. I was super excited. They were sounding very good. There was definitely work that had to be done on them. Since is my first time recording anxiety got the best of me at time b/c I was wondering the spots where I went off key would really be fixed!

As the process unfolded Jason would ask us to write down our thoughts and give them to him. He went through the process of making fixes to the tracks and creating an unbelievable sound.

We had to re-record a few things. Let me just say that Jason has been awesome throughout the whole process. I am very happy with the way things are sounding!

I also worked a lot with Helena, our friend and graphic designer, on the artwork for the album. At this point I will just say it looks bad ass!!

This past week we decided what songs would go on the album and the order of them.

And... here we are!! Getting pysched up for the CD release party!! (Now that was a pretty short story to cover 2 months!!)

-- Scott

Ipanema Beach with Rickesh and Joe (and Sapna behind the camera)-- 7am -- Bed time? Nah.

Building the Brazilian fan base -- in Buzios

CD release party!!

2007-01-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

A quick post... we have set the date for the CD release party! We are playing with our friend Jay Mankind. No way you can miss this!!

Friday, March 2nd
Pianos -- 158 Ludlow -- NYC
8pm

8pm - Jay Mankind
9pm - The Surefire Way

Emcee - Mike Barish

Click to see the invite

Holy s*@t!!

2006-11-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

... has this been a long 2 weeks! But finally... all the tracks have been laid, the recording sessions are finished!!! ... for the most part.

We had our last day in the studio yesterday. Of course it went longer than expected. We had to do all of the vocals for "Broken" and "Come On Home" and I had to finish 2 other songs: "Blown Away" and a new song, "Something."

It felt so good to walk out of that studio after the work we put in. Honestly, I didn't know it would be such hard work. But, I loved it. I haven't even heard rough mixes of the songs yet and I'm ready to starting recording another album.

So... I say we are done recording "for the most part" because it is still possible that we can record some extra guitar or piano parts. We can do this pretty easily and send them to Jason. However, I won't be able to do any of that until I get back from Brazil!! Speaking of which, I am leaving in a few hours and haven't packed yet.

So, next steps for the album:
- Go to Brazil and relax
- Get into the studio when I get back to play music with Dan and Jim cause I'll be going through withdrawal
- Listen to the rough mixes of the songs we recorded
- Record any extra parts and send them to Jason
- Work with Shad to set up the infrastructure for the business of the band
- Work with our graphic designer, Helena, on the artwork for the album
- Figure out which songs to put on the album
- Hold a meeting to start planning the CD release party

The list goes on... but you get the idea.

I think I can speak for Dan and Jim when I say that we are psyched about this album. We are looking forward to all of you getting to hear it.

OK.. I need to pack! I'm exhausted but I can sleep when I'm dead.

Talk to you soon!

-- Scott

Our new backup singers...

2006-11-15T23:05:00.000-08:00

Today we had some friends come over to lay some tracks for the record. One of my life philosophies was proven again tonight... give 'em booze and they'll do anything!!

Actually they didn't have to do much. Just drink, talk, and have fun. We recorded the group doing what they do best.... it was pretty cool. It may not have seemed like much at the time... but wait until you hear the song, "Brazilian Eyes."

Week 2 -- What will it hold?

2006-11-14T23:36:00.000-08:00

... well, it started out pretty shitty. I had to fly to Detroit for work last weekend. After a few delays I finally got back to NYC late Sunday night then was up and in the studio again on Monday morning. Jason and I started working on "Blown Away" and "Come On Home" and they didn't sound very good at all. I don't know if it was because I was tired or because we just couldn't find a good "pocket" for the vocals.

Anyway, we set those aside and started work on "Goin' Down" and a new song called "Something." They were sounding pretty good. "Goin' Down" is coming along very nicely. Jim laid his vocals and I think that is going to turn out to be a solid, solid song.

About 11 hours into the session we started to work on "Broken." I was so tired, my voice was dying and it sounded really weak so we called it a night.

Tonight I laid my electric guitar parts. Tomorrow we'll do some touch-ups on Jim's bass parts and we have invited some of the people who have supported the band to lay some vocals tracks that we will consider putting on a song. We thought it would be cool to include some of those fine peeps on the record. We'll see if we get any good material!

OK. Time to sleep for a while. It has not been plentiful lately... but this has been a freakin' cool, grueling, happy, frustrating, exciting last 10 days.

Talk to you again soon...

-- Scott

Not as glamorous as you would think

And on the seventh day they rested...

2006-11-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

We've taken a collective break from the studio today - not really because we wanted to, but because it just didn't seem to work based on our schedules. I was back in, laying down vocals on Friday night and doing percussion yesterday. Sarah was very pleased to see that the bongos she got me for my birthday two years ago are finally getting put to good use!

When we've been talking about me doing percussion, Scott has said all along - "hey, you can use my tambourine! It's a 'something something...'" You have to forgive me, my attention span isn't so good, I just got the gist that he had some kind of authentic Brazilian instrument that I'm pretty sure he paid good money for. He had to go pretend he has a job and went to a conference Friday, and left his tambourine in the studio for me. When I got there Friday night to lay down my vocals, I saw the tambourine. It was a beautiful pandeiro, which is great, except that it's not really a tambourine (which he probably told me). It has a head, like many tambourines, which is meant to be tuned, unlike a tambourine. The metal jingles are also much drier. You play a pandeiro by striking the head, and you get a "jangly" tone. Like I said - beautiful instrument, but totally not what I was looking for. I was looking for the plastic, cheapo $20 tambourine, which gives a brighter sound without the tone.

So, I needed to pick up a new tambourine before my Saturday morning session, scheduled to start at 11:00. After being lazy, I wound up not leaving my apartment until 10:15. I jumped in a cab and headed over to Guitar Center on 14th street, all of my other gear in tow (bongos, cowbell and mandolin - which I didn't wind up playing). There was a small Asian woman checking bags at the front door. I handed her mine, and the neck of the mandolin was poking out from the bag, and she asked me "what is that?" I replied that it was a mandolin, at which point her eyes widen and her face brightens - "That's my name! Mandolin!" I'm still not sure if she was on the up and up, it could be her line to pick up musicians. Her name very well could have been "Trombone" for the next guy that came through the door - but I'll never know.

In any event, I bought my cheapo tambourine and a really cool shaker and headed to the L on 6th Ave. I was so early, I was able to stop at a deli in Williamsburg and pick up some Diet Dr Pepper, a bottle of water and some salt and vinegar kettle cooked chips. It was delightful!

So here I was with my cheapo tambourine (in the imfamous phone booth that Scott and Jim have been stuck in for hours on end, ensuring that their angelic voices are as heartbreakingly beautiful on the record as they are in person) ready to shake it like a Polaroid picture. It took about five minutes before my right arm - the tambourine shaking arm - was cramping and I was weeping like a small child whose lollipop has fallen to the floor. I took a quick break and was ready to go again. It took about two minutes before my left hand - the tambourine striking hand - was sore and I was weeping again, but this time as if the small child had picked their lollipop up off the floor, put it back into their mouth only to realize that they now had a mouth full of cherry-flavored dirt, dust and rat droppings. Maybe the rat droppings part was over the top, but in any event, my hand was angry, red and wanted nothing else to do with my cheapo tambourine.

At the end of the session, it seemed like it was all worth it and the percussion sounded great. A day later, my shaking arm and striking hand are completely recovered, and I have a new respect for tambourine players around the world. Yesterday was probably my last day in the studio, so it's all up to Scott, Jim, Jason and Carl at this point. Good luck gents, looking forward to hearing the first rough mixes!

-D

End of week 1 -- So far so good

2006-11-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

OK, so the end of the week inventory:

- Drums - done (Dan is laying percussion parts tomorrow)
- Bass - mostly done, need to redo some parts
- Acoustic guitar - done
- Scott's vocals - 6 songs fully done, 3 others partially done
- Jim's vocals - 6 songs done
- Dan's vocals - done

Next week we will need to finish all vocals, lay main electric guitar, redo some bass parts, add in any extra instruments (piano, lead guitar). And we're done!

This week has been a bit grueling for me. But completely satisfying. Jason (our producer) and I have spent looooooong hours on my vocals, getting them refined (trying to take out any nasality, workingn on softer pronunciations) so they sound good for the caliber of recording we wanted to do. I feel like my vocal style has drastically improved from working on it so much in these last days. I'm looking forward to that translating to our live shows as well.

All in all, we are doing pretty well. We are definitely over our recording budget. Go figure. Dan said that it would cost more than we thought. Dan was right. But we do want a record we are proud of.

Shad has started researching venues for the CD release party. Keep your pants on boys and girls. This is going to be a live one!

Week 2 - here we come.

-- Scott

Taking a break

2006-11-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Yo, yo.

It is 6:00pm and I get my first break since noon. Jim showed up to lay some of his vocals. I was happy to see him although he wouldn't know it. I hadn't eaten anything since the morning and was cranky, crabby, tired, and a bit of a dick. Sorry Jim. (But you really should have brought me a Chipotle burrito too.)

Let me give you a little idea of my home for the past 3 days. Imagine a telephone booth with a microphone in it....... that's it. Maybe you can understand a little of my craziness.

All in all things are going very well. After some food and a bit of a break I should be ready to go for a few more hours. My voice felt really rough yesterday but feeling pretty strong today.

Jim is currently working "Her Apology." I think he is loving the telephone booth. It is sounding good. He should gets his vocals tracked for 3 songs before he leaves tonight.

So.. I'm going back to work. Later alligators...

- Scott

Day 3/4 -- Disaster!

2006-11-08T02:13:00.000-08:00

"Disaster" might overstate it, but we did get some bad news yesterday. It turns out that my bass guitar...well...sucks. When I play notes that are higher on the fretboard, they tend to go out of tune. I shouldn't be surprised, as I bought the bass for a couple hundred bucks about 15 years ago. Obviously, it's not the highest quality guitar out there.

Apparently, this (combined with the new strings I put on the bass after breaking a string during the recording) caused my bass to be slightly out of tune for the entire recording. Although this probably wouldn't be noticable in a live performance (and our fans are too busy dancing and shouting for us!), it would really stick out on a recording. Especially a recording of the caliber that we are in the process of creating. So I really enjoyed my first recording session. So much so...that I'm going to do one again!

The problem lies in the fact that I don't have another bass. And I'm living on student loan money right now! So, we're trying to find someone who would kindly loan us a guitar for the recording. Keep your fingers crossed for us!In the meantime, Scott recorded his acoustic guitar parts yesterday and we're meeting up today after my Constitutional Law class to record some of my backup vocals. Hopefully, these will stay in tune!

More updates soon,

Jim

Day 2 -- Call it a wrap -- officially

2006-11-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

If you read Jim's last blog you know that him and Dan were done today at 3pm. Well, it is midnight and I just got home. We moved from the studio in Greenpoint to the one we will now be using for the rest of the time in Williamsburg.

The first hour (at least) we spent testing microphones to try to get the best one for my voice and setting the levels. You wouldn't believe all of the subtle differences that exist within microphones.

Then we started tracking vocals. We did "There She Was" which vocally is a pretty steady song. Then we started working on, what I think, is the toughest song, "Brazilian Eyes." Whoever wrote the melody for that song is an asshole. They did so with a lot of vocal swings from high to low and back again. We spent A LOT of time on it because we wanted to nail the tough parts. Jason also spent a lot of time working with me on "smoothing out" my vocals to try to eliminate some the natural twang in my voice that doesn't sound so great in a recording environment.

We got the first half of the song done and then called it quits about 9:30. Jason and I got dinner and talked about our schedule for the next 2 days. Now I'm going to pass out and get ready to do it tomorrow. Luckily I get to sleep a little bit tomorrow. We won't start working until the afternoon so Jason has time to do some editting on the other songs we have left to track guitars and vocals.

OK, folks. Lots of love...

Scott

Day 2 done! Well, for Jim and Dan

2006-11-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

As you can tell from last evening's comments, yesterday was a marathon. We recorded for about 10 solid hours, finising the drum and bass tracks for all but two songs (and yes, we have some new ones!)

To be honest, I was expecting the same today. I went to my morning class, then took subways and a long walk through Greenpoint's Polish neighborhood to get back to the studio for another long session. Only, we finished the bass and drums in just a few hours. So by 3pm, Dan and I were out the door, taking his drums back home.

However, Scott didn't get off so easy. He, Jason and Carl (our sound engineer/co-producer) went to Carl's studio to begin recording Scott's vocals and lead guitar. I'm back home studying now (with a well deserved glass of red wine...or two...or three), so I can't say when they'll finish tonight. Scott did send a text message an while ago saying that he was "sitting on the floor in the vocal booth as Jason decides which mic to use." Seriously...how can this rock and roll thing be so glamourous ALL THE TIME!?!

I can't believe that the "recording" part of the record is largely over. However, once we're done "laying down tracks", the real work begins when we begin the production work. Jason will do most of this, but we'll be brought in for parts of it. Honestly, I have no idea what that will entail, but I'll share it here.

Oh, don't forget to check out the photos to see a picture of a lamb in a sleeping bag from the front page of a Polish newspaper I saw...can anyone translate?

Back to reality (boo),

Jim

Day 1 of recording done

2006-11-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

What's up, y'all? This is my first post here (Dan and Jim are the bloggers of the band) but it is a proud one. Day 1 of our studio sessions are done and it was a killer. 10 hours of take after take. Dan was a monster throughout the marathon session. So was Jim... so much so he even broke a string on his bass.

I'm beat, and I showed up a couple of hours late! Jason, our producer can't even keep his eyes open as he sits at my desk listening to our work today, trying to choose the best takes to which we can record guitar and vocals tomorrow.

We are back at it again in the morning. We should be all done with drums by around noon. Then we will probably head over to a different studio where they have some great gear we will use to record guitars and vocals.

The atmosphere in the studio was upbeat, fun, playful... we'll see if we can maintain that as the days go by!

Talk to you all soon... Scott

the sound board at the studio

In the seventh hour...

2006-11-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

Hey kids, Dan here. We're about seven hours into recording and I thought I'd share with you a phenomenon that I, in particular, am experiencing at this moment. It's called "studio ass." I have been sitting on my drum throne for seven hours, and it has left me sore, and slightly damp. The dampness is from sweat, they do give me bathroom breaks. I'm thinking another hour or two and I'm gonna be shot for the night, then I plan to go home, eat some dinner and beg my woman for a massage. Check in with you later!-D