(... this is how we do it.) The 2012 London Olympics are underway, the Parabelle album is done, and I'll say it… I'm already looking forward to the outdoor rinks opening here, downtown Toronto. I like the warm weather too, but downtown it's not a nice heat in my books… it's muggy… I've been very grateful to have a shower at the studio lately… and some AC. It looks so nice outside… until I open the window... and it's like opening the oven... and that oven is cookin' up somethin' fierce on public transit. So July… I spent the first week and a half out west playing drums with Age Of Days. They gave me the heads up they had some shows opening for James Durban, and Buckcherry. Sounds good to me. I kept a daily journal which I'll post at some point (yes... along with my Juno journal I've yet to finish posting), but in short, I've never had so much fun on tour in my life. For the most part, when you really break it down, being in a band isn't a lot of fun... unless you strictly do it for fun. (Turds Of Misery... doin' it for fun, seriously, circa forever.) It's long hours, tons of costs, little respect, shitty pay, drama, egos, no sleep, bad food, lost/stolen stuff, general "surprises", you name it... and most of what being out on the road really is can test you mentally and physically. The biggest part of how well things go, are the people around you. Want to know the type of people you're with? See how they (naturally) act and react when they're tired, hungry, late for something, hilariously early for something, have something stolen/go missing, someone intentionally offends and/or disrespects them, or some unforeseeable hiccup happens and you're seemly up the creek. Really quick, you'll know who's a team player. (There's 5 of us and you only got one hotel room?!) Ten days isn't long, but going out long enough you feel the need to do laundry is often long enough to know what kind of people you're with. Up there with getting a quality recording, doing a quick tour sooner than later is important for long term goals and can save some serious time and headaches down the road. Again, I'll post up the journal at some point but in short, it was such a fun group to hang with… tons of laughs, tons of breakfasts, lots of rock… good times. Oh… another thing while I'm thinking of it… I'm very grateful I still get the opportunity to play. There's lots of studio folk who've come from a playing background, but never get back on stage for one reason or another. One of the reasons I was excited to get out and play was to really remember what it's like for when I'm talking to bands. Anybody who knows me, knows I can spew an endless supply of thoughts and opinions, but most of the time (biased opinion here), I know what I'm talking about... and at the very least, and more importantly, I have their best interests in mind and only trying to help. An easy approach to leading or coaching is to "never shoot the ball". The fear of loosing the ears and eyes of your players from missing the shot, since you know, it's so easy if you just do what I say, outweighs leading by example. In most cases... I'd say that's a problem. (... tell tale sign of bad leadership right here.) I've never (ok, very rarely) been afraid to try and express an idea on an instrument, any instrument, no matter how shitty it may sound. Sometimes it takes a second, but I know I'll get close enough to get my idea across. This is something I encourage EVERY member of the band to get comfortable with. I'm not saying we need to start allowing the bass players to start writing the songs here *cough* but if you're going to talk the talk, it's important to have walked the walk or at least willing to try. I'd never ask a band or artist to play or do something I wouldn't feel comfortable being on stage along side… and that's including 3 children's albums! The future of professional studio folk are still musicians, writers, and performers at heart… we just happen to have recording and production chops as well. (... chops.) K… done talking about that now. Tour was awesome… kinda want to get back out again… although there's lots of records to be made and projects on the table these days… we'll see what happens... Age of Days has a new single coming out next month... we'll see... I had fun. The new Parabelle album is done. (... I understand that car.) We finished it up last week and I swear... for a few days after it was "done" done… I still felt like I should be working on it. It's different when the band isn't located here since there's no real, final hurrah or final push to get it done. We listen, make comments, make changes, rinse/repeat a couple times and then it's done. It won't be long until it'll be up on torrents and I'll be using Google translate to read comments on Russian metal forums. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though… I love the first single (it came together last minute in the control room one evening), and I LOVE the lyric video Kevin did for it. He's so creative and has so tons of ideas… I honestly hope he gets to see all of them through. Time, money and resources are always a factor with any creative, but I think the success of Parabelle's Kickstarter has really hit home that people are listening, wanting, waiting. People will invest in good ideas, and they will invest and support artists. It gets down to vision, momentum and timing… and getting your head out of the sand (or your ass… or other peoples asses) long enough to know when the iron is hot. (... bang on.) You can check out the new single here… so far the fan reaction has been great and perhaps leave a comment and let me know what you think. I've been getting some more interest from other bands, labels, and management since it came out as well to mix their stuff or work together down the road. They don't care we're from different cities (or countries for that matter)… just a sign of the times… and it's great to see it's becoming less and less a factor. I took a quick trip up to the cottage with the lady and the folks mid month… did some fishing, lots of eating… and a fair amount of paddle boating. I love paddle boats… I need that on a shirt. The rest of the month I did some spec mixes for a couple albums and an EP… got them all, so now it's about trying to make them all fit… thankfully they all have staggered deadlines. I also started working with an artists named Morgan Sadler over the weekend. She was shopping around for producers (#DearBands, it's called doing your homework) and ended up coming by the studio to meet on a referral from Dell at OfTheBearBooking. The vibe was great and soon after she dumped about 30 demos in my inbox to pick from. Awesome. Pre-production went super smooth and similar to the kids albums, she's trusting me to "be the band", which is something I have a blast doing. The goal is to finish the 3-4 tunes with Morgan next month (August), get fixing/mixing some other projects, and run up to the cottage once or twice more… if I can edit at the lake, I'm going to. - Mike (July... good times.)
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(I'm good... just takin' a quick 5.) Normally in June, July, or August, I have a good 2-3 week period of downtime… half "way she goes", half "way I like it". My family has a cottage and after years of not going up there (mainly because of my work schedule), I've tried to head up there at least once a month during the summer. I haven't been the type to take vacations in the past, but I eventually saw the value in it. People need to recharge… and the older you get, sometimes you don't get the choice or the chance. Mentally and/or physically, it takes time to recharge… and you have to build it into your routine, weekly, monthly, yearly… whatever works for you. I'm going somewhere with this… I'm used to a heavy workload, but June was f'n busy. Normally during the winter months I'll spend a night or two at the studio… usually due to a snow storm or bad weather in general. The studio is cozy, so I might as well just hang there and work… plus taking public transit home after midnight during a blizzard is about as fun as wearing liner-less swim trunks to a chilli festival. (I'm good... just takin' a break... face... you start.) This past month I've managed to rack up 5, 24hr+ work days. I've taken breaks and naps but there's been some long days going on. Why? Commitments and deadlines. If you been in this line of work long enough, it's rarely wise to turn down (good) work. Combine that with the (let's be honest here) "musician-ness" of musicians... even if you book something 3 months in advance, there's always a chance it may not start on time or start at all. So in my books, if something comes up on short notice, and it's something I'd like to work on, I do my best to shuffle around the schedule and make it work. ... so here's how June went in a nutshell… try and follow along... just a heads up, I'm currently sleep deprived and sitting in the back of a van. A band called Left Turn City asked if I was interested in doing a couple new songs with them… I've been a fan for a while having seen them around town a few times over the past year. It's crazy how long it takes sometimes to finally work with a band. I think it took almost 18 months to finally work with Down In Ashes… but once they were ready, it was like we've been friends for years. Same with Left Turn City… I'd reached out to them a few times but until they were ready, that's when the ball actually gets rolling. ... that's another thing I've thought about a lot lately… bands... artists… you should be the biggest bottle neck in your career… as far as the decision making process goes. If you want to do something, start moving your feet. If you run your band like a business, it's your business, and you have to call the shots. There's still a lot of patience involved, but the amount of times I've seen bands/artists wait around for their management/label/parents/yoko/etc. to declare the perfect timing or God knows what to make choices... that shit drives me insane. (I'm gonna get so much shit done... tomorrow.) Here's the deal these days… seeing results takes time. The less you do and the more time you take waiting to do something means the longer it takes to see any real progress or results. It's that simple. The real engine of running a business isn't money or time in my books… running a business is about making decisions, big or small, efficiently. Everything falls under that one simple principle. K… back to scheduling… so I started with Left Turn City at the beginning of month… 2 songs… a song takes me roughly 30-40 hours from time spent on pre-production right up to the end of mixing/touchups. I'm in the middle of the Parabelle album… I'd say at that point I was still 200hrs from finishing that album since I spent the rest of May finishing the 20 Amp Soundchild EP. I'd said yes to doing a 10 day tour with Age of Days at the beginning of July which meant rehearsals this month… 2 evenings a week. My brain vacation (mens league hockey)… 2 evenings a week gone. I'd also agreed to do 3 songs with a band called Thirdrite I'd met a couple months prior which had crept up on me. They're a 3 piece rock band with some blues overtones... great guys who hadn't done a pro recording before so I was excited to help get them something solid. Considering the genre, it's a slightly different approach to my usual production, but still time needed… so that's another weekend (plus) taken up. So basically… Monday work/rehearsal, Tuesday work/hockey, Wednesday work/rehearsal, Thursday work/hockey, Friday-Sunday work or possibly have a band in for the weekend. (… the things we do to make things work.). I'm far from complaining about being busy… it's all busy "good". It's crazy how quick the days go by though when you already know what you're doing everyday. I'm very hands on with production work but it's at the point now where I could really use a solid assistant to help with some of the workload. It's not rocket science what needs to be done but its tough to find others who see the big picture, are up and comers, and not "know-it-alls"… or jaded. It's easy to get used and abused in this industry but I've been lucky to have met some great people early on… so it is possible... and I work everyday to be one of them. So back to Parabelle for a minute. I picked up, almost on autopilot, a new laptop so I could work while on the road with Age of Days. It's just down to odds and ends but its still time needed. I could've just finished up the mixes and been done with it but that's not how I roll... close doesn't mean done... and I'm not about to rush it. I care a lot about what my name is on, what I'm a part of, and who I associate with. Money is one thing but I love being a part of something that means something to everyone involved. ... just to touch on another topic for a minute... there's been tons of talk about how tech is the new rockstar and basically, making money through tech right now is better then wasting your time trying to make a living through the arts. Originally, my plan after high school was to go through school for computer programming/systems, move to California, work in tech, and let the chips fall from there. … here's the thing though. Tech is disposable. I don't care how you present it to me… tech is a disposable industry… if you come up with something great in tech, it will be topped one day... or I should say days... and made obsolete. The greatest tech even, has a shelf life. Tech is the medium. Art is the content... and the content is the real attempt at a permanent piece. To create, grow, and maintain are the bare necessities of the soul. (... I love cheesy poofs... you love cheesy poofs. Art.) One of the reasons I got into, or should I say "stayed", in music and production in general is… I want to be part of a "Blue Album". It's a classic album in my books. It strikes a chord with so many people from my generation. It's long term vs short term… and I'm always thinking long term.
Don't get me wrong... I do think there are many in tech who are "lifers" and their passion is the marriage of art and science. They do love it… but it's not about the money. I wish more people would ask themselves, and be truly honest with themselves, "what are my motivations?" We can still live in an honest world full of saints and assholes... it'd just be quicker if some people would say up front "me first" instead of "it's just business"... and then we'd have a much more efficient way of weeding out the assholes... since it just wouldn't pay off. ... I'm getting a little sidetracked here… but I know what my motivations are... and I'm writing this in the van heading to Boonstock today… 30,000 tickets sold… Korn headlining tonight… first time ever going to a festival show (of this kind)... no big deal. I guess this past month has been a reminder in time management and fulfilling commitments. Luckily, I have friends and family who are supportive when I disappear for days or weeks on end. For the others who've lost patience over the years… well sometimes we cross paths, if not, all good, we all should prune things out of our lives at times… all the better when someone else takes the initiative… it saves me time. There are only so many hours in a day, how you spend them is important. It's not even a matter of time actually now that I think about it... the bigger issue is energy. (... best laid plans...) … so it's the end of May already… what have I been up to? Well… where to start... I should probably start with April… since maybe, according to my #DearBands tweets, all I do is take shots at bands all day… which does give me joy… seriously though… some of you are painful to watch function... but that's not to say I don't get what you're doing, where you're coming from, or why you're doing it. After all, we "play music" for fun... and some of us do have lofty goals. So April… I ended up shuffling the schedule around to fit in tracking the new 20 Amp Soundchild EP. Let me say something off the top about scheduling… when you're self employed, motivated, and love what you do for a living... since you'd be doing it in your spare time anyway… holidays mean nothing… and even less than nothing if they don't show up on your iCal. The plan after Juno Weekend was to do some pre-pro and then track drums the following weekend. I like having the full band in for guides/bed tracks. I think it's important to have everyone playing together for vibe and comfort… plus, if it sounds decent as a full band off the floor, everything else we do should only improve the end result. You'd be surprised how much you can keep from initial guide tracks when the isolation is decent (which it is at my place) AND provided we've done some prepro so people know wtf they are doing. … so it turned out the first weekend of April was Easter Weekend… and everyone had family stuff to do… well… frig. (... thanks.) Way she goes… I rarely stress about schedules these days, schedules being different from deadlines though. We ended up having a great prepro session the following week and tracked drums that weekend. I had Parabelle scheduled to come in April 24th, so we were watching the calendar a little, but all good. We zipped through 90% of what we needed and got a good chunk of vocals done before I had to switch gears. Again… being prepared makes a HUGE difference saving time while recording. When you're prepared, you play with confidence… I'm not after 99% accuracy… this is not RockBand… but you'll play it with "feel" since you know how it goes. … and on a side note... if I know how your songs go better than you do after hearing them 5 times… that's not good… and these days I will tell you. :-) So Parabelle arrived April 24th as planned… they brought a drummer this time but no bassist… and we still had a few tunes to sort out and they wanted to write a bit while they were here if time allowed. … ok... I know what you're thinking… (… but Langford, you just said you shouldn't go into the studio unprepared!?) (Allow me to answer... BBQ style.) This is not my first BBQ with Parabelle nor in general under these conditions. Being prepared is half of the equation, the other is experience. This will be my 3rd album with Parabelle and 5th with Kevin (original singer of Evans Blue). I know how Kevin works and I know what everyone involved brings to the table. They could show up with some mumbled ideas on voice memos and I know in a few days we'd have the songs up and running. This time we had a great batch of demos to work from plus a handful of other ideas already a'brew. This could be a headache (or a financial blessing) for someone if they just booked studio time and tried to work out ideas there… but working with a producer, it's not about being on the clock as much as being efficient with time. I know what we're after and I feel the guys trust me… and that trust is a two way street. Even when people get a bit pissy, I know we're still having fun and it's only because we care. At the end of the day listening back to a record you worked on is like looking back at pictures from summer camp... it's the little details that remind you of the good times. ... I never actually went to summer camp growing up, but I'm assuming that's what it'd be like… you know... if you… took pictures... and looked at them after. (... probably would've looked like this.) (... or maybe... more like this.) (... present day it'd look like this... just minus the kids and the smile... then add some dry tears, imagine some beach boys tunes in the background... and it'd be 7am in a public park.) So anyway… I'll leave all the juicy stuff out of recording the new Parabelle album since they brought in a videographer to grab some behind the scenes footage... curious to see what he uses first. Upfront, I normally hate having extra people around the studio… especially film/photo folk since they get in the way. (... so where can I set up my lights?) The guy we had though, Mr. Mike Hough, he was great… almost invisible… near-ninja… or the ideal intern/studio assistant. … so I'll wait a bit to post more on that… just like my Juno trip, it's 90% written… just not finished and posted. That brings things to May 17th… bless you iCal. I spent the next week mainly getting the rest of the vocals for the 20 Amp Soundchild EP, editing, and mixing it… I've been back to Parabelle this past week working on the "singles" aka the first 3 they want to let roam the internet... definitely looking forward to getting this album in the can as well. Historical Fact: Within 8 hours of releasing 'Reassembling The Icons', it was on many major torrent sites AND cracked the top 10 rock albums on US iTunes… and then The Beatles released their catalogue on iTunes the next day… and that was the end of that. Still awesome to see independent bands putting in the work and having it pay off… steady build… onwards and upwards. (... u mad bro?) This weekend I have the boys from Left Turn City coming in to start a couple tunes. I've seen them a half dozen times around town. Last year's Hallowe'en set was one of my favourites by a local in a while… picture Freddy, Jason, Michael, and I think Leatherface doing covers… that's how you should do Hallowe'en shows people… awesome covers. Anyway, they have a few originals I thought always stood out so when they told me which ones they were thinking of doing, I was pretty stoked… and sonically, I think they're one of the fullest sounding rock bands in the city. It'll be good… it'll be loud. … and I guess that brings things up to May 31st. ... happy summer. :-) - Mike FAQ: "Hey Langford… what are you listening to these days?!" - Turbo Von Bromeister III Great question Turbo Von Bromeister III... people are always asking me what I'm listening to… generally I'm just listening to what I'm working on… or what's on the iTunes radio station I try for a couple weeks (currently Music Machine). I don't pick the playlist, just the genre… maybe I'm lazy, but I like having new bands catch my ear... and I think that's important to keep in mind… besides, do you mean listening for sonics or song?
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Mike Langford - Official BlogBeing on both sides of the glass, I get the chance to wear many hats in the music industry. This is a place to share my thoughts, views, predictions, rants, stories and news! Categories
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