Work, work, work Bonus points to anybody who knows what tune inspired that... Oh the things that pop into my head after what seems like months of non-stop action. I'm not complaining though, I'm having a blast on the albums and EPs that have been in the studio lately. The downside to a full schedule is while you're working (living the dream!) and helping others, your other life (anything outside the studio) tends to gets lost in the shuffle... time flies by. It's June... almost mid June. The last time I posted something was in early May. I get around 150 hits a day here (either searching for my name or "so you wanna make a record") and sometimes I have to remind myself "if I leave it too long between updates, people might think I'm doing nothing." It's often the opposite looking at other producer/studio sites... unless they have a good blog... a personal one. Anyway, even when you try to schedule gaps in, jobs pop up and you take them. Why? Because when it rains, you have to collect water one way or another. That's something I've learned over the years that screws up people. They don't find a way to make the opportunities work and willing to sacrifice a little... and often. Let me clarify... this means good opportunities. Good people + fair budgets/return. A couple months ago (there's a blog post half written about this by the way) I did a quick 2 hour talk at Durham College about my path in music. One of the questions was along the lines of "I like my sleep... how do balance staying up til 2am seeing bands/emails/research/working and then getting up at 7am to start doing it all over again?" I held off completely laughing at him in front of the entire class, telling him whoever in the class has insomnia is going to consider it a blessing a couple years after they finish the course... but there's a very clear line in the sand the older you get when it comes to entrepreneurs... we aren't workaholics... we're inspired. When we're inspired, we keep moving... especially our brains. When we aren't inspired, we do something else until inspirado hits. This ties in with how I view a lot of bands and artists. So many talking about working hard but they have no idea what or where the hard work really is. They get discouraged so easily when something takes too long, costs too much, or seems out of their reach. If it's worth it, you keep moving towards your goals... when it isn't... for whatever reason, smart people change their focus, no explanation needed, no apology necessary. I'm inspired by so many around me... and I'm not just looking forward to what the future holds, but seeing how many of my predictions pan out regarding who'll also do well. Short post I know... I should get back to work now though... these songs aren't going to mix themselves!
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... so it's March already... and I have to admit... life has been a blur since xmas... the good kinda blur though.
As always, I've been trying to find time to write... even something short... but no dice... so I'm forcing myself to write something (anything) tonight. Studio life has been kick ass since December. Usually the holidays are pretty tame... people are busy spending money they don't have and then dealing with their credit cards come January. This is a problem when it comes to budgeting for band related costs and investments... this wouldn't be a problem if more people actually budgeted for things... but that's another rant. A couple mix projects and EP's showed up though which filled up the schedule in a hurry. They say when it rains, it pours... and it's definitely been pouring the last few months. All the major projects: Jason James, One Fire, The Sole Pursuit, The Divided Line, Blind Race, and now Luke Michielsen who started his new album yesterday, have been/are going awesome... and the mix and oddjob/editing projects have been fun as well. It's nice to have some variety, but really nice having so much positive energy floating around the studio. A couple highlights... Tony Roost from One Fire Movement asked me to produce a single called One Day featuring several of the One Fire artists. A sort of urban/soul tune along the line of Bruno Mars/John Mayer... but with several artists trading off verses and all singing the chorus together. I'm sure you can see how this could get complicated and turn into a jumbled mess. You have to be careful taking on projects like this... recording is far from simply recording most of the time... I'll leave that for imagination and for another rant too. But I signed on pretty quick because I knew the level of talent that'd be involved, and when you've got singers who can sing, and egos checked at the door, the track will sort itself out. I think the tune will be coming out in the next month or two. Looking forward to sharing it with everyone... it's definitely a departure from the norm around here. Next up... The uber talented Samuel Bisson was in to track cello on the Jason James EP. It's an acoustic guitar/vocal based project Jason asked me to produce and during prepro he tiptoed around the 'c' word. It's easy to name off a wish list in the early stages of a project, but if you need session players, you have to either know the right people, or start looking now. Not many people know session players for strings (or horns actually) that can just "play". I met Sam on one of the Parabelle albums. Kyle (guitarist for Parabelle) found Sam through Google. Sam showed up and threw down. He's been my 1st call ever since. I'd like to write a post on what I think makes a good/great session player. The biggest thing I feel they should add to a project though is production value. Exceptional players make the whole recording sound better... strings especially make things sound expensive. Some people might puke at the idea of paying someone $100/hr (standard around here for session players, and most will get through a song an hour), but after you hear what great players can do, it quickly turns into ear to ear smiles and a "shut up and take my money" situation. One song in and Jason fully understood what I was talking about. Here's a link to Sam's site: www.samuelbisson.ca. Definitely send him a message if you need the good stuff. I'm only listing two highlights because I said a couple earlier (a couple means 2... unless we're talking about cookies or ice cream scoops), and because I don't want to play favorites. I've found myself staying at the studio late and getting up early simply because I'm excited to get back to work. Again, meaningful work... with appreciative people... it's a two way street... there's a lot of extra hours that go unnoticed (and unpaid) on the production side... or probably in the entertainment industry in general. #DearBands: It's amazing how much further you'll go if you say thanks instead of making (assuming) demands... just because you think someone is working for you. There's more than enough music being made these days... and more than enough good stuff to go around... and the good stuff gets priority, if given the choice. Heading in for 9am to get some mixing done before we get back to tracking drums on the new Luke Michielsen album. This is album #4 (including the Slowking album) I've worked on with Luke. He told me to "go crazy" sonically during prepro... thanks Luke. :-) - Mike P.S. I put all that stuff in the title because I'm curious if it'll show up in search engines. P.P.S. Hoping to get some tour dates for Age Of Days soon... I miss playing. P.P.P.S If you puke at the idea of paying a highly skilled musician $100/hr, quit music now if your goal is to turn it into a career... and hopefully you can go through life without ever needing to call a plumber or electrician. "Why aren't people taking us seriously?" That's basically what it gets down to when I hear people grumble about why they can't find shows, or a manager, or a label, or sell cds, or merch, or get more people out to shows... or find investors. You name it, there's a good chance it falls under this umbrella. This video might seem a little harsh at times... and you can sense the hesitation they have on certain topics (so they don't come across as assholes), but in my opinion, it's right on the money. I've decided to do a sort of "Coles Notes" version for those who might not have the 30 minutes to watch right now. Oh by the way, I tried to setup the link to start at 6:46... the time before that is spent talking about a dog, new born babies, and poo.
So... in a short... this is why people don't take your band seriously. ... and I'm putting the headings in bold caps so the super impatient can skim through... and so you feel like you're being yelled at. I know what your hearing is like... since most of you don't wear ear plugs.. and most of you reading this are probably guitarists or drummers. 1. YOUR BAND PHOTOS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH. It's the awful, honest truth, we judge a book by its cover. Life is too short not to. Make sure you stand up to what's going on (aka considered professional) in your genre. Hiring a great photographer doesn't have to cost a fortune and that one great pic can last you a year or two. If you look like hacks, you get treated like hacks. It might not seem original, but at least try to look like a band... as much of the time as possible. You will anyway if it becomes your career. 2. YOUR RECORDINGS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH. We've entered a stage of very affordable record production. There's a lot of misguided carobbyists (career hobbyists) who think they can produce, record, and mix their own albums... or their buddy can do it for a case of beer in his spare time. There's been a few great albums made in the past this way (often demos remixed after being shopped for a deal), but most often they fall short. Experience, time, and talent... those are three important elements to the outcome of any creative project. When it comes to recording, rarely someone with all three is in the band or doesn't do it for a living already. Will that change in the future? Probably. Are we there yet? ... lol. No. I could go on for a while about this but bottomline... do your recordings stand up to what's out there? Don't just ask your friends and family what they think of your recordings. Actually put your best song between two successful songs on your iTunes playlist. How does it sounds? Then factor in the time/money spent, and people involved on theirs versus yours. Does it stand up? Do you need it to? <-- be honest If it doesn't and it does, perhaps change your formula, and try again. ... backing up for a second... how are the songs? 3. YOUR SONGS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH. Now a good song is subjective... but... if you know your genre, and you know a few people with "great ears" within the genre, you'll know what your best songs are... and if they're in fact, good enough at all. I've met a handful of people over the years who I think have "great ears" regarding "great songs". My old assistant Tyler, even at 17 years old, could pick out hits by new artists well before anybody else I knew. He loved discovering new tunes and has a real ear for it. This is the #1 piece of advice for bands out there trying to do something serious with music... you can write cool songs that are self serving and please your imaginary fanbase... but you'll learn to love those "hit" songs that put you on the map... they're what can actually launch your career. It's hard to name a successful band that doesn't have a "hit" song behind them... regardless how far in the rearview mirror it is. 4. YOUR WEBSITE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH. Update it often. Constant quality content is queen these days. There's also this misconception that simply buying your domain name and linking to your FaceBook or Reverbnation page is good enough... well it's not... and it's stupid to rely on these things in the long run. What if they disappear overnight or fizzle out? What happens when people move on? You want these sites to feed into your main, personal website. The one you have ultimate control over. That's where you need to direct your core fans. I use Weebly for my site... it's easy... and at least someone in your band should be able to figure it out in an afternoon... if not, you've gotta know at least someone who can help you. I'm gonna go out on a limb though and say a weebly site is better than majority of the dated and clunky sites I see built by friends and family. Keep it simple and don't pad your content if you have nothing to talk about in your bio... nobody needs to read 37 paragraphs about a band that hasn't done anything worth mentioning. You need three paragraphs basically... who are you, what have you done, where are you going. Your blog/YouTube/Twitter updates are for what you're doing. 5. YOU DON'T TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY. So many bands play the "we just want to get together in the jamspace and see what happens... it's just for fun... if it goes somewhere, cool" card. Well... as long as you know it's just for fun, have fun! My men's league hockey is just for fun... despite all its glorious moments (W 3-0 yesterday, 1 G) I ramble on about to friends and family. If that's your attitude, it'll go nowhere... or the people in the band that want it to go somewhere will eventually dump the rest of the band once they find better people to work with. Lots of successful bands are a collective of what I call "heavy lifters". The ones who get sh*t done... or at least don't make things more difficult for the ones getting things done. The successful in any industry are hardcore lifers. If you want to do something that's hard, you have to make your goal not to simply "accomplish it", but to see it through... it's the difference between having a kid and raising one... since there's no real end goal if you're in it for the right reasons. - Mike P.S. It was a garbage goal... but that isn't what they mark on the gamesheet. :-) For the record… no pun intended… I'm on Team Grohl.
I agree 100% with the idea that musicianship should be viewed not only as an art form, but a discipline. As musicians, or creatives in general, we're always striving to be better… and despite how good we are, we'll always hear or see someone better than us, that makes us smile and inspires us to keep learning. With that out of the way… I haven't seen Sound City yet. I've heard mixed reviews from "It's amazing! It'll change the way you feel about recording… Dave Grohl is a genius!!!" to "It's basically a 2 hour promo for Dave Grohl to start producing albums… oh, and he's also got a boner for some recording console." I'm cool with the overview my friends have passed along… which is sorta why I haven't watched it yet. One thing that's evolved from Sound City, is this current movement Dave's spreading about keeping things raw… you know… just getting in the jam space, hacking out some songs, playing loud, and keeping it real! Play from the heart! That's the way it should be! Just go! Just hit record, giv'er, and go! That's cool Dave… but there's a lot of bands out there who now have this idea that whatever they come up with, if they care about it enough, and work from the heart, it'll get noticed, and should do well. That "keeping it real" is better than that overproduced, co-written (or worse, pro-written) Nickelback garbage on the radio. Over the last year, there's absolutely been an increase in bands choosing to shy away from production, having no idea what the word actually means. 'Production' - It's basically hair, make up, and lighting for your recording. Yes, it can be overdone… but typically "overproduced" is the result of someone who doesn't know how to use the tools, and/or abused them and/or chose the wrong production style for the song altogether. Recording to 2" tape involves its own style of production and if you don't know what you're doing, there's a good chance you'll throw it in the weeds. The right amount of cleaning up and complimentary production style is what separates pro from demo… or worse… the insanely expensive professionally recorded demo. There's an analog equivalent to most of the "studio magic" we can do in digital these days. We can simply do it much quicker in the digital realm. Use the technology as a tool, not a crutch. Even with Dave swingin' from the rafters shouting "we didn't use Pro Tools! We didn't edit anything! We recorded on tape! We kept it real!!!" There's still a couple crucial things to keep in mind... besides the talent level and experience of the people involved on that last album. Foo Fighters has done really well. They played by whatever set of rules applied at the beginning of their career and now they can afford to do whatever they want. Foo Fighters have a lot of value. Dave's already made his money. …a similar case could be made with Radiohead releasing the first really talked about "name your price" album and Beyonce's recently released "overnight, zero promotion, iTunes video album"… these are established artists. They already have a fan base… arguably more to lose if they mess up but more to lose means you had something to start with… again, they've already made their money… and they can still fall back on their old hits if need be. Back to Foo Fighters… I can remember my brother commenting on how much better The Colour And The Shape (1997) sounded than their debut album (1995). I would've been 13 years old at the time… and I heard the difference in production. But it not only sounded better… it had more, "good" songs. They say you learn the rules so you can break them. That's this in the real world. … what a great lead up to my last point about Grohlology! "because the deep [album] cuts don't keep the mansion running." http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/news/international-news/338961/how-to-write-a-hit-song-with-dave-grohl-think-of-it-like-a-bumper-sticker.htm I was trying to find the quote I read a while ago where Dave basically said "I only record songs I think are hits… there's no point in recording anything else." This should kinda feel like a gut punch to a lot bands out there waving Grohlology flags. Does that mean you shouldn't record those other songs anyway? ... even though they might not be hits? I still believe if it resonates with you, there's a good chance it will with others. But when Dave says "don't bore us, get to the chorus", and encourages bands to shove their idea in pop structure to start… I'm laughing on the inside when a band waves the Grohlology flag in my face and argues boring pop structure... meanwhile they can't even identify their own chorus… yet they're thinking their song should be a single… and should get them noticed... and help get them signed... and should be able to get on the radio... because it's that good. It's that much better than all the crap that gets played on the radio these days. I encourage people to read the article above or at least check out the video that's included. Just to clear things up, yes, lots of music out there is not aimed at radio and is quite successful despite never having a "hit". Music needs to resonate and I think that's what we all love about Dave… regardless what he's doing in music, he radiates the passion... he's giving 100%… or I guess 1 Dave Grohl Unit. Just don't confuse passion and hard work with a ticket for attention and riches. Dave's done well because he came from a great band in a booming pop culture trend that *cough* figured out how to write a hit *cough*, and then went on to figure out the formula to start writing hits for Foo Fighters. … anybody want to tally up the similarities between Foo Fighter and Nickleback songs… err hit songs? - Mike :-) Ok... this is kinda part 2 to the last post... but if you know you're getting a good deal... don't push it. I used to just see this as people trying to negotiate... some people have been taught to try and negotiate everything. What's the harm in trying right?
The harm is you run the risk of coming across as a complete douche bag. A douche bag who either doesn't know the value being exchanged, and/or a douche bag who wants to leave the meeting feeling like they've totally screwed over the other party. That makes them feel awesome! Meanwhile in life, those types of people typically get screwed over constantly. We all know them... and nobody has the hard to tell them to pick better battles... or at least fewer... since they don't seem to learn. In my opinion, in business, you should generally want do good business on both sides. Trying to screw the other party over, or even attempting to, isn't good business... and guess what else? It affects your reputation dealing with others. Funny how that works, eh? So a quick recap... negotiate where you can, work out a deal if you can... there's no harm in no deal being made if simply no deal could be made... but don't try and push too far past a good deal. Sometimes that's what breaks a deal. I know it has on my end in the past... why would I want to work with someone who so blatantly showed they don't value my time? It's that whole "give an inch, take a mile" thing - Mike Whenever I'm talking to a band about budgets, I know two things after about 5 seconds... Is their focus on the people involved or simply the costs involved?
If the focus is on cost, and it's outside their budget, they'll shut down the conversation pretty quick. "We can't afford that!?" <-- Their brains. "... just do some quick math... carry the 1... they want me to work for $3/hr." <-- My brain. Keeping in mind there's usually 3-5 people splitting up a few thousand dollars of said budget... which I now laugh at because bands/businesses are really expensive if you can't stomach numbers past $5k or $10k. If they'd done their homework, they'd have a ballpark idea what the costs involved are. If they actually didn't have any idea what the costs are, the next question they should be asking is why the costs are what they are. <-- Pro Tip For Life In General When a band is genuinely interested in working with someone, and the costs seem to be a bit more than their initial budget, the next thing they'll do is ask if there's a middle ground or any flexibility... you know... negotiate! This doesn't mean low ball... this means find a way for both parties to get the important pieces of what they need. This is what a deal is... and don't confuse this with compromise... which in my opinion is settling for less by giving up some of your main objectives. Of course, not everything is open to negotiation... but at least it shows that you're willing to try and make something work if you really want it to work. There are always ways to attempt to work out a deal... so many aspects of a recording (ex. songwriting, masters, scheduling flexibility, payment schedules, etc) can be used to help reach that deal. One of the no-brainers for project negotiations is to simply cut down the number of songs you were aiming to do. Say you want to do a 10 song album for realistically the cost of a 5 song EP? Or a 5 song EP for the cost of a 3 song Ep? I know you really want to end up with that 5 or 10 song project but... quality is more important than quantity. All the time. Especially these days... when one song is what's ultimately going to make the difference anyway... regardless what stage you're at... but especially early on. - Mike Ok... I have a secret to share... my website not only tells me how many people come through my site, it also lets me know what they were searching for to get here. Many people have found my first post about whether to do EPs, singles, or albums... but tons of people search about costs.
I've held off writing this for a long time... mainly because I couldn't decide how to approach it (and keep it under 250,000 words) and because there are so many things to take into consideration. If you've ever read "Confessions of a Record Producer", a highly recommended read by the way, there's a great section discussing REAL WORLD recording budgets. ... the scary ones where EVERYTHING is accounted for... those $100,000+ ones! ... well scary because you might be realizing now quality costs money... and how your hobbyist friend with Cubase probably isn't going to help you record the next Bohemian Rhapsody... based on observations at least. So I'm going to approach this from a typical 5 piece (drums, bass, guitars X 2, vocal) band perspective, since I work on these types of projects quite often. First question out of the gate... who is producing this donkey show? Are you hiring a producer? Self produced? Co-Produced? ... and I already hate writing this... that last bit alone I can rant about for an hour... 2 of those 3 options are kinda stupid. ... anyway, you should choose this at the beginning and sorta stick with it... UNLESS you pick self produce or co-produce. If you pick either of those, know that during the process, eventually someone (typically the engineer) will be producing the project... making sure it gets done, to the best of your ability, on time and somewhat on budget. It just depends if you decide to let them know upfront AND decide (or at least attempt) to pay them for their expertise. I'm also just going to talk about the cost of a basic rock song "time wise" and then we can multiply that for EPs/albums. So... basic studio time (engineer included! very important!) necessary to record a 5 piece rock band rock song! ... that rocks. DRUMS - I'd give 45-90 minutes to record, 90 minutes to comp/edit... so let's just say 2 hours. *Note: I'm not including setup time for drums... or anything for that matter. Drums typically take half a day (4-6 hours) to get the actual drums set up, mics on, sounds, and to get comfy. Obviously you don't have to setup each time for every song, but some studios charge, while others don't for drum setup... oh wait... this is the charge everything budget! Except for this/setup times. BASS - Anything longer than 45 minutes tracking bass on a 3 minute song and I start reaching for the hemlock. I talk a lot though and I'm a nice guy so let's just round it up to 1 hour. GUITAR - This is where it can get tricky... sometimes you can blast through 6 tunes in a day, sometimes you're grinding through 1. Typically you can do 2 songs worth of basic rhythms/leads in a 10-12hr day. Why does it take so long? Because Bohemian Rhapsody is a masterpiece and we care about being in tune. Tuning means you care. One song is a half day so let's say 5 hours factoring in my legendary storytelling. VOCALS - This can really vary from producer to producer... I typically get through a lead vocal in 1.5 hours, then another hour to do any harmonies/doubles. Factor in another hour to comp/edit, 2-3 hours to edit further and "fine tune"... and then you probably got yourself a half decent vocal track... or at least one that makes Axl happy enough to stop mentioning they woke up with a sore throat that day. So vocals, 5 hours. DRUMS - 2 BASS - 1 GUITAR - 5 VOCALS - 5 ========= TOTAL 13 Hours! ... oh wait... what about mixing and mastering? MIXING - Straight up... if there's a place to spend money on a recording, outside of drums, it's mixing. That being said, don't think a great mixer can polish your el cheapo, home brew, aural ass blast into something it was never meant to be in the first place. I take good recordings for granted because I think they're pretty simple to do at this point... considering you have the right ingredients to begin with. A great mix will really bring out a songs best... while a bad mix can ruin something that could've had a chance. Most mixers need a few hours to prep and organize (and edit if necessary) the mix session... or have their assistant do it overnight... and then a day or two to mix and pick away at the tune. So... to keep things simple... let's just say 10 hours total. MASTERING - Mastering is important, especially on projects more than 3 songs. Get a fresh set of ears on the tunes... don't be fooled by people who are mixing and "mastering" their own mixes. Yes, eventually we will be mastering more of our own mix projects, but we aren't there yet. If it's a serious project, don't be cheap. Bottom line, they have higher hourly rates... 2-3 times most recording studios... so we'll say 2.5 hours to be safe and compensate for their hour. DRUMS - 2 BASS - 1 GUITAR - 5 VOCALS - 5 MIXING - 10 MASTERING - 2.5 ========= TOTAL 25.5 Hours! ... and mastering screwed up my alignment... thanks mastering... you always find a way to make me feel bad. ... what about producer fees? PRODUCER - Well... I'll be honest... most bands below a certain level flat out refuse to understand how producers can charge for their time and experience ON TOP OF recording, mixing, and possibly mastering their project. That's the day and age we're in though. Typically, if you were to pay for a producer, just plop another $1,000-$3,000/song onto the budget. For the sake of this example... we'll just say 15 hours. Roughly the time spent up until mixing... plus a couple hours to cover some of their psychiatric costs. DRUMS - 2 BASS - 1 GUITAR - 5 VOCALS - 5 MIXING - 10 MASTERING - 2.5 PRODUCER - 15 ========== TOTAL 40.5 Hours! Now... keeping this simple, here in Toronto, I'd say the average studio hourly cost is $60/hr for a place with a competent, experienced engineer. Again, rates vary, do your homework, and adjust your expectations however necessary... but know full well you're going to get what you pay for at $15/hr, while you might not need a room (for an entire project at least) that's $100+/hr. $60 hr X 40.5 hours = $2,430 Now... in my mind at the beginning, I really wanted to just say $2,500/song... and doing this quick budget, I'm amazed at how close we got. Now, minus that ridiculous $900 producer fee ($60 X 15 hours) that no band can ever seem to understand because why in the world would you think someone who brings a general overview and years of experience to make sure the project gets done on time, on budget, and to the best of everyone's ability is worth something... and you'll find yourself at $1,530. ... but again, this is the EVERYTHING counts budget... so $2,430 it shall remain! Single - $2,430 5 Song EP - $12,150 12 Song Album - $29,160 ... and for those of you bad at math and/or can't read between the lines. Single - $1,530 5 Song EP - $7,650 12 Song Album - $18,360 So there you have it... how much does an single, EP, or album cost? That's the ballpark I think a decent sounding, professional, commercially viable product typically costs these days. Of course again, MANY (and I do stress the word many!) other factors can come into play, especially political ones... but you simply need to weigh the pros and cons with these types of investments. Still, always remember is not the cost of the hour but the value brought to the hour. If you can get the end result you want for less, perfect... but just because one person can work wonders in an hour, doesn't mean they should charge the same as someone who's completely inexperienced and realistically takes 10 hours to do the same job BUT working for $15/hr. By all means, make records with them though... by the way... what's your time worth? - Mike ***Note: Stuff like strings, drum skins, alcohol, session players, rentals, time off work, FOOD, etc, have been left out... but everyone should factor them into their own budgets... they can really add up if you're aiming for "cheap as possible"... which always works out costing more in the end because you didn't prepare and usually scrambling to fill gaps in your project... and that's your own damn fault for not doing your homework!*** I swear I think about posting/updating this more often... usual excuses apply... things get busy, I start posts and rant... rants become novels... I decide to post later... but this gap also includes summer holidays! Summer has been awesome for me... so what's been going on since April?
.. frig, it's been probably longer than that looking at my iCal. Basically, this year started off good, steady... then got rammed really quickly after taking on another Parabelle album back in January. I didn't have a ton of time in the schedule but Kevin asked about doing another acoustic/electro sounding thing similar to the "remix" of This Life a the end of the Starry Eyes album. I have a lot of fun working on these kinda projects... outside the obvious stuff like acoustic/vocal, I get to build up the instrumentation somewhat on my own... it kinda feels like a school project. You get the main ingredients, you cook it up, serve it, and sorta wait to see what the reaction is going to be... not just from the fans, but from the band too! Long story short, stupid me blocked out 2 weeks in the schedule to get it done, as I had another album starting right after... Kyle and Kevin were up for a few days tracking and then I ended up spending a lot more time on it than I'd originally planned... which is sorta normal... whether it's two weeks or six weeks, I'm going to work on it until I think it's "done". ... it got finished and released a couple months ago I think... maybe back in April? Yes, I think it would've been April because the Age Of Days album came out around that time. After the Parabelle 'Air' album, I went into co-producing/engineering the next Vince Hawkins and Company Slave album. I had a lot of fun working on this... I love riffs... and I love (good) solos. I think I also had the largest drum kit so far in here as well for that... sorta left field since when I think "blues rock", I'm not thinking "6 piece kit, with 20+ pieces of brass". All good though, it was fun. The recording process rolled along nicely, with very few hiccups... always a bonus on the larger projects! I think it comes out sometime this fall on Grooveyard Records. I'm looking forward to sharing some links once that's up. I'd link to the label page but I just checked... they have an auto-play. After that (good ol' iCal!), Fallen Heirs were in to do a single. Often, I discourage bands from just doing one song. Time wise it's not efficient... but it is a great way to test the waters working with new people, plus I highly encourage bands frequently release material these days. It'd been a while since they'd released anything, and we'd been talking about working together for a while at that point. I had time for a song. They wanted to do a song. Sounds good to me. Another efficient and hiccup free project, I feel like we were done within a weekend... then editing/mixing obviously. They are super nice guys too... and party responsibly. The track is called "Wake Up", I'm fairly certain it's on YouTube. Yeah I could link to it... I'm still debating linking to everything in this post. It takes a while! I'm a busy guy! ... and it's really nice outside! After that, I had a chance to play for the FLYING BURRITOS!!! in the Exclaim Cup hockey tournament. Why am I bringing this up? Because it was awesome. I honestly don't do much outside of the studio... which is good because I love it, but also bad because your brain needs to step away at times to gain perspective. I play hockey a couple times a week which is good, but despite feeling like I'd been hit by a truck by the end of the tournament... it felt f*cking awesome. It felt like I'd been on vacation for a week... barely thinking about music, bands, or studio life at all. We ended up winning our division (lowest), in Disney/Hollywood fashion... in a shoot out... against the only team to beat us, in our opening game. Again... it was awesome. Post hockey super-greatness, The Joy Arson were back to record the 3 remaining tracks on their debut EP. I just got the masters back a couple weeks ago actually, and it sounds awesome. Lots of 90's influences, but hey, we're all 90's kids around here... hovering around our 30's now. I'll definitely be posting some links once it's released... I think in October... apparently alongside the new Breached EP... there's a release show for both here in Toronto... which we did sometime between January. That turned out awesome too... those guys are making some moves so I'll be surprised if you don't hear about it... if you call yoruself a rock fan. From there it was into... no it wasn't... (thanks iCal)... I had a band called Red Steps in to track the beds for their debut album. I've worked with their drummer a few times now so he passed me some of their demos/EP. I really liked what I'd heard so I was happy to get the word they decided to scrape up the money (inside joke) to come in. I'm not sure what state it's in right now since they were tracking overdubs/vocals at their place... looking forward to hearing the end product though... regardless of whether I get my hands on it for mix. So... from there it was into Age Of Days rehearsals. I decided back around Christmas that next tour, I would take some time off before to practice up... I also just simply wanted to take some time off this summer. Work has been non-stop for about a year and a half now... which is awesome... but you go through periods where you just have to grind through it... and grinding through the creative process sucks... it's still good when you know you can grind through it... but when you have too... and you're tired... it sucks huge. Rehearsing was fun though... and the idea of heading out to do a few dates with Halestorm was f*cking awesome. Nobody seemed to know who they are in Canada... big surprise <-- sarcasm. Once things got rolling on tour though, post near death experience, no joke, it was an awesome "vacation" and the shows were good. I sorta regret not keeping a journal... well the detailed type I normally would... but perhaps sometime I'll type it up what I remember and post it... in a few years. I still have last summer with Buckcherry done and ready to post... it might be more fun to post down the road though at this point. Who knows... my blog, my rules! We ended up flying back out for a weekend to play a couple more shows with Buckcherry and shoot a video for "I Did It For Love". I used to hate videos, but years ago, after watching a few from Soundgarden, I've accepted that 97% of all drummers look stupid in music videos, 100% of the time... so I just try and have fun with them. You are at the mercy of the editor! I'm not supposed to say too much about it... but it's a pretty standard rock video. Hot chicks, muscle cars, rock band... we could've used better catering but hey... Canadian music industry we're talking about. Unless you're part of the 1%, you'll probably find yourself at a Walmart deli counter trying to figure out how much shaved ham is necessary to feed 12 people. The band performance filming was fun... actually... I'll do a post about the video (please hold me to it!) once the video is released. Hopefully it's out in the next few weeks. After all that, I spent some time up at the family cottage... that was July. Age of Days did a quick festival appearance (first of five on the bill!) in their hometown of Fredericton this month. It was a pretty sweet bill as far as affordable small town festival rock bands go. Monster Truck, Big Wreck, Buckcherry, Sebastian Bach! All the bands were awesome, Sebastian was very entertaining... I love watching pros work a crowd. Skid Row was slightly before my time but I still recognized a bunch of the songs... couldn't sing along to every song like some people though... *cough*MattMcLaughlin*cough*. Big Wreck was the highlight for me though... Thornley is a monster talent. I'd briefly worked with him years ago on a project that unfortunately never saw the light of day. It's one thing to hang with people in the studio, it's another to see them on stage. I believe the greats always shine on stage... "great" will always be argued... but watching Big Wreck was great. It was only fitting they were sound checking when we showed up that morning... and just finishing up their set when we had to head out... they sounded awesome. I think that about brings everything up to date... better late than never! I'm currently working on a few tunes with singer/songwriter Rory O'Hearn and a birdie told me Rebel Hero might be heading in soon to work on a few new tracks. Along with that, men's league summer hockey playoffs are in full force, men's league summer hockey playoff beard is in full force, and Age of Days will be back to rehearsals soon for an upcoming tour this October with Papa Roach. Super stoked. On a final note, that Papa Roach tour also involves some US dates. I told myself back in my teens I wanted music to take me to every province in Canada... territories, you're still on the list! Last year, finally hitting Manitoba, I'd reached my goal. This year, I'm hoping to start that adventure again with visiting all the states down south through music... should be good times. :-) - Mike P.S. Don't hit a moose... it f*cking sucks. P.S.S. This post is probably full of typos... I apologize. I limited myself to an hour though! (... because when you're laughin', you're smilin'.) So I've decided a couple things... well decided and accepted.
#1. I failed largely huge big at posting October's recap last month... last month as in November. I apologize to those who asked what happened to it. In short, it's hard to write these because of time and because so many projects spill over from month to month. It's hard not to go into crazy detail but also tough to just skim over things as well... especially when you're me... and if you know me personally, you're probably laughing a little. I'm going to keep at it though now that I have a better idea how long these will take now... and how long I'd like to make them. #2. Along with the 60+ #DearBands ideas sitting in my Twitter account, I have a bunch of blog posts partially started which I'm planning on giving more attention too soon. I'd like to post at least once a week in the new year... or whenever inspirado strikes. Like most things though, the hardest part is getting started, but once you have some momentum it'll get easier and easier. The feedback has been great so far though and it helps motivate for sure. #3. A couple is 2. November... A couple hiccups with projects opened up some space to work on new tunes with All But Over and brand spankin' new band, The Joy Arson. I have to say, working with a band that has nothing released is a little more difficult than one who has a few releases under their belt with their sound developed. Songs aside, you have an idea sonically what you're after and what they think sounds "good". With a new band, it's a clean slate. You'll get some references... typically of bands that have albums that won Grammy's, spent tens of thousands of dollars to make their albums, full of top shelf talent, etc, but you really just need to start recording and see what makes peoples ears perk up. I believe in bands sounding like bands. Sure, a producer/engineer/mixer can help sculpt the sound, but the bottom shouldn't fall out if they're out of the picture. A band shouldn't be lost creatively or sonically if you take people on my side of the glass out of the equation. Part of the job is pulling ideas they have out of their head and getting them to come out the speakers... the process gets a little easier with each release in most cases since they get better at articulating their ideas and you have some form of reference to what they lean towards. It's not that I think one is more fun than the other, just each present their own set of obstacles to overcome. The goal is to have these tunes out early December and they're pretty close to being wrapped... year is almost over... my birthday, xmas, then new years... then valentines day... I need a vacation. Next! I finally re-wired the studio! I've been putting this off since July I think. There are lots of spots in a studio that never get cleaned... I do my best to get to them at least once a year, do a thorough clean/vacuum. I'd picked up a couple new pieces for the studio as well and needed to make space for them. You'd think this isn't a big deal but re-wiring and shuffling things around can cause stupid amounts of headaches... like when a cable that was 2' too long before is now 2" too short... awesome. The new setup has minor changes but I noticed the improvement instantly. Comfort is key, and if I wished something was "another way", I'd rather just find a way to make it work that way. Customize it for me, just like anybody would their instrument. Lastly... aside from a shit ton of meetings, emails, and phone calls discussing projects for next year... I had a couple rehearsals and played a couple shows with Age Of Days opening for My Darkest Days (the shows were technically beginning of December). Lots of fun and it was as if things picked right up from the summer. There's word of a tour or two next year so we'll see what happens there... as much as I love the studio life... sometimes it's good to change it up... and it's always good to see things from the other side of the glass. - Mike "... use it or lose it." September was one of those months I feel like I did a bunch of stuff… but don't know what I did exactly. I had a few hours to think about what I wanted to write about during my flight back from Edmonton the other night… a common thread for last month? Professionalism. There's a couple main points I'd like to make and I'll do my best to keep this to a toilet sitting's length. Early in the month I finished mixing Sarah Shafey's next album. First and foremost, Sarah, and Donna Grantis (who c0-produced the album) were a pleasure to work with and I think we're all happy with the results. Initially though, my radar went off that Sarah could potentially be difficult to work with. This is nothing personal, this is based purely on past experiences with similar artists. "... if it happens once..." Sarah is very organized. How is this a potential problem? Over the past couple years I've accepted a few things about musicians… one of them being, be cautious of musicians who don't act like "musicians". That doesn't mean they have to be a complete train wreck… but there's typically a large grey area around details like timelines, deadlines, payment schedules, reading/comprehension, financial priorities, common sense, etc. You know… little things. They'll get done, you just have to accept the patience necessary that come with the lifestyle. Sarah showed up to the first mix tweak session with point form notes, for all the songs, and copies for each of us. "Amazing. " I love point form notes for mix tweaks… tell me what you want, not how you feel. There's lots of code names I can decipher (eg. "warmer", "darker", "brighter", "Bohnam"), but for the most part, just tell me in almost primal terms what you want.
It's simple that way. It's not being rude, it's being specific. You don't have to describe the neighbourhood when what I really need to know is the address. Sarah also mixes and engineers, and this is her album. "... you're here to ruin everything... aren't you." We all have our ways of doing things and what sounds right to us… sometimes knowing too much about what happens behind the curtain is just as annoying as assuming you know what happens behind the curtain. This wasn't the case at all with Sarah though, it just made it easier for her to articulate what she was thinking. Bottom line, being organized has a couple ends. On the bad end, it's simply an obsessive attempt at micro-managing with a side order of unrealistic expectations. Instead, you should be able to roll with the setbacks and not prevent progress when there are opportunities to get ahead. Another problem with badly highly organized people, is they're always aiming to hit the bullseye as opposed to crossing the finish line. They'll constantly reset the cycle, thinking another attempt will give better results. Imagine you're driving and you see the same intersection 4 times… yes, you're still moving but chances are there's something wrong with your directions and/or your sense of direction. I think that's the problem with artists that can't finish in general. We don't always have to come in first or hit the bullseye. Completing art is about getting it across the line... that being said, where you set the line is up to you. On the good side of being organized... efficiency, focus, and endgame vision. "Smart." Next. I did a spec mix for a band early last month. I do spec mixes often and although my track record for getting the project is pretty good… sometimes I don't, they let me know, and it's totally cool. Considering our initial meeting, this particular project seemed like it was for sure, just going through the normal paces to know what I'm getting into time wise. They explained early on how the previous studio they'd recorded at had screwed them over a little (red flag) and that they had a tight timeline. I turned over the spec mix within the week and explained it'd be best to have the rest of the songs asap if they wanted it done by the end of Sept/early Oct. One week goes by… nothing. Two weeks go by… still no response. Response from management was they didn't know what's up either. "... something seems off." Fair enough. By this point I'd already assumed I wasn't getting the project but it wasn't official until I saw the band posting about mixing at the original studio on Facebook... Facebook official!? It's not like people aren't going to find out what you're up to, it's just that you look like a bit of a knob for leaving people in the dark or directly attempting to indirectly mislead them. Then again, with some people, it just doesn't cross their mind to say anything for whatever reason. "... most of the time, it's better to say something, all of the time." The main annoyance isn't the poor communication though, again, musicians being musicians. It's the time I don't get back. I blocked out a chunk of time to do the project since they were on a tight schedule and it seemed like all things were "go". It's not about how long the band/artist thinks a project will take... I do a mix on spec to see how long I know it'll take me. I don't want to cut corners or wear myself thin trying to hit a deadline if it's unnecessary. It sucks to look in the mirror and see dark circles under your eyes from a project that just wasn't worth it. So lack of communication is one thing, and I know the band will have their excuses, but the long and the short of it is, it's unprofessional… not to mention it leaves a mark on the people who referred them. Will it end someones career? Of course not… but acting unprofessional rarely helps in the long run. So bands/artists, just keep these things in mind when someone doesn't bend on budgets, timelines, and deposits. Another band or artist before you is to blame. They got there first and messed it up. It's up to you to break tradition. "... just stay the fuck away from this tradition." So, with that out of the way… I was blessed with the presence of The Pecan Sandies later in the month who were in to record a few more tunes for an upcoming release. They were in earlier this year and were just as much fun this time around. It's a simple 2-piece, baritone guitar and drums driven rock outfit, and easily one of my favourite acts in the city. They talked about a few of their video ideas and I can't wait to see them completed and out in the real world… two great musicians making simple music they love and have fun playing. What a concept. Lastly, as I made a slick reference too early in this post, I was in Edmonton last weekend to record drums for some new Tupelo Honey songs. I love mentioning these types of gigs to people… their response is a mix of "that's cool!" to "why would they bring you all the way out there? Is there nobody out there who could record it? Are you actually THAT good at recording drums? Am I in the presence of drum recording royalty or somethin'??"… yeah that last bit sounds better in a Joe Pesci voice… seriously though… some people make comments like anybody could do it... which is 100% true… to a point… but when it gets down to it, it's shitloads more fun to work with your friends, and much easier to work with people you've worked with a lot in the past. "... good times... it's a team sport." The recording process is just that, a process. The more you work with people, the more you understand their process and don't have to say much to know what's going on. Like most things in life, it's more fun when you're good at it. Put a good producer, a good engineer, a good drummer, and a good assistant (to glue everything together) in a room for few hours, good things happen… and we have fun in the process. I usually see the Tupelo guys when they're in Toronto… it's been years now since we first met and the visits are frequent enough I forget they're on the other side of the country. We've flown Greg to Toronto a couple times to track drums here, so it was fun to go out there for a change and I'm glad Jeff (producer) threw the idea by me and the invite. It was a quick trip but felt more like a visit with friends than actual work. … then again work rarely feels like work... and on that note... "do, do, do, do, do, duhdoo, do
do, do, do, do, do, duhdoo, do do, do, do, do, dooooo0000." |
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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