January 23, 2017 - 10:01pm It's 10pm!!! ... and I'm sitting down to write this on an uncomfortably high table in another hotel lobby. Just got the the mastering back from The Sole Pursuit album I produced last year... so far I'm only 3 tracks in but it's soundin' pretty *boss. Gonna get sidetracked for a second... but when I saw the email notification pop up this evening... it really sunk in I've changed gears. I love making records... well I have a love/hate relationship with making records because as they say "art is never finished, only abandoned". Early on, it was really difficult for me to finishing things... since I'd always go to bed thinking it could be better... which it very well could be... but if your intention is to always finish it tomorrow, it never gets finished... and eventually you pick at it so much it becomes infected. Long story short, when it came time for mix, the guys in The Sole Pursuit brought up the idea of opening things up to some outside mixers... which I was totally cool with! The names they brought up... F&@% YEAH! I was curious what they might do with the tracking... since we all thought it was soundin' pretty *boss so far. Some people might feel threatened but I was curious how my work would stack up against some decent names with awesome credits. They made it clear they still wanted me to mix a draft of the album (which I still would've anyway just for peace of mind... and my sanity... since I had an idea of how I wanted the album to sound based on our pre-pro discussions and references. I hustled to get the Pro Tool sessions prepped/cleaned up (something I typically do while I'm (pre)mixing... and then realized how close the deadline was for me... but I was determined to make sure the outside mixer and my mixes (draft of the album) would show up at the same time. It was a lot of late nights getting things ready and the same thing getting the mixes together. You'd think a couple weeks is a long time to mix 12 songs but time flies once you start getting into the details... and chasing ideas you have in your head. Right up until the end, I pulled a couple all-nighters to get things together... the very last day even, it just worked out (I mix at home) my housemate was away... and I mix pretty loud in the final stages, to make sure it "moves air". ... I love hearing great stuff LOUD! ... plus I hear different frequencies (or at least I think I do) when I have stuff at a comfortably loud volume. So my deadline I think was June 1st... and I missed it by a couple hours... but I remember thinking... this is the best I can do... I uploaded it for the guys... and I went to bed. ... I knew I'd feel good about it in the morning... in the the creative industry... real talk for a moment... you know when you've tried your best because you know whatever it is you're sending out into the world contains a piece of you. You want to see it do well... you want other people to like it... but you love it and you hope other people love it too. ... and you know when you've phoned it in because you don't make the effort to hear how it's doing... it's just out in the world... it's just "there"... and you're onto the next one... often looking forward to one you REALLY want to do your best on. ... and I think this is why people new to creative industries are so sensitive about feedback and criticism... they try their best and feel it's good... and they become attached to it... and regardless if it's good or not they want other people to like it.... early on, it's typically not that great though... but they need feedback in order to get better. ... which is another reason I think the older you get, and the better you get, the more particular you want to be about the projects you take on. If you just get paid... you don't get that "thing" from it that brings joy... you want meaningful work... hell... I still get asked what I do for a living after telling people what I do for a living. (... almost through this album... still sounding boss!) ... I think it was the next day I heard back from the guys about the album... they loved it... they loved it a lot. I've said it before, you don't get to choose how you feel but I was ear-to-ear grinning on my back porch... I'd done my best AND they loved it. It was painful waiting this long for it to go to mastering since (real talk) it's not done until it's in the packaging in my world... even then, sometimes people pry the lid back off and mess around with it further. So all that... it sunk in this evening that I might not be making records for a while... in fact, the weeks leading up I decided to refer a few projects to other producer/mixers... knowing I won't be around... and even if it bites me in the ass when I get back, I didn't want to have studio gigs lined up when I get back because... my focus is on the band and our focus is to play a lot this year... sometimes it's best to build the wings on the way down... failure isn't an option. (... I put phaser fx on the drums!!! Forgot... brings me joy. *tear*) In business they call it a pivot when your model and priority changes... but it's still weird thinking I don't really plan on making any records in the near future... not that I don't want to... but if things work out on the band front.... ... and things seem to be going pretty good right now. It's fitting I'm listening to this right now... I dove right into making this record when I got home from the Disturbed tour last year... and it consumed me for a couple months. It's giving me some closure on what I sorta feel like is a chapter of my life... 10+ years of helping bands make records. ... almost done listening through and only a couple notes... awesome. (... time delayed pitch shifted vocal throw!! ... sounds expensive. *tear*) Sorry if this seems like I'm going nowhere which this... just sharing my thoughts as I listen through in real time... 2 songs left! Even the last project I handed off.... it was difficult since in my head I knew where I could get it sonically... if I just had more time... but I made peace it was in good hands and made peace with the idea that I had to abandon it. ... the people I work with deserve my best. (... 1 song left.) I'm confident this album will finish strong... I guess I should talk about the day... well... ... woke up at 9am... went back to the "office" aka business center... finished off the YouTube uploads of [Destroy + Rebuild] and got them uploaded (meant to have them up on the 20th but... busy as F lately). We went to Denny's... I had oatmeal... drove to another hotel... did more work online/emails... did laundry with Dane while Reid and Brendan went to Manhattan for a couple meetings... went to the gym for an hour... got cleaned up and back to work. ... join a band they said... see the world they said... it'll be fun they said! So far so good. Up at 6am tomorrow to go do radio in... Harrisburg I think... Reid set it up... I'm just looking forward to hotel breakfast (no dinner) and making our way closer to the next show... feels like forever! Ok... the album is done... I give it solid 9.7/10... mainly knocked off some points because I'm biased. Bed time for me. - Mike :-) P.S *Boss = Good P.P.S I devised a plan to take the pen.
P.P.P.S. We were added to Octane Accelerator... which sounds like "regular rotation".. from the sounds of it... fingers crossed we make it into their Big 'Uns Countdown... asking a lot but we'll see!
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January 22, 2017 - 11:21pm I just wrote something with THE best hotel pen I've ever written something with. I felt my penmanship go up at least 5 pts with it. For the record, I believe it's wrong to take something that isn't yours... but my God... this pen... I think it was destined for more than a hotel business center. ... I'll see if it's still here in the morning... if it is... it might fall into my bag just before we checkout and drive off. *cough* So... it's SUPER early tonight... I'm not falling asleep looking across the room for the first time since we started the trip. I'm also wanting to get this done earlier because I have some video stuff to do... and I haven't use Final Cut Pro X in a while... and sometimes I'm kinda slow getting my chops back... So today... everyone slept in... which is good... I also noticed that you notice the size of a queen size bed and a double bed a lot more when you're goin' halfsies with your bandmate. I'm generally the last to go to bed so I grab the (side of the) bed closest to the door... which is also the best place for the first person to "turn in for the night". *cough* I don't move much when I sleep... I disrupt the sheets so little, I can almost make the bed as I get out of bed. Other people... not so much.... no so much at all. I'm not complaining... just a little insight... anybody in a band that's toured knows this is a funny (Spinal Tap) reality of band touring life... sleeping arrangements and accommodations. ... anyway... by the time I got into bed last night... I think I had enough space to get most of my body on the bed... I'm a side sleeper so I accepted there was a 47% chance of rolling off the bed... into a space beside the bed just wide enough for me to get stuck... or a 48% chance rolling the other way and... nobody talks about it because nothing ever happened. *cough* Seriously though... it's pretty common for people to get punched, kicked, headbutted, etc accidentally while asleep. We keep tabs... Anyway... I'm sure people love hearing about this... speaking of the hotel room... we've been here for 2 days and it's a disaster. lol. It'll be fine when we leave but it's pretty messed up with clothes, instruments and 2 recording rigs. ... yup... 2. So we finally got up and out the door for breakfast around 1pm... IHOP again... Reid ordered "all you can eat pancakes"... that was amazing. We stopped in at Guitar Center... they weren't joking... Guitar Center sure sounds like Guitar Center. It's everyone playing everything all the time... basically one of my versions of heaven/hell. It's laughably bad... and the kids in the drum section... amazing... just bangin' away... the guy working seemed to give zero f's. I'm all for people playing instruments but it's a mess. There was a little girl rippin' on a distorted electric guitar which made me smile though... the sooner kids are introduced to distortion, the better! Oh... remember how the van is super packed? Reid bought another guitar. :-| Couldn't tell him no though... I actually told him he should buy it. lol. Some people look to me as the voice of reason... but there are times I think I surprise them with my answers and logic. "Hey Mike, I think I might buy this..." "Yes... yes I think you should." "REALLY??" Sometimes you just have to do what brings you joy... that guitar brought Reid joy... I also believe you should do what makes you feel "less bad" and I think leaving that guitar behind would've made Reid feel bad. ... besides... we've cleared out a bit of space by selling merch... we can make room. :-) Back to the hotel around 4pm and I hung out working in the business center for a couple hours. I must say... considering a main part of this hotel is a conference center... its business lounge is sorta the worst so far... it's nice but not as much "stuff"... just a couple computers and a REALLY slow laser printer. Dane messaged me the guys were going to hit the pool so I packed up and headed there. (... forgot to pack my flipflops.) Hung out in the pool/hot tub for a bit, had a mini band meeting. We're all really excited about this year... yeah we're only 2 shows in and there'll be lots of opportunity to implode on the road over the next couple months... but the difference between the first and 2nd show... we've all played a ton of shows and I'm excited to see us (together as Never Say Die) at 10... and 20.... and 50 shows. It sorta sunk in today that we're sorta homeless/nomadic for a while... part of me wishes I brought even less stuff to worry about packing. ... I might dump a few things... or "donate". ... or maybe we need a tour bus. *cough* We left for dinner around 8pm... the parking attendant outside told me earlier if we had to leave with the van this aft to tell the guy working this evening that he said it was alright to put the cones out to hold the spot in front of the hotel. I called a couple days ago to double check the parking situation. You HAVE to watch where you put your van/gear. All it takes is one time to park in the wrong spot and everything is bad news. I pleaded our case and was polite... and when we finally arrived, the guy at the front desk remembered me, as did the parking attendant, and we got our spot on front... marked with cones. The parking attendant this evening wasn't interested in hearing about our arrangement... he insisted that's not how they do things around here. :-| We went back and forth a little on the problem and solutions... I was nice about it though and he eventually caved, partially to get my stupid smiling ass to shut up. We told him we were heading out to dinner and asked him if he wanted us to get him anything. "Can I get to go home??" He reply half jokingly... but it had a pretty sad undertone. I truly believe he wanted to go home... for whatever reason... That being said... he was pretty aggressive and we could've easily got into a shouting match about a stupid (but incredibly safe and useful) parking spot out front of the hotel... I'm not about that though. Sometimes people want to bait you into an argument simply because they're upset... but often it has nothing to do with the actual situation. He was primed to pull rank on someone asking/telling him what to do... meanwhile he could've been primed another day positively and been in a good mood to listen and help someone out if he could. "I hear ya... we're all away from home the next couple months." lol. "... really?" His body language changed and he walked over by the cones to put them out after we drove away. Again... if someone is upset, and you did nothing wrong... I don't think there's a reason to be upset with them too... it's usually always something else... you're just in that space at that time... so try to listen to them. Dinner was good... I needed a salad... too much pizza the last few days... sorta sick of bacon and eggs already too. On the way out I figured to grab the parking attendant something... he didn't seem interested in a coffee... but who can turn down hot chocolate! (... am I right??) Handed it to him when we got back and he seemed surprised but thankful. We chatted about music and bands briefly and I think he apologized in his own way for earlier. #winwin ... and now I'm back in the business center putting some more CD's together to mail out tomorrow and... still need to get on that video stuff. Off to Manhattan tomorrow then we'll start making our way towards Beckley, WV. If... if I can get up early enough tomorrow, I'll hit the gym before we go. ... diet starts tomorrow. - Mike P.S. Somehow it's 2:01am and I'm just finishing this now. ... gym Gods... stop laughing at me. January 22, 2017 - 1:52am ,P.S. Thought about it this morning... just wanted to say huge props to people who go support live music ... alone. It means a lot to bands when someone shows up by themselves just to see/meet a band. I went to a lot of shows solo especially early on trying to find bands to work with me. I'll be honest... it's tough... majority didn't seem to really care... I mean, you reach out and compliment them and sometimes you get a crappy 2 word response like "Thanks man!", if any response at all.
Wanted to let those who come out to the shows solo, we see you and we really appreciate you coming out. It's quality over quantity but you help add to both. #officiallybedtime January 21, 2017 - 5:17am P.P.P.S Can't stress enough how awesome that pizza was.. wish I had it now... *tear*
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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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