Sonic Youth

I had the opportunity catch my first SY live show on the 18th in Kansas City at the Uptown Theater. Went with my brother who snapped this shot on his phone. Have you guys had a chance to listen to the new album, The Eternal, yet? Anyway it was a great show so don't miss out if they are in Chicago or eh... wherever Ohio. (was it Betsville or something like that?)

FINALLY!

drums have been recorded! it's about damn time (7 months later than expected), but better late than never. when i get back from my trip to florida in a couple of weeks i'll start trying to piece it all together so we have something semi-finished for jesse to work with.

Hi Jesse

How are you guys ?

Micah

peep.

Dreaming

You know I have a freind who would let us use a studio if you were so inclined to bring a few toys. I coukld even have a drummer and kick ass base player show up ? Just a little whisper of a hope over a blog..........REcording is soem magical shit !!!! Dont talk shit about total !!!!! Bro.....

Nate

I live about one and a halfd hours from eckman ( I think ). MAybe a little longer. I am sure ben's son is adorable.

not yet. but i am pursuing all options. these drummers are finicky bastards.

btw i will be in ohio from friday july 3rd to sunday july 5th. eckman keeps bugging me about seeing his little kids so i figured i'd finally make the trip over. i can't wait to see what a spawn of ben eckman looks like. do you live close to ben?

Nate

Any luck gettting with the drummer ?

Micah

will do, klotz. will do.

congrats on the little baby girl, jesse!

NATEWHORE

I hear you may be in ohio in july ? I have already started sprinkling holy water around my new house to keep the evil away. I know last time we hung out I got oddly sick ( I blame the sparliness of napleville) but we should hang out a little bit. When you get a chance give me a call.
419 307 4717

Jesse

Sounds healthy.... Congradulations. MAybe after a few months when you guys have been able to catch your breath I could come visit. Ben said you guys may move after a while...... Let me know if that would work for you guys after a few months. I miss ya.

Micah

Screams a a lot, squishy, sort of cute, poops every five seconds.

Yeah, it's a baby girl.

Jesse

Thanks. How is your new baby ? Boy or Girl ?

Micah

#

330-317-1715

P.S.

To nate & jesse,

I had a voice message from ben last week but I did not catch his phone number in his message. Do either of you have his phone numer so I can call him back ?

Micah

NATE

How is your summer. As I recall it can get hot in chicago. Not as hot as central florida but hot nonetheless or nevertheless............

Micah

JESSE

CONGRADULATIONS !!!!! DO you have any pictures of the newest hibbs.... :)

NATE !!!!

Dont forget to crack the whip on drummer boy !!!!

Jesse

Congratulations..............Love you guys :)

silversun pickups

This one's from one of my favorite new bands: Silversun Pickups, it's off their new album Swoon

Panic Switch

cool. let us know how the kid turns out.

I'm gonna be out for a few

New baby due tomorrow, no time for rock stardom. If you record drums, please get a drum track for paper thin, it's such a good song. Leave me a few measures for a guitar solo.

Halycon Brave !!

1. Vocals sound amazing. Very strong and focused. Very straightforward and clear.
2. Guitar tone sound great.
3. Concise song. You deliver the goods !!!Damn!!!!

Micah

also.

drums coming soon for worth i think. by hook or by crook. for the love of god.

jesse.

you are way cooler than me and micah. why did you ever play with us?

Halcyon Brave

Here's a live recording, actually been working on an studio take of the song in Sonar and got so fucking sick of trying to get everything mixed the way it sounds in my head that I just recorded it on a crappy pentax camera and here it is. I totally screwed up the arrangement because I didn't have a lyrics sheet in front of me.

Actual Lyrics/Arrangement should be:

Halcyon Brave

(verse)
This is strange etiquette I know
And the light from the stars will be our guide
And the light from the stars will take me home

(chorus)
Hey Weatherfield, Rama's here for you
Hey Weatherfield, Rama's here for you
The main sail is caught in ion fire
The sky is awash in shades of red

Orion guides my hands
The sun sets as we sail off the coast
Orion guides my hands
The sky is breathing July brave

(bridge)
The sky is bleeding, bleeding in to red again

(verse)
This is strange etiquette I know
And the light from the stars will be our guide
And the light from the stars will take me home

(chorus)
Hey Weatherfield, Rama's here for you
Hey Weatherfield, Rama's here for you
King fisher is at the edge of the world
I'm not sure if he's coming back this time

headaches

Any progress on Worth or any other songs? I've got all my mic problems sorted out and a decent demo of a new song I'm working on now that I'll up as soon as I get a mix I'm happy with. Turns out my whole volume problem was a set of shitty patch cables. See it's all the little details that make this such a headache.

But it's the best kind of headache!

cool thanks, I'll get one eventually, until then I just have to turn everything up louder (Liz will enjoy that).

nope, just looked it up on sweetwater. i was thinking of the AKG C2000B for about $250ish. ebay though should have one for a good price.

AKG C1000??? i forget the exact price, but it might be somewhere around $150???

Yeah...

Sorta figured that out after I posted, sm57 needs a little more juice to get anything done. Maybe I need to start looking for a good but cheap condenser microphone, something in the same price range as the 57. Can you recommend one?

jesse,

you probaby already know this, but i'll say it anyway cause i have no idea what else your problem could be...

dynamic mics are capable of handling LOTS of loud noise. this means it also takes a lot of sound to get a dynamic mic to register much level at all. so unless you have your amp turned up real loud, your sm 57 (or whatever dynamic mic you're using) simply may be incapable of picking up the sort of volume you're hoping for. on the other hand, condenser mics pick up every little thing.

weak mic levels

I've been trying to get a demo of a new song I'm writing up but battling with weak mic levels. Home recording is cool but it sucks when I spend more time patching cables and tweaking knobs than playing guitar.

You have any tips on getting a good mic signal, I thought dynamic mics weren't supposed to have this issue. I'm going to try running it through my midiverb 2 100% dry just to get a volume boost, might help I dunno, I'll try that for tommorow but right now I'm seeing red because I just wrote a really cool song and have no way to play it for you (I eBayed my webcam because winblows decided to start assigning it as a midi device which disabled my midi keyboard WTF?).

klotz,

i've been trying to save a vac day or two in the event that we could all get together to do some writing and/or recording. getting us all together at once would be tough though. right now i'd just be happy if these drums ever get recorded.

i don't know about smaller market studios, but here in chicago you could have a fucking doctorate in sound engineering and nobody would give you a second look unless you were somehow already in with the right people. they'll let you intern without pay if you want. then you can be one of their dozens of slave laborers holding out hope that someday the studio might hire you on at least part time to clean toilets and organize the mic cabinet.

Music School

Yeah, full sail is like 47k now. It's sort of retarded. And probably it's all shit I could teach myself. A lot of it I already have. I should have done it when you did, now I got way to much personal shit going on. Maybe if I could find a school where I could do it a little at a time, I don't know. Everything is to expensive. I just bought a new Alesis eight channel mixing board and my first non-shit microphone, a Shure PG58. My favorite mic so far is the little purple plastic one I found at KB Toy & Hobby for $5.

Is it possible to get a job or an internship doing this w/out a degree from full-sail or whatever. I mean if I have a BA in marketing and walk into a studio and know how to operate the equipment will anyone take me seriously?

Micah, don't be so hard on yourself, your recordings are good, and at least your doing something creative. Give yourself the credit you deserve, this stuff is hard work. I know you can write and record better songs than what you have out there, but that's no reason to feel like what you already did isn't extremely cool.

Nate & Jess

Speaking of favorite hobbies.....I cant wait to record again, Is there any hope or glimmer or sparkle or slight resemblance of a small breath of an inkling of a prayer for a chance to maybe record this summer. The three of us ?

Micah

Jesse

Congradulations on finishing your BA. I say go for your passion. My favorite hobby is the same as nates ...MAKING MUSIC !! I am sorry you had to hear some Fur Mina. I do like Mike's song Transient but the rest of the album is crap !!! Seriously though I think mike is a good song writer. He primarily wrote transient and It Moves. Those are the best songs on that EP. I dont know what I was thinking with An Aching. What the hell...... I think you can always use more education both in the classroom and on the street; just as long as its not wall street...Well....unless you desire to be a criminal. Wall Street makes the best criminals. They dont ever get caught and when they do......Well jsut talk to Bernie Maddoff's wife. I think nate would make a good criminal... What do you think ? In fact nate may already be a criminal...Not sure..

Micah

from my perspective, a tech degree in audio is a fantastic idea as long as it's something you're doing for yourself and not what you are banking on for a career or any sort of reliable job. for me, it was incredibly self indulgent and helped me get so much more out of my favorite hobby (making music).

as far as schools go, i think you get a lot of bang for the buck at the school i went to in tempe. back then it was $13,500 total tuition price for the complete 10-month program. full sail is longer and probably a more complete program, but at the time i researched it, tuition was around $30,000!

of course, you might just be better off spending $13,500 on some sweet ass recording gear and just continue doing your own recordings as you will get better and better.

woot

Fur Mina is playing right now on my last FM station, nice work Micah.

Hey Nate

I'm finished w/ my BA in like another month or so now and was considering getting some sort of tech degree in audio engineering or recording arts. Any suggestions as far as what schools are worth while or if this is even a good idea?

Thanks!

Silversun Pickups

new track, new album, free show in kansas city...


i'm soooooooo hoppy

Jesse

Jesse,

Thanks again for writing something nice about the album. Are you pretty close to being done with school ? I seem to remember that you were taking marketing which is very cool and interesting. I have this feeling that you could become the jackie K. of modern marketing. Ushering i na new fresh breath of creativity into an old smelly market of pooish sameness.

Are there any specific sectors you would like to get into after college ? Are thinking of becoming an ad man or do you want to go the route on innovator in your own niche. Anyway I know you will kick ass and find marketing to be interesting ( sometimes evil) and exciting.

Nate

Any luck getting the drummer into the studio ? Will you have access to a real piano ? Damn man I need updates !!!! The anticipation is horrible..........How can you do this with a clear conscious ?

Jesse

Thanks for the review. I appreciate you being so nice but I think the only person anticipiating it was my therapist or the poor guy who had to record me on weekends. He was probably the most excited about it being finished. IT was fun to record though. In my defense... I didnt actaully put a lot into writing. I showed up to the studio in a frenzy. Smoked a couple cigs... drank a lot of coffee and played music for a couple hours. 50 people have been tricked into buying this crap and for that reason I a mtruly sorry making it. You are a good friend and thank you.

Micah

Answers about my demo

i can't remember which songs were which on the cd i sent you, jesse. can you give me 1 or 2 lines of lyrics for each track number? that would be enough for me to identify which song is which. as for the gtr sound on track 6...i will let you know more once i know exactly which song we're talking about. i think i might have some sort of an explanation for you regarding the acoustic strumming sound, but i have to be sure we're talking about the right track or tracks here. i would like to get to the bottom of this if at all possible. let me know.

as for the string song, i can only assume you're talking about "like this". it's the only song i've recorded real strings for. and yes, i'm quite proud of how those strings turned out, especially since it was my first attempt at arranging and recording a string section. it is possible we could use the string player for a grynch song if it was needed. however, it just so happens that the girl who played those strings for me is a real fucking bitch. and i'm not just saying that. i can be cordial with her, but it takes a lot of my energy and it had better be worth it. she sure can play a beautiful violin and cello though.

Questions On Nates Demo Disc

Hey, I was giving your demo disc another listen today and thought of a few questions and some advice (I know I'm full of shit, just take this for whatever it's worth).

First question is could you list the six song titles? I want to write ID3 tags for the FLAC files I created from the disc, I just have them titled "Song #".

Is that you playing guitar on the last track? If it is you should try playing with a thinner pick, it sounds like you were playing with a really chunky plastic pick. You can hear it sort of sliding sideways across the strings after the initial attack. Try a real thin nylon pick(dunlop makes great nylon picks), if it's not you kick whoever played the guitars ass and ask them to do it again but with more feeling. This is also something I've noticed that's sort of a reoccurring about your recordings, whenever you record acoustic, at least for this type of music, you have to get rid of that chunky sounding pick attack, either EQ it out or soften it with a little reverb. If your recording electric don't let the guitarist sit anywhere near the microphone, especially if they hammer the guitar like Micah when he plays.

Last question, where the hell did you get the strings on track four? That whole track is probably the best recording you've made (and the second best song you have written behind feels right). The strings just really fill it out and make it incredible. Can we get whoever played that to come back in for a Grynch recording :)

Ciao,
-Jesse

Thanks Micah,

Thanks for the lead Micah. I'll look into Bailey Records, I've never even heard of them, other than your album, so I'll check into it. I'm pretty busy right now with a lot of stuff and I can't imagine any serious record label would be interested in the home recordings I'm working on now. Most likely Bailey Records isn't for me but I do appreciate the heads up. Keep me informed how things go with your new recording, anything I can do to help out let me know. I didn't think your "Jesus" album was terrible or anything. I actually gave it a good review on Amazon.com a few months ago... go look.

Thanks again!

Bailey Records

Jesse & Nate,

As you know I recorded a horrible solo album called " jesus is a bad salesman" with bailey records. In fact there was an absolutely awful song that you both pointed out sounded like " bingo was his namo" which your right it did. I ant believe that song was on a plastiq music compilation UGHHHHH!
Well anyways.... regardless of all that complete failure they have decided to allow me to make a second record which I am going to title Unicorn.. Also they have gotten involved with a company that has the rights to Buck Rogers and they are making a soundtrack for a toy that will actually have mp3's in it ? I know it sounds wierd .
Anyways...Here is the deal....They have invited me to be involved with the talent scouting for artists that will be on the album. I told them about a couple friends I have ( I know how did I get 1 friend let alone 2) and they said you guys could sumitt material for the project. If your interested post back and I can give you more details on the project. If not interested I understand and I will focus back on the grynch project.

SIncerely,

The smelly guy you knew from college that made strange music...

Jesse

Nate was right there . He could have done something. Why did you not act nate ? Seriously that is awful......

wow that does suck.

Touch & Go Records collapse...

Touch & Go Records, from Nate's hometown of Chicago, is going under, what crappy news.
Here's what i read on another blog:

Chicago indie powerhouse Touch and Go cuts distribution service, staff

Touch and Go Records, a pillar of the Chicago music scene and independent music worldwide, announced Wednesday that it is drastically shrinking its business, cutting ties with 20 independent labels and laying off an unspecified number of employees.

"The current state of the economy has reached the point where we can no longer afford" to provide manufacturing and distribution services for the labels, including stalwarts such as Chicago-based Drag City, All Natural, Overcoat. Flameshovel and Atavistic Records; Merge in North Carolina,; and Kill Rock Stars in the Pacific Northwest, said Touch and Go founder Corey Rusk.

The move could drastically hamper the ability of these labels to get their new releases into retail outlets in a timely manner, and could affect their ability to stay solvent during the current economic downturn.

Touch and Go will continue to operate as a label; it has released more than 400 records in the last 28 years including more than 100 on its Quarterstick subsidiary. But the decision to cut distribution will force Rusk to shrink his staff of about 25 people. He would not give specifics in a phone interview Wednesday, but said the decision was "painful for everybody involved." Several employees reported being "blindsided" by the announcement.

This totally sucks, Merge Records, which is one of my favorite indie labels, is going to get fucked over by this too.

Snow in Mexico - EP

The band "Snow in Mexico" has a great self titled EP available for free digital download on their homepage. This is, as far as I know, the bands first and only release and it sounds absolutely fantastic. Download it HERE and let me know what you think!

NATE & JESSE

HELLO FRIENDS......... HOW ARE THEE ? THE DAY OF DRUMMING WILL SOON BE UPON US AND THY HIBBS SHALL PERFORM A VIRTUOISTIC LAYERING OF ETHERAL GUITAR MEANDERINGS AND WE SHALL SOUND WELL..............

i'm so anxious to get some drums tracked for our song. i feel like i'm waiting around for ever!

Sonic Youth "The Eternal"

New Sonic Youth album "The Eternal" will be released June 9th! And it's on Matador! I'm so glad to see them back on an independent.

V-Pedal

I just accidentally found this today searching for new free VSTs on Google. I about had a heart attack when I saw this, looks like this could be about the greatest guitar pedal ever made (w/ the exception of my Turbo Rat of course!). USB it up toPC and dump all your favorite VST effects into it. Program your chain however you want, tweak away and then link it to one of four stomp switches and an expression pedal. Finaly a way to take VST effects live, or use it to controll them with my feet in the studio! And linux support too! Hopefully it's affordable when they finally release it!

http://www.smproaudio.com/produkte/v-machines/v-pedal.html

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Stuff to Listen to

The debut Screen Vinyl Image album "Interceptors" is available for preorder on 12" and CD. Check it out, the whole albums streaming on the site.

Another band worth a listen if you haven't heard yet are Panda Riot who also have an excellent first album with "She Dares All Things"

LETS BE HONEST

Nate,

I know that you have slept with paul. I know that this is why the drums are not yet recorded. It's ok. Your a true artist. I mean I wouldnt have done it. Jesse wouldnt have done. Jared would probably do anything given enough alcohol but hey look.....at least the sound will be intimate . Right ?

Micah

You think it's neat?

If you are a spaz like Klotz I guess it's sorta cool :P

Just kidding, I love you both equally. Except for maybe Nathan a little less because of that thing about the creative matrix and that other time he was right about my IQ score. Scab.

p.s.

i miss you both despite the hours of guitar experimentation you made me endure.

i finally got to hang out with Paul (our soon to be session drummer). he just got engaged. whooppee for him. we're all very excited as you can tell. anyways, so he's busy with wedding shit until march but promises us it will be worth the wait. i believe him.

what direction is right for grynch? i think north by northwest. that or maybe left.

seriously though. i think grynch will be what it always was... the three of us all pulling strongly in our own direction and then being surprised by how the tug of war turns out. i don't think thats a bad thing. i kind of think it's neat.

NATEWHORE

Got your CD today. I cant wait to listen.

Micah

Jesse.

Is that your work ? Whas that a picture originally taken at Warner ? Do you think " worth" works for us as a band and what direction do you think would be best for us ?

Micah

Focus

Jesse,

An example would be that instrumental guitar work you shared a couple months back. I really loved it . Especially the tone. I think that sound could be crafted to work right along with a song like worth. I think that even though they are very different they could be crafted to have a sound as a whole. I think this is a good conversation and we should be able to as a band agree on what works and what doesnt. We are in such an early stage. I have wondered if " worth" even works for us or if it needs changed. One thing I truly love amout writing is working these kinds of things out with people. I think we should each song with scrutiny and judgment. I am not sure waht would be the perfect sound for us but I feel like there is something there trying to reveal itself to us. I cant quite put my finger on it.

Micah

Focus

Jesse,

I think paper thin is probably the only song that I ever wrote that was any good. When I wrote the chord structure I was actually trying to make an actual song. I remember being very into pink floyd and radiohead at the time. I think that songs like "paper Thin" a bit beefed up with better playing could lend itself to the natural bent of what we can all do but I also think that their is room for songs like future lines ( piano version) to kind of go off the grid a little bit . I think that your creativity with guitar could alllow us to get " out there" on some tracks and nates melody could keep us centered. Do be frank I think the sound that would best fit is would be taking a page from pink floyd, infusing it with some grundg sensibilities to give it edge and allowing ourselves to explore things a little different. I thin kas long as we make an effort to have a truly structured song ( something I am really trying to do better , especially with lyrics) in the sense of gettign across a solid feeling or story I think we will be fine.

Micah

Focus, focus, focus...

What are we doing? Looking back at our earlier endeavors I can't help but notice we never really settled on just what kind of band we wanted to be.

We need direction, everything we've ever recorded has no focus, we just bounced all over the map and as a direct result we never developed "our sound" or accomplished any level of success playing out or recording. There were times when we wanted to be Nirvana or Mudhoney with a piano (Opium Tea, Bored and 20). Other occasions we thought it would be cool to sound like a retarded version of My Bloody Valentine (Pulse, Chrysalis) or Radio Head (Paranoid). And then theirs songs like Paper Thin and Never Change, stuff I feel Nate had the heaviest hand in creating. -Where does this fit in?-

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying we should choose a band and mimic their sound, we'd never really be able to do that anyway. I just think we need some direction if we want to accomplish anything this time around (and I really do, I want to have something I can be proud of recording WITH you guys).

-JPH

Headphones

That's great about the new drummer, I agree the drums on "Feels Right" and "Spaceship" were excellent, this is very good news.

You're totally right about headphones, trying to mix down a track in headphones is mind numbingly aggravating. Unfortunately it's unavoidable. I got a wife and the little one and the only time I can work in the studio is after bed-e-bye time so...

What I've been doing is mixing through headphones at night then blasting it through the big speakers during the day while I'm changing diapers to check the mix.

I'm considering saving pennies for a set of AKG K701s, wouldn't solve the problem but could help a bit. I just don't know if can hack the price tag at this point.

When you say "recording through a 57" you mean a Shure microphone right? If that's what you are talking about, no, everything is digital. Guitar goes through pedal board and a stack of pre-amps and then right into my M-Audio sound card. It's not as good good as putting a microphone in front of a boutique amp but it is significantly better than recording a cheap amp with a Radio Shack mic. Plus it's a solution that fits within my budget and it's a hell of a lot more convenient because I can record all night while the kiddo sleeps.

I think I'm going to wait to send you any audio files for "Worth" until after we get the drums hammered out. It just seems like whatever I do, I know it could be better if I was in sync with your drummer. Besides I just don't get along all that well with click-tracks, they throw my brain for a loop (I know it doesn't take much for me, that's just how I'm wired).

first of all: change of plans with the drummer. paul goodenough is going to play drums for "worth" now. this is the guy who drummed on "feels right" and the original "spaceship" for me. he is awesome. better than the other guy. and he will do it for free. didn't realize he had moved to chicago until recently and we hooked up before the holidays. we're hanging out in two weeks at which point we will try to iron out dates for recording.

jesse, it's hard to give advice from far away because it could be a million things and it's likely a combination of several things. first of all, everything sounds good in headphones. i can fart and it will sound good in headphones. i assume you're recording your amp through a 57? if so, what sort of preamp are you using? some analog compression on the front end will also really help the guitar hold its own amongst other stuff in the mix. next, i can't imagine that trying to combine/mix your independently recorded gtr tracks with my independently mixed tracks is ever going to be very successful. i would recommend sending me the wav file of your track(s) and letting me put that back into the original session and mix it with everything else like that. how's that for starters?

Balanced Mix?

Hey, question for Nate:

When I record guitar alone it sounds excellent. When I record it with other tracks (say the other tracks for "Worth") it sounds good in the headphones but when I play it in a stereo the guitar always seems buried in the mix. None of the definition comes through for rhythm guitar, and lead guitar always gets lost so badly it's almost inaudible. This especially happens when there are drums in the mix. What's the deal? You went to school for this stuff, give me some advice, the mix sounds great in my headphones, why does it suck through a normal stereo?

I can give you more details if you need them I just don't know what's relevant so I'm leaving a lot unsaid.

-Jesse

Work?

Blah, no work done here. I'm using all my new toys to record audio, me speaking in spanish, for this stupid class. And the prof says, wow your audio files sound good, how did you do that with a webcam? Graaaahhhgh! (that's an angry noise).

Oh well at least I'm only a summer away from completing my degree (only took me 10 years after all, take that Jim Monohan).

Ciao.

PATTON ROCKS!!!

Nate,

I address is 120 w. culbertson street , fostoria, ohio but I still get mai lfrom rockstars like you at PO Box 547 Bettsville, Ohio 44815. If I had a wish I would make a transport machine for you and jesse so that we could all record this weekend. Jesse could bring his family . You could bring your roomares and all your secret stach of hasslehoff magazines from the late 80'3 and early 90's. Anyways................ Has there been work done on the song ?

Micah