Month of May 2004
We begin work on CD #2
MUCH MORE TO FOLLOW...!
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APRIL 2004
We played alot of shows!
I mean, for having NOT performed on stage myself, since last October...at our 5th annual H.A.L.L.O.W.E.E.N. bash...we did like, 4 or 5 shows since March 3rd!
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Month of March 2004
Riding high on our first ever CD release! I THINK I'm a star, Mick KNOWS that he is, and Alana has a sneaking SUSPICION that we BOTH are assholes!...It's the way she looks at us, or 'doesn't' look at us, that makes me think that....NO...I't the way she calls us both ASSHOLES that really makes me think that! So in March we are on the COVER OF RECOIL MAGAZINE!!! RECOIL MAGAZINE ...the finest 'all around' publication for LOCAL NEWS, NATIONAL PARODY, AND COOL STUFF IN GENERAL...that has been published the last 200 years!
** Please Note **
For all those that understand how IMPORTANT this magazine and being on the cover is...NO...We did not 'Bribe' or 'Buy' our way in!...We did not resort to ANY form of 'Blackmail', and we didn't 'Threaten' the owners in ANY way-shape-or-form!
Mick did not 'Harrass' Recoil with constant phone calls and begging...and Alana did not SLEEP with Kim or BLOW Cliff...
... I DID!
Thank you,
Reverend Charles Preston Smith
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Sat/Sun/Mon February 28-30th 2004
CD Burn and Packaging...3 days before release!?
OK...!...'Never again' I say to Mick's wife Jessica! I will not wait until the last minute to do all this stuff again!??? ...and very politely she says...YEAH!....RIGHT...!...HA!...HEH!...HMMMM!...I will believe it when our dog stops barking at people...! Well, knowing that dog and how much it reminds me of CUJO...I think she was being sarcastic. So I sit at the computer on Friday to 'whip out' the graphics for the new CD. I tell Mick and Jess I will label the CD's, print the insert, and run it all over for them to put together ...'sometime tonight'
From Friday around 100pm here's what took place:
Computer slow...My ideas changing...I printed the 100 CD's and THEN didn't like how it looked, so I redesigned the label...Test print the booklet...didn't like the paper...went and bought more...SATURDAY MORNING...still up...Burn the CD's again with a hotter mix of the last song 'Cool'...SATURDAY NIGHT...still on the computer with the graphics...Mick calls to come pick up the stuff to put it together...while on the phone with him, I don't close the office door...Our cat that has 'issues' comes in the office and PISSES ON THE COMPUTER!...I shut it down, empty the office cuz it's 100AM Saturday night and I'm punchy...Clean EVERYTHING...spray the cat with Ortho 'Cat & Weed-be-Gone'...SCREAM AT HIM...WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW?!!...he has no response.
Sunday morning I'm still at it...ALL day Sunday I'm still at it!...Sunday night Mick thinks I'm a dick ( I think he does) cuz I STILL don't have the packaging finished for him. MONDAY...I'm getting there! Office is CLEAN though...Cat's kinda groggy, but free of weeds...Tuesday Morning I bring the stuff to MICK and Jess...They put it all together and bring it to the show the next night...WEDNESDAY @ Billy's Lounge for the CD release party! I was tired at the show, but it was so cool to have a CD that I didn't even notice.
At the show I say to Micks wife Jessica ...'Never again'! I will not wait until the last minute to do all this stuff again!??? ...and very politely she says...YEAH!....RIGHT...!...HA!...HEH!...HMMMM!...I will believe it when our dog stops barking at people...! Well, knowing that dog and how much it reminds me of CUJO...I think she was being sarcastic............
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February 15th-thru-28th 2004
MIX-DOWN @ MikeDodge.com Basement Surgery Studio
After we did the voc backups, I took all the files to Middleville MI and had Mike Dodge do his magic. I HATE the mixdown process...Probably cuz I can't find the sounds that I want. Mike cleaned up the files, and did a basic mixdown for us to hear. On this alone he spent 15 hours! Then I spent an afternoon/eve at his studio telling him the tweaks we wanted. I would say he was 89% there, an I got another 1% out of tweaks, and the remaining 10% was what we could not get at all...so lets say I am 90% happy with this recording...only because it's the first one. If it doesn't get better for me to find the sound I have in my head, I'm gonna kill something or someone...to be CONSTRUCTIVE while I feel like this, I bought some Ortho 'Weed-be-Gone' to spray around the yard...killing weeds isn't a crime, but it is satifying to watch them wither and die...all the while screaming at them...WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW? MOTHER-FUCKER? HUH? WHO'S NOT HEARING THE DRUMS UP FRONT IN THE MIX NOW? YOU FUCKING HEDGE? WHERE'S YOUR PRECIOUS VOCAL NOW YOU GODAMN WEED? WHO TAUGHT YOU TO PLAY GUITAR? COCK! YOU COULDN'T PLAY YOUR WAY OUT OF A PAPERBAG...ASSHOLE! TWEAK THIS!...PUSSY!
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Tuesday February 10th 2004
BACK-UP VOCALS...Big fun...lots of Kesslers whiskey...
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Saturday February 7th 2004
VOCALS! YES! ...and I suck!
This was funny. I went over and over a few lines at a time of the song CIRCUS, only to find that after 3 HOURS...The entire vocal track was a pile of shit!...So I picked up the guitar, and attacked the vocal as if I was doing it live, and got it in one take...I hate recording...no, I guess I really just hate having to LEARN HOW to record.
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Friday February 6th 2004
OK...Recording is a whole different world!...So you write songs...then you perform them live. Of course there is a sound in your head you are trying to get. Then live the song becomes something different...sometimes good, sometimes bad. But I was thinking that when I go to the studio, I will make all these sounds in my head come to life? Well it's not THAT easy. It is a learning process, just like learning an instrument for the first time, then writing for the first time, etc...I can remember the first few songs I wrote, almost 20 yrs ago...they were O-K but pretty much sounded like I took 5 songs I liked and put pieces together to make my song. Then 10 yrs pass, and I get in this cheezy cover band (I say cheezy, because I think MOST any cover band is cheezy)
The band itself was alright, hell, it was an off shoot of one of GR's most popular bands throughout the 80's called 'OZZ' So the gigs were cool, I just realized that there has to be something more original to me?! So I quit/got fired/was kicked out/left for creative differences...whatever. I cut my hair, get a drummer no one wanted to work with, and pick up a guitar and amp that was NOTHING like the HAIR BAND rock equipment that I had used for 15 yrs. I held up in my basement with this drummer, making sounds, and singing about ANYTHING that came to mind. All the while using a hollowbody electric through a cranking old tube amp, I got some cool sounds! (I still can't figure out how)...Literally, I would look at a broken guitar in the corner and start babbling about it. I had listened to the music of everyone else for 15-20 yrs for the cover bands, so I really hated most ALL music at this point. I stopped buying wannabe magazines, LP's, CD's, Cassettes, and I just tried to play what was in my head! No more memorizing someones lyrics, If I had a story or experince in my head, I put it to music. 10 yrs later, I still do not listen to music...but I have found myself listening to RECORDINGS, trying to figure out how they got that 'drum sound' or guitar sound, etc...So my writing process has evolved to something that I can tolerate. There was a time when I first formed the PotatoeBabies, that the 3 of us could get out what I had in my head...but then musicians changed, and I lost that ability. In '96, '97, & '98, I had the original lineup...If I had an idea, we could come pretty close to getting it out as a group. The 5 yrs that followed, with the 6...SIX lineup changes...was just going thru the motion of learning what I had witten before, and playing it as close as possible. IF...IF...IF I came up with an idea, there certainly wasn't any smooth creativity between musicians to help me get it out. SO I BECAME MY OWN COVER BAND! YEAH! We learned songs that had been written 5 years before, and tried to cover them...miserably I might add.
WHOA! Did I get off track here?!! Wow! OK...anyways, this brings me to now...To the now...Live in the NOW MAN! The drummer I met is exactly what I need. I can feel what he's playing, and he can create from what I come up with...and the bass player feels the gel for the first time. Which was really keeping me from trying to write on the fly, because she didn't feel comfortable enough in the past to experiment.
And really...I don't give a shit...I just want them to be happy all the while they are doing what I want, to help me get out whats in my head musically...but the fact that they get along is a bonus! Where the hell was I? I am trying to say that the recording process is kind of a step BACK for me, because I can't get onto the recording what I have in my head, OR what I hear when we perform live...YET...It will come, I am sure. It's just another godamn learning process. Fuck this...
OK...I have to go redo the guitar parts to a song...more to follow.
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Thursday February 5th 2004
Rehearsal for the first show...and test to see if I hooked up all the equipment correctly after I HAD TO GUT THE ENTIRE GODAMN CONTROL ROOM!...see below.
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Wednesday February 4th 2004
SO I SPENT THE ENTIRE DAY REMOVING ALL THE EQUIPMENT...GUTTING THE CEILING...USING THAT 'EXPANDING FOAM' TO FILL EVERY CRACK...AND REPLACING THE INSULATION AND CEILING...because of what happend yesterday...(see below)
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Tuesday February 3rd 2004
I worked on guitar parts for a couple songs we will put on Album #2. Then we rehearsed a bit...
So this is funny...shitty funny....A couple years back our old drummer did 90% of the labor on this studio...he has a new band now called 'Hillbilly Nightmare' Anyways, the control room section he didn't really get to. We just threw some foam on the walls and left it. The room was drafty and leaked. When I re-wired and upgraded all the equipment this last fall, I also spent time gutting and insulating etc...I thought I had gotten it all. Apparently there is a crack in the foundation right above this room...RIGHT ABOVE THE RECORDING CONSOLE. So the sun came out today, it got to 35 degrees, and water seeped down the gutter to the walls, onto the front porch where behind the siding you couldn't see the cement had a hairline crack separating it from the house! I saw one drop hit the console, and I thought I had spit or something, then I looked up and the ceiling was wet! I got a bucket and poked a hole with a straw and water poured out filling 1/2 the bucket! This sucks, but better that I found it now than in the spring when things really thaw!
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Saturday January 31st 2004
Continued to rehearse the set for our first show Wednesday March 3rd @ Billys Lounge in Eastown. I lined up shows in Ypsilanti @ The Elbow Room, a show in Detroit, a bead on a slot in Chicago, a Wednesday in GR @ Ten Bells, and a show April 3rd in GR @ The Holiday Bar. Of 3 new songs we've written, one of the coolest ones called 'YOUR BOYFRIEND WANTS ME' is hard for me to finish...We worked on it for a bit, then' got bored and fucked a dog'...(That's a line from SID & NANCY by Sid Vicious)
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Thursday January 29th 2004
We reheared all 20 songs straight thru for the upcoming show in a month...Things are NOT going as I had hoped! We can't get through a single verse, let alone an entire song! I suck, Alana Sucks, the songs suck, the entire vision of the PotatoeBabies sucks, this drummer is holding us back, and I am SERIOUSLY considering giving up on music altogether....
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-
...Whew!...That was fun!
I just had a FLASHBACK of the last 5 years!...Everything is GREAT!... We played through 3 times as many songs last night after only a month, than we did with ALL OUR PAST DRUMMERS combined. Now in all fairness to the other drummers...it did take me 5 years to not be such an ASSHOLE when we work on the music....I'm still a DICK alot of times...but I've toned down (or shaved if you will) my ASSHOLE!
Again...we wrote ANOTHER song...kinda funky...alotta bass boogie walks and chicka-chicka on the guitar...more to follow
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Tuesday January 27th 2004
We learned 2 new 'PotatoeBabies Classics' (SUCK A TOAD and LOVELY MAUREEN)
For our first show WEDNESDAY MARCH 3rd @ BILLY LOUNGE in Eastown we need at least 20 songs! We have recorded about 10 songs so far for the first 2 albums ( to be released by GoodBoyRecords.com) Now we have to continue rehearsing ALL the tunes to eventually cover all 50+ that we have.
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Sunday January 25th 2004
Mixed down some ruff-tracks to have for rehearsal
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Saturday January 24th 2004
This was to be the vocal session, but MkeDodge.com has walking Pee-New-Monia...pussy!
So instead I wrote some tunes, and drank beer with the neighbor until 500AM!...WHAT was I thinking?
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Friday January 23rd 2004
PICTURES!
...and alot of them!
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Thursday January 22nd 2004
We rehearsed new songs. Both to get ready for more tracking AND to have a set ready for the March 3rd show. The drummer started this killer jungle-type beat and I started clanking this clean guitar harmonic (chiki-chika-chika) while the bass had a cool little run...This turned into a GREAT song. It will be sung to the females in the audience, and I believe the lyrics will be something about 'YOUR BOYFRIEND WANTS ME...YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR MAN'
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Wednesday January 21st 2004
Tracked Guitar parts to 'IT'S MY HOUSE...GET THE FUCK OUT'
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Tuesday January 20th 2004
We charted the song TOO HOT...and hit the new arrangement in a couple takes. Nothing set in 'Digital Stone' yet, but we could record this one any time. I added a funny/corny stop in the 2nd verse that makes reference to 'The Reverend Charles Preston'...it's a nice change up. We learned 'TOUCH ME' and recorded a scratch track of it. I got kinda crazy/impatiant with this one, because it's a VERY heavy song that changes up to jazzy/funk in the verse and I REALLY want to distinguish the parts solidly...we got thru it, but both Alana AND the new drummer are leaving me soon I fear...We rehearsed 'DICK' although it won't even make the 2nd album, it is ONE OF THE GREATEST HITS that we have to have ready for March 3rd DEBUT show @ BILLYS LOUNGE
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Monday January 19th 2004
Tracked Bass lines for 'COOL' ...Funny, she hit it in one take! Then we listened back...nice...Then we listened back without any other tracks playing...she started finding about 100 little mistakes, no...not mistakes...just little different sounds produced by the Bass. So we playback the entire mix again...she says 'Well I can't hear the flaws if you're gonna have the other tracks playing...so keep them down'????????? My point excactly! If we can hear an obvious flaw during ENTIRE playback...fine. If we can't hear it...IT'S NOT THERE!... But, I just spent 3 HOURS doing one small verse in the song MY HOUSE before Alana and the Drummer got here, so who am I to talk?
We finished the Bass tracks to 'POTATOEBABIES' and 'CIRCUS'...all drums and bass are finished for the first album. I have Guitars to finish on 3 songs this week, then Saturday, Mike Dodge will come to the studio and we will get started on VOCALS.
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Saturday January 17th 2004
We finished tracking drums on the last song for the new CD...CIRCUS. For those who have heard this song a million times before, it's arrangement has changed, and we have added the 'Caliope' (circus music) theme to the intro and bridge! This is very cool to me since I wrote the song in 1996 with this sound in mind, but haven't been able to chart it until now. I play the circus organ parts all on guitar using a pitch-shifter to get me that sound. As soon as I learn to ad wave files, I'll put a piece up here...COOL!
We also tried a new arrangement on an old song called 'TOO HOT' I think this is a keeper...
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Tuesday January 13th 2004
Tracked drums and Bass for 'COOL' and worked on 'MY HOUSE (get the fuck out)' The intro to MY HOUSE is cool! It starts with drums, kinda big band/jazzy like...sorta like MAX WINBURG on Conan OBrien. Once it kicks in it's an all out PUNK song though....
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Monday January 12th 2004
Touched on a new song...a new GREATEST HIT...called 'I don't like you anymore' It's got a driving distorted/harmonic going on the guitar, and we all kick in at once. This will be a great song to open a show with. The lyric hook is funny...('I don't like to see you eat, I don't like it when you BREATHE...I DONT LIKE YOU ANYMORE...) Also, we re-tracked the drums to COOL...not quite there yet...
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Saturday January 10th 2004
WELL THIS IS THE DAY...
Mike Dodge from Basement Surgery Studios started preparing the PotatoeBabies PBR Studio for a marathon first session! He arrived at 10:00am loaded with gear and a carton of cigarettes. Having just come off a full month with WALKING PNEUMONIA...I felt it best that he sit down during most of this 15 hour recording session! (I'm compassionate like that) He finished wiring up the drum room, while I set up the headphone mix.
The drummer (whoever he or she is) would arrive around 300pm and Alana (Crazy Legs on Bass) would be here about 600pm
At about 230pm I ran an errand while the drummer (whoever he or she is) did a Bass Guitar check. While I was gone they got the drums good to go as well. I got back around 430pm and we did the guitars. Mike has used his POD guitar setup ALOT, so he was able to dial me in a couple new sounds that I look forward to using on this Album! Alana showed up with 4 PIZZAS and we dove in while she got cleaned up. At 700pm we started the first session. Click Track / Headphones / New Drummer / Excitement of it all, combined for a slow start...for me at least. Once I let the click go from my control and relied only on the drummer following the click, things went alot smoother. We started with 'COOL' then once we got sick of my fuck ups, moved on to 'POTATOEBABIES/RETARD SONG' By this time we were in a groove, and we nailed it on a couple trys. Last we did '100NE HUNDRED' Then started on the jazzy intro to MY HOUSE, but by this time it was 300AM and we were getting tired...and drunk...19 Pabst Blue Ribbon, a bottle of Evan Williams, and 14 botted waters...Mikes Carton of smokes, 22 gumballs, and my scratching my balls till they were RAW... WAS ENOUGH FOR THE EVENING
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