Indie rock songwriter • producer • engineer • multi-instrumentalist
What do you do for fun?
Drink. Hang with friends. Play in bands. Ride my bike to the beach. I like summer. Summer means fun, except that I have to work. Not as fun as when I was a kid.
When I say “drink”, I mainly mean good beers. Stuff like Pliny The Elder and Racer 5. I like hops. A few of those and I’m having fun.
The act of writing, recording and mixing a song is not necessarily fun for me. I dread it actually, but once I get going and things are going well, it’s fun, yeah. I like to work alone because when you’re in a band or recording somebody else’s project, you can’t always go with your gut instinct. I get along well with myself, so yes, I can have fun by myself too. I don’t really consider myself a songwriter. Songwriting is just something you have to do otherwise you’ll be recording cover songs or something, and that isn’t much fun. Sometimes listening to stuff I’ve done isn’t much fun, but other times it is. It’s all very complicated, and complicated is not fun.
What are the worst things about being a multi-instrumentalist?
Finding the groove. I don’t use click tracks or drum loops or any of that s**t. I’ve played drums since I was 5 and learned to play guitar at like 13. I remember thinking when I was about 16 that if I had some kind of multi-track recording device, I could probably do a “one man band” kinda thing. Unfortunately I never was able to try it until I was in my early 30s. I bought a nearly 20 year old Teac 4-track reel to reel machine from a recording engineer at a studio where I was playing drums for a friend’s project. I did a test recording where I plugged a mic into track 1 and played drums to the band in my head, then added guitar, bass and piano on the other tracks. I was on a Sinatra kick at the time, so I did a very lame, sloppy instrumental version of “It Was A Very Good Year”. Haha. After that I decided it was time to write a song, so I sat down with the guitar and hashed something out. Once again, I did the drums first, then everything else. I remember playing guitar to my drum track, and it was one of the most joyous feelings ever. I was hooked.
Still it was hard for me to get it really tight without speeding up and slowing down, stuff like that. Not that I cared all that much. I did try using click tracks and drum machines, but found the groove to be too robotic. Eventually I learned the best way for me to work is to do a rhythm guitar track first, then do the drums. It’s easier for me to play guitar to the drummer in my head than visa versa. I’m not a great player, so all of my recordings feature a lot of imperfections, but I like that. To me, perfect music goes in one ear and out the other. I like it when I can hear what an artist intends, even if they can’t quite execute it. That gives the music character and keeps me coming back for more.
What do you look for when you’re writing lyrics?
Words. Haha. I rarely write lyrics or really even have a lyrical idea for a song before I write the music and have the melody and phrasing already written. In other words, lyrics are unfortunately my last priority, generally speaking. The way I usually write is I sit with a guitar and some kind or crude recording device and brainstorm. If I come up with a chord pattern that works, a vocal melody and phrasing usually happens at the same time. Sometimes words come forth too, but more often than not, it’s “Da da da, da dada da da”. Then I’m faced with the challenge of writing words that fit the melody and phrasing that already exist. Not only is that not easy to do, but I realize it compromises the process of writing lyrics. Sometimes if the music is simple enough, I can easily write words that sound natural, but if the melody is somewhat complex and the phrasing is really specific, it’s tough.
I think I can write decent lyrics, but for the most part, they’re workmanlike. Recently, I’ve tried my hand at writing songs for a band I was in many years ago that has reunited. All of these songs have come to me while driving or at work. Thanks to the age of smart phones, I’m able to do a quick “note to self” audio recording with the basic framework of a song. For these songs, the subject matter was the catalyst, so the lyrics tended to write themselves. I definitely prefer this method but haven’t figured out how to apply it to my “solo” material yet.
Tell me about how you recorded the featured song.
This song, oddly and perhaps self-consciously titled, “Venture Headlights” was something I wrote during a marathon “I’ve got to write a bunch of songs” session. Fortunately, this was one of those where the lyrics came out spontaneously while I was making up the chords and melody. The lyrics don’t make any sense, but that never stops me.
As far as the recording goes, let me back up a little (or maybe a lot). I recorded about 2 albums worth of material with the old Teac 4-track reel to reel machine, then finally graduated to a Roland VS-880 8-track hard disc recorder. I found this machine to be a wonderful tool, and recorded probably 100 songs over a period of about 7 or 8 years. Finally I became frustrated with its limitations and started looking for the next step. I found Pro Tools to be intimidating and really didn’t want to have to invest in it, so I purchased a Korg D-3200 32-track recorder. Unfortunately this machine was defective, and after a long and painful period of fighting with Korg, I was able to ditch it and go with Pro Tools. I used Pro Tools for about 3 years and never felt like I could finish anything with it, then finally acquired Logic Pro and now I am very, very happy.
Ok, now go back to when I had the Korg machine. Venture Headlights is the only song I actually finished with that machine before it went into the shop indefinitely. My friend, bandmate and sometimes engineer Steve wanted to come over and play with the machine, so I pulled that song out thinking it might be fairly easy to record. With Steve doing the engineering (a rare occurrence for one of my songs) we recorded and mixed the song in one night. I started with a rhythm guitar track, then played drums, added more guitars, bass, etc., and vocals. It’s a dumb a** song, but I have to say I like the sound of it, and the groove hangs together well. I rock.
Listen to the featured song!
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