I Think HAYOTH May Be Dead

I created the "band" HAYOTH a few years ago as a banner under which I could release music, and not have to put my name on it. The reason for this was two-fold: The first being that I had put out some material as "Mark Pracht" that was...developing would be a kind description. It also relied on a drum machine, and that tended to make everything very regimented, not to mention that...because I have never mastered programming drum machines...I was limited to a fairly (in the grand scheme) set of pre-set beats.

When I bought a electronic drum kit, I found myself in a position where a live, human being (even if it was just me overdubbing myself) was playing all the tracks on every song. Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to differentiate what I was doing from what had come before. So, inspired by a meme game that was going around facebook at the time, I came up with a "fake album" that I just made not fake. Hence was born HAYOTH's "...And Getting Dollars Back."

Two more albums followed...and all three are, more or less, flawed. I still think some of my stuff is pretty good, and I'll listen back to the second HAYOTH disk, "Uptown," in particular, and there's some strong work.

I'm pretty sure you've all heard this stuff but it can be found here:

https://soundcloud.com/hayothband/albums

But, as I write I have 4 songs in progress for the next album/project/whatever you want to call it...and it's feeling more and more like hiding behind this "band" doesn't fit what's coming out of me. Thinking about what happened with the election has made me think about my grandfather, my uncles, my aunts...people who've been...to greater or lesser extents...demonized by a lot of people around me. I like to think that my Grandpa would've seen though the bullshit, but I certainly know one of my uncles, and some of my cousins, did not. I never made my living from the land, but they did, and do.

Combine this with really coming back to the singer/songwriter side of my listening habits...Springsteen, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Sturgill Simpson, Waylon Jennings, etc have been dominating my headphones lately...

Something has changed.

I also find myself in the grip of some crippling writer's block, but...that comes and goes.

I am certain there will be rock influence and elements to my work. I can't escape what kind of a player I am...but, listening to Steve Earle, in particular, I am becoming much more enamored with minimalism. My riffs don't have to be complicated, and making them needlessly so just to impress someone who's not listening anyway (which I am definitely guilty of) is a pointless exercise. I took a bit of time, and worked out how to play Earle's "Copperhead Road" on mandolin, and it felt so good.

It also felt like it gave me more space to use the limited tool that is my voice in it's best light.

So, last night, I did a factory reset on my guitar amp...bridges are burned, and I'm starting out on a new path. I may come up with some new mask to wear, or maybe I'll be brave enough to put my name on it

I'm also done with giving my music away. I'm going to actually try to sell it, going forward.

Hayoth Preview

Yep, still alive.....and still slaving away at Vol. 3 - Light & Shade.

Proof?

December 2015 Hayoth/Life Update

Temporary Cover Art

Hello, faithful readers and listeners.

As of December 10th, I have completed four tracks for the third Hayoth release, and am in process on the 5th. This latest track, which is untitled, at the moment, but with a significant amount of lyrics completed, will join:

Light & Shade

Tallahassee Bridge

Carnal & Divine

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

 

Light & Shade and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades are both rockers, Tallahassee Bridge is a ballad, and Carnal & Divine represents my first pass at an instrumental track.

Track 5 has proven...difficult. It's on the ballad side of the spectrum, and I have been struggling with not only some chord changes that have proven difficult to smooth out for recording purposes, but also...my eternal struggle...to find the proper tone for my guitar. Something that reads as "clean," yet also has some heft, and a bit of punch. Yeah, I could layer guitar tracks, and I probably will. However, I want the thing to have some delicacy, and I find that limiting the overdubs can help make that happen.

My hope is to be able to edit together a "sampler track" of sections of the five finished songs before Christmas.

However, I am going to be forced to pack up the studio in a few days, as it's also our guest room, and we will have company from Dec 16th-19th (What? You don't have friends travel to see Star Wars with you?). I really want to get this done before then. Thankfully, the stress of being on call to understudy a (now Golden Globe-nominated) movie star wraps up on Sunday, and it looks like I'm off the hook, so more energy and focus for other creative endeavors.

Yeah, Pilgrim's Progress ends it's run on Sunday. I was understudying the truly great Michael Shannon. It was a weird place to sit, as an actor, but it always is when you understudy. It's not REALLY your show, or your role. Yet, you feel an ownership, because you've been in the room a lot. It's even weirder when you're there as backup for a famous guy, and the guy who's gonna be the centerpiece of everything written about the show.

Which, if I may digress, was only a part of the story. Michael was amazing in the show, absolutely, but so were Kirsten Fitzgerald, Ryan Bourque and Charlotte Mae Ellison as the rest of the McKee family, Brett Neveu's script was stellar, and Shade Murray's direction was, as always, light as a feather and focused as a laser. Of course, there was also amazing design work by Chelsea Warren, Myron Elliott, Jr, Mike Durst, Brando Triantafillou and Jenny Pinson.

 

I would guess the rest of the understudies Mary Jo Bolduc, Grace Palmer and Spenser Davis (who also assistant directed) would tell you the same as I'm about to, it's the hardest, and just plain oddest job on a show. You try to prep, in case anything happens, but with rehearsal only once a week, without the repetition that I've found is pretty vital for my process, you never really get comfortable. You also find yourself, especially in this situation, for me, kind of wondering how much you should talk about it. Which is why I've not blogged about it much.

I mean, I certainly didn't hide the fact from people I knew, but I was/am always conscious when I'm writing on line that this just simply isn't my part. It's Mike's. Hell, I wasn't even entirely sure how to interact with him, or the rest of the cast and crew. I didn't want to be in anybody's way, or overstep my mandate. Keeping your professionalism, being friendly and open, but not assuming any familiarity. Every cast approaches their understudies differently, and you just have to feel it out.

In short, it was all wonderful. The best compliment I have, and that I shared with the cast many times (probably too much), is that for all the times I saw the show, dozens of times, I never got bored. It was new, vital, exciting and funny every time. I can't even say that about a significant number of shows I've been in, let alone watched repeatedly. There is a standby line for every performance, and while it's sure to be madhouse on this last weekend, if you have interest, you should try to see it.

One interesting side effect of this "involved, but not" sort of situation is that I am already well into my usual "post-show depression." As of right now, between Sunday evening, and sometime on May, 10th, 2016...I have no theatre or acting projects. That's when I start Seedbed at RedTwist Theatre Company. It's a "rolling world premiere" of a new play by Bryan Delaney, it appears I'm going to be only the second person to portray this character. I think it's going to be fun, I'll be playing opposite Jacqueline Grandt again, which was quite rewarding in Good People this past summer.

I had hoped to have something between now and then, but, alas, alack, it did not pan out. Which is probably good for my Hayoth output. I've also had some encouragement in the realm of writing, and I think it may be time to get going on some of the script ideas that have continued to percolate.

How About a Life Update?

I've been busy.

There's tons of stuff going on in my little world. I'm still running in The Time of Your Life at The Artistic Home in Chicago for about 2 more weeks, until October 25th.

It's a lovely show, and well worth your time, even if I have a very small roll. As McCarthy the Longshoreman, I have a nice spotlight scene. It's the kind of role I call a "paratrooper job," I fly in, make my presence felt, and then fade to the woodwork. It's been a really great chance to work with Kathy Scambiaterra, who directed me in The Copperhead, which still stands as one of my proudest moments, again.

After that, like, IMMEDIATELY after that, I'm on call as an understudy with A Red Orchid Theatre in the world premiere of Brett Neveu's Pilgrim's Progress. I'm understudying Michael Shannon in one of the lead roles, under the direction of Shade Murray, whom I have worked with on The Petrified Forest at Strawdog Theatre and The Shadow Over Innsmouth with WildClaw Theatre. It's really inspiring and an honor to be in the room with all of these folks. I can't thank Shade enough for bringing me on board, and I must also thank Christa Rolf van Baale, who I go all the way back to Nebraska Theatre Caravan's A Christmas Carol tour with, for championing me, as well.

Both of these shows started rehearsal on virtually the same day, while I was still performing in Good People at RedTwist Theatre. I feel like I've been running for months, and I can't wait for a bit of a slow down. At the very least, I am looking forward to SHAVING THIS DAMN MUSTACHE OFF MY FACE on October 25th. I am aiming my life for December 13th, right now. The day on which all of my current commitments end.

I had a couple of callbacks recently that would've kept me working through the winter, but none panned out. Frankly, I've found myself unconcerned. Some time off will be good, and, as of right now, it looks like I'll be returning to RedTwist next summer. So, at least something is in the pipeline.

I'm also fairly excited that this time off will allow me to focus on music some more. I have four songs in various stages right now, "Light & Shade," "Tallahassee Bridge," "Carnal & Divine" (which was formerly "Riff") and an untitled fourth track.

"Carnal & Divine" has been receiving the most work and attention, lately. I had penned some lyrics, and finished up the music, when I realized a couple of things. One, the lyrics were terrible, my singing more so, and two, the music was pretty much in a rut. It sounded a lot like several previous tracks. I feel like I've successfully pushed myself toward some new directions. Away from using the same chord progressions over and over, and away from riffs that were feeling repetitive

So, what to do?

The answer was to scrap it all, and tear the track down to just the drums and the bassline. Right to the essential core, and start building back up as an instrumental track. The result has been very freeing. No, I'm not a shredder, I'm not going to whip out a complicated string of guitar heroics like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai or Eric Johnson, but the idea of approaching melody through the instrument, rather than my voice, was freeing.

When I combined this with the new focus on the drums and bass as a unit, with the guitar over it, I end up finding new lines to play. Where as before I was focused on a riff, to drive the song forward, while the vocals claimed the melody, now I find myself noodling, and going into new areas.

It's not going to be a mind-blowing instrumental, but I'm quite happy with how it's developing. It's not done, but getting there. I suspect that most of the new record will have vocals. "C&D" will likely be the only instrumental, but it's helping me see new avenues to explore. When you work alone, it becomes way, way to easy to find things that work, and then just keep doing it, over and over. It's a trap that can also happen if you're in AC/DC.

I also stumbled onto a photo that will likely be the cover of Volume 3, which I'm toying will calling Light & Shade. I snapped in in the waning days of summer, right in front of my office building as I left for the day. I was looking to the west, across the Y in the Chicago river. There was a foggy mist over the city, and the rays of the setting sun were catching in it.

There will be some cropping, of course. Maybe even some tinting and futzing with the color, as I did with the Uptown cover. Still, I like the picture a great deal, and find it inspiring.

....And I am in need of inspiration, not necessarily in the creative parts of my life, but the "life" parts of my life.

Along those lines, what's also lovely about some time off is that maybe I can re-connect with the good people in my life, the friends who's relationships have become far, far too distant. I am one of those people who cultivates a wide range of friends, but usually keeps a few people very close. The sad part is that those people feel further away recently. Either just by the fact that life is so damn busy, or the reality of geography.

There are events in the wings...I mean The Force Awakens will open 5 days after Pilgrim's Progress closes, and I am sure I will join a group of friends for an excursion. Cbyrd and I have long wanted to do a "trilogy day" of The Godfather, and it's sequels, with a big spaghetti dinner, and with my January free of real commitments, I think it's time to front-burner those plans. Not to mention a weekend in New Orleans in the depths of winter....

I need to re-charge.

More Hayoth and Other Musical Digressions

Light & Shade is done, and damn if I'm not pretty happy with it. I'm even - shocker - kind of OK with how I sing on it. I know, and have always known, that I wasn't going to be Plant, but the process of figuring out how to be the best vocalist I can be continues. I don't have the greatest range, but I am figuring out how to use what I have.

Which isn't to say that I still don't harbor the fantasy that a REALLY good vocalist, who also somehow magically happens to be a person I can get along with, might drop into my world, and I can re-record a whole pile of this Hayoth stuff. I kind of long to hear how, say, Getting Dollars Back or Warp might sound with a really confident vocal attack. Even on the tracks where I am...relatively...happy with the vocals, I am not confident about what I'm doing, and that's a big difference.

I also managed to write an entire song on Sunday. I'm calling it Tallahassee Bridge, at this point, but that may change out of deference to Bobbie Gentry and Billy Joe. It's a acoustic-based story song, and, like most of the stuff I write quickly (Uptown, after a lot of consternation, came really quickly), I think it's pretty strong. I'm hoping to get a good start on recording this week. I have a base acoustic guitar rhythm done, and was working on percussion last night.

Riff, or whatever the hell it becomes, is ready musically, but I need to figure out lyrics.

Now, outside of what I've been working on, what have I been listening to?

Beck, Bogert, Appice by Beck, Bogert, Appice

An oldie, but a goodie that I finally downloaded recently. The 1984 collaboration of Jeff Beck (guitar), Tim Bogert (bass & vocals) and Carmine Appice (percussion) is a solid slab of blues rock. I'm particularly taken with their run at Stevie Wonder's Superstition. Yeah, Bogert's vocals aren't the greatest, but when the musicianship is this good, it's a minor annoyance, at most.

High Country by The Sword

I had hoped for a little more from this. It's a truly good record, in terms of technical recording, it may be their best, and it's really great to have a modern "metal" band that seems intent on evolution. This promised another return to a more "classic hard rock" sound, which, I feel, dominated their best album, so far, 2010's Warp Riders. The disk is certainly a turn in that direction, but more in the frame of psychadelic rock (it's so, so drug influenced) than Thin Lizzy-esque hard rock. It's not a bad thing, and I have been listening to this record a lot. It's full of terrific riffing and jams. I just had pretty high hopes.

Sol Invictus by Faith No More

Just isn't grabbing me. Superhero is a great track, but I seem to consistently peter out shortly after. I know they're an important band, I know they're great musicians, I know this is a really good album, but I haven't been struck with it yet. I'm sure it will hit me, at some point.

Meliora by Ghost B.C.

I am not the biggest fan of this band, the theatricality sometimes gets in the way of the music for me. I often can't tell if the whole thing is a joke, or not. I'm also fully aware that it may be a joke, and not a joke, all at the same time, but I get tired of trying to parse it out. All that said, I am consistently struck by at least a couple of songs on each one of their albums. In this case, From the Pinnacle to the Pit and Majesty are both just terrific tracks. They've anchored an album I've been listening to far more than any of their others.

The Book of Souls by Iron Maiden

Look, it's a new Maiden album, you pretty much know what you're gonna get. Thing is, I like what I'm going to get a whole lot. It's another really good record, but, despite anything Nicko McBrain says, it's not as good as their classic records, and I don't even think, as a whole, it's as good as The Final Frontier from five years ago. That said, The Red and the Black is an instant classic song for me, as good as anything they've put out since their 80's heyday. The record also starts out VERY strong with If Eternity Should Fail. I am a little tired about the constant comments about Empire of the Clouds being eighteen minutes long. So, it's long, big deal, there are better songs on the album, and other bands have crafted songs of this length that are better.

The Story of Sonny Boy Slim by Gary Clark Jr.

There were so many Stevie Ray Vauhan clones that erupted out of Austin after the great man was killed. So many blues guitarists who were supposed to be the "next big thing," so when I heard about Clark, I was dubious, and, while I marked him as someone to check out, I wasn't rushing to do it. After seeing him play in a film called Chef, and in Dave Grohl's Sonic Highways TV series, I got excited enough to pick up his first full-length Blak & Blu. I'm a big fan of how Clark melds traditional electric blues with hip-hop influences, and this album provides more of the same. The guy can play the guitar, but I don't feel like it's as in your face as with other artists he's been compared to. The guitar doesn't feel like the centerpiece of the song...the SONG feels like the centerpiece of the song. It's really refreshing and exciting. Sonny Boy Slim provides more of the same, and frankly, I also think his songwriting has improved. This is "total package" material, and I love it.

I've also been listening to a lot of the prog supergroup, Flying Colors. They have a new live disk due in a couple of months, and it inspired me to revisit their two albums, Flying Colors and Second Nature. Truly top-notch melodic, technical rock and roll. I also enjoy their 2014 Live in Europe set.

Hayoth Vol III - A Brief Update

Vol III progress....the first track, a blues-based song I'm calling Light & Shade (Apologies to Jimmy Page) is pretty much done. The music is finished, and I have a sense of the vocals and melody line. I took a pass at it, but I think I can do better.

The second track, a more metallic song I'm referring to as Riff, (so, so inventive, right?) is done music-wise, but I have no idea on lyrical content. I've put it on the back-burner until I can get "L&S" in shape.

A riff that will likely form the backbone of track 3 has appeared, as well. Extremely early days on that one, at this point.

 My mindset, right now, is to try to take my time with Volume III, whatever it may ultimately be called. I'm feeling a rut, in terms of how I approach chord progressions and rhythm. I mean, I am not a drummer, really, and while I really love the way "live" drumming has opened up new options for my creativity, I also can feel my limitations. I can really feel them.

One thing that I'm really excited about when it comes to Light & Shade is that I specifically approached the drum and bass as a rhythm section. The bass isn't playing what the guitar is playing, and I'm not aiming for a lock-step wall of sound. I endeavored to have the bass just play a hook with the drums, and the guitar lays in over that. I know this is basic stuff, but everything I do is expanding out from being a guitarist, and I grow from that place.

On that note, the new guitar is...SWEEEEET. I love it, and after all the stomach-churning about if I should get it, I couldn't be happier. By backing off my "I only want Gibsons" mindset, I now have a ESP/LTD that has features of a much more expensive Gibson for about half the price. On top of that, it stays in tune a hell of a lot better than my Les Paul. The DeMarzio pickups are smooth and powerful, and the tone is just much more appealing to my ear than the Burstbucker updates on my Les Paul. Yeah, I should've waited until I had my Spider IV amp paid off, but....it's an inspiring instrument. Although, going from the 2-Tone, 2-Volume knob setup on the Les to the 1-Tone/2-Volume of the LTD has been a challenge.


So, new guitar, more time on songwriting and specifically trying to change up some of my usual choices in riff creation. More time with lyrics and vocal work. In all, not pushing myself to just get stuff done to have it done, but to try to craft things.


And, as always, the first two disks are available for free download at soundcloud:

Hayoth: Vol. 2 - Uptown

It's as done as it's gonna be. Free to stream and download on Soundcloud.

Have at it.

Hayoth Vol 2 - Uptown

Recording on Uptown, the second album from my musical project, Hayoth, is complete.

It will be a 12 -track album, and I hope to have it out for public consumption by a week from today.

As always, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about my work. I certainly think that among the 12 tracks is some of the best playing, writing, and singing I've done. I think the tracks represent a pretty good cross-section of what I can do as a musician, but...as always...the certainly show the limitations of working alone.

Once again, I played every instrument on this release, and sang every note.

Once again, I'm not 100% overjoyed about my singing. Yer, this is my voice, and I use it the best I can. There may come a day when I find a vocalist who I am comfortable working and collaborating with, and I can turn these tunes over for them to interpret. Until that day, I am the vocalist I have to work with, and I will do my best with what I have to work with. I also feel my playing has jumped forward. Not every track is as perfect as maybe I would like them to be, but I feel like I did some good work.

So, what does the track list look like?

1 - "Burn": A pretty straight ahead rock track. I am pretty fond of my guitar playing all-around on this one. I also think the recording is really in the sweet spot, the instruments are balanced without being too loud or too quiet.

2 - "Uptown (Moody's Blues)": A ballad inspired, in part, by the character I played in Golden Boy. It was a long time coming, putting this one together. The lyrics went from specific to extremely general, and landed in the middle.

3 - "Warp": This may be the most accomplished track on the disk. Keyboards appear for the first time, ever, with a Hayoth song. I think the guitar solo is solid, and I really dig how the intensity ramps up after the solo break.

4 - "Keeps Rollin'": Another rocker, this one tied in to my own frustrations with my creative development, and fears about where the life I've chosen will lead me.

5 - "Against the Wall": Frankly, a bit of a nonsense song. Just playing with words over the riff I had, but a little bit of commentary about the know-it-all world of the internet.

6 - "Waitress": A weird one. It was a pretty naked attempt at a Springsteen-esque story song, and ended up feeling like a Tom Waits-like boozy bawler. I'm not 100% sure if it really works, but art is risk, right?

7 - "Running Out of Time": I wrote this song in about 6 minutes. If Little Steven Van Zant is to be believed, it's probably pretty good. I tried to get pretty loose in my guitar playing, bearing in mind Eddie Van Halen's quote, "I play guitar like I'm falling down a flight of stairs, and I hope to land on my feet." I'm certainly no EVH, but I liked the image. I think the main progression, and the evolving riff, is pretty sweet.

8- "Uptown (Acoustic Blues)": A slightly shorter, acoustic version of track #2. I think I like this version better.

9 - "Predator": A bit of twang on this one. Used my telecaster.

10 - "Whiskey": Another rocker, with a liquor-derived lyrical bent. Again, I am quite fond of the riff.

11 - "Pyre": The last rocker for this batch. Regrets, guilt and loud guitars.

12 - "Nightbird": The mandolin and the telecaster, along with acoustic bed tracks. I was trying for a country-influenced ballad. Short and sweet.

My fervent hope is that my next project like this will involve more collaboration, but Uptown will be released upon an unsuspecting world before you know it. As always, my home recording is a work in progress. I welcome comments, constructive criticism, and offers of money.

While you wait, please download Hayoth Vol 1 ...And Getting Dollars Back for free at soundcloud.com.

Yes, Hayoth is Still a Going Concern

The first Hayoth album, ...And Getting Dollars Back, was sprung on the world Christmas day, 2013. It's still available for FREE download via that link, and the good folks at Soundcloud.

Looking back at that project, it was what I needed to do. I'm still very proud of a lot of the songs, and that I did it all myself. Every sound in those recordings is me. I can also look back and see mistakes, technical problems, lack of skill (I am a utter novice as a drummer, it's obvious), and a lot of stuff I'd like to fix. I've never been a "natural" singer, and the results are pretty clear.

I regard Dollars as a mission statement, in a sense. It does lay out my "sound," for good or ill. It's a baseline from which to grow. I got the damn thing done. I walked away from the easy out of using a drum machine, and I kept at myself to figure out how to use my voice effectively. It was a project about figuring things out.

Right now I am working on the ninth track for the followup, Uptown. I know I have at least 3 more tracks to go before my release deadline, which is April 14th (the day I leave for the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim). I may even beat this date, as I'm working faster than ever. I don't know if that's confidence, or stupidity, but I seem to be able to, if I have the time to devote, produce a finished track in a week. Dollars is a 9-track album, and I knew I wanted to beat that.

The current tracks...and this will not be the final order....

Burn (This track has been remixed, and elements re-recorded since this sample)
Warp
Predator
Uptown (Moody's Blues)
Keeps Rollin'
Against the Wall
Pyre
Uptown (Acoustic Blues)
Waitress (in progress)

I think I am singing better (not perfect, but it's rock and roll), and I have definitely learned how to record my voice better.  I am a bit more confident with the drums, if still in Meg White territory. I do harbor a fear that the songwriting is not quite as strong as last time, but I think I'm doing respectable work. I've even toyed with the idea of NOT giving this one away.

We'll see how I feel when it's all done.

New Year - Same Old Me

2014 was not a good year for this blog. I was unable to keep it a consistent presence, but I am hoping to do so in the future.

The fact is, I need this release. As I have often told people, I may be vague with details here, but I will never lie. As with any form of expression (I hesitate to call anything "art" - as I have pointed out in this journal many times over - especially something as scattershot as how I put this blog together), the whole point is to expose yourself. To allow others to see you, your subject, whatever, in a new light. That is the only reason to keep what amounts to a public journal, to, hopefully, reach out and find others who can understand what you are going through.

Uptown, the second Hayoth album, continues to progress. Seven tracks done (including an electric and acoustic version of the title song), and another in process.

Thoughts so far....

My drumming is still rudimentary, but I think I am getting better. I was working on track number 8 this weekend, which is quite fast, 140 BPM. I was surprised how easily I fell into it. It might be that I wasn't trying to be too fancy.

I am also edging toward more confidence in my singing, or at least in how to record my own singing. I still wish I had an actual vocalist, as I always wonder if I could actually play and sing this stuff at the same time, if I were to play live (yeah, right).

I do think I've managed to expand my palate of sounds. Getting a new amp helped, and I've been using the Telecaster more than I ever expected I would. It's just fantastic for clean tone, and even has added a different vibe when I have put some distortion on it. All that said, the Les Paul has remained my #1.

I am looking toward April for a "release." I am simply swamped and overwhelmed with the current show I am working on, and dealing with that is sucking my energy for anything else.

The Best Laid Plans....

So, I have converted my master WAV files for the two finished tracks, Burn and Warp, to MP3, and given them some listens....

They need to be re-mixed and mastered, at the very least.

I have found the tracks from ...And Getting Dollars Back ended up being quieter than I'd like in their finished versions. My intent was to try to rectify this by pumping the sound up, recording at a higher volume. What I've ended up with is a very brittle, harsh guitar sound.

Granted, both of these tracks have intentionally more treble-end guitar tone. Burn is, basically, a metal track, and I wanted the guitar to cut through. I think I just went too far. I need to tweak the EQ on the track, and definitely bring down the guitar in the mix. Maybe re-record the guitar part. I have to admit, I am somewhat regretting dumping the previous version.

Warp is much less of a problem, instrumentally. Everything sounds pretty good. I still think I went too far with the loudness. I do need to re-do the guitar solo...I don't even know what the fuck I was thinking. It's terrible.

I also...as is my eternal problem...need to fix the vocals. It's partially a mixing problem, but I could sing this stuff better. I still struggle with finding "my voice" for vocal work, and, frankly, I'd still love to find a real, and like-minded, vocalist to take a run at some of this stuff. Same with the drumming.

But we do what we can with what we have.

Fail/Safe rehearsals have started. I am very, very excited.

Great cast, fun people, and if we get half the technical whiz-bang that's been discussed, it's gonna be a super-cool looking show. Everybody's loose and ready to have fun, which is fairly essential, in my mind, with such heavy subject matter. We've only had two rehearsals, but I feel very welcome. A lot of openness to what I can bring to the table.

And, flat out, I love this character. It's not quite the level of my love for Milt Shanks, but Copperhead was something special. General Bogan is who I would hope I would be in this situation, and I feel like I carry a responsibility to the men an women who do this sort of work in how I play it. I think of that often as I go over lines, or work scenes, in a world where I feel like the baseline inclination is to demonize any sort of military or authority figure. I am often asked to play those roles. I am not blind to the weaknesses, but my job is to understand that life, that world.

I hope you all come and see it in September.

May Need to Drop Back and Punt

Worked a bit on Predator Game last night. Trying to get a decent drum track.

I'm fighting against a couple of things.

For whatever reason, my monitor headphones, which I use pretty exclusively when recording to spare my neighbors as much as I can (Sometimes I end up working a chord progression dozens of times...I can't imagine how annoying that would be to someone who doesn't know why), kind of turn acoustic tracks into mush. On the monitors it sounds OK, not perfect, but I'm working with a track that is, in the main, just for me to play drums to. I find myself struggling to hear where I am in the song.

The other factor in that is inhearant in how I record. When I'm playing, it's not with anybody but myself on "tape." There are no visual cues to follow, as you would have playing with a band. Not impossible, but I didn't make it easy. I, in an attempt to break up the tempo a bit, added in some transitional stuff between sections. Nothing too fancy, but the beat I'm working with on the drums is a 2-bar cycle, and when I drop in a single bar of transition - that I'm having trouble hearing - it can get me off track pretty quickly.

So, at this point, I am weighing the pros and cons of changing the song. It's just transitional sections, so the main parts Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Lyrics/Melody should be unaffected. The other thing is that this number, witch is designed to be acoustic with an electric lead, may just sound better with a consistent beat. I may like music that jumps around a bit rhythmically, but I know it's jarring to many ears. While this is mainly a hobby, something I do for myself, I enjoy it when people actually like my stuff.

I'll be digging in to it soon. I feel on the cusp of solving the question/problem, and getting some forward momentum.

While on this subject, I want to sing the praises of some freeware I've been using, Power Tab Editor. For a self-taught musician like myself, who neither reads or writes notation, putting down what I'm playing so that it can be replicated has always been a challenge. On the off chance that I ever play live, I'd have to be able to show people (and myself) how to play my stuff. This software is flat-out terrific, and allows you to put together professional-looking tab sheets with notation. On top of all that, It's helped me tremendously with being able to visualize rhythm and time, and to begin to understand regular notation.  I'm actually doing a fair amount of writing with the software (you can assign parts, and "play" the track with a simple synthesizer). it's just terrific.

Now, I'm sitting here weighing the pros and cons of dropping "Game" from the title. Predator?

Too Schwarzenegger?

Long Time No See

Hello faithful readers...

Hello? Hello? anybody left?

It's been a very, very long time since I've consistently written for this blog. I'm going to try to be better, but I sincerely doubt I will ever get back to the "every weekday" schedule I was trying to maintain for a good long while, there. I will, however, try to maintain some consistency.

In the last month or so, I've been a little down. I missed an even-year San Diego Comic-Con for the first time since 2006, and it made me more sad than I expected. Now, on the flipside, I am attending the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim next April. Disneyland and Jedi nerdishness with Mr. Sean H. and Ms. Leigh B. I'm expecting a good time, and hopefully I will finally score that Luke Skywalker green-blade FX series lightsaber I've been coveting.

So, there's that to look forward to.

Acting wise, I start rehearsals for Fail/Safe at Strawdog theatre on Sunday. I'm fairly excited about the show, and I think I have a very good part. That will run on off-nights (Sunday-Tuesday) from Sep 14 - Oct 14.






After that, I'm on my way back to City Lit for Father Ruffian: Shakespeare's Falstaff Story. Shakespeare...I'm doing Shakespeare again, playing a King again. Henry IV. That will run Jan 9th - to Feb 15th, 2015.

Y'know, it's funny, I spent so much time in undergrad working on style work, and Shakespeare, I really didn't overly care if I eve did it again. I've done a few shows here and there (All's Well That Ends Well, The Winter's Tale), but I've never really sought it out. I have to admit, it hold not the overriding excitement for me that I see in other theatre folk.

Just another play, just another playwright.

Musically, things are actually going really well. I was somewhat disappointed in the drum sound for the last Hayoth release, ...Getting Dollars Back. I mixed it too loud, with a lot of double-tracking, hoping to get a deep, booming drum track. What I ended up with was tinny, weak sounding drums that were really loud. They kind of overwhelmed the whole track. Which compounded the fact that I, bluntly, am not a drummer. As with most of my musical explorations, I am learning by doing.

I think that I've, at least, figured out how to mix the drums effectively. I think my playing is getting stronger, too, but that likely a matter of opinion. I have two tracks "finished," Burn and Warp. I have shared a preview of the earlier recording/mix of Burn. 



I have since junked this entire version, and started from scratch. I think it's better. I think the recording and mix is better.I'm hoping to get samples of both the new version of Burn and Warp up. Warp, in particular, has some interesting things...my first real stab at using keyboards.

A third track, Predator Game, is in progress. Which is a acoustic bed track with drums and electric lead. I managed to get a decent acoustic bed scratch track down over the weekend, and take a first few stabs at the drum track. I'm feeling good about it, and it seems like Uptown, as an album, is well on it's way. My goal is to have enough material to put it out by the end of the year.

It's Been a Couple Months...Let's Talk Hayoth Again

The very early stages of work on the next set of Hayoth songs has begun.

Nothing terribly developed, at this point. I've got a whole bunch of lyrics on paper, a couple of song titles, and about 6-7 riffs I'm working on. Everything is in flux, of course, but I've been feeling a lot of creative energy in the realm of music. Listening to a lot of The Sword, King's X and (as always) Springsteen.

My goal is to try to find a nice place for Hayoth to sit, sound wise. I tend to have a wide range of influences, and rather than trying to capture some other band's sound, I'm hoping to forge something that's my own. The first Hayoth disk was very much me trying to sound like a 70's blues-based hard rock band - a less talented Led Zeppelin, if you will - and I still like that element. The first disk, if nothing else, proved I could get it done all by myself. That said, I'm hoping to take some of the confessional, storytelling lyrical content of Springsteen and merge it with hard rock, and even metal instrumentation.

Not final artwork (HA!)

The tentative title is Uptown, with a title track called Uptown (Moody's Blues), which, as you might expect takes imagery from Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, and mixes it with some narrative related to my character in Golden Boy. I like the lyrics I've come up with or this one, and the chord progression I've been playing around with. It's a slower, more meditative, yet still electric number. I'm going for a touch of urban jazz/blues. Fitting, since Uptown is home to The Green Mill.

At this point, I have a couple other ideas starting to coalese into songs, specifically a tune called Ashes, and another called Burn. Neither is as developed as Uptown on the lyric front, but I have a basic guitar track for Burn recorded. It's probably the most "metal" track I've done in a long, long time, and certainly the fastest, at about 145 BPM (I know, not really all that fast). It'll be interesting to see how I handle a drum track at that tempo. I'll figure it out, however, as part of the fun of this work, as I told my friend Matt K, is asking yourself to do things just outside your abilities.

I'm hoping to further work on my drumming for this new stuff. I'm well aware it was the weakest part of ...And Getting Dollars Back, but I am happy that it's live, and not a drum machine. That, to me, makes that record the best thing I've ever done, even if it was a "work in progress" as far as learning how to be a drummer, and learning how to mix drums well. I am confident the next disk will only show improvement.

I'll leave you with another link to the soundcloud Page for ...And Getting Dollars Back. The tracks are all still free to download, and this is the proper sequence for the album, as I'm told that downloading will not keep them in the proper order. Enjoy, and I'm always open to comments and criticism.

It's Finished! Hayoth - ...And Getting Dollars Back

All Tracks are available for free download at Soundcloud, or for streaming at MySpace.

Check 'em out. Comments and criticisms welcome. I'm sure to have a few after I live with it a while.

You Want a Hayoth Update? OK.

So, for those of you keeping track, we are very near the end of the ...And Getting Dollars Back project. I did final mixing on Reason, and re-mixed Haunting last week, and I'm extremely happy with the results. I think I've stumbled onto a way to record and mix my vocals that is pleasing to my ears.

Which is a pretty good trick.

I'm still not 100% sold on the lyrics I've come up with for Reason. They looked good on paper, but sound a tad clunky. So, I revised for the re-mix. Still not 100% sold. I may let the tune live with me for a while, and see if I can't come up with something better before the end of December. If I can't think of anything better, it'll stand. I mean, I don't find the lyrics embarrassing, or anything.

The big news is that I started on the musical side of the final track, Getting Dollars Back. The original concept in my head has been dialed back a bit, but I really like how it's working out. On Sunday, I was able to record a scratch guitar track, then the drums and the bass. I sort of astounded myself. It was just an incredibly productive day.

At this point, I have to build a final guitar track, which should be interesting, as my current plan is to have the verse riff change each time through. I'll probably have to build it in sections, in fact I know I'll have to, as the concept is for the wah-wah pedal to come in and out a lot during the track. It's just easier to do that in separate takes, rather than trying to switch it on and off on the fly.

Save that for some theoretical live gig, in the future.

The Reason experience has also left me feeling very critical of the lyrics. So, I think I'll probably work on some revisions there, too. I think, right now, I'm erring on the side of specificity. I often get too involved in storytelling, lyrically, rather than trying to create an emotional mood. As with my soloing, I think I need to learn to let the lyrics breathe more.

Well, what do you expect? My favorite songwriter is Springsteen.

A good example of this is how Dark Water ended up. The original lyrics were just bursting with me Dark Water may be the strongest song on the record. I like how the lyrics and vocal came out, and the solo, which is a long guitar solo, may be the best playing I've ever done on record.

Which is hilarious to me, because the song is a total compromise. If you recall, Dark Water used to be called Zep, and was a acoustic number heavily inspired by Zeppelin's Ramble On. Now it feels, to me, like a mid-tempo blues number. As I re-listen and evaluate my work, I keep thinking maybe I should do a re-mix on it (make the bassline more prominent, specifically), but then I just sort of sit back and find myself thinking, "this pretty much works for me as it is." I mean, I still flirt with doing some re-mixing, if for no other reason that a couple of tracks are mixed slightly more quietly than others, and I'd like to try to find a consistent volume level.
trying, probably desperately, to get the point across. What I ultimately came to (and I hope you'll agree when you hear it) was a pretty simple recurring phrase with variations. Honestly, right now, as I write this, I think that

But, then again, the volume differences aren't that huge. The tracks, so far, sound pretty great together (to my ears). I have those, "if it ain't broke..." feelings.

I'm so close to done, I can taste it. We've got house guests coming soon, and I'm gonna be able to pack up the drums completely. I won't need them until probably January or February. I have no intention of letting another six years elapse between these projects again. I've felt so inspired and creative since I really buckled down on this album. It all started with the drum purchase, which was in March, I think. Since then I've (almost) recorded eight complete songs.

Although, I've also learned to not rush. As I look back at Where Have All the Heroes Gone, my last "album" from 2006, that was so rushed, and almost every song was pulled out of my ass. So much so that I can't even remember how to play most of those songs. I was truly making it up as I went, and clearly not taking very good notes. The time that I've taken, even if it was too damn long, allowed me to write what I think are 8 solid numbers. I was more prepared to record, song wise, than at any time since my first "solo" project.

So, as I'm moving into the last phase, figuring out song order, artwork, deciding how to distribute the thing, I'm really happy with how this is all turning out.

I Have My Reason

"Reason" is aaaallllmost done.

I laid down some lead guitar, intro stuff, and vocals on Sunday. as I was working on the mix, I began to feel I should take another run at the main solo, and maybe re-record the vocal track. It's actually turned out even more "rock" than I ever expected.

The main riff was written with a bit of a swing groove in mind, and I think a bit of that is still there, but the arrangement has become much more aggressive. Switching back and forth from the main riff to vocals. It gives it a bit of a...I guess start-stop feel would be accurate. It's not a track you could dance to, but that's not my goal anyway.

Although, it would be cool to pull off a good dance track, just one. Ahh...on the next disk, maybe.

The opening and closing solos made me pretty happy, and I was feeling good about the main solo until I listened back to the track about 14 times, working the mix. Just seemed too much like what I always do. Which, really, is probably me just smacking hard into my own limitations. I wanna try to get more adventurous with it. I also need to just learn how to lie back and NOT play, instead of trying to fill every second with a note. Feel, man...that's the deal.

Same with the vocals. They were energetic and raw, flowing relatively well, but I felt like maybe I was playing to the top of my register too much. Sounded a bit shrill. Vocals are always difficult for me, because I tend to cringe at the sound of my singing. It's mot even a matter of singing "well," or not (because I think I've been doing relatively well on these tracks), but just that the timbre of my voice doesn't please me. Something to accept/fight/work through.

I re-strung my bass on Sunday, too (don't even ask how long it'd been). And started mucking about with a line that sounded really cool, along the lines of Jane's Addiction's "Coming Down the Mountain." Started hearing guitar stuff that could go over it. Long story short...my "stop at eight" decision may get reversed if this can come together for me.

As it is, I just have "Getting Dollars Back" to finish for the eight. I expect that "Dollars" will take a bit of time, but who knows? I am, however, still committed to finishing by the end of the year.

Maybe even Christmas.

It Stands to Reason

Don't let the fact I'm back in reharsal make you think the Hayoth sessions are on a back-burner, or anything.

Track number seven, "Reason," is in progress. Drum and bass parts are recorded. Really, super happy with the drum part, actually. It took some work to get a good take, but I love the way it moves and plays counterpoint to the guitar and bass parts. The bass part, as well, is sounding good, but I think it's going to change what I'm playing guitar-wise. Which is really no big deal, since I discard the scratch track at this point, anyway.

The song has evolved, as it was one of the tracks that I worked on with Paul and Morgan last year. The idea at that point was to give it some swing and a bit of funk. I don't know if we hit that, but, honestly, I'm not enough of a drummer to get EXACTLY what I was originally going for anyway with the sessions now. "Reason" has become more of a straight ahead rocker. Which is fine.

It's one of the most exciting things that's come out of doing the drumming myself, and not being slaved to the machine. I really do feel like each track has an identity at this point. They feel part-and-parcel of a whole, but also individual facets of that whole.

Obviously, "The Rain Came Down" and "Cliffs of Moher" are distinctive for being primarily acoustic. "Rain" is in the ballad realm, and "Moher," to my ears, has just the right touch of folk song to it. "Deliverance" has a bit of backwoods flavor, I think, which fits with the lyrical inspiration (the film). "Dark Water" tends toward a blues-based ballad, and "MonkeySex" straight-ahead rock. "Haunting" is a full-out 12-bar blues structure, very simple, but with a kick. They all feel part of the whole, as I said, I'm talking about stylistic shadings, rather than swinging violently around the spectrum.

It's exciting. I'm feeling very confident, and and I'm tending not to second-guess everything to death. Decisions are becoming easier. For example, I have pretty much decided that after Track number eight "Getting Dollars Back," I am done with formal recording. I have one more track floating around that's evolving, but these eight tracks represent the best of what I have right now. They're the strong material available, and anything else would involve some scrambling.

So, the project will consist of eight tracks. I always shoot for twelve, but I'd rather just have eight solid songs. I could come up with four more, but why not just make them the first four of the second disk?

"Rain" and "Moher" are DONE. I cannot imagine any amount of tinkering I could do would improve what's there. As is "MonkeySex." That track represents what I am aiming for when I begin final mixes on the rest of the "full band" tracks. The drums are there, but not overwhelming, the bass is present, but not obtrusive. The vocals have just the right amount of processing to my ears. The trick is to re-mix the other five track to find that sweet spot. Probably re-record some vocals.

Still, I should have all of December for that, and I'll make my self-imposed deadline. Then, I can go into 2014 focused on the acting job I spoke about yesterday, and write until next summer. Then I can start over again.

Zep No More?

I started trying to lay down vocals for Zep over the weekend. There's temp bass and a temp guitar solo. The former because I'm still wanting Pauly C to lay down bass for me, and the latter because I, flat out, can do better.

Ultimately, I think I have to change the name of the song. While the inspiration is still very much Zeppelin, it's strongly apparent that I will not be able to pull off a Robert Plant-style vocal line. I feel no shame over this, I mean, there are very, very few people who can sing anything like Robert Plant. I also simply can't play drums like Bonzo, and, yet again, few can. The track also simply doesn't have the improvisational feel of most Zeppelin stuff. That's just the nature of how I'm recording...I have to plan out arrangements and structure.

The influence is still felt. I had lyrics jotted down to work from, and as I worked with them, I felt that I had fallen into the same trap I often do. Too literal. Not in terms of content, so much as that I tend to approach lyrics in a much too linear way. I want to tell a story, I want each line to lead logically to the next. Which I find starts nudging me closer and closer to "moon, june, croon" bullshit.

Zeppelin had a wonderful sense of imagery over story, and I've been re-working the verses, pushing more in that direction. The chorus already seems to work, and it's almost literally nonsense words. Of course, I'm so hook-oriented when it comes to a chorus. Into how the rhythm of the words falls off the tongue, more than anything else, I've always had an easier time saying, "makes no sense - screw it, it's catchy."

All that aside, the material is proceeding well. A pattern is forming, where I lay in the drums, then get paranoid that they're "off," then, as I start putting the other material over what's there, the whole thing tightens up. It's exciting, honestly. The drumming is rudimentary, at best, but I love the "human" element of it. There's no doubt in my mind that moving on from the drum machine has been the single best decision I've made, in regards to long-term creativity, as far as music goes.

I am so excited to move on to the next few tracks, which are more straight-ahead rockers. Shorter, less forethought required. I'm hoping I can put them to bed quickly. The tally stands at 3 completed tracks, one "in process" (but closer to done than not), and 4 more or less written, and ready to go. That gives me 8 tracks total, I usually aim for 12, but I may cut back. I'd rather put out something shorter than pull 4 tracks out of my ass. There was a lot of that on Where Have All the Heroes Gone? and I think it was pretty obvious. That said, I have a couple of riffs I've been messing with that could evolve in time to be included. We'll see what shakes out.

In other music talk, I downloaded the debut, self-titled album from The Winery Dogs. Another in the recent spate of "supergroups," it features Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theatre, Flying Colors) on drums, Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, ex-David Lee Roth Band)on bass, and Richie Kotzen (who, in addition to his solo career, had brief runs as a replacement guitarist in both Mr. Big and Poison) on guitar and vocals.

The cops on display are monstrous. All of these guys are top, top flight players. The album is, without a doubt, a bit of a shredfest, and I can dig that. As a player, I love listening and watching players who are simply some of the best in the world. However, I'm also acutely aware that great playing does not make a great song. All the notes in the world, no matter how fast you play them, can't make a great song without feel and melody.

I was prepared for the shred on The Winery Dogs, what was pleasantly surprising is how catchy and tuneful this deeply blues-based set is. I was a little worried while listening to the opening seconds of the first track, Elevate, which is good, but busy. It brushes right up against overdoing it, but when you hit the incredibly catchy chorus, all feels well.

It's definitely a hard-rock, blues-based album. If you're not into that, I'd pass by, but there is tons of great stuff here if you are. With tracks that are just on fire with musicianship, and others that lay back and allow texture and feel to win the day. Kotzen's voice is also compelling, reminding me a lot of Chris Cornell. As I listened, I couldn't help but think that The Winery Dogs is, fairly effortlessly, what Black Country Communion expended a lot of effort to reach.

If what I've written makes you curious, I'd recommend checking the album out on Spotify. You may dig it. 

Music Project Update - 7.9.2013

The Cliffs of Moher is done.

After a rather agonizing few hours trying to figure out a working vocal line, I worked it out. Which is strange, as this is a song I've actually been playing and singing out loud. It should've been a relatively easy vocal to cut. I think it's a excellent example of the "think too much" problem. If I'm playing Cliffs of Moher and singing, I'm acting instinctively, and have no time to self-criticize or second-guess. It just happens, and it's over.

Standing at a mic, with nothing to do but sing, and listen to myself in the headphones...all I can do is self-criticize and second-guess. I am not a strong vocalist, this much is certain. However, I think I can pull it off to some extent. Maybe vocals will always be the albatross around my neck.

I don't really care anymore. I've been listening to some "professional" records that I find quite good, notably ...For the Whole World to See by Death, and Kadaver by Kadaver, and the vocals are pretty murky and buried. Which is usually my fall back when I'm not confident in the vocal track. Sometimes you just need to make it happen, and, right now, that's where I'm at with Hayoth.

It just needs to get done. I've been fucking around with this material for too Goddamn long.

Next up is a track with a working title of Zep. It started with a chord progression that reminded me of Ramble On, and began it's life in a Hard Rock Hotel room on the "Led Zeppelin" floor (back when the Hard Rock Hotel offered "loaner" guitars to guests - maybe they still do, I don't stay there often). Now, I don't pretend to be anywhere close to Zeppelin, but I am working for the "light and shade" feel that dominated Zeppelin recordings. The idea is acoustic/clean electric verses, and heavier, distorted chorus parts.

The basic guitar track is done, kind of. As I start working on putting the drums on the track, I'm thinking it needs to be revised. I think the bridge doesn't really work, and the transition into that same section is muddled. It's always been my intention to re-do the foundation guitar tracks after the drums, which will be easier to play to, but I need the music there to help guide my drumming. The fact I'm not the greatest drummer in the world doesn't make that easy. The slopped transition into the bridge just makes me grind to a halt every time. Plus, I think the bridge should just be simpler.

So, yeah...back to the drawing board.

Still, I think this is a good place to be. After Zep will come a series of mostly direct rockers. More along the lines of MonkeySex, but hopefully not as dumb.  The drumming will not have to shift tone and feel so much. My hope is that, after the tonal shifts of Zep, the drumming will move easier.

Although, Getting Dollars Back itself is still out there, waiting.  I'll probably put it off to the end, because I tend to think it's going to be a bitch to put together. Still, it's also my favorite riff of the whole project.

I also have to grapple with the lyrical content of Zep. I've made several runs at it, but nothing's felt exactly right. My hope is that once I get the music set and worked out, I can go over my notes and concepts, and find the proper words and melody.

Of course, I also still struggle with the whole concept for the project. I often find myself thinking that Typographic Worker's Trade Union is just a better band name, and that the album artwork set for that would be cooler and more exciting. That, of course, is really just idle musing. I'm a LONG way from being ready to deal with packaging. Yet, it does nag at me.

Hayoth is from Jewish myth, not to mention DC Comics, with some religious and political connotations. I just thought it was cool sounding. I'd hate for someone to take offense, of otherwise apply some sort of meaning to it that I didn't intend. I'd rather just have it be fun. Maybe dumb fun, but fun.

But, like I said those decisions are a LONG way off. My original goal was to have something "released" by my birthday. That is pretty likely NOT going to happen. Much like with Where Have All the Heroes Gone, I expect to shift it to the end of the year.