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?

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.

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.

Feeling the Influence of the Boss Again

I am always amused at how my consumption of pop culture tends to come and go in floods. Nowhere is this more obvious than in music. I tend to gorge myself on an artist or band, then move on to another, rinse, repeat.

Springsteen consistently returns to me, soothes me, reaffirms me, and arms me to keep fighting, in the face of my darkest and most disillusioned times. Which, frankly, I am very much in right now. I keep coming back to his lessons about endurance and commitment. All this will pass, you must simply...work through it.

"And you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above"
- from Tunnel of Love

 His work speaks to me on such an intimate, immediate, emotional level. He grapples with the biggest questions facing our society, and never lets the focus grow beyond the immediate. The personal. He never writes about class struggle, he writes about the man who toils in the the factory, or the woman in the car wash. He doesn't write about immigration policy, he writes about two Mexican brothers with no option but working in a meth lab in the Southwestern desert, or turtles eating the eyes of a poor traveler who didn't quite make it across the Rio Grande.

I wish more chroniclers of our times could make this simple connection...big ideas are based on personal stories, and personal stories are what can change hearts and minds. Tell a person's story, and it doesn't have to be positive, negative, or anything else. It has to be honest. That's all. Don't wrap it in a agenda. Just tell the fucking story. Trust the audience to make up their own damn mind.

"And the poets down here don't write nothing at all. They just stand back and let it all be"

- from Jungleland

I have struggled with my story. In my acting, in my music, in my life. I have felt lost far, for more often than I have not. I have felt abandoned, betrayed and misled. I have felt my time wasted, time that grows more and more precious to me as the proverbial little crystal in my palm hews more and more toward red. I have felt faith betrayed and loyalty shit on...

...and here I stand.

"Born down in a dead man's town. The first kick I took was when I hit the ground.
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much. Till you spend half your life just covering up"

- from Born in the USA

Waiting for that spark of inspiration. Waiting for faith to be rewarded. Waiting for my own skills and abilities to carry me onward. Waiting for belief. Waiting for brotherhood.

It's no secret that, musically, I would love to be Springsteen-esque. I harbor a dream of a sound that is like Zeppelin fronted by Bruce. The powerful hard rock musicality merged with Springsteen's storytelling. I may not have the actual skill to accomplish it, but I reach for it. The challenge drives me onward.

As an actor, I yearn for the honest moment that The Boss always finds on stage, in his own idiom. The moment where performer and audience merge with an emotional release that illuminates something primal. There are moments when it comes, for me, they are fleeting but pure. I marvel at how the man can extend it to shows that stretch to three hours, or more. It's an act. We know that. I wasn't really Randall P. McMurphy, or Milt Shanks, either, but the connection, and the emotion, is real.

At this moment, as I write, Bruce is playing. I need him now. My strength is low, my faith is broken, but the work must be done.

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

The dogs on Main Street howl

'Cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain't a boy, no I'm a man

And I believe in a promised land

- from The Promised Land

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.

Electronics...AmIright?!?!

I think my guitar amplifier is not long for this world.

I was in the middle of re-recording rhythm tracks for "Burn" on Saturday, when it started acting crazy. The tuner wouldn't read, the tones I had stored all went to strange places, and the bottom fell out of the sound.

Suffice to say I was beside myself.

I fiddled and prodded, tried to login to Line 6's online tool for problems...didn't work. Finally, I did a factory rest on both the amp and the footboard. The thing reset, the tuner was working again, and it seemed to be OK.

Except I'd lost about 6-7 years of stored guitar tones. I'm also still not convinced that all is right with the amp. It feels like the distortion settings are "breaking up" (more than they are supposed to) in high-gain situations. It doesn't sound like guitar distortion, it sounds like...a possible malfunction.

I'm gonna work with it some more. Hopefully, what I'm hearing is just the preset tones, after years of my settings, and not a real problem. Even if it is, I have to push through. The Hayoth work is coming along, I don't want to kill my momentum, and I don't have the $$ for a new amp right now.

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?

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.

Haunted to Haunting

After some thought, I've revised "Haunted." I re-recorded at a faster tempo, and it all went very smoothly, I also reverted to the original title, "Haunting." It was always a short track, but now it's really short. Not even reaching 3 minutes.

I am pretty happy with it. I actually love the lyrics, some of the best I've written, I think. I may need to take another run at the vocal track, but I think that's gonna wait until right before I finish everything up. I'm feeling a sense of forward momentum now, and I don't want to lose it.

To that; "Reason" is on deck, I've been playing around with the progression and riff, worked out a bridge, and am generally ready to start working toward putting down the basic guitar track. This is usually a fair arduous process, because I don't like to piecemeal the basic track. I like the backbone guitar part to be a single flow. Now, with me, usually this track gets wiped, anyway, but jitters and starts tend to make the drum track difficult. You can make smooth, but it's also just a guide track for the drums and bass. Who wants to work that hard.

Although, I've been experimenting with building tracks out of separate recordings. "Haunting" has a drum track built out of two takes, with the bridge, key change section having a beat I was finding difficult to switch to on the fly, and it sounds good. Now, after "Reason," my plan is to move on to "Getting Dollars Back," and that basic guitar track I am anticipating to be an amalgamation of several takes. My hope is for that track to move around a bit, style-wise.

Work is progressing. I feel good about it. With Rehearsal for Shadow Over Innsmouth starting up next week, I'm hoping to at least get a good chunk of "Reason" completed this weekend.

"Haunted" Comes Together and Other Stuff

Hello, peeps!!

I'm back with another music project update. I managed to complete recording on "Haunted" Saturday, mixed a bit, then re-recorded the bass part (which I'd screwed up) on Sunday. I also re-did the vocal track on Sunday, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I just need to finish mixing, and master it, and track 6 will be complete. I believe I'm still on track to complete this project for the end of the year. I'm facing down the reality that I probably won't make 12 tracks, but 10 will probably be fine.

I've been listening to the completed work on a pretty regular basis, and, aside from the couple of tracks I really want to re-mix, as I've written about before, I really think, moving forward, I need to pick up the tempo. I'm realizing that the tracks I've finished are generally falling into a 95 to 105 BPM range, and, while I think they work individually, I wonder if it won't feel like a lot of sluggish tracks. I mean, one of my inspirations on this group of songs was Kyuss, and the "stoner metal" genre, but I don't want things to feel like a slog. I'm going to make a concerted effort to drop in some quicker tracks.

Still, that aside, I am feeling good about my work. I think that my drumming is...evolving, but serviceable. I actually get excited about how my next set of tracks will sound, having the benefit of a few months of just messing around with the kit, rather than trying to figure out how to solve the current problem...i.e. how to play under this riff and progression I'm working on RIGHT NOW. Although, that said...I have found that I respond well to diving into the deep end of the pool, and struggling my way out. I actually find it...well I find it deeply frustrating, at times, but then something will click, and I start to put things together. Then, damn it's rewarding.

Usually this comes at the point where I say to myself, "the simplest way to do it would be..." I stop trying to be complicated for the sake of being impressive. I just play, and maybe I can't drum as good as a real drummer, but it's me. I've been re-listening to the completed tracks, taking notes, thinking and considering what can be re-done, made better, and I can't help it. It's so cool to know that I played all of it. Everything I'm listening to is ME. Maybe it's not the greatest song in the world, the greatest singing, the greatest playing, but it's me, top to bottom.

I know how Prince must feel. Without that massive talent, and massive crazy.

In other news, saw Ron Howard's new film, Rush, last night, and really just flat-out adored it. I've always respected Howard's way of adapting his style to each project he shoots. I think it helps him get out of the way of the characters and story. That's an important point with this film.

It's being sold as a sort of adrenalin-rush racing film, and I wouldn't call it that, at all. It's a character study of two men who were locked in a Formula One racing rivalry in the mid-70's. James Hunt (Chis Hemsworth) and Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl - who is, flat-out, Oscar worthy), if the film is to be believed, had a deeply intertwined and compelling relationship. Lauda served as a consultant on the film, yet he is portrayed in a fairly harsh light, so...I feel the ring of at least emotional truth here.

Rush excels showing the contrasting personalities of these two men, Lauda calculating and obsessed with planning, Hunt a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants playboy and risk-taker. Both actors just shine, Hemsworth pays off all the attention from his portrayals of "Marvel's Thor," and is effortlessly charming. He may have already been proclaimed a "movie star," but this film fully shows how big a star he could be. Bruhl, on the other side, is just awesome. Catching a character driven by precision and ego, and putting that into seemingly every choice he makes during the running time. Both are vastly entertaining, and neither is a "villain."

Much like Warrior, a mixed martial arts film I truly wish had reached a wider audience, the racing scenes are used primarily to illuminate the characters. They're exciting and powerful, with a couple of really horrifying crashes, but Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Audience) continually bring the focus back to the characters. Who will win is important not because the story hinges on it, but because the characters have hinged their lives on it. It becomes apparent that, in racing each other, they're really battling with themselves.

There is a bit of a misstep in the coda, where a voice-over basically just spells out a relationship that was completely obvious from the performances and the film, itself. It's unneeded, and the information imparted about the men's later lives would be just as effective in a title card. The brief use of actual footage and pictures of the two men, the sort of thing that just made me livid in What's Love Got to Do With It?, for example, didn't really irk me here. In fact, I was sort of excited to see what Lauda actually looked like.

Bottom line, it's a terrific film that transcends being a "racing movie." I'd call it my favorite film of the year, so far, bearing in mind that Gravity comes out next week. Highly, highly recommended.

Yesterday also marked a release long hoped for by Rush (the band, I'm talking about now) fans.  A remixed/remastered version of their 2002 album, Vapor Trails, that marked the groups return after a long hiatus, due to personal tragedies for drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The album has always been considered a victim of the "loudness war," where tracks were compressed heavily, so that the overall volume could be increased. Mainly because it allows tracks to sound louder on iPods and other portable devices. This results in distortion and lack of dynamic range.


...Another thing to lay at the feet of the "digital revolution."


Anyway, both the band, and fans, have long been critical of the original production, credited to Rush and Paul Northfeld, for the muddy quality and distortion. This has been a controversial issue for the Rush community for many years, the album is loved for being the signal that the band would not break up after Peart's difficulties, as well as being the first Rush album since 1975's Caress of Steel to not feature any keyboard or synthesizer parts. Yet also viewed as flawed because of the production.

For myself, I actually love the album as it was. I'm not militant about it, but I did. Yes, it felt muddy and raw, but the lyrical content, touching on Peart's pain as it does, did as well. It felt set apart from that rest of the catalog, and that felt right because of all that had happened. It sounded, to me, like a Rush that was healing, but still felt raw and wounded.

...and I REALLY like the songs.

I'm also very pro allowing artists to revisit their works. I support it, as long as the original is available to me, and I do still have my original Vapor Trails. This is why I don't get in a twist about the Star Wars Special Editions.

I've listened to the remix a few times. It's good. I like it. It sounds a lot more like the rest of the Rush catalog, and I admit there are sonic elements I've never heard before. In particular, a guitar solo on Ceiling Unlimited was either inaudible before, or the sonic qualities popped so much better that it felt like a new element. However, I just can't call the album a "revelation," as some have. It sounds like Vapor Trails, the songs are still great, and they're played extremely well. There's some new bells and whistles, but the heart of the thing is the same.

Which, honestly, strikes me as a good thing.

Music Update: Haunting, Sammy Hagar and Rival Sons

After yesterday's micro-mini update, I thought I should expand a bit.

Deliverance is done, well, close enough. I reserve the right to go back and tweak all of this stuff for a final mix before I start running off disks. Frankly, while I'm kind of agog with how much I just like the five completed tracks, the only ones that feel "finished" are MonkeySex and The Rain Came Down. The rest sound good, but I think another pass on mixing, effects, and just a bit of re-recording can make them pop a bit more, I hope. Just trying to make something I am (surprisingly) quite happy with sound even better. However, I consider that all "final mixing," and I want to have the tracks set before we go there.

So, I've started on a new track, Haunting, which was a bit of a discovery for me. It was something I had literally forgotten about. I had done a run on it with my 8-track, just me on an acoustic, and it just popped up on my iPod one day. I really think it's some of my best lyrics, and an incredibly simple number. I think the whole acoustic version is Em, that's it, just one chord.

I want to expand that, of course. What I've worked out is kind of a pseudo-"bucket blues" thing, the melody line still works, with some added changes so it's not so, literally, one-note. There's no chorus, per-se, and I still have to work out exactly what I was doing in the bridge section. Even with that, I'm feeling energized and excited about it. The riff is simple but sounds perfect, and , like I said, I think it's some of my best lyrics.

After that, I have 2 more numbers that are "done," in that I know exactly how they work, musically. I need to tweak and edit the lyrics, but they're in good shape. That'll bring me to 8 tracks, and my goal is 10-12. I have some riffs and stuff that I'll start mining at that point. After this stuff that's "set," my plan is to stop worrying about complexity, or if something is "too simple." I'll play, and let it be what it is. Clearly, the amount of time I've spent on this set is way too long, and it's allowed me to over-think everything, over and over again. That needs to stop. Time to go with the gut. Especially since I'm aiming for rockers to finish out the set.

Haunting has helped me see how effective that can be. The recording I found is just me pounding on the guitar and growling, essentially, and it might be the most exciting thing I have on tap.

In other musical thoughts, went with CByrd, Sean H and Kim L to see Sammy Hagar for my birthday on Friday the 23rd. The tour is in celebration of his 40 years in the music biz.

Great show. Starting off with a selection of Montrose numbers, then into solo hits, and Van Halen tracks. I was a little disappointed there was no Chickenfoot represented, despite Michael Anthony being on hand (I mean Sammy and Mike represent half of that era Van Halen AND Chickenfoot). Oh well, guess I have to hope for another 'Foot tour (I skipped the last, just because Kenny Aronoff, who is still a MONSTER drummer, is no Chad Smith, who was the highlight of the Chickenfoot show I saw a few years ago).

What's obvious is that Sammy has a good time, and it's infectious. I really try to stay out of the whole Dave/Sammy Van Halen thing. I love all eras of that band, but the fact of the matter is that Sammy, as a vocalist, is miles beyond Roth (as a frontman, you can debate), and Sammy has managed to keep his voice in tremendous shape. I was blown away by his energy and the sheer power of what his voice can do. Yeah, a huge chunk of his stage antics are fairly rote stuff, but, like I said, Sammy is obviously having a good time, and it's shared with the crowd. That, the undeniable talent on display, and a really strong catalog of material trump just about anything.

I had a blast, and screamed my ass off.

- Space Station #5 (Montrose)
- Rock Candy (Montrose)
- Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose)
- Red
- I Can't Drive 55
- There's Only One Way to Rock
- I'll Fall in Love Again
- Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy
- Three Lock Box
- Right Now (Van Halen)
- Why Can't This Be Love (Van Halen)
-  Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen)
-  Top of the World (Van Halen)
- When It's Love (Van Halen)
- Finish What Ya Started (Van Halen)
- Heavy Metal
- Mas Tequilla
- Knockdown Dragout

Encore:
- Winding Down
- Eagles Fly

The other story about that evening was the opening act Rival Sons. The mix wasn't the greatest for them, but I was liking enough of the show to check out their latest, Head Down.

All I can say is, wow.

Great band, I'm enjoying the hell out of them on Spotify even as I type this. They have a solid blues-based sound, in many ways what I'd like Hayoth to sound like, ultimately. There's a ton of Zeppelin influence visible in their live show, but they don't sound like a copy. Sean hit the nail on the head when he said they sound influenced by a lot of things, but unique. I'm looking forward to digging into more of their back catalog.

As Far As MY Jams

I took all five completed tracks and put them on my iPod. thought I'd mess around with sequence, and see what I thought after repeated listens. I put them through the dock and our home stereo, so that CByrd could have a quick listen.

I found myself thinking, "that's not terrible."

Never thought I'd see the day. Truly.

Some stuff to fix, and it certainly isn't a "pristine" production. But it works.