06.19.2009 The song order is complete. When push came to shove "Losing Ground" got the boot. I kept changing my mind about whether it should be in or out and finally I realized that was my answer. If I wasn't sure it fit, it doesn't fit.
I'm taking down the rough mixes and posting the final versions. Thanks to everyone who checked out the rough mixes.


05.22.2009 The last of the remixes is finally DONE. NO MORE REMIXES. I'm going to take a week or two to just play guitar without listening to this album to get some distance and then make some final decisions about the song order.


05.05.2009 Sometimes I lose touch with the OCD nature of writing and recording. An acquaintance dropped in at the studio without knowing much about the process. He looked a bit frightened and disturbed by the towers of gear and how crazed I appeared when he dropped in. I was right on the edge of breaking through on a mix and had a singular focus on the work.


04.25.2009 I've become obsessed with definition of the guitars in the mixes. Some songs I really need to have everything very clearly articulated and every note clearly heard. Other songs I want a wall of sound and the various guitars to create a single voice. I've become a bit mad about it.


04.13.2009 I'm really loving the acoustic bass (Ernie Ball Earthwood) on "Losing Ground". It's got this great low end. I played it trying to sound like a double bass at times and it fits in the mix in a really cool way. It's too bad it's so big, I never want to take it any where. Taking it on the NYC subway is murder...


04.10.2009 I've been spending lots of time on song order and determining what hangs together and what doesn't. It's a bit like the game from Seseme Street as a kid: "One of these things is not like the other..." I think "Losing Ground" is going to be held back. It's not finding it's own home among the rest of the songs. It sounds great and I love it but it just doesn't fit with the others as a unit.


03.16.2009 Constantly wrestling with what direction to push the mixes... Do I go really experimental at the risk of seeming cartoonish or distracting? Or do I play it safe at the risk of being boring.


03.02.2009 Remixes of Strychnine King are underway. But I promise it won't be long before the album is ready. A couple months and it will be done.


02.17.2009 More mixes and tweaking have taken up the last few weeks. The patchbay planning is done and it's on the way. LONG OVERDUE. No more crawling around on the floor behind the rack trying to untangle the mass a cables to make one change...


01.27.2009 Mixing has taken a pause for a studio update. An early "Federal" tube compressor arrived and now there is just TOO MUCH GEAR that doesn't have a home in a rack. A patchbay was something I had kept on the back burner for a long time but now it has become a necessity. So a patchbay is in the works.


01.14.2009 The Neve 33609 clone is wicked cool. If you are a gear geek like me you understand. If you don't know gear at all, know that the mixes will probably sound cooler as a result. At least I'll have more fun doing them.


01.03.2009 Final mixes for 'Losing Ground' are underway. Then it's time to finalize a song order and get it mastered. I'm ready to finish it off and send it out into the world.



12.28.2008 more tracking for 'Losing Ground' the last few days. Reworked lyrics really zero'd in on what I've really meant all along. Pretty dark stuff though. Holiday cheer???



12.20.2008. The Neve 33609 is completed and on it's way back to me. Should be fun to play with when it arrives. I've been reworking 'Losing Ground' and had begun to feel I had lost my way. I felt like I had ended up in a blind alley and couldn't find the way out but suddenly the clouds parted and I'm back on track.



11.05.2008
The Neve 33609 compressor limitor has been delegated to someone else so I can complete the Linus album. The final song, "Losing Ground", is in rough mix form. Still so work to do but it's coming along.


10.20.2008
I'm in way over my head building a Neve 33609 compressor limitor clone. I tracked down the correct vintage transformers. They are responsible for much of the sound. Unfortunately it's pulling me away from recording but in the end it will be worth it.

9.13.2008
A vintage Klangfilm tube mic preamp arrived. It sounds great. Huge, clear, 3 dimensional. Very different from the Telefunken tube pres. Strange since they are both German and from a similar vintage but they have very different personalities.

7.22.2008
I've been destroying loops and samples. Bouncing between tape loops, mashing them with effects boxes, turning knobs until it unrecognizable...

6.10.2008
A 60's era Gretsch round badge drumkit has arrived. It sounds fantastic.

5.10.2008

Another two songs are finished and posted: "If Everything Looks Up, Why Do I Feel Down?" and "Live Your Life".

4.15.2008

I just got a vintage Ernie Ball Earthwood Bass acoustic bass. It's the same model of bass the Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes played. They were a HUGE influence. It's a really fun bass to play. We'll see where that ends up on the recordings...

4.02.2008

Another song is finished and up for streaming. Check it out.

3.27.2008

Nine songs are underway. Four are finished and available for streaming or download right now. A fifth song is due to be posted later this week and the remaining song are being finished up right now. Thanks to Steve Goulding (Mekons) for the great drumming recorded by Joel Hamilton at Studio G. It was a pleasure to do that session.