Unreadable 2

Unreadable version 2

i got a friend coming into town today with his fiance, a great guy i've known since kindergarten or something, a long time, *and* we have the same birthday, so that's kinda cool. and portland has had some awesome weather the past few days (70-72.. hmm.. can't find the degrees symbol).. so i'm in a pretty good mood, fairly excited. ha!

so, in light of this weekend's upcoming distractions, i can't foresee a lot of writing and recording in the immediate future.. but that's alright, i started some new stuff yesterday that has promise, with a neat tempo & feel change in the middle.. so next week, i figure, will be be pretty productive. i've gotten sorta comfortable in the space, working on quiet stuff during the day and getting louder (drums!) around 6pm..

a puny and a whopper

so, working swing shift is basically less cool than working the early day shift, but there is one redeeming aspect: an awesome view of the sunset from the hill, giving way to dusk by the time i'm waiting (for what seems like forever) for the #9 downtown. there is a scrappy little rhododendron at the bus stop that glows a brilliant red-and-green in the gloaming.

swing shift does not leave much time for me to work on songs with aaron, but we dug up this old gem from the archives to post today --

a puny and A WHOPPER!

this song has existed for a while now, but the recorded version is pretty simple -- just the idea of the song, really. it germinated at dan and colae's wedding (which must be a couple years ago by now, since julien just had his first birthday and baby girl couch is on the way!), when i overheard a toddler named ziggy (impressively well-behaved for such an occasion) discussing garden bugs with his grandmother. i didn't actually see the bugs, but grandma described their relative sizes using the delightfully obscure terms "puny" and "whopper." later, this song emerged, co-written by leah.

if i had a photo of miles and indie side-by-side, or indie riding miles like a horse, i would post that for sure. but i don't. so i can't.

edit: jonpaul sent a photo!

Beauty and Suspicion

Beauty and Suspicion 2 - with live drums

more time in the practice space (which needs a name, by the way) recording drums and such.. yesterday/last night i spent a lot of time there, playing drums, singing, even turning up the guitar and playing with some feedback.. so that was pretty cool. i had plans to stay there late, until emily got off work, but the neighboring metal band showed up, and their concept of loud and mine are still somewhat different..

so that kinda forced me out, but not before i'd made some progress.. for the record, i've "played" drums on all of the OneADay5 stuff, i think. some of it was beneficial for the songs, but not all of it. i re-sang some stuff, too.. but i'm not sure that it's really important enough to post. so maybe i'm being a little bit picky about some stuff.. maybe.

anyhow - i like the drums on this one.. a lot of energy, some silly fills, and in this case i think it improves the song. blah blah.

In The Belly 2

In The Belly 2 - with live drums

i think this is the last one to be re-posted.

it's a shame about all my blurry christmas light photos.

hmm.. so the post re-appeared, so i cut and pasted..

In The Belly 2 - with live drums

i spent hours at the space last night, trying to work on drums and guitars - but i must've been there for the same 3 hours that another band was practicing, and it was kinda frustrating.. not nearly as successful as previous attempts. oh well.

that being said, i was able to try out some different things last night, getting pretty loud in the middle of the night, in beautiful downtown portland. fun.

Judith 2 - live drums

Judith 2 - with live drums

fixing this blogger stuff is not very much fun, but i found this (an old saved draft!):

i kinda thought of this song a little bit like Wilco's "At Least That's What You Said.." - which is an awesome mix of little sad intro and rocking outro.. so the blueprint is there, but our original attempt was a little flat (i think) and the outro didn't really work for me.. i wanted more rocking, and less singing, i guess.

and Wilco's drummer, Glenn Kotche, that guy has such a good feeling behind the kit, it's always neat to try and channel some of his groove..

and also, emily and our fledgeling rose plant, enjoying the sun break.

Reasons On The Way 2

Reasons On The Way 2 - with live drums

not too sure about blogger here, but it's free and has worked this long.. so we'll just keep the faith.

there used to be a story here about recording with Basho all day yesterday, full of gorgeous harmonies and some nice violin playing.. but i lost that post somehow, and then a few more.. blah blah. so i'm just gonna try and rebuild real quick.

Focus for Color 3 - more live drums!

Focus for Color 3 - with live drums

more of the same experiment.. which i'm gonna go do more of tonight, fingers crossed. it's hard working odd hours, in a weird lonely room, but it's cool to record some drums.

Just A Ghost 2 - with live drums

well here's the beginning of an experiment. at the practice space i've been spending time playing drums with stuff, working on things.. and most of it has involved the recent song a day 5 stuff, so i thought about fixing something, remixing some bits, and so on.. and i've been recording drums on most of the songs we just wrote.

it's not in the spirit of previous song-a-day stuff, but it's good to try some different stuff i figure.. and we'll see if i'm making things better or worse. or if it matters at all.

Just A Ghost 2 -with live drums

in this case, its pretty much only live drums were added.. i might re-sing it and add some guitars for the second chorus stuff, but i got distracted with other songs that might need drums. ha!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Moms

Yep, today is Mother's Day.. i bought a card for my mom years and years ago that i never ended up mailing her - and i find it every now and then, stamped and enveloped, ready to go - but i always misplace it before i go back home. i'm not very good at keeping track of dates and such, but i do intend to give my mom her card one day.

happy mother's day!

song-a-day 5.1

i think aaron's grass-seed is working:

also, the weather was nice enough for the first concrete-slab cookout of the season on thursday. hebrew nationals. mmmm. . .

guess we're all moved into the new rehearsal space, too. aaron's been down there just about every day this week setting stuff up and recording drums on a bunch of stuff, finally. this post marks the official ending of song-a-day 5, the beginning of song-a-day 5.1, and the promise of more songs to come.

Sufferable
must have been a miracle that you'd already had your fill of all life's cracks that didn't contain me.
didn't know what hit me. you glowed a complementary mode that mingled into memories that would be.
now i'm running out of cigarettes to light, and i'm leaving all the houseplants outside tonight. it's hard to spread your wings when you never wanted flight, but this is the way it is, ain't wrong or right.

startled you by saying 'bye, cuz you can't help but catch my eye -- that tiny glance between ignoring hours.
wonder what i'm waiting for. hasn't this happened once before? you're milking the excuses for your powers.
now i'm running out the back door again, in the middle of the night,
anxiety my friend,
hoping in my dreams i won't be toothless again.
tomorrow there'll be better plots to tend.