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| All your
life you've dreamed of that perfect glass of lemonade - you've learned
to bathe in its sweetness while anguishing in its ecstatic, bitter kick.
If you add too much sugar you bury the intricacies of taste in a bland,
euphoric blanket. Not enough and your face hurts and you wind up with
that dumb, pained expression you get just before changing the station when
they get to the end of their five song play list and that stupid song
comes on AGAIN.
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In an effort to provide
you with the perfect end-of-summer concoction, we made Lemonade, and we
hope you like it. It came to be like this: After sending us to work on
our second album (you can call it a CD but it's still an album, look it
up!), a certain "major" label that will remain nameless, informed us that they would not be
releasing said second album. Right away we released "Live
Duo," which felt pretty good - just pure singin' & playin'
without all the production, contracts, concerns about
"radio-friendly" songs, etc. And since it outsold Thread (our "major
label" album), we reckon you appreciated it. THANKS FOR BUYING
"Live Duo" and the accompanying songbook; this allowed us
continue to have a place for the band to rehearse and provided us with
fruits and vegetables to augment our diet of falafel and ramen noodles. |
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| We were preparing to
record a band CD on 24 track digital (in a decent home studio) on our
own dime, when along came Pop Mafia records, an indie label with
integrity and the key to The Plant in Sausalito! Thanks to Arne, owner
of the Plant, and Reece, the A & R guy at the label (he also feeds
the goldfish and answers the phone), we were given free reign, almost,
at possibly the best recording studio on the West Coast, a warm &
vibey place of history where everyone from Fleetwood Mac & Stevie
Wonder to Metallica & Santana have recorded their number ones. A
very cool place, even if you don't count the Jacuzzi. |
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It took a bit longer
than we thought it would. We recorded all the basic tracks live but went
in and fixed the rest, experimenting with different arrangements. Jeff
became the reigning champion of the video game "James Bond - Golden
Eye" but I did beat him once, or at least I like to remember it
that way. |
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| Chris Manning produced
and engineered the sessions, putting in grueling, 14-hour days. We
worked him really hard, and he probably aged a few years over the nine
weeks of recording, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right
Chris? Young Mr. Manning, former Jellyfish bassist/writer, gave us room
to be ourselves but also made some excellent decisions that made the
songs songier. He even sang a little bit at the end of "All is
Forgiven". He surfs with the band. What a guy! Guesting on guitar
for "Not Fit to Care" is Chris Hayes, Huey Lewis' axe slinger.
He's amazing. What you're hearing is the result of five or ten minutes
of hard work and several hours of discussion of the best fishing
holes in Sonoma County. This after Mr. Hayes and the rest of Msrs.
News so gracefully hosted us on several tours over the past few
years. What a bunch of guys! |
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Mark Abbott and Chad
Heise are the best rhythm section we could ask for! None of their tracks
had to be "fixed in the mix" and they were both easily
defeated at "James Bond - Golden Eye". Mark even saved the
session one day by noting that we were laying tracks on the wrong take
of a song, a potentially costly cul-de-sac on our part.
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What a coupla
guys! Sam Johnston played the usual array of keyboards and then some; my
favorite picture of him shows him at the helm of a PAIR of Hammond
B-3's, surrounded by Rhodes, Harmonium, Melodica, and Piano, bowl in
hand. I regret to say that the one thing missing from the album is a
ripping Sammy harmonica solo, but that's why you come to the live shows,
right? What a guy! Ok. Gotta go. See you soon.
Jim |
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