Oliver Charles - Drummer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:26:00 +0000

Well, its official. The new Gogol Bordello Record is finished and mixed (just needs to be mastered). I don't want to give away too much. Lets just say, I'm really digging it. We recorded 19 songs. Of course, not all of them will make it on to the record. All that is left to do, is enjoy a couple months off. We're hoping for a late spring to early summer release which should put us back out on the road sometime in the early spring (promo tour). We are looking forward to bringing this new record to all "corners" of the globe!! R E S P E C T !

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:42:00 +0000

"Today saw the end of "tracking" the new Gogol Bordello record; tracking is the process in which we lay down all the drums n bass n guitars n accordion n violin n percussion n basic ingredients, with vocals and extra bits to follow. And I must say, this record is going to be a rocking and rolling Gypsy Extravaganza! Three weeks in a tiny town outside of El Paso, TX has been quite the experience. And the album is coming along better than any of us could have expected, with little to no drama! Unbelievable. Sir Oliver Charles has played some of the best drum tracks ever committed to "tape." And as we speak, Thomas "Smooth Dark" Gobena is laying down a 300 watt bass track through an Ampeg SVT situated about three feet from my ears. Of course Sergey and Yuri are supplying their patented blend of Russian Genius. Pedro "Mark of the Squirrel Man" Erazo has contributed his amazing blend of percussion and vocals and stringed instruments. Sister Eliza will add her vocal charms beginning next week. I am rather happy with my guitar contributions, I must say. And Eugenius? Well let's just say he's really come up with the goods this time. Although switching to decaf may be a good idea. Special props to our producer Andrei Schepski; he is the man who has made sense of all this Gyspy Madness. And last but not least Manu Calderock, our assistant, who has catered to our every whim like a true campeøn. Can't wait for everyone to hear this beast. PARTY!" ~Michael "THE WARDEN" Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000

After quite a long set-up day, Gogol Bordello is off and recording. We started with one of my favorite tunes. It took 9 hours of setting up and getting sounds. We finally started recording around 6pm and had a great take by 8pm. I'll be posting some pictures soon. And some of the guys might come by and say HELLO!! Time to get started today. cheers ~Oliver

Recording "Diamonds on the Inside"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:56:00 +0000

We (Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals) went into the studio in the summer of 2002 to record Diamonds on the Inside.

Unlike the Fight For Your Mind album, we didn’t do any pre-production We had been working on the song "Strawberry Fields" for the "I am Sam" soundtrack at Sunset Sound (where Van Halen and Prince had recorded) on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and loved it.

We booked 10 weeks to record Diamonds. The process we used to record it was to learn a song, come up with parts and record them fresh without rehearsing them 50 times. I loved doing because I could hear a song for the first time in the morning as just acoustic guitar and vocals. By the end of the night the song could be completely done with lots of instrumentation.

For me, the song "Amen Omen" was a treat because we actually built that song around Ben. He recorded it alone, just him and his guitar with 2 mics. Then I went in and pieced together a drum pattern, drum by drum. Doing it this way was extremely fun. It gave me an opportunity to use different sticks and brushes for different drums. I actually used an audio/video cable to play the ride cymbal which gave it a very unique tone.

Next we added bass and vocals but then we were stuck and didn’t know what to do next. Ben called in Greg Kursten (piano and keys) and said "knock yourself out." Greg did one take and that’s what you hear on the record. It totally changed the song and helped shape it. From there, it was Cello's and backing vocals. It was a great feeling to be there late at night, super tired but super fulfilled, listening and knowing we got it right.

We used this approach on the whole record, meaning we tried to do everything with an "outside the box" frame of mind.

Another memorable moment on that record was recording the song "When Its Good."

While Ben was trying to think of something other than hand claps to accompany his guitar, Leon Mobley (percussionist) went outside and filled up a piece of Tupperware with rocks and brought it back inside the tracking room. He put some rocks on the floor, placed a board over them with the box of rocks on one end and stood on the other, like a see-saw. He started stomping away and created an amazing crunchy and earthy sound.

Writing and Recording "Lifeline".

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:14:00 +0000

The Lifeline album has to be one of the hardest and most rewarding records I’ve been a part of. We started a 7 week long European tour in early fall of 2006.

During the first week, Ben asked us if we were interested in staying in Europe a week extra to record a new record and of course we all said yes!

Now came the interesting part, we didn’t have any material for the album and would have to write it on the tour and have it ready to record by the time the tour ended, which gave us 6 weeks.

Touring is hard on the body and getting good rest and taking care of your self isn’t easy.

Our sound checks became writing sessions. We would have the stage for 3-4 hours during the day, then would go into our dressing room where we had a complete setup so we could write and play for another 2-3 hours until show time. It’s not easy to do every day for 6 weeks. I’m telling you, we were exhausted.

We made progress and kept to our regimen. We wrote every day, all day and played shows every night. By the time we reached the end of the tour, we were crawling across the finish line (for the tour).

Now began the real work. We played our last show in Amneville, France and drove over night to Paris. Our exhausted crew loaded in the next morning, we arrived that afternoon and started recording at the “Studio Gang” studio. We realized how tight we were and how greasy everything sounded. We had been playing so much together the previous weeks that were locked together musically. This feeling revived us and we jumped in and got to work with just seven days to record, overdub and mix the whole record.

To make matters harder, we recorded the whole record without Pro Tools. We recorded it old-school on 2 inch tape on a 16 track tape machine with 1 track not working.

We put our heads down and chipped away with almost no sleep. We would end a session at around 4 to 5am then head back to the hotel, have a scotch whiskey, go to sleep for a few hours then start again at 10am.

We did this for 6 days. On the 7th day, we took a few hours and drove around Paris taking pictures for the record then went to our hotel, packed and checked out. We left for the airport from the studio after working from 4pm until 4am. After getting copies of the mixes we headed straight for the airport.

It was a good feeling flying home from Europe listening to a great record that we did in just under 7 days....great feeling. ~ Oliver Charles

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 02:06:00 +0000

Ive never "Blogged" before......I guess I'll start off by saying...its been a busy first day back home...just got back last night from Central and South America....we (Gogol Bordello) were down there doing shows and some pre-production for the new Gogol record... which we'll start recording in the next few weeks...Im looking forward to using this Blog to talk about many different things.....from life on the road...behind the scene stories from inside the studio... and taking you through the process of recording with different artist......i also will probably rant from time to time about many different things.... and you might get some great recipes from me...considering i like cooking almost as much as i like making music!!

cheers to all!!!
and...
WELCOME to my new website!!!
and a special thanks to Fil!!
OC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:13:00 +0000

Welcome to the new website of Oliver Charles. Oliver is currently on the road with Gogol Bordello, and is looking forward to keeping in touch with fans through the blog.

Oliver was born and raised in Los Angeles, and comes from a family of musicians.

Oliver Started out at a young age, drumming, arranging and touring with Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals. Oliver worked on four albums with Ben, which were Lifeline, Both Sides Of The Gun, There Will Be A Light, Diamonds On The Inside and Fight For Your Mind.

In 2009, Oliver left BHIC and began touring and recording with the dynamic and groundbreaking Gypsy Punk bank, Gogol Bordello.

In between those gigs, Oliver has recorded or played with many other artists including Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra, The Culver City Dub Collective, Lonnie Jordan (War), Rakim, De La Soul, Talib Kwali, Mos Def, Common, Ghostface Killah, Piers Faccini, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, The L.A. Allstar Revue, Project 1836, Bingewood, After Hours, Ocean 11, Cree Summer, The Soul of John Black, Weapon of Choice, Action Figure Party, and Groovin High.

Oliver has devoted his life to music and loves talking with fans. Feel free to send Oliver an email through our contact page.

Oliver also supports Autism awareness, and to help with this cause, has set up an Amazon.com store here, where you can purchase music, and 10% of the proceeds will go directly to Autism Speaks in Los Angeles.

If you're interested in finding out where Oliver is at any given time, click on the "Tour" link. Oliver is constantly traveling, and will be using the blog to connect with fans of all of the bands Oliver had contributed to. Click on the "Subscribe" link above, and you can get a feed of the blog so you can keep in touch with what's going on in the bands.