the evans center for sleep deprivation studies

rekkids and the releasing thereof

2008-09-06T20:55:06-08:00

When we recorded the first few Kowloon Walled City songs late last year, that recording was supposed to be a demo of sorts, to book shows and tide us over until we finished a full-length. But over the next few months, we realized: why record these songs again? They came out great. And why wait to release something until we have 10 songs written and recorded?

Instead, we decided to release an EP, and then another when we finish another batch of songs, and so on. We would put out vinyl, and give mp3's away for free. This makes great sense: we get to release music more often; we get our music into as many hands as possible; and people can support the band by buying vinyl, which will be in a beautiful package. More releases means more work, but the work is part of the hobby, really. I like making stuff. (We also decided to do some merch, which is also more work, but fun.)

That decision was at the end of June. In the month that followed: I mixed the remaining two songs from that session; we found a designer and he created a fantastic package design; I researched vinyl pressing companies (we chose Pirate's Press here in SF); we had two good friends master the album (Ben did the vinyl, Greg did the CD/mp3); we designed a new website; Jason wrote a bio and Ian hunted down press and blogs to contact about reviews; I updated my homegrown store software to handle t-shirts and "zoom" images. And we were in business! DIY FOR THE WIN.

After all that, we'll release Turk Street, a 5-song EP, this month. It'll be available on 10" translucent red vinyl, CD (a limited run in a handmade package), and yes, for free on the interweb.

Over at the store, we're taking preorders on the vinyl and CD. The official release date is Sept 30, but we'll ship out vinyl as soon as it arrives -- which is supposed to be this week. Go buy something and tell me if the store is working!

(image: there it is. [zoom])

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new bike to new job

2008-05-12T22:30:28-08:00

Job news: After three great years, I left Laszlo in January to find a new thing. I love those guys and have nothing but good things to say about them; I just needed a change of scenery. Still, go Laszlo! There's a pre-release of the long-awaited calendar app over at gowebtop.com and it's definitely worth seeing.

I spent a couple of months consulting on the nifty Songbird project, then I took a full-time position at Adobe(!). Yep -- the first Big Company in my 15+ year career. I'm a dev/UI lead on the Flex Builder team (yes! editor geeking), and I'm stoked. I'm surrounded by people who have shipped tons of great software, and I'm already learning a lot while swimming around in the deep end. If you're into this kind of thing, I started blogging about some of the wheedly editor features we're working on for Flex Builder 4. Man, WordPress is a joy. More on that soon.

And now that I'm working in the city, I can finally bike commute, which KICKS ASS. I picked up a sweet 80's Miyata road bike and I am loving my ride to and from work. I get to work every morning and my brain is buzzing from the ride.

I'll close with this note I sent some friends a few weeks ago:

More or less the usual morning. Had oatmeal with the family, got everyone dressed and packed up for school. Kissed the kids goodbye, got on my bike and headed downtown for work. Typical San Francisco summer morning -- chilly, with a stiff wind blowing. Bombed down Mission Street, past the smell of Salvadorean bakeries, through traffic. Down 26th street, past the day laborers standing outside in the cold hoping to get work that day. Harrison, 14th, Division, work.

Before I left this morning, I told my wife "These are the days. We'll never be more alive than we are right now, and we'll never have a better day than this."

(image: unflattering photo of bike at job. [zoom])

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music, and the making thereof with limited time available

2008-04-04T21:37:49-08:00

In February a bunch of friends decided to do the RPM Challenge. It's the musical equivalent of nanowrimo: you give yourself a month to write and produce an entire record. Which sounded like great fun, but when could I possibly fit that in? I resisted until the last day of January, when I finally walked into the kitchen and told Bradee "we're making a record next month". She was game (of course), and off we went.

We failed.

But not for lack of trying. We wrote about a dozen songs (half of them at the breakfast table, after Saturday pancakes, with the kids running around), we worked and recorded every night that we could, we had friends do guest spots, we blocked out a day and tracked drums. We named our band, we shot an album cover. We just didn't finish. Which makes sense: we didn't shut off any of our lives for February, we just stacked the record project on top of everything else we already do.

So on March 1, we admitted defeat, put the record project down and started catching up on the projects we had let slide. We will finish our RPM record, I just don't know when.

But I do want to point out a few records that my friends made, which I think are pretty great. My favorite is Leatherback - H is for Hospital, which my friend Sean did more or less on his own. It's a mostly instrumental wide-eyed take on King Crimson and lo-fi pop, and I really love it. Also notable is Horse Blankets, a sloppy Motown-inspired joint from our hero (and KWC guitarist) Jason Pace. And a shout to KWC bassist Ian Miller's Lath & Plaster.

As for me, in the last few weeks I mixed Replicator's farewell EP. It sounds great. There's one song on their myspace page, and I think they'll make the rest available soon.

As soon as I finished that, I started mixing a full-length for [mandelbrot set]. They live in Croatia; they mailed me 20 gigs of basic tracks on DVDs. Go brave new world!

Lastly, KWC is playing tomorrow night. (it's Replicator's final show.) If you're in the Bay Area, come out. It should be pretty loud and disastrous.

(image: writing hooks. at about 2 am. [zoom])

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music 2007

2007-12-29T11:46:02-08:00

Here's my best-of list for the year. I didn't actually find that much new music this year for whatever reason. And my means of finding/getting music were different than last year, too: I barely bought any physical CDs; I canned my emusic subscription; I started using the Amazon mp3 service; I didn't use lala much at all. I followed a few mp3 blogs though I don't think I ended up buying too many records as a result. Meh.

Also, this obviously wasn't a "pretty music" year for me. Hah.

The Great

Kruger - Redemption Through Looseness. Dense, heavy, well-played, ridiculous, consistent. I love this record. Also, that is how you start a record. Boom. (myspace, buy)
Unsane - Visqueen. Huge. Great production, great songs. They "grew" without watering down their thing. (myspace)
Replicator - Machines Will Always Let You Down. Oakland! I've been friends with Ben for a while but I had never heard his band until I got a copy of MWALYD. Which I listened to constantly. Snotty, smart angular rock played by real people. Really excellent. (myspace, buy)
Black Cobra - Feather And Stone. San Francisco! Sludgy heaviness that charges along and constantly threatens to derail itself. And they're a two-piece. WTF. (myspace, buy)
Dyse - s/t. Another two-piece, I believe. Tight post-punk with nice indie production. And a great use of jangly, barely distorted guitar tones a la JR Ewing. (myspace, buy)
Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall 1971. "Here's a song I just wrote... it's called 'The Needle And The Damage Done'". "Here's another new song... 'Old Man'". etc. Holy crap.
Radiohead - In Rainbows. They keep killing it. Not revolutionary but still great. I love pretty much everything about this record: the songs, the arrangements, the guitar playing.
Blonde Redhead - 23. I didn't know much about Blonde Redhead before hearing this record. My near-musicologist friend Bob this record is a total sellout. I think it's great. Hooky without being sugary, neat production, great vocals.

The Good

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times. Not their best work, but still pretty fantastic. Epic, ridiculously dense, occasionally whimsical. (myspace, youtube, buy)
High On Fire - Death Is This Communion. Big metal. Doesn't live up to Blessed Black Wings, but what would? This record sounds a little too clean, a little too under control; the last one sounded like a tractor trailer on a Formula 1 track. (myspace)
PJ Harvey - White Chalk. Apparently this year's "The Good" list should be titled "records by amazing artists that continue to do good work, though not their best work".
Neurosis - Given To The Rising. See above.
Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors. Solid, way detuned sludge with some actual hooks. Nicely done. (myspace)
Book Of Knots - Traineater. Weird rock side project from genius violinist Carla Kihlstedt (of SGM, Tin Hat, 2 Foot Yard, etc etc etc) and a bunch of other badasses. This record is a huge leap from their first; the songs are much stronger and more diverse. (myspace, buy)
Akimbo - Navigating The Bronze. Awesome freakout riff-core. (myspace, buy)

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progress towards overlordship

2007-12-18T20:56:01-08:00

The first Kowloon Walled City show (and my first show in quite a while) was great. We had about 100 people there, which is amazing for a weeknight, and we played pretty well. (here's video.)

And we've gotten nice mentions on some great mp3 blogs: Built On A Weak Spot and Invisible Oranges.

MORE GREATNESS TO COME, I'M SURE.

(image: roar.)

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kowloon walled city

2007-11-04T22:35:59-08:00

It's been a while, but I have a new band. Kowloon Walled City. It's stripped down, no-frills heavy shit. Probably some of the most aggressive music I've ever played.

Download 3 songs here. Recommended if you like: Unsane, Godflesh, High On Fire, Melvins, G. Scott Evans.

Our first show is this Wednesday, so if you're in the bay area, come check it out. Bring ear protection.

We recorded that EP at our practice space, in one 12-hour day — including setup and teardown — and I mixed it at home over a few nights. Yet it sounds great.

(Session photos: here. You might recognize Ian and Jason from the Lord God Bird session. Right after that recording, I poached them for this project. Score.)

(image: scenic turk street, home of our practice space. (speaking of it's been a while: analog photo.) [zoom])

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microphones, monster manuals: lord god bird

2007-10-29T22:19:53-08:00

I just finished up another guerrilla recording project, an EP for Bay Area psyche/metal dorks Lord God Bird. It came out great.

Download the EP here. (40mb) Recommended if you like: Kyuss, Hawkwind, riffs, Boris, repetition, AD&D.

(Thanks to Ms. Kate Cronin for a spoken word appearance, and to Mr. Thompson for another quality mastering job. Which I later found out he did drunk. Appropriate.)

We tracked in LGB's tiny, crappy (but homey) practice space in Oakland. The band barely had to move a thing; I showed up with a shitload of gear and crammed myself against a wall. Here's a photo (well, a dozen photos). You can see my mobile rig in the middle of the room. I would guess the entire room is 8x10. There's a few more pics here.

We tracked in 2 moderately long days, with no headphones, and pretty much no isolation (I mean, come on, it's a rock band lighting up an 8x10 room) save for a couple of strategically placed packing blankets. The band breezed through the takes, making it look easy. There's nothing like a band that has their shit together.

Also, we ate delicious pupusas.

I really am stoked about the way this recording turned out. The songs are awesome, the performances are solid. And to track live, with no isolation, in a tiny room, and get results like this... that's pretty damn good.

What I've learned over time — and this is hardly news — is that for a lot of flavors of music, a good band can walk in, play through the song two or three times, and be done recording. It doesn't need to be this big drawn out thing where we cut scratch guitars and bass, then overdub those, comp lots of little bits into one performance, blah blah blah. Not only does it not need to be that way, it shouldn't be done that way if it doesn't have to be. Yeah, you'll do some spot fixes; yeah, you'll overdub vocals and solos, and add a bunch of little details. But you really can rock that shit live and get great results. (And if your band can't pull that off, you might think about why.)

(image: about to track vocals through a scott helmke brazil. [zoom])

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