Squids' Travels

Squids Travels (back in time)

2013-05-27T05:28:00.003-07:00

As you might have guessed I have been so busy with this past tour that my blogging has had to take a back seat! Ironic that it is called Squids Travels and yet there's nothing while I am actually traveling... at least not on this past tour of Europe with Sound of Contact! Although I did journal most of the experience so I am going through pictures and words now to share some of these adventures with you after the fact.

We'll start with the CD/tour launch party in London.

First we did some interviews (including one with Rolling Stone Germany) and a photoshoot at Classic Rock Presents Prog.

Then we made our way over to the Gibson Room where we performed an acoustic trio SOC set for our launch party with Inside Out Music, the record label we're on. Lots of press there, family and friends including some great musicians like Steve Rothery (Marillion), Elliot Randall (Steely Dan) and more. It was a lot of fun! We played our new video "Not Coming Down". Here's the video:

At the launch party we had an SOC crop circle cake! (something you don't see everyday)

It was nice catching up with Nick Davis who mixed "Dimemensionaut". Nick has produced and/or engineered Genesis, XTC, Marillion, It Bites and many other artists. I've known him for quite awhile now and he's always been really helpful and cool. With Simon and I producing the album and having a seasoned producer/engineer mix it we really had a nice "safety net" in case we went off the deep end. Haha. It was an honor working with Nick and it was great to see him at the launch party. He loved the music video and the live performance.

Rothers. Not only is he a great guitarist and songwriter but he's someone who really loves music and cares about musicians and bands. Can't say enough good things about Steve Rothery from Marillion.

Speaking of awesome people from Marillion, Lucy Jordache (Marillion's manager) is one of the coolest people ever. We met her for dinner in London to talk about some interesting topics let's just say. She loves Sound of Contact and our album "Dimensionaut". Both Lucy and her assistant Stephanie Bradley have been so kind and helpful.

Here's Graham "No Problem" Collins (our tour manager/production coordinator) talking with Matt Dorsey of SOC. Below are some more pics from the launch party.

Next...

So, after a bit of London fun we went back to the barn to head out on our first European tour as Sound of Contact. Since we're going back in time I can tell you that it was fantastic, awesome, educational, wild, crazy, musically inspiring and full of variety... but I can offer more details than that and will in upcoming "retrospective" blog posts... Squids Travels back in time!

All photos by Andy Wright (except the crappy iPhone ones... those are by me)

Fresh Squids Traveling Shall Commence!

2013-04-16T02:20:00.004-07:00

Well, I’m at it again! Some more traveling which means more blogging and more musical adventures. This time is different though. This time I’m playing music I wrote and produced with Simon Collins and our band Sound of Contact. It’s also way more traveling than usual! We’re going to Switzerland, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, Netherlands, France and more! The first 4 shows are right here in England. Fortunately no one is nervous at all since we decided to throw ourselves into the fire and play in front of thousands of Marillion fans who had never heard any of our songs before as our first gig to break the ice. All set now! If anything, after that “First Contact” gig in Montreal we were so pumped we were ready to play everyday then. So, we had to be patient to get to the May tour in Europe where we WILL be playing everyday for about 2 and a half weeks!

Your blog host Squids ready to rock England!

So, I’m here at the Collins abode in some rural part of England. I’m not even sure exactly where I am since I DEFINITELY don’t drive here… not with the whole “other side of the road” thing. The flight over was ok. A bit long and bumpy but I’m here so I can’t complain. I just didn’t get the sleep I had planned on but fortunately I did later and I may possibly be caught up to UK time now. We went to a pub and I had fish n’ chips which was great. Got that out of the way! I plan to eat healthier than that though most of the time. But, this was a must-have.

Fish n' Chips (a must for a sea-going tourist such as myself)

I caught up with emails when I arrived and when I logged into Facebook I saw what happened in Boston. Like many I just don’t understand how anyone could do something like that to others. It’s so disconnected from who we really are. You think that somehow in someone’s brief window of time on Earth they thought that would be something to do in their life.... to kill innocent people… and you could wonder about all the brainwashing disillusions leading up to it that convinced them. Then, of course, there is the deep sorrow on the other side where all the people are affected by it. Seems so senseless and even hard to believe. Yet it happens sadly and every once in awhile we get this shocking sort of news to derail us. I’d like to think that someday we can get past that. But, I won’t go further into all that here. You’ve got enough of it in the news and all over the net. I’ll stay focused on the now of where I am and what I’m doing. Feel free to virtually come along with me on my travels…

Simon and I have a pile up of interviews to do. We’ve already done a bunch so far. Getting the word out about our new album “Dimensionaut”! This is so exciting. We’re adding dates to our “Dimensionaut World Tour 2013” but they’re just not public yet. “The Night of the Prog” is confirmed at the Loreley Amphitheater on July 13^th in the afternoon. That’s the day Steven Wilson plays which is a Saturday. Should be a fun time! I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place to play and it’s around 6,000-7,000 people. At least some of them will have had the chance to hear the album first! We are working on touring the US in the Summer leading up to a BIG show in Chicago and a guest performance with Steve Hackett on Sept 20^th and 21^st with myself on keys, Simon Collins on vocals and my buddy Francis Dunnery on vocals as well. Just for a handful of old Genesis songs including of course a long one that rhymes with Uppers Eddy. (How cryptic!)

Here are the dates of our current Sound of Contact European tour coming up soon!

Spock’s Beard, Beardfish, Sound Of Contact tour

May 3: Corporation, Sheffield, UK

May 4: The Arches, Glasgow, UK

May 5: Academy 2, Newcastle, UK

May 6: Robin 2, Bilston, UK

May 7: The Garage, London, UK

May 8: La Scene Bastille, Paris, France

May 9: Z7, Pratteln, Switzerland

May 10: Hirsch, Nürnberg, Germany

May 11: Majestic, Bratislava, Slovakia

May 12: A38, Budapest, Hungary

May 14: Szene, Vienna, Austria

May 15: Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany

May 16: Das Rind, Rüsselsheim, Germany

May 17: Zeche, Bochum, Germany

May 18: De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

May 19: Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Needless to say I will keep everyone posted on the US and other dates. We are planning on coming back to Europe in the Fall and might even go to Japan and do some double bill gigs with Francis Dunnery and his new prog album tour. I didn’t even tell you about that but as I said there are a lot of things that I don’t say because it’s not the right time and place (and I’m talking about The Dude here). Although he did “tweet” about it (I don’t tweet… maybe I’ll start tweeting… should I? You think? Really? Why? Ok we’ll talk about that later.). Anyway, there’s more to talk about with that in time but I can say we’re at least talking about the idea of doing some double bill gigs in various places. Sound of Contact will also double bill with other artists depending on where we are and what’s going on. We’re building up a great show and will be playing all sorts of music as we go. The main goal above all else is to have fun. You hear of some bands who can’t stand each other… and granted that is after YEARS of being together through many challenging events. So, it’s not comparing apples to apples here but I have to say this is not one of those situations. We all get along great and truly enjoy each other’s company. A sense of humor included… with a strong desire to rock!

Coming Down To Reality

2013-04-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Since we got back from Montreal, Sound of Contact has been quite busy. We rehearsed with drummer Ronen Gordon who is playing with us for the upcoming European tour with Spock's Beard and Beardfish. Ronen went back to LA where he lives and the four of us, Simon, myself, Matt and Wes moved on to shooting the first Sound of Contact music video (besides the video trailer that is). It's for a song called "Not Coming Down". Simon and I wrote the treatment and co-produced the video. I won't reveal too much about the song so early because we will be talking about the album and individual songs quite a bit in interviews. The fictitious main character in the story, played by Simon in the video, is going through some down and out times having difficulty coping with his rather unusual life and... well, I'll just leave it at that for now. Don't want to let the cat out of the bag! The music video tells the story like a mini movie and actually since "Dimensionaut" is a sci fi concept album we're planning to do a lot more... but of course I can't say too much too soon. I can say that it's freakin' exciting though! One of my other passions is screenwriting and all things film so this is a nice taste of that side for me.

So let me tell you a bit about the 4 days of shooting. We had been so busy rehearsing for the tour and doing the first gig in Montreal that we found ourselves being asked by the label "When will you have the music video ready?" Time to get things into high gear. Fortunately I had done a little scoring for a talented director/DP named Tim Glover who does excellent work. I knew I could pull a favor from him so he came down from Atlanta to shoot this with us. We had some great contributions from friends like Chip Walters and Hal Feldman who came through big time on so many clutch things. Hal, an old friend from college, happens to be in real estate down here in Miami and was able to find us a place to shoot the band in a field near the Homestead airport (South Miami area). Chip's friend Michelle who was hired as our make up artist was recruited as the main character's love interest in the videos. She's a beautiful person inside and out. A total pleasure to work with and be around... and it turns out she's quite talented as an actress to boot! Talk about luck! But it gets even better. We had the day booked for the shoot with the band playing in the field and we really wanted to add string players to it if we could. I asked Wells, the cellist who played on the album, if he wanted to do it but he was too busy. So, I started asking around, calling various people I've worked with or others have worked with until finally I found them! We wanted a quartet but were willing to settle on just one or two players if that's all we could get on such short notice. But, we ended up getting a Quintet! 5 players which included 2 violinists, 2 violists and 1 cellist. Now we're talking! The shoot was great. We were playing the song while airplanes were taking off. It was a little insane but what a great memory for all... and the shots Tim got with the crane were fantastic!

Day 2 was done at the SOC "HQ" apartment in North Miami. We brought in lighting crew from "Moving Pictures" in Ft Lauderdale and shot scenes with Simon acting and various cameos including one from my Dad! Yep. Dr. Jay Kerzner in the house! He was playing a doctor in the video so it wasn't much of a stretch. He's a retired Cardiologist in real life. It's ironic that Simon's dad is such a well known artist/performer/actor etc. and yet we're using my dad in our video. I think he was over the moon we asked him to do it. It actually took me awhile to convince him I wasn't kidding when I said we need him to play a doctor in the video. He said "Are you serious?" and I said "Yes!" and then he said "Really?" and I said "Yes?" and it went on back and forth until he realized I wasn't just pulling his leg... I guess that's something I would do. I didn't realize I was such a kidder! Haha. Anyway, he was great and so were his two medical assistant extras Chip and Matt! I couldn't be a medical assistant because of my long hair... would look too much like that "put the rest of the band in the video" thing which we did a tiny bit but were careful not to get too close to the cheese. I spent most of the time on the other side over the course of the shooting.

Day 3 was more scaled back with just Matt and I as the "crew" and Tim capturing scenes with Simon and Michelle. For a restaurant scene we went to our favorite local band restaurant "Oishi Thai" and they treated us like royalty so that was a good move! Some of the best catering ever. Haha.

Then we made our way over to the train tracks and this was a more difficult shoot. We had to be quick and we were. But, what blew our minds is that we were hoping to be able to shoot a train coming by or we thought we'd have to fake it in post. By chance just as we finished a train was coming and Tim shot it going by. It was so incredibly loud being that close to it and the feeling we all had was priceless. The synchronicity of it was empowering. When things flow and you feel the Universe is on your side there's nothing better. Take it when it comes!

Day 4 was one last bit to capture and it was a little tricky... for one thing we had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and being musicians we don't get to bed until well after midnight so none of us had much sleep. Matt decided not to go so it was just Simon, myself and Tim. But we did it! We went to, of all places, Collins Avenue in Miami Beach to shoot a few scenes while the sun was coming up. When we got what we needed the three of us went to get some breakfast, we returned the equipment to Tony from Moving Pictures and then finally... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... some much needed sleep! Matt just left to go back to LA. Tim went back to Atlanta and now it's just the last two standing. Simon Collins and Squids. Of course I use the word "standing" liberally as Simon is still crashed out on the couch right now (and for once I'm letting him sleep because there's no crazy deadline today!) and I got what I consider a more than decent amount of sleep. There's still a lot to do because I also run a soundware company AND I'm doing this right now but I might just chill out a bit for the rest of the day anyway. I think I've earned it!

First contact has been made!

2013-03-25T23:13:00.002-07:00

Squids here. Happy to report that Sound of Contact's first show is complete and it went really well! The whole band is thrilled about it. The reception from the audience was nothing short of astounding considering not a single one of them had previously heard any of the songs apart from "In The Difference Engine" which is the instrumental music you hear in our video trailer on the SOC Youtube channel. We closed with that one and people were actually cheering in the beginning which means they recognized it and were excited which to me is kind of funny. Usually you'd get that for your catchiest pop song but here's this dark instrumental which is the only thing we've released publicly and that was our "hit"! Haha. We added a BIG ending to it that's not on the album which is a massive drum fill courtesy of Mr. Collins and a fat Mellotron choir Major chord from me with a dive bomb guitar from Wes and it was a real tip of the hat to all that is prog... not the least of which being Genesis. Someone even shouted "Los Endos!!!!!" and believe me had we rehearsed Los Endos we would have done it!!!! Haha.

(Photo courtesy of Jordan DeGuise)

But, of course, it wasn't about doing any covers. This was a very genuine heartfelt presentation of our own music. These are songs that either Simon and I wrote together from ideas we brought in or we wrote together with our collaborators on the album including Matt Dorsey (who played bass in the live show) and Kelly Nordstrom who was our other guitarist/bassist/co-writer in the studio. John Wesley and Jonathan Schang joined us to help flesh these songs out live and this being our first gig playing in front of close to 3,000 people it really was an epic experience. Members of Marillion watched the show and said they loved it too. Just hanging around at sound check made Simon a bigger fan of Marillion. Steve Hogarth is such a power performer and the whole band is just so melodic and musical. We all agreed that it was a good combination of styles for a show... Sound of Contact opening for Marillion. Maybe we'll do more again in the future whenever that may be. I hope so. We had such a great time and so did everyone there. We are beyond grateful that they invited us along to share the Marillion Weekend experience with them and their incredible fans.

Me with Wes and Matt from Sound of Contact and Steve Hogarth of Marillion

Sound of Contact's Set List for March 24th, 2013 L 'Olympia Theater, Montreal

Cosmic Distance Ladder

Pale Blue Dot

Remote View

Not Coming Down

Closer To You

Omega Point

Möbius Slip Part 1: In The Difference Engine

One of those days...

2013-03-24T04:48:00.003-07:00

One of THOSE days...

... when you're going to be playing certain songs off your album for the first time in front of thousands of people! But, actually I'm singing "one of those days" in my head because Marillion played "Drilling Holes" off of their album "Marbles" last night as well as a suite of songs from "Clutching at Straws" which really brought back memories of a misplaced chi... (woops I almost went into full Squids pun mode... but Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws were among the albums I was listening to back when they came out)... they played a lot of great music last night but most significantly they played their entire "Brave" album. The show went really well! The band seemed pretty darn happy backstage and I'll tell you the energy in the theater was spectacular. People were absolutely loving it and that's great to see. So cool to be there in the audience when it happens but it's also interesting to see as a band and musician yourself because you take note: "This is the sort of crowd reaction you want!" People singing along and even taking over sections of songs from Steve Hogarth without him needing to say the typical "Come on I can't hear you!" thing. Oh he could he hear them alright! The audience was loud, clear and even sang quite well on top... almost like a choir. I wouldn't be surprised if it was filled with musicians. We should be so lucky to do our own shows that have these sort of qualities to them. But it's certainly an inspiration to do our first show in a venue like the L 'Olympia Theater with this fantastic audience. Needless to say we're really looking forward to it! Today is the day! It's a big one!

Mark Kelly's keyboard rig

Backstage talking to Marillion's keyboardist Mark Kelly

With Wes and Steve Rothery (Guitarist for Marillion)

After the show some of us went backstage to meet the band. I had an "iRig present" for Steve Rothery, Marillion's guitarist who is responsible for bringing Sound of Contact into the fold here. He's the one who suggested to the band and management that SOC be added to this gig and we're so grateful for that. I've worked with him a few times over the internet but this was the first time we've met in person. He's such a nice guy. So was Mark Kelly. I didn't get a chance to talk to Steve Hogarth but you could tell he was very personable and cool. These are all great people doing what they love and I respect that. They have made so much music over the years and to be able to pull from such a vast catalog in a live show is something earned that is absolutely priceless. I hope we have 10+ Sound of Contact albums to do the same... but I have to say I am thrilled even to have just one and to be performing songs from it tonight! One step at a time El Squidsarino. (He said to himself in a Big Lebowski sort of way).

We are not alone (something Close Encounters about this shot! haha)

So, today is March 24th and I'm up early. Despite Rothery making me a few creative colorful drinks I'm surprisingly up without the slightest hangover. Not very rock n' roll of me but I'm so used to dealing with Europe for the upcoming tour and album release that I've gotten used to waking up early (temporarily anyway). Later on today we have a sound check. Gotta make sure that all the rented gear arrives and everything works... fingers and tentacles crossed! We test drive it and then do the real thing at 8pm! It's only a 45 minute set so we're not doing the whole album (which is over 73 minutes btw) but we are doing highlights and it'll be interesting because there's only ONE song in it that anyone has heard before... and that's only if they've been to our Youtube page.

Greg Lake and Squids

2013-03-18T07:04:00.001-07:00

Greg Lake and I at rehearsals (wearing my Tarkus shirt that Keith gave me!)

Yesterday, for the first time, I met Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was rehearsing for his one man show gigs where he performs songs from his solo career as well as from his days with King Crimson and ELP. I was called in to help program sounds and explain how the Nord Stage keyboard works. My friend Erik Norlander who plays keys with Asia FJP had put me in touch with guitar tech Andre Cholmondeley who I happened to have met previously at a Steven Wilson concert in Orlando. Small world! Andre asked me to come to Greg's rehearsals and help them. It was Sound of Contact's day off so fortunately I had a little bit of time to do something fun like that!

I used to program keys and/or do custom sampling for tours as one of my sources of income. Today I do it more as a favor trade or just gratis because I want to. For a living I do it on a grander scale through my company Sonic Reality which supplies sounds to thousands of musicians all over the world. But over the years I've done interesting direct custom sounds for many performing artists like Genesis, Madonna, Barbara Streisand, Crowded House, Tom Waits, Ringo Starr, The Who, Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Pearl Jam and others including Keith Emerson and ELP! I told Greg I helped create the Fanfare sound for Keith which they used in their most recent EL and ELP shows. He had no idea. He was really surprised! It's not like we're in LA or England. This is South Florida so what are the chances that there'd be someone here coming to help him with his keyboard that has worked with Keith? Then, if you consider what the chances are that the same person happened to have provided string sounds for the factory Nord Sample Library and could dial up with certainty which sounds would work best... it was a fun synchronistic situation to be in! He was so happy to hear all that and we immediately hit it off.

Got treated to a private performance from Greg

We talked about a bunch of things including the possibility of me playing with him or working together at some point in the future. The idea of working together was his and of course in my mind I was thinking "Hmmmm. Keith and I are pals. Uncle Greg is my new buddy... now if they'd only let me co-produce a new ELP album..." Haha! That's how I think. I didn't say anything of that nature of course. I could see me sitting in with him on some gigs or doing a stint of duo or full band live shows perhaps down the line and/or at least him guesting on one of my Sonic Elements productions. Maybe I'd even play some keys on his next album if/when he does one. But, the lofty idea of them even DOING another ELP album let alone me being involved on that level... well, if you don't dream it doesn't happen that's all I can say. If you DO dream and it doesn't happen there's no harm in that either! Dream away I say. As long as you keep it to yourself and don't blog about it. WOOPS!!!! Haha. Nah, come on. You have to know these are the kinds of things I would be thinking. Surely by now you know I think big! If they were open to a creative and objective younger generation co-producer, I'm confident I could help them make a new classic... something that is up to the standard of quality songwriting, sounds and performances that they themselves set in the 70's. [Just to be clear, there's no actual talk of an ELP album - this is just me talking in Squids fantasyland! Although Keith did say in my interviews with him that he'd be open to it.]

Anyway, back to present day reality here... haha. This turned out to be a great unexpected Sunday afternoon event! Greg proceeded to tell me how he put his latest one man show together and the reasoning behind picking various songs. It was almost like an interview and I was tempted to say "Wait, this is awesome. You mind if I capture this on video so everyone can hear this????" but it was the first time we met and I didn't want to freak him out by putting a camera in his face. It was going to just be one of those private rock history moments that you feel you are truly a "lucky man" to hear and see. (will you please forgive me for the obvious overdone pun? Thanks! It had to be done.) He grabbed the guitar and started performing different Crimson and ELP songs for me and then we talked about them afterward! It was a real trip. I loved how he was like a big kid excited about the show he put together and all of the elements. I respect that. Keith is the same way. That's how I am as well and I realized how important that is. Rock n' roll never grows up!

His voice sounded great! Unmistakably "Greg Lake". It's wild to be talking to him and then all of a sudden he starts singing and it's a vocal character you grew up listening to just coming out live right there in front of you. I've never seen him perform live before but I've always loved his voice. Wish I could go see the actual show. They invited me to go on the cruise! But, I've got other Squids to fry. So many cool things happening at once and at light speed. I love it. All in all it was a great time though and something I thought would make for a good "Squids Travels" adventure. Hope you enjoy this eventful rock n' roll stuff.

Counting to Marillion

2013-03-16T05:34:00.001-07:00

Just a week left of rehearsals before Sound of Contact plays its first show in front of thousands of people at the Marillion Weekend in Montreal. So far everything has been going great! Simon got an endorsement with DDRUM and Felix DeLuna of the company came through with shining stars on everything Si needed kit-wise and more.

Simon Collins and his new DDRUM kit!

Matt Dorsey recently did an artist endorsement deal with Spector basses. He's loving his new 5 string that he's taking out on tour with Sound of Contact. I have a bunch of friends who use Spector. Billy Sherwood, formerly producer and member of the band Yes, not only has one of Chris Squire's Rickenbacker basses but a massive collection of cool Spectors... and of course we'll be sampling them as well for Sonic Reality!

The empire strikes bass! Matt Dorsey with his Spector in front of a Miami Industrial Imperial Walker Looking Thing.

We did our first band photo shoot this past week of the SOC live line up. We have another one or two scheduled this coming week. I'm working on coordinating lots of photos and hopefully video as well of our performance at the Marillion Weekend. It has to at least be documented! What a way to start! We're so excited. It's sounding powerful in rehearsals. Wes is known for being a "big" guitar player in terms of covering a lot of sonic territory and converting multiple guitar parts off of albums into a cohesive single guitarist's live performance. He's had to do that a lot with Porcupine Tree and Fish. I'm also what Wes calls a "big keyboard player", meaning that it's not just ambient sounds in the background but rather a more prominent character element in the music. There are a lot of dynamics from ambient to full on aggressive, almost guitar-like, keys. Plus a little pretentious prog thrown in for good measure... ie. Mellotrons and analog synth leads! Haha. The Tony Banks/Richard Wright/Rick Wakeman/Keith Emerson side! Muahahahahaha. Keyboards shall rule once again!!!!!!! (woops sorry I got a little too excited there for a second).

Me surrounded by keys (where I like to be)

One thing I did yesterday which was a wise move I think is consolidate my rig down from 3 keyboards to 2. Just to have a more portable keyboard set up for these initial opening act gigs. At least in terms of what I bring WITH me. If we can rent another keyboard wherever I am that's cool and if not then I can make it work with just the two now without sacrificing much if anything. Normally if we were headlining I'd have 2 Nord Stages, 1 Nord Wave, 1 Yamaha Motif XF and maybe one additional smaller keyboard controller connected to my MacBook Air running SampleTank with Sonic Reality sounds. Depending on the tour or venue a vintage Hammond B3 organ or Wurlitzer 200 electric piano or CP70 electric grand piano would be quite welcome. I just don't want to make enemies with any roadies! ;)

One thing that's great about ALL of the keyboards I mentioned above is that they have something called "Flash Ram" which means that a keyboard player can load in samples (in my case I own a sampling company and have a LOT of samples I like to use) and the cool thing about "flash" is that it STAYS in memory even when you turn it off and back on again. This is GREAT for live because if the power goes out or anything happens you're back up and running FAST!!!!! No wait time to load up the samples.

So long bottom 88 weighted keyboard. Gonna miss you! Hope I can rent you some time.

Years ago I had a funny experience that made me LOVE flash ram so much. I was playing with an artist named Kevin Gilbert and we were doing a promotional gig at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd in LA (now sadly gone). Rosanna Arquette, who starred in Kevin's Toy Matinee video "Ballad of Jenny Ledge" was there in the audience and I met her for the first time. (She's also the "Rosanna" Toto was talking about by the way... little rock trivia for you! Plus she lent Kevin the Rael jacket we used when we played The Lamb. Peter Gabriel gave one of the Rael jackets to her when he went out with her so it was the real thing... more parenthesis trivia). Anyway we started playing in the middle of the store when the power went out. I don't think they had enough juice to supply a rock band or something. It came back on quickly but I had to reload all of my samples into the Kurzweil K2000 I was using and had to miss an entire song. Then it happened again! I was scrambling to get all my sounds together in my set up when I looked up only to see Rosanna laughing! Not sure anyone else really noticed but she knew exactly what was going on. Kind of embarrassing... but also bizarre and funny too. Made for a good LA Squidstory. Haha. After that though I used to carry around a heavy UPS (uninterruptible power supply) until FLASH ram became more popular. Now do you understand why I like it so much?

So both the Nords and the Yamaha Motif XF have flash ram and that means I can load my own custom samples into them and it's like they were built-in to the machine. Great for live. Technically I have more room to do larger sounds and more sounds on the computer which I usually have with me as well. But, I like to make my set up very hands on because I'm spontaneous and like to do things a little differently each night and adapt to what I'm hearing. If I need to get more aggressive I'll reach for the "overdrive" knob. If I want to get more ambient I'll tap a delay in and increase the reverb. I control it all with knobs and pedals in real time. I'm a very "interactive" keyboard player. In this case since I wrote the parts I'm playing I know where it's appropriate to stay true to the original and where it's good to embellish.

Go Wes young man! John Wesley and Chip Walters at another EPIC sushi session

Wes brought his friend Chip along to hang, help out and be just a positive force of good things beyond expectation. He did so many cool things to help this past week that Simon and I actually stopped the press to add him in the thank yous on the album. Here we are at yet another post rehearsal sushifest. If they let me order foggeetttaboutit. I know how to order. There's an art to it! JUST the right amount of food. It can be expensive but I go for the quality dishes that are worth it. Overpaying for an average meal sucks. But if it's toro tuna sashimi like this pic above? You're living large. Enjoy it!

Sound of Contact live band rehearsing while Simon rests his voice

Getting back to the band. It's sounding fantastic! Wes is such a cool guitar player. He really dials in some great sounds and plays tasteful well thought out parts. Matt Dorsey is nailing it on the bass and backing vocals. He's actually doing some that I would normally do so I can concentrate a bit more on the sounds and parts of the live reproduction. I'm 3rd backing vocalist in the band and Wes would be 4th even though he's incredible on vocals and 2nd to Steven Wilson when they perform in Porcupine Tree. The only reason he's 4th is because he's got enough on his plate learning and coming up with his guitar parts on an album he didn't play on. He also doesn't know the rather complex lyrics as well as Matt and I do since we co-wrote the songs with Simon on the record and both sang back up on the album as well. There's one song toward the end of the set where Simon, Matt and I sing harmonies almost the whole way through and it sounds so cool!

Simon and Jonathan are sounding great on drums. Originally Simon was going to sing and drum for practically the entire set and we did that in rehearsals for a few days. I was amazed at how well he was able to play complex drum parts and sing! He can really pull that off and it's very cool too... reminds me of his dad Phil back in the early Genesis days singing into that gooseneck mic hanging down above his kit. But, since Simon liked Schang's playing so much he gave him more drumming to do so he could come out front more and engage the audience singing lead. Good to have options though! Simon still plays the two instrumentals we're doing in the set.

Alright that's me catching you up on things. I thought I'd be able to blog everyday but it's so crazy busy that I'll have to just fit it in when I can. Got some cool new developments in the works and we ARE starting to shoot video of the rehearsals as well so we'll share some clips soon of that. Working on band t-shirts and a marillion other things... :)

Sound of Contact Launch!

2013-03-08T08:22:00.003-08:00

Yesterday was a BIG day! In the same day we announced the news of our band "Sound of Contact" signing with the progressive rock label "InsideOut" along with the release date for our debut concept album "Dimensionaut" AND we had our very first rehearsals for the upcoming tour featuring the live line up with Simon Collins, myself, Matt Dorsey and John Wesley!

The rehearsals went great. It started off with everybody setting up their gear at my studio called "SR" (SR stands for Sonic Reality... it's not actually the Sonic Reality office but a remote studio in Miami where I engineer and produce various projects and do in-house sampling for popular music software from IK Multimedia and many other companies). It was great for Simon and I to reunite with Matt Dorsey who co-wrote and played on the album with us. Kelly Nordstrom who also played on the album isn't part of the touring line up. But, he's still very much a part of the creative team that has made the music what it is. Joining on for the upcoming tour is John Wesley who has spent many years touring with one of our favorite bands Porcupine Tree (as well as Fish from Marillion and many others). Coming in on Sunday is Jonathan Schang from the band District 97 to assist us with additional drums and keys. Jimmy Keegan of Spock's Beard will be guesting on drums on some of the European dates as well. There are a lot of complex parts on the album and Simon being a singer AND drummer... well... this may sound a little familiar! ;)

Me, Matt and Simon playing together again.

Matt Dorsey goes over one of the songs with John Wesley

Simon Collins with John Wesley loading in.

Working with these guys on the first day was an absolute BLAST! It really felt great for everybody. We celebrated with a stellar sushi dinner with Wes's friend Chip who was over the moon about it all. A memorable milestone moment. The energy in this project is so high and we're feeling it... just very genuine good vibes and that to me is what it's ALL about. The present moment and the big picture. The balance between those things with the least amount of expectations is a foundation for happiness... and happiness is itself the meaning of success. Today I feel successful because I'm here doing this! That alone is rewarding on so many levels. It's a philosophy we share as a band and that's great. Seeing the potential feels good and everyone at the label is behind us. We're already working closely together to make things happen. Our fans, friends and family are really excited and that gets us pumped.

It really is exciting to think that in just a few week's time over 2,000 people are going to be hearing our songs performed for the very first time on March 24th at the Marillion Weekend in Montreal! So grateful to Steve Rothery and the whole Marillion family for bringing us on board for that. Gratitude goes around to a lot of people for everything that's happening.

Today I'm just chilling at Sound of Contact HQ Miami. We have a new apartment near the studio that's our "rock pad" (with a rockin' kitchen... I just told Wes I'm gonna make him seafood gumbo and he nearly lost his mind! He doesn't even know too... I make a mean gumbo! I used to live in New Orleans and I reverse engineered that one). Simon and I are going to go do a little shopping for threads and a flat screen, ping pong table and other "necessities" for a bunch of rock musicians to be as happy as we can be. Making music, hanging out and telling stories, laughing, eating well, enjoying the SoFla weather... life is good!

The Squids Are Alright!

2013-03-02T08:33:00.001-08:00

It's been almost a month since I posted last and that's only because I've been so busy! The good kind of busy. Running a sound company and being in a rock band isn't easy! It's like juggling squirrels that bite while chewing gum and talking on the phone at the same time (while balancing on one leg and hoping across a busy street!!!!). Lots of details... but I won't bore you with that! I'll just give you the highlights!

Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut

Got some cool news coming with regard to the label we've partnered up with for Sound of Contact, the band I'm in with Simon Collins. We've recently announced that John Wesley (touring guitarist for Porcupine Tree, Fish and others) and Jonathan Schang (who is touring with his band District 97 and John Wetton) have joined our touring line up of the band this Spring for some dates in Europe as well as a one off in Montreal opening for the band Marillion. Let me tell you more about how all of that came to be! A cool backstory for anyone who would be interested in reading some obscure blog from a guy named Squids anyway.

When we first started working on the album in 2010 I had made friends with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. He was interested in using Sonic Reality and IK Multimedia software and from there we got into some talking about music. He was working on his second solo album "Grace for Drowning" and shared some work in progress tracks with me which I thought was incredibly cool. I ended up playing on a 20+ minute song called Raider II for him. When it came to our material he gave me some really helpful advice with regard to guitar sounds and shared his opinion about various things. What a deluxe sounding board I had!

Then, when I went to see Wilson's band Porcupine Tree perform at Radio City Music Hall in NYC I met John "Wes Dearth" Wesley. He was incredible in the show and a really nice guy. I eventually worked with Wes with my project "Sonic Elements" and he sang and played guitar on tracks like "Tom Sawyer" which featured the drums of Neil Peart via his sample library with my company called "Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality". Ironically, Wes is friends with Neil but he's never played music with him until this "virtual session". Here's the song if you want to hear it! It also features Billy Sherwood (Yes, Circa) on bass, me on keys (and I took the liberty of doing a keyboard solo at the end! haha).

Wes is also friends with the guys from Marillion. He used to tour with Fish and he's worked with all those guys in different capacities over the years. But, that's not the only reason behind us opening for them on their Marillion Weekend event in Montreal. I met Steven Rothery, Marillion's guitarist, on Facebook after working with Hannah Stobart who was a guest vocalist on our album (and Hannah was previously in a project called "The Wishing Tree" with Rothery). Confused yet? So, that was a few years ago and we talked about the possibility of us playing at a Marillion Weekend event then. However, we weren't ready to release our album and tour yet. Now we are and I reached out to Steve again thinking maybe we could join them on some gigs later this year. After talking it over with his band he came back to me offering an open slot at the Montreal event. That's coming up soon! March 24th. Fortunately we'll all be in North America this month rehearsing (down in Miami) so it seemed to work out great! What a cool gig to kick off Sound of Contact live! We're all really excited about it and I've been getting into their new album and digging back into their back catalog lately. A true honor to be part of their special event... and I look forward to watching their show the night before!

I had a nice email chat with Nick Davis, who has produced/engineered bands like Genesis, XTC and also Marillion. He mixed our album and was pleased to hear all the good news from the album's imminent release to us opening for Marillion at the end of the month. We might mix some bonus tracks over in the UK at Genesis' studio The Farm. Something to be released later in the year... we have a handful of tunes that didn't make it on the album.

Also joining us on the tour is Jonathan Schang from District 97 who I met on a music forum called Progressive Ears. He was already touring with his band and special guest John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia) the same time we were going to Europe to tour with Spock's Beard and Beardfish. So, we've got him joining us for a week on drums then he plays with D97 and Wetton and then on the 18th of May we all play at the same venue in Zoetermeer. Pretty crazy! Crazy in a cool way. It's going to be an adventure... and certainly worthy of some Squids Travel Blog posts so expect more out of me as we go here!

The Dark Squids of the Moon!

2013-02-03T23:32:00.002-08:00

Hello! Squids here reporting from the Dark Side of Miami. Digging into some Rush music this week and some exciting new things with Neil Peart Drums and other sample libraries from Sonic Reality. This past week I've been working on an interesting version of a Pink Floyd tune with Fernando Perdomo that's a mind melting saucerful of secrets. Some interesting things going on with the McBroom sisters as well... nothing I can talk about yet though. It's okay if there's a little bit of mystery around here!

Sporting a new look to the blog finally. Hope you like it!

Things are moving forward with Sound of Contact, my original music project with Simon Collins.

Somehow this month I need to get Nick D'Virgilio over here in the studio since he's here until the end of the month with Cirque. I'm also working with Martin Levac on a few things who is up in Canada. Lots of on-going stuff with Francis Dunnery (plus he's like the older brother I never had giving me all sorts of advice when I need it). We're working on something new for EpiK DrumS with producer/engineer Ken Scott and drummer Terry Bozzio... that's all just scratching the surface too! It's a whirlwind of music and sounds around here. Plus lots of gear... and wires...

I bought a few knobs and parts from "Wine Country-Sequential" for my Prophets which I love.

It's alive!

I just finished putting together my main midi rack set up of synths... I've kind of drifted away from midi sequencing of external hardware synths. I either tend to use software synths - some of which I make the sounds for - or I just PLAY the actual hardware synth and don't even bother sequencing it. But... I have nothing against midi sequencing of hardware synths either so it's making a comeback with lots of style and flavor available... that in addition to just playing the hardware and using software samplers and synths in whichever DAW I'm using... ProTools but also getting more into Logic now as well.

Traveling back home!

2013-01-28T11:28:00.001-08:00

So, the NAMM show is over. That went by fast. Some great things happened. I got some approvals on a few new Sonic Reality products that involve some partnership cooperation. Very efficient to have a face to face when it comes to being on the same page. Emails and phone calls are fine but it's not the same as the good old "analog" version. Haha. We got a lot done in the studio before and in part during NAMM weekend... even if some of us got slightly under the weather and overly tired. No one got the flu so it could have been worse (burning the candle at both ends). All in all it was a productive eventful trip!

Erik Norlander and I are putting together a really cool tribute to Bob Moog soon. I'll explain more about that in the coming weeks here.

Now I'm traveling back to Miami to mix the Rush tribute album I'm doing with Sonic Elements (my Sonic Reality Progressive Rock project). The album features Neil Peart on drums via his "Neil Peart Drums" sample library with Sonic Reality. We used his live performed drum tracks I recorded with Nick Raskulinecz (Rush's producer) and then, just as an end user of his library could, we built up tracks around it. We did both covers and some originals as well all infused with his distinct sound and drum patterns. I'll get into all sorts of detail about that when we're closer to release. The album, made up of guest musicians, includes myself on keys, Billy Sherwood (Yes, Circa) on guitar and bass, John Wesley (Porcupine Tree) on guitar and vocals, Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance) on guitar and vocals, Rik Emmett (Triumph) on guitar and vocals, Steve Hackett (Genesis) on guitar, Keith Emerson (ELP) on keys, Erik Norlander (Asia FJP) on keys, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) on bass, John Payne (Asia FJP) on bass and vocals, Fernando Perdomo (Dreaming in Stereo) on guitar, Francis Dunnery (It Bites) on guitar, Alastair Greene (Alan Parsons Live Project) on guitar, Mike Keneally ALSO on guitar and... wow, what a line up of incredible musicians all paying homage and loving respect to Rush, Neil and Sonic Reality sounds on this album. I'm exciting to get it all done!

Other than that I'm turning in a huge batch of sounds for SampleTank 3 which is getting closer to reality (in more ways than one). That's a virtual instrument software product from IK Multimedia, a company I work closely with and have provided most of the sounds for over the years. Time for some NEW sounds!

That's all. Not really though. There's always more going on than I say.

Incessant NAMM Dropping

2013-01-27T03:13:00.002-08:00

Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 - The NAMM show is still going on. As I was strumming my new (old) Silvertone acoustic guitar this morning I couldn't help but think how un-technologically advanced it was. A sort of ironic new acquisition around a time where everyone gets together to see the latest greatest musical instruments, recording equipment etc. It got me thinking about what the best "quality" of music is. It's the spirit of it. The emotion behind it. Everything else is icing on the cake, the bells and whistles... and it isn't that that's not nice too. But, to me music still has to have that core otherwise it can be an empty shell of contrived "going through the motions" stuff without having any authentic feeling behind it.

So, while I LOVE new technology and quality recording/performance gear I think it is so important not to get lost in it and forget that great music has more to do with the people writing and performing it and what they are sending/receiving than the exterior equipment they use. However, if you have that as a foundation and you add great gear to help produce it then there is an opportunity for both to work together to create fantastic results. So it was a good reminder... not that I really forgot. Anyway, besides seeing the latest gear another fun aspect of NAMM are the musicians, producers and engineers you run into. Here's a NAMM report with a whole lotta name dropping... you have been warned!

Alastair Greene, Alan Parsons, me, David Pack in the Aphex booth

Always nice to see Alan Parsons who I've been working with on various "projects". Alastair, his guitarist vocalist from APLP (which I will be seeing live soon in South Florida) and Alan's long time friend David Pack from Ambrosia who I will be working with on something soon.

With Gavin and Ross

It was great running into Gavin Lurssen and Ross Hogarth. I've known Gavin for years and he used to be my roommate when I lived in LA. He's a prominent mastering engineer (always winning Grammys... it's actually annoying. Just kidding!). Ross is a great engineer and he does some great stuff so it's interesting to hear what he's up to. I think last NAMM it was mixing Van Halen. I think the NAMM before that it was the Doobie Brothers. I can't say what it was this year yet but it sounded cool and he was happy. We've talked about working together on something for years so maybe one of these days we will do that. We definitely like a lot of the same music and have worked with a lot of the same people in different capacities.

Me with Tom Brislin

Tom Brislin can be found demonstrating in the Casio booth. He's been a writer for Keyboard magazine for years and has played keys in a number of interesting projects such as the band Renaissance and also with Francis Dunnery who I've been working with a lot.

Fellow Sound of Contact bandmate Matt Dorsey at the show.

With engineer Richard Chycki (Rush, Dream Theater)

The incredibly talented Lyle Workman. He composes a lot of the popular comedy films these days.

With Will Alexander and Geoff Downes of Asia and Yes

Erik Norlander (from the other Asia) with part of his massive Moog "Wall of Doom"

Erik Norlander of Asia FJP (and SR) had his "Wall of Doom" Moog Modular on display in the Moog Foundation booth. We took a picture with Michelle Moog-Koussa here and I've got something cool in Moog-land from SR this year to share that I'm excited about.

Epic Session and It's NAMM time!

2013-01-25T07:10:00.005-08:00

Louise Goffin, Lorelei McBroom, me, Durga McBroom-Hudson

Guy Pratt of Pink Floyd and Toy Matinee fame

The other day on the 23rd of January 2013 we had quite the epic session over at my friend Simeon's studio called "Blue Forest" in Sherman Oaks. It started off with sampling a Warwick bass and a '62 Fender P-Bass with Guy Pratt of Pink Floyd for his upcoming Sonic Reality bass library. We're also recording bass parts for a song Guy wrote with Durga that we're cutting as well. Fernando Perdomo from the previous day's session worked up a guitar and drum track for that. All part of the LA music machine thing I've got going on which is working out fantastically I have to say! What incredible resources for any producer to have and I've realized that just being around long enough in music you accumulate through experience these compatible elements to whatever it is you're wanting to do... people that specialize in one area or another and you know what to expect if you hand them a task for a project.

So, after we finished up with Guy we went on to do some vocal sampling with the McBroom sisters. Lots of oohs and aahs with soul! After that we did vocals for a cool Pink Floyd song. I won't say what it is yet (gotta leave some surprises) but joining them on vocals for it was their long time friend Louise Goffin. She sounded great and was a lot of fun! It was wild to find out that we had probably met before or at least were standing right next to each other backstage at a concert because she used to play guitar with Tears for Fears when Nick D'Virgilio played drums for them. Kevin Gilbert and I went to go see Nick play with TFF in LA at the Wiltern and she was there! Louise has been doing all sorts of interesting things in the music world for years. Currently she's nominated for a Grammy for producing her mother Carole King!!!! So congrats to her for that. I hope she wins but it's an honor just to be recognized (and an honor to have done it in the first place). Cool to meet and work with the sons and daughters of rock legends! Haha. I joke with Simon (Phil Collins' son) about my family all having absolutely nothing to do with music whatsoever. Even my brother who manages IK Multimedia's US office doesn't actually play a note. He's pure business. I can only imagine the dynamics of what it must be like having a musical family let alone a parent who is a music icon. But, like anything, I'm sure it has its double edged sword (people compare you etc.). It is nice to see something like Louise producing her mother's album. That's really cool. It was also great to not only see but co-write and play on the one song Simon recorded with his father called "The Big Bang".

Squids at NAMM

So now today, the 25th of January is the second day of the annual Winter NAMM show. I've been going to this NAMM show every year since 1989. I go because I'm a gear head, I see tons of people I know, I do business there for my company Sonic Reality (and before that I did sound design for the major keyboard manufactures like Alesis, Yamaha, Roland etc.) and I just go! From 1997 to I think 2009 we had a Sonic Reality booth there. But, from 2010 to now I've been booth free (apart from my second home at IK's booth) and it's a lot more enjoyable that way for me. I've dialed back the sort of corporate approach to my company and treat it more like a production company. Our job is to do the sound development for our own products and license them for other company products whether it's IK Multimedia, Cakewalk, Propellerheads, Camel Audio, NI, Yamaha, Steinberg... and we can do that with any appropriate combination of people in any studio around the world. I can assemble a team of people whether they are ex-employees of SR or just engineers, editors or musicians I know that have the skills and resources to do what needs to get done. I have my core team back home handling the nuts and bolts of day to day business but a world-wide scalable team of talent to do all sorts of fantastic products AND music! Oh yeah... music!!!!! ALMOST forgot about that a decade ago. Now I'm happy to say there's a good balance of both sounds AND music going on (as you can see in this blog!).

Now, if you've been following my posts on Facebook or reading this blog you know that I'm all about discovering cool instruments so you can expect a "NAMM report" blog post from me at some point. I will probably do it at the end or maybe in a few parts along the way. Fellow gear heads and the sonically curious can look forward to some cool pics and videos. I'm having a great time doing things I love to do and there isn't a moment I'm not grateful for it. Onward we go!

Did you know, did you know...?

2013-01-23T00:40:00.002-08:00

Fernando Perdomo, Durga McBroom-Hudson, Lorelei McBroom, Dave Kerzner, Randy McStine

January 23, 2013 - I arrived in LA yesterday and immediately went to Fernando Perdomo's studio to get to work on a Sonic Elements Pink Floyd tribute project featuring the McBroom sisters (former backing vocalists for Pink Floyd). We had to work up quite a few tracks to experiment so I got a team of musicians to help me get it all done. Fernando and Randy are both talented multi-instrumentalists. I worked extensively with Randy on his project Lo-Fi Resistance's album "Chalk Lines". Fernando I've known for years but only started working with him recently on the song "Digital Man" by Rush. He was great! In addition to Randy and Fern I got Billy Sherwood, former producer and member of the band Yes who is also a multi-instrumentalist, to work up some skeleton tracks for us to work with. Basically, I was coming out here to go to a trade show called "NAMM" (National Association of Music Merchants) which I do every year for my company Sonic Reality. Whenever I go to LA I try to get some music work done because I know so many great people and places here for doing that. This time the two McBroom sisters who are normally on two different sides of the country or touring the world were together in LA so we decided to make the most of the limited time we had and get as much recorded as we could. So far we've gotten as much done as is humanly possible!

Fernando recording Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance) playing some Gilmour-esque guitar

Me laying down a vintage-Floyd style Wurly part

This is Fernando's upright piano. It has a great haunting quality to it... and we're going to sample it! "Dreaming in Stereo" is Fern's "prog band project". They have two albums that are really good and I told him that if he does another one I'd love to do something on it. So we'll see!

It's an interesting type of tribute album that we do with Sonic Elements. The approach in some ways is similar to how Steve Hackett did his Genesis Revisited 2 album where it's centered around an original member of the band but it's still covers and there are guests joining him. In the case of some of these Sonic Elements tribute albums I center it around iconic drummers that Sonic Reality has sampled for a sound library/music software product we're putting out. So, for instance, with the Rush tribute we're doing we have Neil Peart playing all the drums via his sampled drum library with Sonic Reality called Neil Peart Drums. So, for the Floyd tribute we have soon to be released sample library collections done with not only Nick Mason, long time drummer of Pink Floyd but also with Alan Parsons (of Alan Parsons Project and the engineer who recorded Dark Side of the Moon), Guy Pratt (bass player for Pink Floyd and also Toy Matinee, Kevin Gilbert's band previous to Thud) and the McBroom Sisters. What that means is that many of the sounds you'd hear on this tribute are also available as playable samples you can buy if you're a musician. So if you TOO want a certain Floydy drum sound or a really cool fretless bass sound or "ooohhhhwaaahhhh" to play from the keyboard you'll soon be able to do that (taking liberties with the word "soon" there... I mean some time this year). But, of course, if you're not a musician then you can enjoy the music created with these sounds... and an interesting mix of the "elements".

Some of those elements can be the musicians with their particular style and sound. I've had the chance to mix some unlikely combinations of musicians together in a song. The most recent one that I've been working on features Keith Emerson (ELP), Steve Hackett (Genesis), Billy Sherwood (Yes), Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Neil Peart Drums (Rush) and myself (Squidttthhhh!). I've mentioned it already but I'm still excited about that the more I work with it. It's also interesting that it spans two songs that relate to each other. More will be revealed about that soon.

Alright so that's it for now. I have to either get back to work or catch some Zzzz's so I have energy tomorrow for another mega session this time at another studio in the Valley. We'll have Guy Pratt in the early afternoon and then some major sampling with the McBroom Sisters. Then in the evening a vocal session with Louise Goffin (Carol King's daughter). That should be fun! After that I head on down to Anaheim for the NAMM show... but somehow I am going to try to do some sessions here and there too because if you haven't noticed I'm a bit of a work-o-holic! No, seriously, it's all about people's schedules and when you have a slot open you gotta take it especially if you're producing an album on a budget. Nothing beats being in the same place at the same time. Plus some musicians are autonomous with their own studios (like Billy or Fern). You give them a track and they add their part in their studio and send it in. We did that when we played on Steve Hackett's album and he did that when he played on this. Other musicians you need to book a studio and have someone be there to direct and/or engineer it... and sometimes that someone has to be you (or you leave to much up to chance).

Anyway, I'll leave you with this video interview with Steve Hackett and Roger King talking about how we sent in tracks for them to use along with guys like Steven Wilson, Mikael Akerfeldt, Neil Morse, Steve Rothery, Nad Sylvan and many other people who guested on that album from around the world. Gives you an idea if you're curious of how that's done these days.

Genesish

2013-01-11T12:20:00.004-08:00

Got a bunch of things going on this month one degree from the band Genesis (but actually each don't have anything to do with Genesis music directly). One is a track from the Rush tribute album I'm producing for my band project "Sonic Elements" where Steve Hackett, former guitarist for Genesis, is going to be a special guest! I'm so excited about that. He's a great guy and his guitar playing is always so creative and cool. I think he's probably one of the most under-rated guitarists when it comes to being innovative and melodic. He actually did the hammer on finger tapping style before Eddie Van Halen (Return of the Giant Hogweed is the prequel to Eruption! haha). Anyway, I earned a favor trade with Steve for my contributions to his Genesis Revisited 2 album and I used that card for this session favor back... but secretly I wish I had 100 Steve Hackett favor cards! It was tough picking which song to ask him to play on but it was a wise choice and you'll see/hear why later.

Francis Dunnery, Keith Emerson, myself, Billy Sherwood and Neil Peart (via his sample library Neil Peart Drums) all play on these two songs (one Rush cover and one original). Current and/or former members of Rush, Genesis, Yes, Robert Plant or It Bites all in one song with El Squidsarino? Pinch me. But it's possible because of Sonic Reality sample libraries and a little Squidsifying. Fortunately everyone involved happens to be REALLY cool, very down to Earth and people I genuinely enjoy being friends with regardless of their status as "rock legends". They don't go around acting like they're superior or anything! They know who they are and they have nothing to prove. These projects are more about the love of music and combining different sonic flavors to see how it comes out! Much how I experiment in the kitchen.

Mushroom Truffle, Balsamic Roasted Garlic and Asian Red Sesame Chicken Salad Dips. I like to improvise and mix flavors in the kitchen.

Sticking with the Genesish theme of this blog post I had a lengthy conversation last night with Simon Collins, son of Phil, about the release of our new album "Dimensionaut" from our new band Sound of Contact which you can read about here. We talked about the possibility of touring Europe in Q2 this year... nothing official yet just some talking for right now. We'd have to find he right drummer for the tour who can play in that style since Simon drums on the album and sings (which itself is pretty Genesish at least as far as that dual role goes... and live we would probably do the double drum thing as well since Simon DOES want to play drums as much as he can live and there are a number of instrumental sections on the album to do that).

Nick D'Virgilio and I on stage performing "The Shaming of the True"

Speaking of the right drummer (if he wasn't so busy with Cirque Du Soleil that is), my ex-bandmate from Kevin Gilbert's band, Nick D'Virgilio is in town for a couple months. I just spoke to him on the phone. Nick got to play on the Genesis album "Calling All Stations" and there's a great story behind that but I've probably told it already in this blog. If I haven't I'll perhaps tell it at some point when it feels fresh, timely and relevant. Also some great stories about the mid-90's working with Kevin and there will be more to tell about the "Shaming of the True" gig we performed together recently celebrating Kevin's brilliant rock opera (and a DVD coming out this year of the show!). Anyway, we talked about the possibility of getting together in the studio while he's here and I'm trying to coordinate Francis Dunnery coming down for a big writing/jamming session with the three of us. I think he just needs to book some house concerts, Nick needs some days off and the stars have to align!

Larks Squids in Aspic

2013-01-09T15:52:00.001-08:00

Deep in wiring and almost coming up for air. I've been setting up a new project studio space so I can focus specifically on music I'm producing and sample sessions I'm doing for my company Sonic Reality. My former bandmate from the Kevin Gilbert "Thud" days, Nick D'Virgilio (also of Spock's Beard, Tears for Fears, Genesis CAS fame...) happens to be in town with his family since he tours with Cirque Du Soleil and they are camped here in Miami for a bit. So, we're making plans to get together. Not sure what we might work on. I know there are drum and vocal sessions for Sonic Elements (my progressive rock revolving door of musicians project doing covers and originals) but ever since we performed "The Shaming of the True" (Kevin Gilbert's rock opera) I've been thinking "this would be a really cool band to write some new original music in this style with". Those guys all seemed open to it but there's a difference between a cool concept and actually doing it... being in the same place (especially when writing and of course jamming) does make a difference so perhaps we can get something going along those lines.

While I'm wiring I get this opportunity to put on albums of longer music just playing while I do hours of work (that I should have just hired someone to do but this time I wanted to do it myself which I slightly question now but too late!!!! At least I know where everything is). I've been listening to the Steven Wilson remixed versions of King Crimson albums such as Red, Starless & Bible Black, In The Court of the Crimson King... in fact while I was doing that I was enjoying it so much I went to go order the rest of the catalog from their site. I was having some technical difficulty with my browser and when I got to talking to the support people there I was saying that I couldn't check out... then I said "you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave" and then I said "Wow I just quoted Eagles to the Crimsons" and then I said "The Crimsons would be a good name for an animated series" and then I said "I'm a weird customer aren't I?" and they said "Not even close". Thought I'd share that exchange with you. Kind of funny. I still haven't ordered them but I will. Lark's Tongues will soon be in Aspic!

I'll tell you what else I've been listening to. Some Jason Falkner (ex-Jellyfish & Grays) who I think is grossly under-known and under-appreciated considering how good he is. I've been listening to a bunch of classic Rush. I'm actually friends with the people at Rush's label (the band and various staff use our products plus we have a product with Neil) so they sent me the entire "Sectors" box sets which was very nice. I'm listening to "A Farewell to Kings" right now actually. I'll be getting in a "Rush mood" because I've got an entire album of Rush music to mix this month with Sonic Elements! More about that later (I've mentioned a bit in this blog already).

Another cool thing I've been listening to is Steven Wilson's "Grace for Drowing" album, the special edition box set which I also got as a gift from Steven since I played on the album. (I don't always get albums as gifts and actually I quite enjoying buying them and supporting the artists, labels and resellers). I actually played more on the song Raider II than what ended up in the final mix. In fact I have several unreleased versions of that and other stuff I can never share with anyone publicly but fun to listen to as an alternative (I like outtakes and alternate versions of songs particularly if they have something else special about them and these definitely do). I came across my name in the creative credits (see pic below).

So... I'm listening to music while I work. Is this what you wanted to read about? Haha. Maybe? Other perhaps cooler ACTUAL news is that one of our sample editors at Sonic Reality, Mike, just turned in a first version of the Nick Mason, drummer of Pink Floyd, sampled drum kits! Gonna check that out tomorrow. We recorded Nick in England with Alan Parsons as our engineer and me producing the session. Alan originally recorded Dark Side of the Moon with Floyd and he and Nick haven't worked together like that since the mid-70s. So everyone was totally psyched (no one more psyched than I though). I'll be sharing a lot more about that in the coming months. It's pretty incredible and I'm so grateful to Nick, to Alan, to Guy Pratt and all the people who helped make this possible including Tony Smith, Nick's manager who also happens to manage Phil Collins and Genesis! In fact that was a very funny conversation we first had when discussing the project. I wonder if I mentioned it earlier in the blog... I don't want to repeat myself. Anyway, once we knew who each other were things warmed up... because otherwise he can be pretty tough (as most managers of big name artists probably would be).

Alan Parsons and Nick Mason on Squids Side of the Moon

That's what I have to report so far. No traveling at the moment but I'm always on some sort of adventure. Even wiring has a story to it (as you can see). "Yep, we all have stories" - Swingers (I like to quote movies).

Getting ready to go back to LA!

2013-01-07T11:38:00.001-08:00

Squids here in the New Year giving a quick update on things. Just got my ticket to go to LA/Anaheim in a couple weeks for the Winter NAMM Show. That's a trade show that happens every year for makers of musical instruments and equipment. I've been going to them each year without fail for over 20 years. I would originally go just to check out the latest gear and technology but then in the mid 90's I started going as a music product vendor myself with Sonic Reality sample libraries. I think when I get a minute I'll tell some stories of past NAMM experiences. One of the best times was showing keyboard drumming tips to Stevie Wonder who was playing my drum samples in 2005 on the last day of NAMM. I think there's even a video of that but here's a picture:

Stevie Wonder playing Sonic Reality sounds at NAMM in the IK Multimedia Booth

Whenever I go to LA there's always a few sessions and sushi. It's a must! One of the sessions I'm doing this time is with both McBroom Sisters, Durga and Lorelei who each sang with Pink Floyd as well as many other artists. I've already done sessions recording them individually, one with Durga in LA engineered by Alan Parsons and another in Connecticut with Lorelei. Not only are they singing on Sonic Elements' special Floyd tribute album that I'm co-producing but we're also doing some cool vocal sampling this time and more. I'll be able to share all about that later. But I'm looking forward to it! Their voices compliment each other so well. Plus they're a lot of fun.

Lorelei and Durga McBroom

I'm going to meet up with producer/engineer Ken Scott who I worked with on creating "EpiK DrumS" featuring Billy Cobham, Terry Bozzio, Rod Morgenstein, Bob Siebenberg and Woody Woodmansey (the drummers of bands Ken produced and recorded back in the day such as Supertramp, David Bowie, Missing Persons, Dixie Dregs, Mahavishnu Orchestra). We're going to go over new updates to the series that will be released in 2013 plus a possible music project involving various well-known names in rock. Once again I'll have to wait to share the details but that too is exciting!

Producer/Engineer Ken Scott (Beatles, Elton John, Bowie, Supertramp...)

In fact, 2013 is going to be a great year for music and sampling projects. We've got the release of the debut album from a band called "Sound of Contact" that I'm in with Simon Collins, son of Genesis frontman/drummer Phil Collins, the release of a Sonic Elements Rush tribute album featuring Neil Peart Drums which I'm mixing this month and so much more! Always busy with something and there's never a dull moment. Even just the other day apparently Timbaland stopped by my studio partner's room and they "jammed" on some keyboards. I totally missed the event because I was deep in wires. I'm in the midst of re-wiring my studio for upcoming mixes. That same day I was working on a track with Francis Dunnery, Keith Emerson and Steve Hackett (Steve's parts being recorded this month)! Talk about unusual combinations of musical activity condensed in a day! But, I like it like that. If you've been following along with this blog you know I do.

Fixing a Hole

2012-12-30T01:35:00.003-08:00

Marzell and I having a laugh about the hole in my jeans

I love my Levis 501 jeans. They never go out of style. Neither does a Hammond B3 or a Fender Rhodes! Same thing. But, just as a Fender Rhodes can have a rip in the tolex so can a pair of jeans... except when it's in the crotch area it can be offensive! I had this tiny hole there at the beginning of my road trip and after a couple states it grew into what you see in the picture above. While some may appreciate the "Winter Breeze" aspect of it or the "Hello how do you do?" shock value, I knew it wasn't going to fly (pun alert! haha). I had to get some new jeans so I managed to buy a couple new pairs somewhere off I-95 along the way to visit Francis Dunnery. What you see here is a quick "emergency pitstop" at a Laundromat in Virginia where a very sweet woman who worked there named Marzell had a good laugh at my expense! The "emergency" had to do with hot chocolate spilling all over the place in my car... don't even ask! But yes I'm a klutz. I "wear" my food and drink.

A shrimp sandwich! I like to eat unusual things like this when I travel especially if it's a local favorite! The drippy sauce can also make a great abstract design if you happen to be wearing a t-shirt! :D

Right now I'm on my way back to Florida. I was going to stay up there and do a New Years gig at the Tin Angel with Francis which would have been a blast. But, I was feeling a bit of pressure and really need to get back so I can finish up the Rush tribute/fantasy band album built around Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality and wrap up final details for the release of the album "Dimensionaut" by Sound of Contact (a new progressive rock band I'm in with Simon Collins). I need to do that AND prepare for something called the NAMM show which is where music software and instrument developers present their latest products.

I drove through Philadelphia yesterday and had a cheesesteak with "Uncle Jonny" (he's really my Dad's cousin) that was out of this world! I have family in Philadelphia, both my parents are from there and I was born there too (but left when I turned 2... not warm enough!!!!).

A great little cheesesteak place in a HUGE market in central Philadelphia

Over the next few days I'll be making my way through Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and then back through Florida to Miami (where the Sun's at!). It's been nice seeing a chance of seasons. I haven't seen snow in a long time.

... where the rain gets in...

I'll hit a few Pawn shops on the way down. I wouldn't mind picking up a "jangly old acoustic steel string" that speaks to me. It doesn't have to be a Gibson or a Martin or anything expensive. I'd be cool with a Silvertone or some less popular brand. I was checking out some of Jon Brion's guitars at Ocean Way Recording studios when he was working on the Dido album and he had one exactly like what I'm describing. He has really good taste in sounds and instruments. The guitar I'm looking for just has to have character and be very playable... or let's just say that when you pick it up you can't put it down. That effect (similar to how you can't just have one Dorito). I actually found an acoustic I really liked in a pawn shop on the way up (pictured below) but my price range for a used old acoustic guitar right now is 8-10 times less than this one's price tag. I bought an old Beatle-Bass-Wannabe instead for a hundred bucks.

Looking for a guitar like this for a couple hundy (not a couple grand!)

So, that's it for now. No rock legends this time! Just El Squidsarino and his travels. Gonna hit the hay here. If anything exciting happens I'll check back in and blog about it. Maybe I'll share some thoughts about the new year coming up. There are also a lot of things I haven't shared here but I post a lot of misc stuff on my Facebook page if you're curious. In case I don't get to post before New Year's Eve I'll go ahead and wish you all a Happy New Year! I think it's going to be fantastic. I really do! Let's all be positive about it and make it happen!

Cold, Tired & Hungry!

2012-12-27T12:43:00.003-08:00

Driving up through Florida

Through South Carolina

All the way up to Pennsylvania where it snowed!

Freezing in the snow with Francis and his sister Fay

(Reference to "Cold, Tired & Hungry", is an old It Bites song of Francis's)

Drove up from sunny South Florida to get a dose of Winter weather! I spent X-Mas with Francis Dunnery and his family up in the Poconos mountains. It was his 50th Birthday as well but a very low key gathering. He considered the CKDCF charity gig we played in Cumbria in October his official "birthday celebration" because there were many fans, friends and family there. Plus, you don't get a better present than playing a gig with one of your childhood music heroes, Steve Hackett of Genesis, and a stage full of great musicians, an incredibly warm and receptive audience and the whole thing benefiting children with severe illnesses. He was especially moved when he received over a hundred thank you messages on his birthday after the CKDCF gave the sick children Christmas presents. He showed me the pictures of kids, some of them with cancer, filled with joy opening up presents with their families. He said, "This is what you did, Dave. It's what we all did."

I was thinking about the value of everyone who bothered to contribute toward that event in whatever way they could (some sponsoring the walk, some contributing their time and effort to the event, some paying to travel from all over the world and go to that amazing show). It could have just as easily not happened. But it did and these were very real results to see. What is the value of joy especially for a child who has a terminal disease? Priceless. Heart-breaking to think about any child suffering. After some very sad recent events in the US, my love, appreciation and hope for all the children has only grown exponentially. They come to this world ready to love and be loved, to learn and to teach, to PLAY and experience as much joy as possible. So did we! We were all children once. Our progress moving forward has a lot to do with reconnecting with the child within us... to look for and prioritize joy in life and to continue to be playful! I'm a big kid and I play all the time. I seek out the good things in life that make myself and others with similar taste smile.

Speaking of taste, when I travel I like to take advantage of some local cuisine. On the way up to PA there were some cool places to stop. One of them was Charleston, South Carolina. Paid a visit to the Hominy Grill for breakfast by recommendation and had something called "The Big Nasty" which is fried chicken, gravy and a biscuit. It's not something I'd eat often as I do prefer to eat more healthy but this was not to miss. When in Rome!

The Big Nasty

Francis's Studio

Alright, so for anyone wanting the skinny on musical activity on the travels of a man called Squids I've got some cool stuff to share with you. Besides dinner, table tennis and laughs with the Dunnerys I am also here playing on a new album from Francis. I can't really talk about it in detail because it's his production not mine. So I'll share more about that later. Here's a picture of my Nord Stage keyboard that I drove up with. What a workhorse! That and my laptop with Sonic Reality sounds and IK Multimedia software has the main staple sounds I need.

Here's another cool thing that happened over the holidays. I got a really nice email from Steve and Jo Hackett wishing me Happy Holidays and New Year. That alone made me smile. The guitarist from one of my favorite bands EVER sending me a nice message for the holidays? How cool!!!??? I emailed Steve back wishing him and his very sweet wife Jo the same. We talked about him guesting on a track in January that I'm producing for the Sonic Elements Rush Tribute "Moving Signals & Waves". I was originally going to ask him to play on the Sonic Elements film score style tribute of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" that I'm doing with Francis Dunnery and friends. But, then I thought that was too obvious and plus he just did the "Genesis Revisited 2" album of his own (which Francis, myself and Simon Collins guested on). So, I figured it'd be interesting and different if he played on a Rush song featuring Neil Peart of Rush on drums (via his sample library "Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality") plus Keith Emerson and myself on keyboards and Bill Sherwood formerly of Yes on bass... talk about "Prog Heaven"! For one song at a time I'm producing and playing with the ultimate "Prog Super Groups"!!!! Emerson, Hackett, Sherwood, Peart & Squids!!!! (Neil is the only one who doesn't know he's played on it directly... he only knows that his sample library that features his drumming is going to be used by many musicians for both originals and covers... however, this one I think he'll really get a kick out of when he hears it!) Actually, I might have Francis play guitar on it as well today and when I get the tracks from everyone in January I may also fuse it into another original track that I co-wrote with Billy Sherwood. I know that sounds bizarre and vague right now but when the album is released I will explain what we did, how we did it, why we did it and MORE on video!

So, that's what's happening in my world. I'm VERY excited about the coming year for many reasons. I've set up my studio specifically for the projects I'm producing and playing on. Actually, I'm still in the midst of getting it all wired up but once that's done it's going to be very conducive to the way I like to work. There are a number of creative projects I'm involved with and I couldn't be happier about that! I'm really looking forward to 2013 and I'm enjoying the rest of 2012 now. Happy New Year to you all! Thanks, as always, for taking an interest in my Squidly adventures. I hope you continue to find it entertaining and inspiring. Don't forget to go have some fun! Be safe, kind to others and optimistic! Enjoy the now and be eager about what's coming. Focus on what's positive to you. That's my 2 cents worth of advice anyway...

The Apocalypse (in 9/8)

2012-12-20T09:36:00.002-08:00

I thought I'd give you all a little break on the Squids Travel posts. Those condensed trips really pack it in on the muso action. I've been in Miami since getting back from New York and I'm keeping busy as always. With Sonic Reality we're working on sounds for IK Multimedia's SampleTank 3 virtual instrument software for musicians. With Sonic Elements we're working on the release of "Moving Signals & Waves", a Rush tribute album I'm producing and playing keys on AND on 12-12-2012 we announced the official name of the new progressive rock band I'm in with Simon Collins, son of legendary Genesis frontman/drummer Phil Collins. The band is called "Sound of Contact" and the new album coming out in 2013 is called "Dimensionaut".

We've been working on this sci fi concept album, Dimensionaut, since 2009 starting with sessions at SR Studios in Miami. After Simon, Kelly and I had worked together on our cover of "Keep It Dark" and Simon's U-Catastrophe album and Simon had added multi-instrumentalist Matt Dorsey to his live band, Simon came to me in 2009 wanting to do a band project next instead of a solo album. This time we would all write together, play live in the studio and jam and craft a concept album around a subject that Simon and Kelly had been discussing... a story about a dimensional traveler. That's how Dimensionaut was born.

Sound of Contact: Kelly Nordstrom, Simon Collins, Matt Dorsey, Dave Kerzner

Sound of Contact in the studio recording "Dimensionaut"

The first three songs we recorded didn't make it to the final cut of the album. Although they'll be released separately at some point (some as bonus tracks perhaps). Most of the album was recorded in 2010 with engineer Chris Holmes at Greenhouse Studios in Vancouver, BC where Simon lived at the time. When it came time to mix the album we brought in Nick Davis who has produced and/or engineered bands like Genesis, XTC, Marillion, It Bites and more. I've been working with Nick on a sample library for Sonic Reality recording the sounds of Tony Banks' vintage keyboards, Mike Rutherford's rare guitars and capturing the iconic "Collins" drum sound at Genesis' studio called "The Farm" in Surrey, England which I've also done with veteran Genesis/Collins producer Hugh Padgham.

Nick Davis with Dave Kerzner & Ryan Holquist at The Farm

Squids fun fact of the day: Today is both Nick Davis and Alan Parsons Birthday!

To work with Nick Davis on a music project was a whole other story! Because it was Simon and I in the producer chairs and Nick was just mixing (not producing) we had a really nice bonus "mentor" when it came time to making our decisions about what we wanted. It was like a "safety net" and both Simon and I learned a lot from that experience. We mixed the album at The Warehouse in Vancouver, a studio that belongs to Bryan Adams. Then, months later, we mastered the album at Lurssen Mastering in LA with my old friend Gavin Lurssen and Rueben Cohen. Gavin and I used to be roommates when I lived in LA. We had this house on the top of Mulholland with a recording studio and a panoramic view of the city that had a revolving door of musicians and engineers living there. One ex-roomy named Robbes ended up engineering at Van Halen's studio, 5150. Gavin ended up becoming a multi-Grammy-winning mastering engineer. You know what happened with me... and if you don't just keep reading and somehow it'll all make sense! I've got some great stories about the 90s in LA but I'll save it for another post. In the meantime you can read more about the Sound of Contact story on the new web site! Plus, there's a Facebook page for the band to follow if you're interested.

It's the end of the world as we know it!

So, this business about the apocalypse and the end of the world... it's December 20th, 2012 here in Miami and it's already tomorrow in some parts of the world. There are a lot of interpretations about this particular time. A lot could happen in one day or in one hour or one minute or even one second. But the changes that are gradual are sometimes missed. What I've been seeing is a shifting of conscious awareness over time. I've often had thoughts, lately it's been partially fueled by the sad events in CT that I don't even want to talk about because it's too painful, that children have a very important aspect to them that is a clue to our ideal co-existence. They start off life in a state of being that is open, loving, eager to learn, wanting to play and experience joy. When a young child you don't even know looks at you in curiosity and doesn't know you're not part of their family and that you're technically a stranger they DO know something else on a deeper level. We're ALL related! We just lose touch with that when we get older. There's a disconnection from who we really are that happens to various degrees... and sadly from recent events going back to many other times in human history we have seen the extremes of that "disconnection". At the same time we're connected in other ways now more than ever. I know there are many who would agree that it would be nice to see the beginning of a new world of "connectedness", of harmony, peace and love. I think we are capable of it since we've all been there before as young children. We just have to protect and nurture that in children and find our own ways back to these qualities ourselves.

So, when we talk about the end of ages and the beginning of new ones, the end of centuries and millenniums and the beginning of new ones, the Mayan calendar and all sorts of intriguing myths about this time with thousands of interpretations... I find myself simply open. I don't claim to know everything. A lot of people cling to what they think they know and their particular beliefs (or perhaps the ones imprinted on them from an early impressionable age) to avoid the fear of the unknown. Society wants you to pick a faith! Yet ironically those different believes divide us from each other and have been the basis of too much opposition and conflict throughout our history. Meanwhile we're constantly learning and expanding our collective experience. There are great lessons from the world around us. If you're flexible in your views you leave enough room for something new and exciting to reveal itself or room for more "universal truths" to be understood (as opposed to a divisive "man-made truths" that may have been created for unknown reasons in human history). The more open we are the more we'll be able to evolve. I'm all for that! Ironically part of our evolution is reconnecting with a state of being we all arrived in as children. A huge step is already here right in front of us! If we clear up the clutter, the distortions, the distractions and the wastefulness we arrive at the basic core of our existence. A "perceiver" that can interact physically and mentally "experiencing" life in the pursuit of happiness.

***HAPPY EVERYTHING FROM EL SQUIDSARINO!***

On that note I wish you a great couple of days, an amazing week, a joyous time during the holidays if you celebrate them, a happy new year and a wonderful life! :) As for me, I'm doing more of what I love. Hanging with my friends and family, going to the Ocean, making music, cooking in the kitchen (I just had a STELLAR breakfast!), going to great restaurants (just did a crab feast with my bro last night!), creating, doing business, relaxing, laughing, thinking, reading, listening, collaborating, sharing... and continue looking for the good stuff! Later in the week I'm doing a road trip to visit Francis Dunnery. We're celebrating his birthday, doing some recording and a gig on New Year's Eve! I asked him what he thought about what people have been saying about the end of the world and he said "Not on the Dunnery clock! We've got too many things to do."

Here's Francis Dunnery's song "My Own Reality"

For anyone looking for an apocalypse have one in 9/8 instead. Here's me, Francis Dunnery and Simon Collins guesting with Steve Hackett of Genesis doing Supper's Ready (the three of us come in on vocals and keys from the Guards of Magog section to the end of the song):

Here's the Sound of Contact...

That about wraps 'er up!

2012-12-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

I like to quote movies. Some movies like "The Big Lebowski" have a ton of fun quotes to pull out at the right time. "That about wraps 'er up" is fitting for the end of another marathon run of Squids traveling. This time on the West and East coast of the USA. From LA to New York and now back to sunny Miami where I can relax for a minute... before I come back up in a couple of weeks to meet up with Francis Dunnery for some holiday hang time, a little studio recording and a New Year's Eve gig at the Tin Angel!

Here's me, Squids, with Francis Dunnery, Steve Hackett and friends performing one of Francis's songs called "Still Too Young To Remember" which he originally recorded with "It Bites"

Squids Travels Update:

So, here's what happened over the last couple of days. A CD release party in upstate New York with Randy McStine for his Lo-Fi Resistance album "Chalk Lines" which I played keyboards on, co-produced and co-wrote 3 of the songs. At the same time I did a session with Keith Emerson remotely on the West Coast. I'll explain what I mean by "remotely" in a bit. I've been working with a very talented 3D graphics artist on something "secret" that will be launched this coming week (finger's crossed). Another cool thing that happened in the last couple of days is the release of an interview I participated in with writer Anil Prasad (Innerviews) who was doing an article for a guitar magazine and covered Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited 2 and Squackett albums. I also got a nice mention on Steve Hackett's website Hackettsongs.com. Thanks Steve! Thanks Anil!

Your blog host Squids provided some production work on Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited 2 album bringing in vocalists Simon Collins and Francis Dunnery as well as playing keys on "Supper's Ready".

Lo-Fi Resistance Chalk Lines Just Released on CD!

Colin Edwin, Dave Kerzner & Nick Davis at Genesis' studio The Farm

It was great to visit Randy in his home town. We did a "CD listening party" in Binghamton, NY where we played some previously unseen videos including an interview I did with Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree at Genesis' studio The Farm in the UK about his participation on the album. We also played a video collage of various takes in the studio during the making of the album.

Listent to a collage of audio clips from the album here.

Then we played the entire album from beginning to end. Randy put together a very cool visual of the beautiful album booklet graphics to accompany the music so there was something to look at while listening. There's a great thing when you hear something in the presence of others. You get a sense of their fresh perspective. I was very proud of the work we did on the album, especially when hearing it this way. It's well crafted with a healthy balance of songwriting substance, ear candy sonic production elements and musically tasteful performances from album contributors Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), Dug Pinnick (King's X), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree) and John Giblin (Brand X, Kate Bush). I got to infuse some of my vintage and atmospheric style of keyboards and sound design in there, John Wesley helped Randy get great guitar tones and effects in his studio as well, we used Kevin Gilbert's old U47 mic on the vocals in my studio... a lot of quality ingredients! None of that would matter if the songs weren't there but fortunately that's the core anchor of the album following Randy's lyrical story and vision. It's a 51 minute 'concept album' with segues and tie ins at the end to earlier parts on the album... a very "put on the headphones and listen to the whole thing" type of album which I've always liked and you don't hear so often these days.

After the album listening we did some Q&A which was recorded on video. So was the college radio interview we did earlier in the week which I will post at some point when I have access to it. It was great meeting everybody including Randy's family, friends and local fans. It was especially interesting hearing impressions from people who came there after hearing about it on the radio or by word of mouth. I remember one person came up to me after and said that he was totally blown away and it was instantly one of his favorite albums to come out in a long time. He was really sincere when he said it and I tried to imagine what it must have been like from his perspective. I think if you like artists like Jellyfish, Kevin Gilbert, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Beatles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Tears for Fears, Keane, Radiohead, Muse, Sigur Ros, Yes, Genesis etc. and you came to some local presentation of a relatively new artist's independent album release you might get a nice surprise. It's no ordinary production.

Chalk Lines is now shipping and available on CD from Burning Shed.

Randy and I signing posters and CDs at the event.

Keith Emerson Session Part 2!

Keith Emerson with SR's remote sampling engineer Simeon Spiegel

If you've followed my Squids Travels previous posts there was some back story behind a session I did in LA with Alan Parsons and Keith Emerson a week ago. It was incredible! Just the other day we had part 2 of that session which involved more sampling of Keith's incredible Modular Moog synthesizer and yet another music session as well for an album I'm producing with "Sonic Elements". The first music session in LA involved two different songs and albums. One is something I was assisting on for a progressive rock artist from Europe that I can't name yet but will be revealed at some point in time. The other was for a Sonic Elements album I am doing with Alan Parsons based on vintage sounds in the style of Pink Floyd. In fact, since I am doing a sample library with both Alan and Keith this is a really cool 'cross-over' between those two worlds sonically (in other words the Moog Modular vs. the EMS Synthi & Minimoog in a cool synth jam duel between myself and Keith!)

The rare EMS Synthi (not "Battleship")

For this session the other day Keith was playing a very ELP-Tarkus-style bit and full on keyboard solo on a track I'm producing again for Sonic Elements featuring Billy Sherwood (formerly of the band Yes) and Neil Peart Drums (drum performances from Neil Peart of the band Rush sampled by Sonic Reality and produced by myself and Nick Raskulinecz). This is one EPIC prog track! To have Neil's drumming (via the sample libraries I've done with him) and Keith's keys, Billy Sherwood's 'amazing bass' (very Squire-influenced... meets Geddy in this case) and an additional element I haven't even mentioned yet... WOW! I'm psyched beyond words and so grateful to Keith and all those guys for being part of my music projects. It's truly an honor to be able to work with such legendary talented artists. I'm having a field day with it. I love making music even it's just me with a beat up old piano or ragged guitar. But I also enjoy elaborate productions and mixing up the creative elements to see what happens when you collaborate with incredible musicians of different generations and musical backgrounds.

Keith Emerson and Dave "Squids" Kerzner with the Mighty Moog (and Mini iRig Keys)

This time I had to do the session remotely from the other side of the country. Fortunately I have a long time friend and associate engineer Simeon Spiegel there in LA to capture what I needed from Keith. I have some incredible resources all around the world now to be able to do some amazing things I never would have thought possible 10-20 years ago. But thanks to the internet the world is smaller and your options are greater (but don't get too excited... thanks to the internet the music industry has practically imploded!!!).

Still Reading? I'm impressed! :)

So you've seen a lot of cool stuff happen on here in the past month or so, especially with regard to some big names in classic and progressive rock. As you might imagine I'm dangerously close to getting used to being spoiled here with all these amazing musicians willing to work with me! But I've kept it all in check. When it happens like this it's great but there are no guarantees. You just have to ride the wave and be clear with your intentions... and bold enough to take some risks while ready to accept that it may or may not happen how you want it to.

Being in the production chair and directing the music or sample session is a place I'm very comfortable with even in cases like this where there are high profile players involved. Not just to pat the inner fan in me on the back for finally getting to work with my childhood music heroes but more so I have the opportunity to do my best to help make it great whatever it is or ends up being. My motivation to make sample libraries is to offer the sort of sounds that inspire me when I make music or the kind of sounds I feel people can make great use of in their music. My drive to write, produce and perform music is to give back to other listeners the type of qualities I myself have enjoyed in music over the years. That's in every aspect from songwriting to arrangement to production to sound design to performing with any of these guys. The music, the performances or the sampling itself is the priority because that has to be good no matter who it is you're working with.

Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Dave "Squids" Kerzner & Nick Raskulinecz

SR in the studio with Ken Scott, Keith Emerson, Rod Morgenstein

One thing that ALL of these guys have in common no matter how "famous" they are (I bet both Neil Peart has been listed as "best rock drummer" and Keith Emerson as "best rock keyboard player" at the same time in some poll somewhere) is that they are MUSICIANS and REAL PEOPLE first and foremost. They have a vitality to them and they don't rest on their laurels. They continue to create. I'm sure they appreciate the accolades, the success, the role they play and position they're in etc. but that doesn't mean they want everyone to worship the ground they walk on. They want the respect they have earned. But from my experience I think most of the truly great musicians enjoy it if you're just real with them and work like you would with any other musician you respect, famous or not. If you think the take could be better you say so. If you want to get a great performance recorded you do what you have to do using wise psychology and social skills combined with proficient technical chops and most importantly a vision for what you're after. That and a sense of humor is key! Don't take yourself too seriously and don't take them too seriously either. It's a balance! Each person's ego is different and you always have to feel the situation out, take a few chances and see what happens. What will be will be. But when it does all come together... it's absolutely amazing!

Brubeck to Emerson to Squids in Binghamton

2012-12-05T23:07:00.001-08:00

Road trip!

I drove up to Binghamton, NY to meet up with Randy McStine who I've been working with both on my own project Sonic Elements as well as his original music project called "Lo-Fi Resistance". This past year I co-produced, co-wrote and played keys on his album "Chalk Lines" and I came up to celebrate the release of the album in his home town!

Here's the "Chalk Lines" album in a record store

(as a joke we put it in the Nickelback section just for the photo)

It was a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from where I was in Connecticut. But when you're into music like I am you don't talk about how many "hours" driving. It's how many "albums"... like this: "It was 4 albums away". That's nothing! What a great chance to listen to 4 albums all the way through... and with cool scenery like shown above. I listened to all of ELP's Tarkus and I listened to all of Chalk Lines as well. I put on the roughs of my own solo album and I cranked up Led Zeppelin's new Celebration Day live album. It was quite an enjoyable ride!

When I arrived we immediately head over to a college radio station called The Signal, WHRW 90.5 in Binghamton for a live interview promoting Chalk Lines. They played 3 songs from the album, one song from Randy's first Lo-Fi Resistance album "A Deep Breath" and they also played the Sonic Elements version of "Limelight" by Rush which features Randy on vocals, me on keys, John Wesley on guitars, Billy Sherwood on bass and Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality (Neil Peart of Rush performing the drums via a sample library I did with Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz). It was a lot of fun.

The next day, while I was waiting for Randy to personally send out CDs to his Kickstarter backers, I gave Keith Emerson a call. We had talked tentatively about doing another session this coming weekend so I wanted to confirm. The 45 minute epic conversation I had with Keith was very emotional because today Dave Brubeck passed away and he was a huge influence of Keith's. He was telling me how he had just spoken with Dave's son a few days ago and they were making plans for Brubeck's 92nd birthday which would have been tomorrow. I had actually read that on Keith's girlfriend Mari's Facebook page... and also that they had been crying all day when they heard the news. So, I knew this was going to be a difficult conversation for him to have emotionally but it was good we did. Pretty amazing that here one of MY musical heroes was telling me all about one of HIS musical heroes. What an honor to see Brubeck through Emerson's eyes for that moment. Keith was telling me how Dave Brubeck signed something for him once and that Dave had asked Keith "How do you do that spinning piano trick?" and Keith replied "I don't recommend it"... a lot of fond memories that I was privileged to hear.

Dave Brubeck and Keith Emerson in 2009

We talked about Brubeck's musical legacy and of course I reminded Keith that we all feel the same way about him. He knows that. But I think it's safe to say that it means a lot to him to know that he's influenced younger generations of musicians. He even said at one point in the conversation "we should perform a dual piano thing live" and I thought to myself "uh oh... how good does he think I am????" haha. It'd be a thrill for me and I'd just have to embrace my inner Tarkus. I suggested that Keith join me and Francis Dunnery for one of the charity event gigs at some point. He seemed to like that idea a lot and it just so happened that Francis called through while I was talking to Keith. Some nice serendipity there! I love that.

Keith and I talked about many other things including some very funny stories as well. You can imagine how many great stories someone like Keith Emerson might have to tell. I have some good ones too and we both agreed how important it is to have a sense of humor. We also talked about how music has a life of its own and lives on past the people who have made it. Dave Brubeck has an amazing legacy and his music has had a huge impact on so many people. He lived a long life and we should all be so lucky to make it within a day of turning 92. We sometimes think people will be around forever. But we all have to go sometime. C'est la vie. Dave Brubeck will be missed and will continue to be celebrated by many.

On the way back it started to snow. It was really beautiful.

East & West coast vocals and some more travels...

2012-12-03T22:37:00.002-08:00

I'm back with a travel update. I spent most of the day today in Connecticut recording with Lorelei McBroom, sister of Durga McBroom-Hudson who I recorded with Alan Parsons just a week ago in LA. One sister on the West Coast and the other on the East Coast harmonizing beautifully. Their voices blend so well together and since they've both sung with Pink Floyd, and Lorelei currently tours with the Australian Pink Floyd tribute act they are right on the... oh I was going to do a really corny pun right there but I stopped myself. It was a word that rhymes with "honey"! haha.

Lorelei McBroom

Seriously they were both great! We recording backing vocals for the Sonic Elements tribute to Pink Floyd which is coming out next year and involves all sorts of interesting new 'artist' sample libraries from Sonic Reality (discussed or hinted at earlier in this blog) plus a wide range of talented guest performances from the likes of Alastair Greene, John Wesley, Colin Edwin, Francis Dunnery, Dorie Jackson, The McBroom Sisters, Steve Rothery and more! It includes beautiful renditions of the songs from Dark Side of the Moon which I'm recording with Alan Parsons who originally recorded the album back in 1973. Pretty amazing stuff! There's even more to it than that... but little bit little all will be revealed.

Dave "Squids" Kerzner, Durga McBroom-Hudson, Alan Parsons

So, what else is going on in the travels of a man called Squids? Many things. I got an update from Francis Dunnery who is 'on the road' with Dorie Jackson doing house concerts on the West Coast. He's heavy into astrology so I get tales of the tail end of "Mercury in Retrograde" from him! He's hanging in there doing his thing. I helped him get going with some 'sounds for the road' for his laptop running SampleTank and Sonic Reality samples in Logic.

Late last night I did a rough mix of a Keith Emerson session I recorded for a prominent modern prog artist overseas. It was a special session because Keith hadn't played his Moog in quite a while... over a year at least. It's now in the best shape it's ever been in! So perhaps we'll be hearing more Moog from Keith. Speaking of that I was setting up a time for some more sampling of the Moog remotely and Keith, who is a very charismatic and unpredictable guy, told me that he could be available this coming weekend but he has to schedule it around jamming with a punk band! Yep! That's Keith. 68 going on 29! What a character. I love it. He's so cool!

Keith Emerson stashing away IK Multimedia's iRig Keys in his shirt.

On Wednesday I head up to Birmingham to meet with Randy McStine for the release of the new Lo-Fi Resistance album "Chalk Lines" We're going to do a radio interview as soon as I get there and then some video stuff and a variety of other things leading up to a listening party on the 7th which is open to the public. Randy just got another good review of the album here. I got an email from Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree who played bass on the album wishing us well with the release. A shame he and Gavin Harrison are in the UK or they would have come to the CD Release Party too. They'll be there in both spirit and on speakers! Very proud of the work we all did on this album. I co-wrote three of the tunes on it as well toward the end and it really trips out!

There's even more than that going on such as directing visual graphics with a talented 3D artist overseas for the band project I'm in with Simon Collins, turning in samples for an upcoming IK Multimedia product and all sorts of things that go on in parallel in many different parts of the world. The only reason I am able to do so many things at once is because I work with a lot of people who are great at what they do.... that and the multi-tasking tentacle thing. It's good to be a Squid!

Back in New York City!

2012-11-30T23:29:00.005-08:00

Before I left LA to go to NY I was fortunate to see Francis Dunnery and Dorie Jackson perform a live gig! They were kicking off a two week tour of the West Coast by doing a show in Fullerton, just an hour outside of LA. It was a club called “Steamers” and was put on by Calprog who are also putting on a Steve Hackett gig on April 1^st. Small possibility I may go to that show with either Simon Collins or Francis Dunnery as I know both of them want to see Steve play live as do I. We’d also love to sit in on a tune. Francis and I already had an amazing opportunity to do that at his CKDCF charity event mentioned earlier in Squids Travels. Here’s another clip from that. An acoustic medley and “Blood On The Rooftops”

So, I went down there with Simeon who I had been recording with. My friend Gavin Lurssen who is an award-winning mastering engineer (and does all the mastering for Sonic Elements) was also going to try to make it to the show. It was great to see Francis and Dorie again. I've actually never seen them perform live together. Dorie couldn't make it to the charity gig we did. But Francis has been telling me I have to see what they do with the harmonies. It's really tight. Their voices blend so well together and individually they're two of my favorite voices and people. It was a shame I couldn't stay a few more days and hang with them some more. But I had a flight booked to New York the next day.

http://youtu.be/Y9kaugYN3cI

That's a YouTube link to watch Back in NYC from the gig. Just a clip shot from my iPhone.

After the gig they wanted to get some food and for some reason they chose Denny's. To me that's a late night last resort and it wasn't even that late. But, it was more about the company than the food. I did end up having French Toast just because I couldn't handle watching everyone eating breakfast without me (my original plan was to eat nothing and like it).

The next day I had to prepare for my flight but I did a quick trade with Simeon for yet another one of his guitars. He has an incredible guitar collection and most of them are boutique gorgeous "don't touch it, don't even look at it' type guitars like these:

They are beautiful instruments. I don't have anything like that. I tend to get more ratty beat up guitars or ones that have a quirky charm to them or are just easy to play and have a vibe. Some of them I've gotten from friends and my favorite guitar of all time is a Dan Electro Convertible Acoustic/Electric guitar. I should really name it. Guy Pratt told me a story about how he named his favorite bass "Betsy". I did a great video interview with Guy that's coming where he goes into detail about many of his basses. It made me think about my Dano. (or if it's a she "Dana", "Dani", "Daniella"?)

Look at that lovely 70's kitchen counter top formica!

Believe it or not Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin used a very similar guitar with the same lipstick pick ups as this one. He had a "Silvertone" guitar which was sold by SEARS! Yep. The same people who make washer and dryers. I believe those guitars were really made by Dan Electro and licensed to Sears under the "Silvertone" brand name. The Silvertone Page used was cool because the guitar case had a little mini guitar amp in it! Not a very good one though. Jimmy played the perfect note through an old Supro amp and I actually had that exact model amp too and sold it to Simeon years ago. Maybe he'll sell it back to me. Well, anyway, what I did manage to accomplish is a trade involving his Jerry Jones electric 12 string. He's had it for decades and I've rarely seen him use it. It's a similar style as the vintage Dan Electros. It has the lipstick pick ups, it's light and easy to play... but it's a 12 string! Every time I've picked it up I've wanted to start writing something. That's how you know the guitar is good in my opinion. It has very little to do with its book value or the brand name or how collectible it is. I mean that counts for something but what trumps that is how it feels when you play it and how it makes you feel, what it inspires in you... that's what makes an instrument great.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present the latest member of the Squids family of instruments. Jerry! (the female Jerry... you know... like Jerry Hall? No? I'm not sure about this naming thing. But here she is anyway):

Found the perfect case to take my ghostly black and white electric 12 to take on the plane.

So, I flew to New York and now I'm in Connecticut visiting my Mom. In a few days I head up to Binghamton, NY for some radio interviews and a CD release party of an album I co-produced with Randy McStine called "Chalk Lines" by Lo-Fi Resistance. You can still download a free track from it called "The Silent War". I'm not sure how long that will be available so go grab it and check it out! It features Randy on guitar and vocals, me on keys, Colin Edwin and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree on bass and drums respectively plus other guests. Randy's previous Lo-Fi Resistance album "A Deep Breath" which has contributions from my old Thud bandmate Nick D'Virgilio is now also available from Burning Shed.

I'm also planning a few cool sessions while I'm up here including one with Lorelei McBroom, Durga McBroom-Hudson's sister who also sang with Pink Floyd as well as Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones and many others. So... more to come! Might slow the blogging down just a little and relax though. I'm sure you don't mind. It's been an onslaught of stuffed Squids lately.

... to the show that never ends!

2012-11-29T09:01:00.002-08:00

Here's part two of the Emerson, Squids & Parsons session plus a wrap up of this incredible LA trip before I head off to NY. Besides thoroughly sampling the iconic sounds of Keith's Moog for an upcoming Sonic Reality sample library bearing his name I also had a few other things I was hoping we'd get to before Alan and I had to leave to go to the other studio to work on what he originally came down to do. One was a session I was recording for an artist for a prog label. I won't mention the artist or the label yet because I'm not sure if they want it to be a secret. Probably. So, anyway, that went well. Then there was this fun idea of Keith playing on a Sonic Elements track or two. He was game! We fired up the track and he improvised a wicked keyboard solo. When I get home I'm to 'trade solos' with him on my Minimoog and EMS Synthi (vs. his Modular Moog). What a dream that is. Dueling keyboard solos with Keith Emerson! What a lucky man I was for that to happen!!!!

Uncle Alan and Uncle Keith! My pals and musical mentors.

So, that wrapped up an amazing first part of the day with Keith and Alan. We then headed over to Sherman Oaks to record at Simeon Spiegel's incredible "Blue Forest Studios". I've known Simeon since 1989 and he's into "quality" like I am (food, music...). He's also a major gear-head so his studio has the right analog and digital gear for what I need when I come to LA. I love working there. It's like having a second project studio. We had a few things on our to do list before former Pink Floyd backing vocalist Durga McBroom-Hudson was to arrive. But we didn't have a lot of TIME. So we did a rough mix of the song "Money" which we were covering using Sonic Reality sounds. Billy Sherwood (Yes, Circa) was on bass and Alastair Greene of the Alan Parsons Live Project was on vocals and guitar, me on keys... We were also there to get to mixing Nick Mason's drums that we recorded several weeks prior in England.

Alan Parsons, Simeon Spiegel and I with the amazing Durga McBroom-Hudson

At 5 o'clock on the dot (even earlier) Durga McBroom-Hudson arrived. We recorded backing vocals to Sonic Elements' tribute to Dark Side of the Moon with Alan Parsons engineering. We also did "Great Gig In The Sky" which I am putting together with a variety of amazing singers including Dorie Jackson who I saw later that day performing with Francis Dunnery! Durga was incredible. Such a powerful voice! She was a pleasure to work with and I think it was a thrill for her to do the session with Alan Parsons who originally recorded Dark Side of the Moon. She's had quite a Floyd experience! We had sushi after and she told us some great stories about being on the road with Pink Floyd. Fantastic stuff! Looking forward to working with her again.

Hanging with Francis Dunnery and Dorie Jackson after the gig at the luxurious Denny's Bistro.

Once again I have to run (always 'on the run') and grab myself a breakfast sandwich before I run a few errands and prepare for my trip back. I'll continue on with the rest of the "LA Story" perhaps while I'm on the plane! It's not easy squeezing in these blog posts during actual LIVE action! But if I don't jot these things down while they're happening I may forget certain details so I've been as diligent as I can be about it. At least I think and type fast. ;) See you again soon! If you came here from my Facebook page then make sure you click "like" so I know you like it. Otherwise I feel like I'm talking to myself... which is fine because I do it all the time (I'm the guy muttering things to himself and chuckling down the street). But, it's encouraging just to know that people are into it so let me know! If you're not 'friended' to me on Facebook then don't be shy and understand that I'm a Facebook whore so until they stop me from having more friends on there I'm fine with the unrealistic friend numbers (you know, no one could possibly have thousands of actual friends?). So if you like lots of GEAR, lots of MUSICIANS, lots of FOOD PICS and OCEANS, SKY and TRAVEL shots then that's going to be a fun place to be.

Here's my personal FB whore page: http://www.facebook.com/davidkerzner

Here's my personal MUSIC 'fan' page: http://www.facebook.com/squidsink

Here's the Sonic Elements fan page: http://www.facebook.com/sonicelements