Current mood:  content

Got back to boston last night, after about a 5 hour drive with my brother. I overslept yesterday and got to the studio around 10am and started mixing hardcore. I even found myself adding some guitar parts in the process. After 2pm, I realized that I wasn’t quite getting the mix that i wanted and that if I were to just settle for it, then i wouldn’t be happy with the mixes. So, I discussed some things with Allen, and I’ll have to make a seperate trip back down to PA to finish mixing. Maybe take 4 days out in June at some point if I can spare the cash. The tracks definitely sound good so far, but could use some tweaking, and I also want to go back and remix “Summer” and “Spend My Time”. Anyway, so we arrived in boston at 10pm last night and the guys were all still hanging out so it was cool. It was great to see everyone again, and I got to play them the mixes in progress, and thankfully they dug it. So that’s always pleasing to know. I don’t thnk it was what they expected, these songs are a little less sophisticated, and a bit edgier, but I think they overall the response was good. Anyway, as it turns out, I’m scheduled to work today, so I’m going to go in today, 3-9:30pm and get back to making some cash. First day of school is tomorrow…whoa..i’m a bit nervous.. not really.

Current mood:  accomplished

Another very productive day. Got to the studio around 10am and was pretty much there for the duration of the day. Left the studio at midnight. I am in the final stretch, as mixing is almost complete. My brother just came into town to pick me up to go back to Boston, so I will be leaving tomorrow afternoon at some point. I’m kinda bummin about that..but it’ll be great to get back to Boston. I need to get back already, school starts this week and I still need to check in.. The mixes are really coming together. Unfortunately, the piano track will not be completed here in PA, as I’ve decided to focus solely on getting the two more “involved” productions sounding good. I will complete the piano track up in Boston, since there isn’t too much involved in the production other than voices, piano, and maybe percussion. My voice just wasn’t really happening for that song, so instead of rushing it, I’ll hold out on it, because I can. Anyway, on the mix side of things..”West Coast” is sounding great and “Dream Girl” is really coming together. My brother listened to a mix in progress and he liked them both and was immediately drawn to “Dream Girl”. What originally started out as 3 chords on the guitar with a little melody hovering on top has now become probably one of the more moving tracks that will be on this record. It rocks, it shimmers, it mellows out, it gets heavy, it gets kind of spooky, and it gets hopeful. This song I’m very excited about, and I’m quite proud of it. It’s emotional too, the song has become really close to me. The lyrics have grown on me and the overall feel of it is just right. That said, 2 days after my last “dream” i had another one last night. It appeared to be a continuation of the first dream i had this past week about the girl that I’ve had a crush on. It’s crazy. 3 vivid dreams in 6 days, separated by a day each, and alternating between two romantic interests of mine. I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe I need to do something about it. “Maybe somewhere down the line, you’ll be more than a dream… ” haha…sorry…super lame for quoting my own song. But seriously though, it’s amazing how powerful dreams can be sometimes. They can influence you in many ways to look at things differently, to act on things etc. Like, I totally feel the urge to call up this girl. Dreams can be so random sometimes, but sometimes they just seem to make sense. I guess people can see what they want to see..but still. I wonder if my “dream girl” has anything like this going on about me. ahh..probably not, but that would be cool. oh well. anyway, gotta wake up early tomorrow, and wrap things up. Going to mix, and master, and then get on out of here. This will likely be my last post from Roseto, PA…i know it’s sad, but hopefully i’ll be able to continue writing blogs up in Boston. The past 2 weeks have been an amazing experience and I’m so thankful for everything and everyone that has helped make this possible. Thanks to Josh for rockin the drums, Allen for the hospitality, patience and creative input, my bro for picking me up and…oh wait a sec..i’m gonna save all these for the Thank You’s in the CD! Coming this July (hopefully)..The Teenage Symphonies “Summer” EP! Featuring 5 wonderful tracks of pure sunshine! haha.. Till next time… peace out out from PA..

Current mood: mellow

Got off to a late start today but it was very productive. Pretty much mixed for about 8 hours today and did a few overdubs. “Movin’ to the West Coast” is sounding pretty sweet. I’m excited. Of course, I needed Allen to tell me it was good because by the time he showed up around 1am, my ears were shot. Attempted a few vocal takes for the piano track but it just wasn’t happening. Tomorrow will be my last full day at the studio. My brother is due in town tomorrow, to pick me up, and we’re going to leave Sunday afternoon, for Boston. I still have some harmonies to record for “Dream Girl” along with the entire mixing process. Tomorrow will be jam packed. But I’ve gotta get it done. Kinda bummin’ a bit after getting a call from Joey saying that he and the guys won’t be around in Boston for the end of May like we had previously thought. I picked a heck of a time to be away from Boston, because my friends have been gone for the previous 2 months, and this was their only month back before going back on tour, but there was no other time that I could’ve done this. Anyway…good news is that they’ll hopefully be around this next Friday, and this is awesome because a) it’s Christian’s 21st and b) shwin the raj will be back in town So things are gonna be awesome. I can’t wait. Anyway, it’s getting late..so i must crash out now… Crucial day tomorrow.

Current mood: contemplative

It’s 2am, and I just got back from the studio. Got up @ 9:30 today and was working by 11am. Another very productive day. It’s crunch time. Finished bass, all the remaining guitar tracks, some gang vocals, hand claps, and more. I’m not out of the woods yet, though, I still have lead vocals to lay down for the last track, a bunch of backgrounds, and a few things here and there for sweetening. But most everything is recorded. I should be mixing at some point tomorrow. Things are really starting to sound sweet. Today I did my solo for “Dream Girl”, and initially i wanted to just shred it up, but then we realized that the solo section started to sound a lot like something off of a Lenny Kravitz record, and I wasn’t really into that. So, I started experimenting and Allen came up with a cool little motif for the solo section that really makes the solo section what it is. Then I had an idea for a second motif and to sing along with the main motif in almost an operatic, over the top way…to create this really, well beautifully haunting kind of effect. I don’t know how to explain it. I think it’s great. I’d say now it’s much less a “solo section” now as it is a nice interlude or transition in the song. It’s like the “dream” sequence of the song. Sorry, no shredding.. There were a bunch of other cool things we did today, including slide guitars for “Movin’ to the West Coast”, and surf-style tremelo guitar parts, but unfortunately, the banjo didn’t make the cut. haha. overall, things are turning out very cool. i’m stoked. in other news, (and this is completely un-studio related) the weirdest thing happened last night, or this morning, rather. Ok, first a recap: 3 nights ago, I had a dream about this girl that I’ve had a crush on, and it was one of those very vivid types of dreams where you can remember everything in detail and then you wake up and are somewhat disappointed because you realize that it was only a dream. Those types of dreams don’t happen very often, (at least not for me) so this dream was dramatic enough to have an impact on me after I woke up. Well, last night I had a similar dream, just as vivid and moving, only about another girl, one that i’ve had a crush on in the past. It’s just weird to have 2 very vivid dreams in 3 nights about crushes. As I stated in my previous post, “Studio Diary 7”, the lyrics for “Dream Girl” were written naturally, without really thinking much. The lyrics I ended up with were very spontaneous. I couldn’t make much meaning out of them after I wrote them, and i thought they were lame because i couldn’t pinpoint who or what they were about, but now I feel like I’m finding new meaning in the words. It’s kind of creepy, because this is after the fact, but at the same time I also feel some spiritual thing that I can’t explain. And I’m not formally religious at all. I don’t know. It’s like some psychic nonsense. Either way, whatever it is or was, it has affected me on some emotional level that I wasn’t aware existed, or didn’t necesarilly think was possible. Or maybe it’s all just coincidence. Anyway…i’m spent..time for bed. How weird would that be if I had another dream tonite? Tune in next time…haha..

Current mood:  calm

got back about about 45 minutes ago..and i must say, we are approaching the home stretch. today was a very productive day. Allen and I went over bass parts and he laid down his part for “Dream Girl”. In addition, we added a few more guitar tracks for that song, that really helped to bring the verse and bridge to life. Unfortunately, my Vox AC-30 freaked out in the process and won’t make any sound. It seems as though a fuse blew, which isn’t that big of a deal; it doesn’t look like there’s serious damage, but we’ll know more by tomorrow. Hopefully everything is ok, i’d still like to lay down some guitars with my amp. Anyway, I spent most of today making comps for the lead vocals, and everything is turning out great. I am going a little paranoid about my intonation in a few parts, so I’m tempted to either redo some vocals or…dare i say it…auto-tune? I really want to stay away from it, but it’s just so easy to just fix a couple notes here and there. Overall, however, my vocals are definitely some of the best that i’ve ever done, and I’m proud of them. I feel like they can stand on their own without any pitch correction, but it’s just so tempting to smooth out a few things, y’know? I dunno we’ll see. Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, will be the official last day of production, as we will move into post-production, aka “the mixing phase”. So that means, tomorrow we need to finish background vocals, additional guitars, percussion, hand claps, and any leftover vocal tracks etc..basically all the “sweetening”. So tomorrow will be jam packed, but it’s cool. I can’t wait to finish up. In other news, I spoke to Pete, my bass player, yesterday and he will not be able to be in attendance this week. He’s unfortunately tied up with some other things, and won’t be able to make it out. It’s alright though, and there are no hard feelings. We’re going to get back on track with the band this summer, so things will be cool. Well that’s all for now. Time to rest up for tomorrow..

Current mood:  drained

Just got back from the studio. Another long, yet productive day. Spent most of today writing lyrics for the untitled track, and this is what i ended up with: “dream girl” distant love i’m dreaming of a time when things between us weren’t so sad can it be my fantasy a different situation than we have Chorus: when i’m fast asleep at night your love rings true for me maybe somewhere down the line you’ll be more than a dream sweet allure i do adore you’re such perfection in so many ways why are you too good to be true? oh yeah, that’s right…you’re my imagination Where did time go? I’ve lost it dreaming of her Where’s that happy glow? don’t think that i’ll recover Seems so long ago.. That i’ve had any other i just can’t find another, so i’ll dream away.. so there you go, tentatively titled “Dream Girl”. I had been struggling to write lyrics for this song for quite some time, i think mainly because I was striving for something that wasn’t in me, so today i just rolled with whatever naturally came out. It just so happened I woke up today from a dream about a girl that I have a crush on. This song is not about her, but I did feel inspired to write lyrics when I woke up. Lyrically, this one did end up sounding a little on the pessimistic side, with an honest feeling of hope in it, but i’m not sure exactly what or who it’s about specifically, but it’s what came out, so whatever. Lyrics don’t always have to be about something specific. Sometimes you can’t overthink things…just let things flow.. Got to the studio around 7pm today, picked up some Yeungling’s on the way, and ate some hearty beef stew @ Allen’s. Then, at about 9pm, Allen went to go hang out with his g/f so I stayed in the studio and worked on vocals for “Dream Girl”. I am pleased with the results, and Allen dug it when he got back around midnight. I’ll know tomorrow if it was actually pretty good. I was definitely belting out for this track, more than any other. The track is very driving and edgy. So that’s the update from the studio end. We redo bass parts tomorrow and hopefully complete guitar overdubs. Later for now. p.s. “return of the raj” was confirmed today for next week. vg.

Current mood:  good

Well, I missed a day, but a brief recap: Yesterday we layed down the majority of the guitar parts for “Movin’ to the West Coast”, and also a couple for the untitled track. Today, Allen and I started out attempting to write lyrics for the untitled track, but that didn’t quite work out. So, I’m just going to work on them on my own tomorrow. Today turned out to be quite a productive day. We packed up most of the recording gear and moved into the church that’s near Allen’s parents’ place, and hooked everything up in the altar, just like we did last year for the piano parts for “Summer” and “Spend My Time”. We spent the majority of today practicing, trying out, and then eventually recording piano parts for the three songs. In addition, for the 3rd song, which will be the closer on the record, I decided to go with the very short and sweet catchy track as opposed to the more adventurous one. I realized that if I had tried to do the adventurous one, it would be a lot of work, and I may end up taking shortcuts to complete it. In that regard, I’d be selling the song short, because I don’t have very much time to arrange it, record it, and write the lyrics for it. So I’m going to wait on it. This other one, is one that I have demoed before…it’s quite simple and short, but I feel that it ends the record on a nice, and hopeful note. Things should play out nicely, I’m confident with my decision now. We packed up and left the church around 8pm, and then went back to the studio and worked on vocals after eating a later dinner. Had a couple beers before doing my vocals for “West Coast”, and I must say that I got some pretty decent takes. Good to the point where I feel that any sort of pitch-correction will be unecessary. ooooooh. we’ll see, i’ll be listening to it tomorrow and i’ll have a better idea. But the vibe was definitely there. Afterwards, we tried to tackle the closing track, but I wasn’t vibing on that one tonite. All in all, a very productive day. We are approaching the home stretch, and things are really shaping up. Tomorrow….lyrics lyrics lyrics…and then hopefully lead vocals in the evening. Till then…

Current mood:  anxious

actually i wasn’t in the studio at all yesterday. Allen had to get up @ 6am for a previous engagement and was pretty much gone until I saw him around 10 that evening at the bowling alley. The Western Sky was getting paid to do a show at a post-prom party here in Pen Argyl, at the bowling alley, and what an interesting experience that was. The last time i was at an event like that, was when I actually was 17. I must say I felt a little old this time around, so that was weird, everyone was sort of looking at us…and I also felt a little out of place, but that was pretty normal for me. Anyway the guys rocked it regardless, and we stuck around for a little bit to test our hands at a couple rounds of bowling. We didn’t get back to crash out until around 4am. As far as productivity goes, i stayed in all day yesterday working on lyrics and just thinking about the flow of the record. I’m undecided about the 3rd track we’re going to record, which will be a piano-based song that will close the record. I could go for the more catchy song or I could do the more adventurous song. Ideally I’d like to do the more adventurous one but I’m thinking about the flow. This EP has a lot of sunshine in it, and doing the more adventurous track would definitely take the listener somewhere new at the end. But maybe I like that. We’ll see. I also finished a draft for “Movin’ to the West Coast”, which will be the super catchy track. Check it: “movin’ to the west coast” i’ve got the sunshine heavy on my mind i could use a change but there’s a lot to leave behind i don’t have anyone breathing down my neck i’m just here to ride it out until i hit the deck it’s not a sure thing, life is such a tease everything is static and I don’t need no reprise another day gone by without a change i could use a moment now to take it by the reins this time i’ve gotta take a chance no, there is no other place for any other but me this time i’m gonna find romance knockin’ on my door in southern california Chorus: Oh oh, I’m movin’ to the west coast to where the sun goes down beachside Oh oh, I need a new beginning I’ve got a feeling, gotta make things right i see the tight rope shaking as i stall i can walk across but there’s a chance that i could fall i need to break through, rock it at the guns swallow all my fears and unafraid to take the plunge This trip is long and overdue why the second guessing? no time to be messing around I need a place to start anew somewhere i can let out yeah, i’ve gotta get out Chorus Repeat so yeah, I’m pretty satisfied with them. They’re definitely poppy lyrics, but they’re real and it fits the track. It’s about change. I’ll get Allen’s opinion on them today. Today, it’s guitars ALL DAY. I’m so ready to get rolling. Till then…

Current mood: sleepy

Another productive day. Got up around 8am, got to the studio around 9 or 10, and was doing drum editing until around 3 or 4pm, and then hit up some grub with Allen. Philly Cheesesteak…i must say that this is the first cheesesteak that i’ve had in Pennsylvania, so I wonder if it represented what a real cheesesteak is like, since I’m in the same state as Philadelphia. Who knows? I have yet to try a true authentic philly cheesesteak, or do i? Regardless, whatever i ate today was good. Anyway, today i was reminded of the importance of stepping away from something and then coming back to it later. Yesterday, I felt that the drum tracks that I had recorded were super tight, and that editing would be kept to a minimum. Ha! I came back to it this morning, and found a number of timing issues, even in our best takes. They were slight, but they bothered me enough to want to go in and nudge some beats here and there. I may have gotten carried away, because I did spend a lot of time on editing today, but I want the drums are the foundation, and I want them to be as tight as possible. So I finished doing those, and now I can officially say, not only do the drums rock, but they’re TIGHT, YO! After drum editing, we moved on to bass. Borrowed a friend’s Fender P-bass for the tracks, because the Stingray won’t cut it. Allen and I each layed down some scratch bass parts, to sort of get a good feel for the songs and parts. Allen and I spent some time getting just the right lines for the West Coast track, and at 7pm, I started work on arranging parts for the as of yet untitled track while Allen gave lessons until 10. Came up with some cool stuff today, i’ll have to go back to it tomorrow and see if I was really just kidding myself. haha. Well that’s it for now. Tomorrow we track guitars. woohoo! But in the meantime… ZzzZzZzZzZzZ..ZzZzZzzZZz…ZzzZzZzzzZz..

Current mood: tired

So today i got up around 7:30am and was over at Light in the Dark by around 8:30-9ish. Josh, Allen and I began setting up the drums and mics etc, spent some time getting drum sounds and by noon we were recording! The drum sounds we got were just as good, if not better than the ones that we got last year. Nice, big, roomy sound. Made quite a few revisions with the drum parts, but by 4:30-5pm we were done with both songs that needed drums! Josh was quite the trooper and was very patient throughout the entire process which was cool b/c i know how indecisive i can be sometimes. The end result, ROCK. I’m stoked, these drum tracks are great and I think the parts and arrangements will work out perfectly for what I was envisioning. I just listened to the two other tracks, “Summer” and “Spend My Time”, that i did last year, and I must say that the new tracks are a bit different. But in a good way. I think that these will be a nice contrast to the other two and they will complement each other as a whole on the EP. The last two had a swing feel and really had that happy shuffle kinda thing going, whereas these new ones are very straight and driving. They may not be as adventurous (with the exception of the piano one), but they’re catchy nonetheless. Anyway, i’m not used to getting up as early as i did today, as i began to fade around 6 or 7pm today…and i’m still fading.. alright time to get some much needed rest…big day tomorrow. good el night.

Current mood: artistic

well, here i am in Roseto, Pennsylvania preparing to record my EP. I arrived here on the evening of Saturday May 7 via rental car. It was a pleasant drive up from Boston. Anyway, so far things have been going really well. For those that don’t know what’s going on, I recently took time off work so that I could come down here to record my EP before I start summer classes May 24. I’m staying at my friend Allen’s for the duration of the recording. He co-produced the last two songs that I did, and in combination with the tracks that I complete here in the following weeks, I will release a 5 song EP on Light In The Dark Records, which is Allen’s independent label. So I’m pretty stoked about that. Anyway, there has been a lot of uncertainty the past few days as to what songs I would be doing, and how they would be arranged, because I literally came down here with more or less a vague idea of what i wanted to accomplish. Without any complete lyrics or arrangements, and just scattered ideas for songs, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. But over the past couple of days, things have really started to come together nicely. After doing some serious brainstorming, some rehearsing with Josh (who played drums on my last recording) and getting some constructive feedback from Allen, I now have 3 songs that are ready to be recorded. Anything can change with drop of a hat, but as of right now, I’m satisfied with the current results. Song No. 1 is a total catchy pop song about moving to the west coast. Song No. 2 is a really energetic track, that is quite simple harmonically, but there’s a lot of development within the chord structure that keeps it interesting. And it’s going to have a rippin’ solo but more on that later. Song No. 3 will be a very introspective piano track that will hopefully end up sounding somewhat magical. We start recording drums tomorrow, so hopefully things go well. I still have plenty of writing to do, but I will make an effort to keep an update of progress. It’s definitely new to me to go straight into production unsure of what to expect and without complete songs. I’m so used to demo-ing everything in its entirety and then repeating the process with a few revisions. But this time, a lot of is based on spontaneity. It’s kind of exciting. In other news, I got the new Weezer today, and it rocks. Worth the wait. Oh, and happy B-day to JZ. Wow that was a long post.