So by now, you know doubt know about the RPM Challenge (record 10 songs or 35 minutes in the month of February). You most certainly know that we’ve decided to participate in this exercise as a band this year. And after spending January writing songs and converting our rehearsal space into a makeshift studio for the month, we got down to the business of actually turning sounds into little 1s and 0s bright and early this morning.
We’re kind of old to be doing these kinds of things, so it seemed appropriate that we do this thing old school, and by that I mean we all recorded in the same room at the same time. It was a blast, and it turned out to be the most efficient way to do things (since time is kind of a big factor here); we got drums, bass, synth, and guitar done for five songs in about four and a half hours. And while I guess that’s technically not hard to do (I mean, anyone can record a bunch of songs in a few hours), I think they sound pretty decent (though I may not be a good judge of such things). It also helped that the Whigs (who practice right across the hall) were out of town; I mean, we absolutely love them (their new album should be pretty amazing), but um, they’re um, really loud. And no one wants to hear Warm Fuzzies’ songs mashed-up with the Whigs bleeding in from across the hall, and that’s probably against some kind of copyright anyway. Heaven knows we don’t need the RIAA suing us for that.
So yeah, good day. There’s still much to do, though, and February is now down to three weeks. Plus I don’t think the Whigs are out of town again until March, so we’ll need some luck.
With the RPM Challenge beginning tomorrow, we’ve got a lot to do. Davey’s been on a writing tear, and we’ve been running seven or eight new songs at the space during January.
But when it comes to actually being able to record those songs, well, that’s a whole ‘nother hornet’s nest.
I recently sold my beloved Fender Twin and bought an old Ramsa WR-T820B console (the kind Jack Endino used on a lot of early Subpop records, including Bleach), and thanks to a second pair of arms (courtesy the one and only Tae kwon John), we got the mixer in our practice space. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a chance to give the console a full run-through, and today I discovered some of it’s busses aren’t working. I guess these things happen when you buy thirty year old pieces of equipment sight unseen.
Despite the technical setbacks (I’ve got to climb back there and re-route some cables before we can do this for real), I’m excited about the sounds we got using a 4-mic technique based on the “Glyn Johns” method (which uses only 3) that Chris Stamey (of the dBs) outlined in an issue of Tape Op not too terribly long ago. By the way, if you like to record music (or maybe just read about recording music) and you don’t subscribe to Tape Op, there is no reason for that… they offer a free subscription. So don’t be an idiot. It’s hands-down the best magazine out there for creative music-making.
At heart we’re still making compact powerpop songs, but expect a little more reverb and a lot more synth throughout. Davey’s teaching me about delay pedals, and he’s got some sounds in his head, so look out for that, too.
It all kicks off tomorrow.
And hey, if you’re an artist or in a band, why not take on the challenge yourself? Read more about it at RPMChallenge.com.
So, um, how’s your 2010? It’s a new decade and all, and just like you, we’re feeling that New Year’s pressure to get in shape and resolve to do a bunch of things to improve ourselves, and blah, blah, blah, zzzzzzz……
No, friends, your friendly neighborhood Warm Fuzzies have but one resolution this year: to rock. And on December 31st, 2010, we will surely look back at what was, and we will take a gigantic red marker and make an equally impressive gigantic “Check” beside our list of resolutions. You know, the list that I’ve already told you about. The list with only one item on it: To rock.
All dramma aside (yes, I know that “drama” only has one “m” in it, but if you crank it up a bit, you arrive at “dramma” with the short “a” sound, as in “apple”), we’re looking forward to writing and recording as much as we can this year.
On that note, Davey’s been diligently working on some new demos for us to flesh out this month in preparation for next month’s RPM Challenge. It’s pretty awesome – the goal is to record 10 songs or 35 minutes of material in the month of February (so, 28 days!). So far, the songs are sounding with a lot of reverberation; it’s kind of different than what we’ve done before, but then again, it’s a whole ‘nother decade.
