Aaron Working Through Passing Into August

Dave set up a loop of Passing Into August from the computer to an amp in the recording room for Aaron to play along to in order to figure out his parts for the song. After he got the gist of the tune, we went into a few jam sessions with Dave on bass to really get Aaron ready for recording.

Vibrations Might Knock You Off...

....and then this video would not exist. haha

Yes, it's no secret to the guys that hang in the studio to work on the record with me that I'm always trying to place the camera in random spots, hit 10-second timer or record on the video option and take position for some shots for this here production blog! But it's not ALWAYS successful due to unstable surfaces, funny angles and places where sound vibrations could easily knock it down to its demise...and that would be bad.

Here's my attempt to capture Dave, Aaron and me practicing Passing Into August by placing the camera on a sound rafter high above our heads. I didn't even attempt this. haha

Bicycle in the snow? An Update!

Time for a video update! But instead of driving in the car on the way to the studio, I decided to take a stroll in the falling snow on Friday to tell you what is on the agenda for the next few months until What To Keep & Let Go is completed.

Practice Made Perfect: A Year with Cullen & Marcin

A year ago today, Marcin, Cullen and I gathered in the attic practice space in Weston to begin work on What To Keep & Let Go, namely Horizons & In the End. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since these songs started coming to life after about 6 years of sitting in demo form in my head and on the computer. Both Cullen and Marcin still have a little bit more work to do, Hello, Amy needs the full band treatment and Marcin will be playing some piano riffs on some songs as well as hopefully doing bass for If Not Now, Then When? Other than that, these guys have completed most of their parts! I was telling Cullen yesterday how happy I am with his work on Circles; he really captured the exact vision I had for the song. These guys have done a stand-up job at really bringing the songs to new level and showing me things I would have never thought to bring to the record. It's been a worthwhile experience working with these very talented guys and I couldn't have done it without them. (Chad, you'll get your 1 year post coming up later in the month...haha)

Btw,...can we talk about how different we all look in just a year?? haha

If Not Now, Then When?

Funny how this song is a question and it's also put into question as a possible replacement song for Do What You Can. That's right, after having such a solid track listing all year for What To Keep & Let Go, I'm reevaluating the flow and thematic consistency of the record and realizing that Do What You Can simply doesn't fit. It's a great song that has received a lot of attention for those that have heard it but all around it has never seemed to settle into the mix as nicely as the others. It's not a very personal song whereas all the others are written based on my experiences over the last 6 or so years...with love, relationships, loss and life's trials and realizations. Do What You Can would fit very nicely in a record designed to tell stories of the world, people and of things outside myself and who I am. I'm 100% positive I will use this song someday and it will most likely make the cut for The Let Go Tracks record I will put together later this year.

For now, I will work with Dave, Aaron and Marcin on If Not Now, Then When?...a song that was actually on the record before the final track list cuts but was taken off due to it being too somber and not upbeat enough. So it's my goal, given the placement on the record, to revamp this song that has SO much meaning to me and make it a little bit more pop-rock to break up the slowed down feel of the last half of the record. Dave seems to agree that it would be a nice addition to the track list. We'll see how it goes!

The Let Go Tracks

I have been searching through my iTunes database for all the songs that I have written over the years and created demos for that never made the cut for the What To Keep & Let Go track list. There are a good 8 or 9 songs that were fully written and arranged that didn't really fit as well as the ones that I chose to be on the record. Such songs like Criticize, If Not Now Then When? and It's Over When You Go were cut from the list for flow purposes and didn't seem to mesh with the overall feel. The subject matter of the songs were similar and so could have worked nicely with the other tracks but it pretty much came down to what songs I liked better.

So I have decided it might be a good idea to honor these tunes in the future by creating a compilation record of all the tracks that never made it onto the What To Keep & Let Go album. I will call it The Let Go Tracks and most likely they will be presented to you in rough, acoustic demo forms. There's a good chance I will re-record them all so they sound a little more polished but I can't imagine getting these songs up to the same quality and performance level as the ones on the record. I'm not really sure as of now how many songs there will be but I think it'd be a nice little project to work on right after What To Keep & Let Go is completed and release it sometime toward the end of the year....stocking stuffers anyone???

First things first: What To Keep & Let Go completion!

"So this is the new year. And i don't feel any different."

Says YOU Death Cab For Cutie!

This year has already been filled with new puppy-stress, sickness and windy arctic air. Not to say that it's going to be a bad year at all but it certainly hasn't started out very peachy keen! No matter, this is the year that What To Keep & Let Go will finally be a reality and that makes me feel a whole lot better.

With the holidays and Dave's sickness (now mine) we haven't really had a chance to be in the studio for a couple weeks. January through May will be very productive while we add vocals to most all the songs that have been instrumentally completed, tweak existing arrangements and start a couple of the songs that haven't been really touched yet including a one-take version of Hello, Amy. All will come together nicely and I have a few ideas lingering in my head as far as transitions, flow and possibly even a hidden track? Who knows! Anything is possible! Wa ha!

So, Mr. Gibbard, I think I might disagree with you and say that I think I WILL feel very different this new year once things start rolling forward and we reach the anticipated finale of this project. It's been so much fun and I just know I'll miss the entire process.