However, now that production on the new album is nearing its close, I think it might be fun for me to share what I've been doing with my time for the past few years. For fun. :)
JUNE - AUGUST 2006
Early demos. I gave myself an exercise, in which I only had one day to record, mix, and finish each demo. Things moved quickly, I felt unattached and free, and by August, I had a full collection of demos to choose from.
FALL 2006
I sifted through the early demos, trying to decide what to record for the album. I realized that I was already burned out on all these songs and very few of them made me happy anymore. This was interesting to note, because I had expected that these demos would make my job easier. Some (not all) of the songs recorded were:
Ghosts in the Wall
The Cage
Glitch Waltz
Hunting Days
The War
Fable Moon
The Beast Inside
End of the World
Battle for Infinite Time
The Collector
Silent Spring
Back to the Start
I Am Going to Sleep
WINTER 2007
Out of all these demos, the only two I used as reference for album production was Fable Moon and Back to the Start. Everything else was trashed. I spent a little time working on these two songs, unsure about what I was going to do with the rest of the project.
MARCH 2007
This is the month where I made a crucial decision. Instead of having a goal for the sound of the record, I made a personal goal instead. My goal: To feel joy as I was working. This meant, as soon as I felt angst, fear, confusion, depression, or any other negative thing, I would stop working and re-align my feelings. I ended up reading A LOT of spiritual and philosophical books to keep me on track, and these helped trigger deeper subject matters for my songs, as well as helped to keep this project in perspective.
SPRING 2007
I wrote a lot of new material during this time and immediately recorded it for the album. All these songs, I wrote out of joy. They were written easily. Some of these songs are:
Help Me
Ordinary Love
La da da
Chains of Andromeda
Always the Last
A Broke Machine
Catch and Release
What I Didn't See
Heavy is the Beauty
Wasteland
Better Times
A Hundred Flowers
For some of these songs, I brought in Hector (bass), Carter (cello), and John (drums/percussion) to record.
Also during this time, because I felt such a creative rush, I started recording the songs for Story of My Ghost. This side project borrowed the one song/day exercise that I used for demos in 2006. The point was to move quickly through the process, instead of becoming fixated and stuck. It was fun to record these songs, but the main album was still a priority, so I set recording Story of My Ghost aside for a while.
SUMMER 2007
By this time, I had about 3/4 of my album recorded, but there were a few pesky holes. A few of the songs from my demos in 2006 were giving me problems. I knew I wanted the songs on the album, but after several versions, I wasn't happy with what I had recorded. I needed to make some decisions and take some risks, but I was starting to feel really tired. I just wanted it to end.
FALL 2007
I returned to recording Story of My Ghost in order to keep busy, and to lessen the burden I felt the album was causing. I ended up recording something interesting and decided to put lyrics to it. This song became Diagram of Love, which was the final song I wrote for the new album. It inspired me to finish the recording of the last few songs.
After all the tracks were finished, we started the mixing process. Back in March, I started talking with Tommy Walter about mixing this project. I'm a big fan of Tommy's work as an artist and writer (Abandoned Pools, Glacier Hiking) and his technical ear is just as good. Every day, I can't believe how lucky I am to have worked with him.
At the time we first started talking about it, I thought the recording would be finished in July. My estimate was off by several months, but Tommy kept room open in his schedule for my little project. For me, it was well worth the wait because once he had all the songs, he did brilliant things to make them come to life. My ears were greedy for his mixes and I started having all sorts of dreams in which I needed his approval, which I mentioned to him. I just hope my subconscious didn't scare him. He's still my friend, so I'm pretty sure we're cool.
WINTER 2008
In late January, I shot the album cover with Sarah St Clair Renard. It was a crazy, creative afternoon. Several people filled up my house, which we converted into a temporary studio, as we fussed and played with the visuals. Everyone was very kind to me, even though I'm not a supermodel, and considering that I'm not comfortable AT ALL in front of the camera. Stylists ton Y van van created a very special dress for me to wear, and I can't wait until I can show you what it looked like. Hair and makeup was generously created by Christina O'Hara, who drove all the way out here, created something like a masterpiece on my head and face, and then rushed off to another job. I'm so grateful for what happened that day.
Shortly after the cover shoot, the album came back from mastering. When I heard the mastered songs for the first time, I cried from joy all the way through the album. This was a few weeks ago, and I'm still as happy as I was then.
In the meantime, I've been spending each day working on the cover design. It's been an exercise in patience for me, since I'm not much of a designer. But the cover was finalized yesterday. I feel very light and happy about it.
Today, I'm going to be sending everything off to be manufactured. From here on out, it's a waiting game until the final project arrives in my hands. Crazy.
So, that brings you up to date. The album title, cover art, track list, and release date will be announced soon. Very, very soon. I can't wait to share this with you.
Big, big love.
T.
This is so exciting!!!
Posted by: eric | on February 12, 2008 11:21 AM