shawn avery

last week i edited a few songs in anticipation of getting them all mixed last week. on sunday the 21st, we started mixing, but only got to do a little bit because of technical trouble. and then we decided to record that live demo with the girls. so last friday, the 25th, we go in again - and again we have bullshit technical problems eating up time. lucky we don't get charged for bs. we got most of badluck edited on friday... then came back saturday another full block - 8 hours. and of course, we got two hours of down time and lost an hour of work after a computer crash. and the drums took a while to mix. a this rate its gonna suck. but i've made some changes in the way i'm going to approach the final editing. i'm going to treat the tracks - individually - as modular items... things that don't need to be edited during the mix. we can fix them "offline" then re-import. so we've spent half a grand in the last 2 weeks and we have two mostly mixed songs and...

so the long story short girls can be notoriously late. but they are 20, and unemployed and beautiful and more talented than any family should ever be... so what are you gonna do right? nuthin'. thursday night was no different. they were supposed to meet me and ashby at his apt. so that we could loan them our rehearsal gear, pa system, etc. we are in the middle of mixing, and they just got their dad to spring for some nice new instruments... so why not upgrade the pa for while as well... we had sake and wine and a piano and a guitar, so we didn't mind waiting... so ashby, as he does often these days, started plinking out this cute little melody on the piano. i had this kinda sad d - a minor - e minor thing that i thought was catchy... so we kinda combined them together. the acoustic was tuned down a half step and ashby transposed the chords on piano. it sounded really pretty. very sing songy. and then the words came... verse after verse... the air got heavy... ashby did some st...

thursday night... i met up with this girl i've been talking to... drank a little bit, shot the shite. she doesn't like rock stars though. i'm kidding. well sorta. i dunno. we both like disco jackets though. friday... worked, errands... edited audio for three songs at ashby's from 9pm to 6am.... while he slept. he still gets to stand in the middle of the stage though. whatev'. saturday... we got to instant karma to begin mixing some songs. this was gonna be like the-big-day. but jeff had a previous project to finish up, and since the computer had crashed on me at 5:30am... and i didn't get to finish editing, i had to finish at the studio. we spent several hours trying to get our tracks into the system. jeff got it working though, and for the remainder of the mixing process, we should be good to go. we will not only be mixing, but we'll be finishing up some recording there as well... primarily vocals and a few acoustic parts. at the moment, during the evenings...

towards the end... they were so damn laid back musically. they were basically a stoner jam band that never played live. and every now and then, paul, on the last few albums... would whip out a baddass hit on the piano to keep the peeps happy. meanwhile john was shooting smack and recording guitar parts lying down in studio b. it's too bad rock is dead and rotting, 'cause once, it almost mattered. i love how simple, chill and relaxed they became as lyricists Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me down Nobody ever loved like she does Oh, she does, yeh, she does And if somebody loved me like she do me Oh, she do me, yeh, she does Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me down I'm in love for the first time Don't you know it's gonna last It's a love that lasts forever It's a love that had no past Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me down Don't let me ...

i tried friday and monday to re-shoot stars below. nada. perhaps we won't need to. it remains to be seen. i think the photos i took last week are pretty good. i have one more bass part to track this week and a good bit of editing for the first three songs that we are going into the studio to mix. lots of preshhhha! i slept on and off all day sat... went to the movies... my mother's birthday was on sunday... we watched war of the worlds. other than being stupid, it wasn't that bad. hmmm. the same old people keep getting on my nerves. speaking of nerves... i think i've managed to damage my "rotator cuff" in my right shoulder... or whatever it's called. great. my first experience with post 30 physical decay. then again, i guess it would help if i actually worked out. aaron is getting ready to go d.i.y. with some recording gear and is also going to be coming in to instant karma studios to do drums, bass and probably vocals. groovy. me likes recording noises. ...

it could just be me. but... i think my internal pop sensibilities might be taking over. the one talent that i've always had, that kinda sets me above a lot of music types... is my ability to apply the pop sensibility into any genre, beit rock, trip hop, alt-country, drum n' bass, jazz, folk etc. it could be the fact that i've been listening to long story short, who happen to write some dreamy shit... it could also be my access to itunes, a bank account and a cable modem. if i wanna hear " there's something going on " by ex-abbaette, frida... i just grab it. or... " magic " by olivia newton john? rinse, repeat. maybe that's the ultimate frontier... grow up on pop music and rock... develop your ear to the point that aphex twin seems logical and nin seems familiar and predictable. pay attention to folk instruments, learn the vocab of chill out, etc... then make your way back home to pop. i think its fabulous. "olivia newton john, meet trent re...

miracles happen. people make overtures. people you used to know reveal hairline fractures. people brake fingers but still record guitar parts. people crash in planes that go up in flames... and walk out. soon we'll be done tracking. mixing starts in a little over a week. final acoustics and vocals will be done at instant karma. " who would have guessed? yes... who would have guessed... " doin' it. making it happen. wtf am i'm i doing this weekend? many options... i'm going to los angeles the first week of september, for about a week. mary.jane. will possibly be a tour guide. i'm gonna hit some museums and some clothing stores, and some place called the beauty bar. when i get back in town... we'll be mixing, i'll be preparing to move.