Anxiety attacks...

It seems like no matter how hard I try, no one wants to call me when I am home. In between road gigs, I plan as much contractor interaction as I can squeeze in, rather than just relaxing, but it seems that they just postpone, no-show, or come late. All this ultimately means is that they will want my attention the day I leave to go out of town. So then I feel torn between doing my job on the road and getting back to these peeps in a timely fashion in fear of losing their interest again if I don't. Ugh.

So, now I have anxiety. Too much to do, and never enough time. April is looming, and I am slated to start working with artist Michael Davis and couldn't be more excited, except for the small fact of the studio being behind schedule. Check out his stuff here! One way or another, we are gonna make some sweet sounds.

More pictures of the build-out to come (hopefully more complete looking shots!).

TTFN!

As promised, PICS!

Where to start?

So I have been very absent on the blog in the last six months, and so much has happened. So it begs the question, where do I start, or to quote Shirley, "Where do I begin?"

I guess I will start with the studio. It is moving along, not as well as I had hoped, but I kinda think that is how these things always go. You shoot for a ambitious goal, and then if you get close to that, you are happy. Inevitably, things go wrong, your timeline extends, and your budget goes haywire and that puts you behind. So, the one year anniversary of our purchase has come and gone (in September), and we are still alive and even renting out the apartments.

As for the actual studio space on the ground floor, we have made big strides, but so much left to do. It is hard to really put something of this scope into perspective at the beginning, or even during, but I feel like most of the daunting, overwhelming parts are almost behind us (I'm sure I am gonna pay for saying that...). The front of the building was ripped off on the 12th of September and construction of the new facade begin shortly thereafter. BTW, I was out of town when this happened, fun! A little over a month later we had a lot of the framing done and it was starting to look like a building again. As a matter of fact, yesterday afternoon, the windows arrived and started to get installed. Oh yeah, me? Out of town again. I guess the short version is, we are getting there. Still lots to do, but the "ball is rolling".

Next item is in regards to my dear friend, partner in recording and creating, drinking buddy Shae. He is currently getting his ducks in a row and is planning on moving to sunny San Diego. It goes without saying that he will be missed more than I can say. I know our paths will continue to cross indefinitely, and I am sure we will continue to record together. His musical presence will certainly be missed in St. Louis.

Recordings that were finished up in the last few months or so include the full length effort from Jason and the Beast as well as the full length debut from the Jovian Chorus. The latter is available at thejovianchorus.bandcamp.com As for the Beast, he plans on releasing the record in the next few months possibly paired with a graphic novel. Keep your eyes peeled! Also released recently was an EP by Sleepy Kitty. Production of one song was done with Shae and I over the last part of the summer. Give it a listen for sure! Jon Hardy & the Public came by to do some mixing on some recordings done with Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studios in early October. Look for those in the coming months. Lots of other things on the horizon that I can't wait to share, so check back sometime soon for more details.

Pics of building and more updates coming soon.

HOTK! and the Stellas!

Just a quick note, if you haven't heard, Heroes of the Kingdom have released their record: "HOTK", online. You should rush right out to the website and give it a listen, and perhaps, BUY IT! We painstakingly crafted these 11 rock gems for your pleasure, so do yourself a favor and get you some! I am sure they would appreciate it, and so will your ears.

In other news, the Stella Mora recording is done and in the can, and hopefully will be on its way to your ears for a listening very soon. They also have been recording some demo work also available for listening on their myspace as well as some wicked ass new photos.

Very proud of both bands and records and look forward to working with them again in the future. Please show 'em some love!

Thanks,
-w

Busy, busy!

I am in between rehearsals at the moment, so figured I would update a bit. The Jovian Chorus is mixed and just needs a couple of touch ups, and lemme tell you, it sounds pretty damn fine! Might see a lil sneak peak if the keymaster says its ok, later this week.

Jason and the Beast finds their full length closer to completion as well. A little TLC and a bit of odds and ends and it will be done as well. Sounds great now, can't wait to trim a little fat and throw some style on it!

Lastly, Paige and Evan from Sleepy Kitty are coming over next week to do some tracking and mixing and we couldn't be more stoked. Check out their myspace, good stuff!

-w

Moving:Update

So, if you haven't heard or read, we have pulled up stakes and moved. The old studio is no more and the new studio is in the works. We have found ourselves a nice little spot on Cherokee Street, just east of Jefferson and are currently residing there while we finalize plans with our architect to build our studio. It is a spacious three story behemoth, with tons of character and so far headaches and setbacks, but we shall overcome. In the meantime, we are functioning in one of the apartment spaces and working feverishly to finish upcoming releases from The Jovian Chorus and Jason and the Beast. With the exception of the drums, which were cut at my friend Jason's place called Sawhorse, all of the new Jovian stuff was cut here and sounds mighty fine. Hope to have a couple of sneak peaks up in the next week.

Check back as now that work is about to begin, we will be posting pics and a rehab/construction journal more regularly. Sorry for the lag of entries while we have been on hiatus, and hope to keep up a little better on posting news. Thanks and rock on!

Newsflash!

I had this great idea (at least as far as my ideas go, this one seemed better than usual), that I wanted to both fulfill my creative wanderlust and at the same time help musicians trying to get their ideas on tape with a modest bankroll all while not squashing the creative environs necessary for these ideas to flow. Through a parting of ways of sorts, a mutual space came available that allowed me and some friends to share a space that was also where they lived. It worked out nicely. The problem was I wasn't willing to spend very much money to convert this living space into a ful blown recording space. It wasn't that this space was not suited for recording, because it worked quite nicely for our needs, but there were always obstacles that couldn't be overcome without redesigning the whole building, which clearly wasn't gonna keep anyones overhead down. That being said, we forged ahead as is. The vibe was nice, the place was functional, just limited.
So idea 2 comes along. This idea was start looking for a place that already exhibits qualities in a spacethat lend itself to recording. What a novel idea, a place for recording. (Hey dumbass --- these are called recording studios!) Oh yeah, so I guess I was looking for a space to build a studio. A modest studio. One that I could live above and keep my office in. And one that sounded nice and had a nice vibe. And oh yeah, one that I could afford. So I started looking. LOOKING. Plan was see what's out there, what I can afford, where I could afford, etc. Get my ducks in a row, so next Spring, I could put all this dream stuff into reality. Well you know how that goes...
Looking turned into finding, finding into investigating, investigating into offering and with a lot of luck, a LOT LOT LOT of patience, some good friends, and as EL says everyone's calendars being aligned (how 'bout them calendars), we gots us a place:


Look at her in all her majesty! She needs some TLC for sure but I really think it will be a perfect fit for Yellow Hat. I hope to keep a blog of the rehab of this joint going so all 2 of you who actually look at this can see where we are. Hopefully with any luck, we will be rocking the new joint by January 1st. Stay tuned for more details!

cheers,
-w