[np: Dark Ladies Mix - Portishead]

Ah. So the Interweb appears to be having problems at the moment. It's chugging in that "come here, Stay, come here, Stay" kind of fashion. Ugh.

So blog ahoy!

Well, Endless Blue work has kind of run out of gas for the moment. Not from a lack of ideas or anything, it's just my attention has been elsewhere. Also, I have this feeling of wanting to let everything sink in a bit. That is, the material we've written so far has been cool and a bit different, and I want to make sure the sound sticks and becomes mature. Can't rush that, yo. It will help when I can devote my undivided music attention to the next album, too.

So what's been distracting me so much lately? My work on Six Bullets has kind of reached a fever pitch. I have a deadline of May 1 to finish up a rough cut of all the audio and soundtrack, and it's been sucking up all my time. I spent literally all weekend staring at video and lining up footsteps to actors. And if anyone asks, yes, it is as glamourous and fun as it sounds. The end result is pretty cool though. The farther along I get, the more fun it gets, because there comes the realization that a moving is actually coming together as I watch. You would not believe the difference grunting noises make to a fight. And, for that matter, how much the soundtrack of a scene changes its mood.

Last night had me jamming out on my recorder flute... Boy, do I suck at it. I needed a nice flutey sound as the theme for a character, and software just wasn't cutting it. It took me a good bazillion takes, but with a liberal dose of reverb, it sounds pretty decent. Then there are the guitars, which I did in one take each... ;) Nice little theme, not bad for two hours work.

Anyway, I'm hoping to release the soundtrack as a download-only kind of thing at some point. Not just the actual songs in the movie, but a few B-sides as well. Should be nifty.

Anyhow, looks like connectivity is back. Yay! Back to work...

To hear Laura's vocals & Nick's sassy guitar work with the band synthpop act SomeGirl, check out this teaser track: "I've Loved Before" :

it's another saturday night and i ain't got nobody...i got some money 'cause i just got paid...

this song really reflects on my life as a whole. well, not the money part - and i do actually have somebody...so i guess the part that really rings true is that it is, indeed, another saturday night.

tonight has been full of recording goodness. i laid down some tracks for somegirl (the synthpop band that i'm doing vocals for) and i got an entire track down for endless blue.

this has to be one of the best tracks that we've worked on, in a long time. somehow the melody just came together and the lyrics came along just swimmingly. i feel really good about it - there's still plenty of tweaking to be done, and the recording i just did was not "all that", but i am feeling great about the direction of the song. maybe we'll put a little snippet on the site for you to listen to, critique and throw tomatoes at.

the song is called "just me", so keep an eyeball out for it!

it does feel good to be home. i was in florida for the last 10 days at a business conference in orlando. we also went to daytona beach to check on our pilot project there and to install some upgrades for her. after all that was done, we spent just a couple of days chillaxing at my sister's place in winterhaven. man, i tell ya, she needs to move out of there.

we keep trying to get her to come home to wisconsin, where the cows call home! :) not because she's a cow - that sounded bad, i think. but, more because she likes milk! and, because we all live here - and my other sister and i make fun of her behind her back when she doesn't live near us.

another huge reason to leave her current "diggs" is because her neighborhood is super creepy. ok, maybe not creepy, but totally not right for her. here's a little story about katie's neighbors. the old ones just moved out 4 days ago and a new couple moved in. the old neighbors were the ones who would deep fry everything and then take the vat of grease and pour it out in their back lawn - yeah, i know, totally classy! then, their dog would smell it and go over, eat it, and barf the entire next day. i know what you're saying, then keep your dog in your lawn. that's fair enough. so obviously, they could not say anything, but seriously - who dumps a vat of grease in their backyard? this is also the same family - or should i say guy, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's friend and his son - that one of the girls drives the lawnmower to the local gas station to get booze and cigarettes because she doesn't have her driver's license for some reason. anyhow, these people moved out and the new neighbors came in. apparently, when katie met them, she found out that the reason that they moved from their last neighborhood is because they could not get along with their neighbors. AWESOME! when asked why, they said that their old neighbors used to spy on them and judge them. they said they felt like they were being judged just because they always had old cars that they were working on in the backyard...ummmm...yeah, ya think? they also cited one of the reasons that they could not get along with the old neighbors is because they were black. WOW - that's just incredible, not only to think, but to say! So, yeah - those are Katie's new high-class neighbors.

Oh - and the old neighbors that moved out, just decided that they wanted some things that had been in the selling agreement (the fridge, washer & dryer, and back shed behind the house), so they came during the day with a trailer and stole all of those things back...

These are just a few of the many reasons that she needs to move away from there and come home.

I digress...

So - band work is going well. We have 3 other new songs in the works...the inspiration has come back. to be honest, it was not there for a long time, hence the absence and lack of new material. i had to take a hiatus, a break away and give myself some time to reflect on everything. now, i'm ready to come back - i'm ready to lay down some new trax!

we'll keep you posted and in the meantime, keep us posted on what you're up to!

LTRAIN out