Camden Hills Basketball
My alma mater just won its 5th championship in 11 years.....I was a member of 2 of those teams. Congrats guys!!! This team was incredibly nasty and went 22-0 ...they were said to be one of the top high school teams in new england.
They faired slightly better than the two teams that I was a member of:
1999 (my sophomore year): 21-1 record
2001 (my senior year): 20-2 record
I'll never forget those days...
ZM
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Home Recording
Well after spending over 6 hours troubleshooting last week to figure out where a buzz sound was coming from in my home studio, things are set up nicely at home now. Currently I'm doing vocals on "Loaded Gun" and after that I'll figure out a harmony line.
I'm also feeling a synth part on "Myspace Heartbreak" that would really sound "Killers-esque".....man, I love that band. The new album is insanely good.
Aside from that, we just scored a gig at Bill's Bar in Boston. It's right on Landsdowne street and some pretty big name acts have played there before. It's 18+, too, which is incredibly cool for the 18-21 crowd that's usually not able to get into our gigs.
ZM
I'm also feeling a synth part on "Myspace Heartbreak" that would really sound "Killers-esque".....man, I love that band. The new album is insanely good.
Aside from that, we just scored a gig at Bill's Bar in Boston. It's right on Landsdowne street and some pretty big name acts have played there before. It's 18+, too, which is incredibly cool for the 18-21 crowd that's usually not able to get into our gigs.
ZM
Friday, February 20, 2009
2/19 "15 Songs on the Radio"
After a long week of mixing and editing "15 Songs on the Radio", I feel like the song is sounding pretty smooth. I have high hopes for this one, which tells the story of a man pursuing rock n' roll stardom, all while working a day job. Sound familiar? The song also goes on to talk about how only 15 songs hit it big on corporate radio. Such a sad truth, but it really is tough for indie bands to break thought onto the corporate radio scene. Hopefully we can catch some luck someday soon and get our music heard by the masses.
I was even brainstorming album titles yesterday and thought why not call the album "15 Songs on the Radio"? Basically it would be sort of a big 'what the hell?' to corporate radio, while at the same time saying 'here we are..maybe give us a listen and see if you think we're worthy?' Just an idea.
Well, anyways, the song should be released as a single in a couple of days and I hope you enjoy it!
ZM
I was even brainstorming album titles yesterday and thought why not call the album "15 Songs on the Radio"? Basically it would be sort of a big 'what the hell?' to corporate radio, while at the same time saying 'here we are..maybe give us a listen and see if you think we're worthy?' Just an idea.
Well, anyways, the song should be released as a single in a couple of days and I hope you enjoy it!
ZM
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2/16 Overdubs Begin!
Monday I recorded my acoustic for "Loaded Gun", one of the songs on our upcoming release. I used my old Walden acoustic that isn't all that fancy of a guitar, but it has great tone and I take pretty good care of it. "Loaded Gun" will be the first piano-less song that we've recorded. It'll also be our first bluesy song. Ben has a very long guitar solo on it, which he'll probably lay down later this week. Let the overdubbing begin! It's going to be a long week of recording! My goal is to be finished recording "Loaded Gun" and "Myspace Heartbreak" by Friday.
"15 Songs on the Radio" should be finished soon. The final mix is super close and we are just putting some last minute tweaks on it (that probably no one will notice anyways, haha).
ZM
"15 Songs on the Radio" should be finished soon. The final mix is super close and we are just putting some last minute tweaks on it (that probably no one will notice anyways, haha).
ZM
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2/14 Back in the Studio
Another great day in the studio. We kicked off the day, nailing "Red Light" in one take. Figuring out what beat per minute to start at was the key and after a few bars, the click track was turned off. I think we actually recorded it a tad faster than anticipated and it totally rocks.
After that we recorded the slow and powerful, "Lonely Me." It was one of the first songs that we wrote as a group, almost a year ago now. I'm anxious to begin overdubbing on that one.
We also recorded a rough version of Ben's ambient song "Chosen"....We think this might be the song that closes out the album. We envision it to be very atmospheric and look forward to layering over it with lots of strings and guitar bowing.
After several hours of recording, the band was just not clicking on all cylinders, while trying to record "Warlord." Come to find out, everyone was starving...so we hit up D'Angelos and came back with extra energy. On the first take after our break, we think we nailed it. "Warlord" is another song that we wrote together as a band...this one took several months and several lyrical rewrites to get down. It's one of our favorite tracks to play live because there's so much energy and power behind it. We'll have to relisten to the last take to make sure it's the one, but we all felt pretty good about it.
So this weekend we recorded 6 songs and we had only planned to record 3! The main purpose of the sessions was to get the bass and drums down. Ben and I now have lots of work to do adding our parts; then there is mixing, which I am super meticulous about. Tomorrow, I'm headed back into the studio to work on the final mixdown of "15 Songs on the Radio" with producer Zac Cataldo...we're looking forward to releasing the song this week!
After that we recorded the slow and powerful, "Lonely Me." It was one of the first songs that we wrote as a group, almost a year ago now. I'm anxious to begin overdubbing on that one.
We also recorded a rough version of Ben's ambient song "Chosen"....We think this might be the song that closes out the album. We envision it to be very atmospheric and look forward to layering over it with lots of strings and guitar bowing.
After several hours of recording, the band was just not clicking on all cylinders, while trying to record "Warlord." Come to find out, everyone was starving...so we hit up D'Angelos and came back with extra energy. On the first take after our break, we think we nailed it. "Warlord" is another song that we wrote together as a band...this one took several months and several lyrical rewrites to get down. It's one of our favorite tracks to play live because there's so much energy and power behind it. We'll have to relisten to the last take to make sure it's the one, but we all felt pretty good about it.
So this weekend we recorded 6 songs and we had only planned to record 3! The main purpose of the sessions was to get the bass and drums down. Ben and I now have lots of work to do adding our parts; then there is mixing, which I am super meticulous about. Tomorrow, I'm headed back into the studio to work on the final mixdown of "15 Songs on the Radio" with producer Zac Cataldo...we're looking forward to releasing the song this week!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
2/13 Studio Success
Last night we kicked off this week's studio stint with the rerecording of "Loaded Gun." We hadn't been happy with the previous recordings and we thought we could do it better. On the third take, we were all happy and content. Tempo was the big issue, since the song really has a slow bluesy riff that sets the tempo for it...anything faster just felt off.
We weren't planning on recording anything else last night, but ended up nailing "Cougar", our shout out to well, Cougars. We nailed that one the first take! We also nailed "The Best Thing" on the very first take. The band truly was clicking last night......aside from the fact that we couldn't seem to agree on a new font to use for our band name. It's tough getting 4 guys and a manager to all be happy with one font..you try it! Well, I'm off to the studio again. Hopefully today will bring as much success as yesterday.
We weren't planning on recording anything else last night, but ended up nailing "Cougar", our shout out to well, Cougars. We nailed that one the first take! We also nailed "The Best Thing" on the very first take. The band truly was clicking last night......aside from the fact that we couldn't seem to agree on a new font to use for our band name. It's tough getting 4 guys and a manager to all be happy with one font..you try it! Well, I'm off to the studio again. Hopefully today will bring as much success as yesterday.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Big Weekend in the Studio
So we're heading into the studio this weekend with lots to lay down. Right now we have finished "Roll Me Over" and "Highest Level", with "15 Songs on the Radio" due out next week. This leaves us 2 more finish to have our 5 song EP!!!
Just to give you an update, "Myspace Heartbreak" is coming along great. Ben was in the studio last weekend laying down his guitar tracks and they sound totally sick! I have laid down vocals, but still need to add piano and harmony. Singer, Becky Vinci, will most likely add a harmony to the song, too...can't wait to hear how that sounds!
This weekend, we're going to work on "Loaded Gun", "The Best Thing" and possibly "Chosen" or "Red Light". The more the merrier, since I have next week off from work and am looking forward to recording like a mad man!!
What else to record for the full length LP.,,.hmmmmmm......
Just to give you an update, "Myspace Heartbreak" is coming along great. Ben was in the studio last weekend laying down his guitar tracks and they sound totally sick! I have laid down vocals, but still need to add piano and harmony. Singer, Becky Vinci, will most likely add a harmony to the song, too...can't wait to hear how that sounds!
This weekend, we're going to work on "Loaded Gun", "The Best Thing" and possibly "Chosen" or "Red Light". The more the merrier, since I have next week off from work and am looking forward to recording like a mad man!!
What else to record for the full length LP.,,.hmmmmmm......
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Name That Lyric!
This is my first 'Name That Lyric' contest. I'll post 5 per week and I'll try to mix it up between genres and decades. Do not google the lyrics...that's just totally wack. Be honest and lets see how many you can nail out of 5. Comment if you know an answer.
1) "At home drawing pictures of mountaintops"
2) "I'm becoming less defined as days go by; fading away, well you might say I'm losing focus"
3) "I've been walkin' the streets tonight, just trying to get it right. It's hard to see with so many around, you know I don't like being stuck on the ground..."
4) "Reluctantly crouched at the starting line"
5) "Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door..."
1) "At home drawing pictures of mountaintops"
2) "I'm becoming less defined as days go by; fading away, well you might say I'm losing focus"
3) "I've been walkin' the streets tonight, just trying to get it right. It's hard to see with so many around, you know I don't like being stuck on the ground..."
4) "Reluctantly crouched at the starting line"
5) "Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door..."
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Guess what i did last night?
I spent the evening in the ER at the Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH. Here's Why:
I was using a halberd (it's a medieval weapon that basically consists of an axe head on an 8' pole) to chip ice dams off my roof. The water was leaking in the house and it was the only thing long enough and strong enough to work. Well, the pole broke and sent the 8lb axe head careening towards my head. Since I was standing in 2 feet of snow at the time there was no whee to go, so I moved out of the way and it got me in the leg....That was a fun story to the the ER nurses.... They were impressed with my home turniquit though.... It pays to be a medic in the Army!
Not good.... I have got to be more careful....
So far this year:
Justin - 2
Death -0
---Justin
I was using a halberd (it's a medieval weapon that basically consists of an axe head on an 8' pole) to chip ice dams off my roof. The water was leaking in the house and it was the only thing long enough and strong enough to work. Well, the pole broke and sent the 8lb axe head careening towards my head. Since I was standing in 2 feet of snow at the time there was no whee to go, so I moved out of the way and it got me in the leg....That was a fun story to the the ER nurses.... They were impressed with my home turniquit though.... It pays to be a medic in the Army!
Not good.... I have got to be more careful....
So far this year:
Justin - 2
Death -0
---Justin
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Would you tip this street musician?
Amazing article...check it out
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Monday, February 2, 2009
Covers
ZMB is going to start learning some covers...does anyone have any suggestions for songs to do? We are going to try to think outside the box on some of these and avoid playing songs that fit us to a T. Even if your suggestion is way out in left field, we still want to hear what it is. The more the merrier.
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