if you are:
- male or female
- not embarrassed to sing with a group of people
- can hold a tune vocally
- like having a good time (no, i don't mean sexually, pervs)....
come out to Epik Productions this Sunday to participate in a group vocal session for our new record! It won't take long (an hour maybe), and it'll be lots of fun. if you are interested, and you decide to come out and sing along:
- your name will be PRINTED INSIDE the album booklet!
- you will receive a FREE copy of the album!
info:
Epik Productions, Toronto (click the link for directions)
Sunday October 2nd
12:30pm
to confirm your attendance, please notify us on our Facebook Page, or contact Ben by email: benkscriver@gmail.com.
also, ask friends to come with you, the more, the merrier. hope to see you there!
- sleepless
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Studio Days Three and Four
Day 3:
i arrived at the studio to find a snoozing Cam waiting in his car for me. not so "Sleepless" after all eh?
we entered Epik, said our hellos to Steve, and started carting in the ridiculous number of amps i had in the van to be used for guitar tones.
once we were done sweating (pretty much just me cause its a known fact that i sweat way too much.), we sat down and started working on the bass tone. at the studio, there are processors that mimic different guitar and bass amps. there is an ampeg one for bass that sounds pretty spot on and decent, so instead of carting an 8x10 bass cab to the studio, we simply used this. we set up a sexy clean tone, worked with a delay pedal (for ominous spacious deliciousness), and a bass big muff (for exxxxtra dirrrty), and started on the tracks. Cam finished up three tracks, i think, then we headed to subway for lunch break. while in subway, it seemed Steve gave the employees a slightly hard time while ordering, asking for more tomato sauce on it while on the final stages of concoction, etc. i thought it was funny.
upon our return we watched an episode of the mighty boosh and finished off our subway. this was my first boosh experience and i must say, as random and "out there" as it is, its pretty jokes. very monty python-ish.
after lunch, Cam finished up the rest of the tunes and we played em through and gave a listen to.
starting on guitar, we messed around with a few combinations of amps and cabs, and they all sounded pretty unique. some of the older gear i had borrowed from my buddy Bryan from Starship Experience didn't sound quite as strong as what we were looking for, so we started with my own set-up. we figured we'd run through all the tunes that needed the tone of my gear, then switch up and add different parts with different amps. i was able to get through three songs, and we called er a day.
today was a twelve hour day in the studio. ten to ten. needless to say, we're pooped, but ready for tomorrow.
Day 4:
ten o'clock rolled around so we got back at er. i went through the rest of the tunes through my amp, using my gibson sg and epiphone genesis as the frontal/lead guitars, and Steve's gibson sg and the studio's gibson les paul custom as backing guitars.
after getting through the tunes, Steve adding a sweet ebow part at the end of one, and myself adding an acoustic track backing an outro, we realized that no other tones were needed. we captured what i was looking for, and it sounds too good to screw with already. we figured we'd leave it at that.
all there is to do now is vocals, overdubs (if needed), and group vocals with some buddies who are gonna come out and sing along. this record is starting to sound like what we expected, plus a bunch more. Steve is doing and awesome job, we're ok. if you are/know a band who wants to record at a sick studio with an awesome engineer, hit him up here: Stephen Kerr
teaser video to come. let excitement take over, if you dare.
bs
i arrived at the studio to find a snoozing Cam waiting in his car for me. not so "Sleepless" after all eh?
we entered Epik, said our hellos to Steve, and started carting in the ridiculous number of amps i had in the van to be used for guitar tones.
once we were done sweating (pretty much just me cause its a known fact that i sweat way too much.), we sat down and started working on the bass tone. at the studio, there are processors that mimic different guitar and bass amps. there is an ampeg one for bass that sounds pretty spot on and decent, so instead of carting an 8x10 bass cab to the studio, we simply used this. we set up a sexy clean tone, worked with a delay pedal (for ominous spacious deliciousness), and a bass big muff (for exxxxtra dirrrty), and started on the tracks. Cam finished up three tracks, i think, then we headed to subway for lunch break. while in subway, it seemed Steve gave the employees a slightly hard time while ordering, asking for more tomato sauce on it while on the final stages of concoction, etc. i thought it was funny.
upon our return we watched an episode of the mighty boosh and finished off our subway. this was my first boosh experience and i must say, as random and "out there" as it is, its pretty jokes. very monty python-ish.
after lunch, Cam finished up the rest of the tunes and we played em through and gave a listen to.
starting on guitar, we messed around with a few combinations of amps and cabs, and they all sounded pretty unique. some of the older gear i had borrowed from my buddy Bryan from Starship Experience didn't sound quite as strong as what we were looking for, so we started with my own set-up. we figured we'd run through all the tunes that needed the tone of my gear, then switch up and add different parts with different amps. i was able to get through three songs, and we called er a day.
today was a twelve hour day in the studio. ten to ten. needless to say, we're pooped, but ready for tomorrow.
Day 4:
ten o'clock rolled around so we got back at er. i went through the rest of the tunes through my amp, using my gibson sg and epiphone genesis as the frontal/lead guitars, and Steve's gibson sg and the studio's gibson les paul custom as backing guitars.
after getting through the tunes, Steve adding a sweet ebow part at the end of one, and myself adding an acoustic track backing an outro, we realized that no other tones were needed. we captured what i was looking for, and it sounds too good to screw with already. we figured we'd leave it at that.
all there is to do now is vocals, overdubs (if needed), and group vocals with some buddies who are gonna come out and sing along. this record is starting to sound like what we expected, plus a bunch more. Steve is doing and awesome job, we're ok. if you are/know a band who wants to record at a sick studio with an awesome engineer, hit him up here: Stephen Kerr
teaser video to come. let excitement take over, if you dare.
bs
Friday, September 16, 2011
git n b(ass)
pre-weekend inventory:
90's gibson sg special
80's epiphone genesis custom
00's fender telecaster special
(?) gibson les paul deluxe
90's gibson sg standard
00's taylor 214e
90's fender jazz bass
90's washburn force4 bass
(?) custom hollowbody bass
(?) fender acoustic bass
70's hiwatt 4x12
(?) marshall 4x12 (x2)
(?) marshall mk II
70's fender champ
70's fender 2x12
70's traynor yba-1
(?) traynor ycv40wr combo
handy dandy ampeg svt processor...
just to name a few...
should be a fun weekend.
bs
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Studio Days One and Two.
Day 1:
i almost didn't make it in time to greet Nathan and Amanda at the door. saturday morning came too soon, even though i went to bed at about eleven and woke up around ten.
they showed up at my place, we loaded Nathan's previously broken down drum kit, as well as my gits' and Cam's bass, into my pops' van, and we headed for Epik Productions.
on our way down, we were supposed to pick up Cam from the downsview subway station, as the studio is semi-close by. as we we're driving around, i received a phone call from Cam and decided to pull the van over on a side street. just as i was making a right hand turn at the intersection, a crazed, old, italian (or something), man on a bike, carelessly drove himself into our lane and tried semi crossing the street. he drove right in front of the van. if i hadn't have seen him, the weekend would have not ended up so great after all. luckily, i did see the man, and proceeded to yell at him through the passenger window. i doubt he even knew what was going on. meanwhile, Cam tells me he's getting a ride from his bro and he'll meet us at the studio.
we find the place, meet Cam there, and enter the studio premiss, only to be greeted by my friend (now our friend), our producer, Stephen Kerr.
we set up Nathan's drums, plug the bass and git into the sound board, and run through the tracks. Steve gives us some advice, we change a few tunes a bit, and proceed to beginning the scratch tracks. for those of you that are unfamiliar, scratch tracks are recordings of instruments in which to use as a basis for the actual instrumentals of the song. for us, we recorded bass, guitar, and vocals to a click track, so that Nathan could put his actual drum tracks to the song, then we go from there with the actual rest of the tracks. get it?
this whole while, Amanda, Nathan's wife, is taking awesome pictures of our performance, and sleeping on the couch in the studio. simultaneously? see the pics HERE if you "like" our facebook page (i think.).
lunch time. oh em gee. theres a California Sandwich right around the corner from the studio. we ate like starving kings. shit was spicy but fucking delicious. nuff said.
We finish lunch and Steve commences setting up the nineteen, soon to be fifteen, microphones surrounding the drum kit. We get time enough for Nathan to lay the tracks down for the first tune off the record, then it is time to call 'er a wrap for the day.
Cam takes off, Nathan, Amanda, and I drink beer in my backyard with friends till about midnight, then errbody takes off for a shnooze. surprisingly enough, I'm super tired, even without doing that much.
Day 2:
day two starts with a trip to Hot Stacks with Nathan and Amanda. Amanda had the short stack pancakes, Nathan had the lumberjack, and I simply had scrambled eggs and bacon. needless to say, it was awesome. Amanda had her own shiat to do, so Nathan and I headed down to the studio to record the rest of the drum tracks.
i somehow got a cold (which i still have.), and spent the entire time blowing my nose and clicking Halls off my teeth through the talk-back mic at Nathan. he was not pleased.
At one point Nathan got the studio blues and got rattled while trying to record part of a tune. he then walked outside and stabbed a man with a broken drum stick, came back inside, and finished the track (yes to all, minus the murder.)
somehow, i end up tired again. me thinks my brain was just getting into the paralysis state known as studio mode. this is totes a possibility.
and that was basically the day. the drums are gonna sound dirty, in a good way. to see a brief video of the tracking, click HERE.
we couldn't be happier working with Steve at the beautiful studio that is Epik Productions. so far, we're diggin' it and we can't wait to reveal this record to you. next weekend we lay down guitar and bass. get ready, cause she's gonna blow some skirts.
bs
i almost didn't make it in time to greet Nathan and Amanda at the door. saturday morning came too soon, even though i went to bed at about eleven and woke up around ten.
they showed up at my place, we loaded Nathan's previously broken down drum kit, as well as my gits' and Cam's bass, into my pops' van, and we headed for Epik Productions.
on our way down, we were supposed to pick up Cam from the downsview subway station, as the studio is semi-close by. as we we're driving around, i received a phone call from Cam and decided to pull the van over on a side street. just as i was making a right hand turn at the intersection, a crazed, old, italian (or something), man on a bike, carelessly drove himself into our lane and tried semi crossing the street. he drove right in front of the van. if i hadn't have seen him, the weekend would have not ended up so great after all. luckily, i did see the man, and proceeded to yell at him through the passenger window. i doubt he even knew what was going on. meanwhile, Cam tells me he's getting a ride from his bro and he'll meet us at the studio.
we find the place, meet Cam there, and enter the studio premiss, only to be greeted by my friend (now our friend), our producer, Stephen Kerr.
we set up Nathan's drums, plug the bass and git into the sound board, and run through the tracks. Steve gives us some advice, we change a few tunes a bit, and proceed to beginning the scratch tracks. for those of you that are unfamiliar, scratch tracks are recordings of instruments in which to use as a basis for the actual instrumentals of the song. for us, we recorded bass, guitar, and vocals to a click track, so that Nathan could put his actual drum tracks to the song, then we go from there with the actual rest of the tracks. get it?
this whole while, Amanda, Nathan's wife, is taking awesome pictures of our performance, and sleeping on the couch in the studio. simultaneously? see the pics HERE if you "like" our facebook page (i think.).
lunch time. oh em gee. theres a California Sandwich right around the corner from the studio. we ate like starving kings. shit was spicy but fucking delicious. nuff said.
We finish lunch and Steve commences setting up the nineteen, soon to be fifteen, microphones surrounding the drum kit. We get time enough for Nathan to lay the tracks down for the first tune off the record, then it is time to call 'er a wrap for the day.
Cam takes off, Nathan, Amanda, and I drink beer in my backyard with friends till about midnight, then errbody takes off for a shnooze. surprisingly enough, I'm super tired, even without doing that much.
Day 2:
day two starts with a trip to Hot Stacks with Nathan and Amanda. Amanda had the short stack pancakes, Nathan had the lumberjack, and I simply had scrambled eggs and bacon. needless to say, it was awesome. Amanda had her own shiat to do, so Nathan and I headed down to the studio to record the rest of the drum tracks.
i somehow got a cold (which i still have.), and spent the entire time blowing my nose and clicking Halls off my teeth through the talk-back mic at Nathan. he was not pleased.
At one point Nathan got the studio blues and got rattled while trying to record part of a tune. he then walked outside and stabbed a man with a broken drum stick, came back inside, and finished the track (yes to all, minus the murder.)
somehow, i end up tired again. me thinks my brain was just getting into the paralysis state known as studio mode. this is totes a possibility.
and that was basically the day. the drums are gonna sound dirty, in a good way. to see a brief video of the tracking, click HERE.
we couldn't be happier working with Steve at the beautiful studio that is Epik Productions. so far, we're diggin' it and we can't wait to reveal this record to you. next weekend we lay down guitar and bass. get ready, cause she's gonna blow some skirts.
bs
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Pre-Studio Blog
howdy,
only one more night until we hit the studio. we are at an all time high level of stokage. we are all packed up and ready to do some scratch tracks followed by the drums, seeing as how we're only recording on weekends.
as i said, expect studio blog updates as well as pictures from the scratch tracks and cheezy teaser videos of course. review back to here more shiat. stoked?
only one more night until we hit the studio. we are at an all time high level of stokage. we are all packed up and ready to do some scratch tracks followed by the drums, seeing as how we're only recording on weekends.
as i said, expect studio blog updates as well as pictures from the scratch tracks and cheezy teaser videos of course. review back to here more shiat. stoked?
bs
Monday, September 5, 2011
if i were to say...
oh em gee oh em gee oh em gee!!!!
today is monday of the labour day weekend of two thousand eleven.
tomorrow during our regular band practice, we will be recording the preproduction for the record. yes, this is rather short notice for the studio, but everything we've been doing has been on short notice, so why stop now? helping out with the rough pre-prod, will be the producer of my acoustic record, Stephen Hambly of North2South Recordz.
this saturday, we enter into epik productions to record our debut ep. in the words of Nathan earlier this week, "we're gonna make it our bitch." throughout the recording, there will be pictures, as well as brief studio video updates, whilst we're in the lair.
hope you guys are as stoked as we are, cause we're pretty damn stoked. new ep, new merch, and nakedness all coming very soon!! ....well, probably no nakedness, but you never know.
bs
today is monday of the labour day weekend of two thousand eleven.
tomorrow during our regular band practice, we will be recording the preproduction for the record. yes, this is rather short notice for the studio, but everything we've been doing has been on short notice, so why stop now? helping out with the rough pre-prod, will be the producer of my acoustic record, Stephen Hambly of North2South Recordz.
this saturday, we enter into epik productions to record our debut ep. in the words of Nathan earlier this week, "we're gonna make it our bitch." throughout the recording, there will be pictures, as well as brief studio video updates, whilst we're in the lair.
hope you guys are as stoked as we are, cause we're pretty damn stoked. new ep, new merch, and nakedness all coming very soon!! ....well, probably no nakedness, but you never know.
bs
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