Day 5
Nothing like waking up to a brisk morning, stretching out the aging aching limbs, and shuttling to the region where the sun vaporizes the briskness and melds the valley between sky and land to become the heat strain that we know of as Ramona.
Cheebs and I arrived at the studio around 9am for what was going to be an arduous task. With 8 songs ahead, and some of Cheebs shredding solos, we were up for the challenge to lay the foundation. Well, the second we walked into the door, it was right up to the mic that my cracked parched lips would meet as I began to croak through the first song, Talent is Overrated. The second song came in the form of Bombs in Baskets. I had to squeeze my butt cheeks together during this song as it takes a monster of breaths to get through this with lungs the size of an elephant. Somehow, I made it. The third song was God in Uniform. I really enjoyed doing this one as I was able to double-track the singing. This song really came to life for me as it’s been in my library of ideas for quite some time. Objection was the next song that I fought through. By the end of this one, I needed to take a break, so I passed the baton to Cheebs so he could grope his strings.
Cheebs kicked off his solos with a couple plucks, ham-haws, scoots, and bucks, and the solo to God in Uniform was done. Once you hear it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The next song was Ad Hominem (aka Fuck Song). He ended up double-tracking the solo using a single coil pickup to accentuate the plucks and minor hits that his little digits could massage. The next song was Activists Can Be Poseurs Too (aka Protest). Cheebs started using the single coil, but it wasn’t delivering like we thought it would and he ended up using the humbucker which gave it that sensual sound that Cheebs can only deliver. The next song, Alarm, was of a different sort. I think Cheebs used the single coil on this one because the sound that resonated from the amp was just goddamn beautiful. This song is becoming a band favorite. The final song on Cheebs agenda was SEU. Cheebs tracked three solos for each of his solos in this song (he has two in different parts). He used his wah pedal on his epic 3 minute solo and it just melts the mind. I could just sit and listen and get lost in that solo. Great job, Cheebs! Well, it was time to spew more mucus on to the spit guard, and belt out some more out of key notes.
I went for broke and started with Alarm. This song has a good healthy yell to it, so I had to pretty much prepare myself for the anguish of either hitting the note, or at least coming close as the veins in my head and my throat were at a near combustion. I was so thankful to get through that I decided to reward myself with Ad Hominem. This song didn’t kill me as bad as I thought that it would. I did a double-track of vocals on this one as I had some run on verses overlapping the subsequent verses, so it allowed me to take minor breaks in between the next parts. If you want to talk about it, we can, but I’d rather that you listen to the album and guess where it occurs.
-Lunch/Dinner Break-
I started with what we call Death March (not the song title). It was only four lines and I literally wrote the words standing there. This song is more of a sound byte song on top of our shitty playing, but the small amount of words reveals a lot of what the theme of the album is trying to convey. Finally, there is nothing like a healthy Mi Ranchito burrito to help me throw-up the next song, Human Side of Enterprise. Boy, was I happy after that song was over, and boy, does “Jon Hasz has his work cut-out for him”.
After 8 songs, 4 solos (and we forgot to do the fucking solo to Bombs in Baskets), a pack of soy jerky, a tub of mixed nuts, 50 trips to the bathroom, a chocolate milkshake (Cheebs), and 12 hours later. We had finished Day 5 of recording. Well, until next time. I’m fuckin’ exhausted……
Peace,
Kevy Hallous
