Tag: Desmond Drive

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studio stuff and wacky ideas

Got THE CALL last night from Rob.

THE CALL being, “Hey Paul, you’re coming to the studio to do some backing vocals tonight, right?”

Well, no, I wasn’t, until he asked. So, once Sarah got home, it was downtown to the Snack ‘n’ Shack to do some more backing vocals for Desmond Drive. The vocals were for the same two songs I have done previously, just new stuff.

But I got paid.

So, nice. I felt strange about it anyway, of course, like getting paid somehow meant I didn’t also like his stuff, which I did. That’s really something I’m going to need to get over. Also I gave him some tips on selling the CD, like notlame and all that. Like an elder statesman or something. Anyway, he’s only three songs in on this, so there’s seems to be more work where that came from.

Today I’m heading out to pick up half the content for a freelance job I’m doing that, once paid, will cover me for close to a month. Somehow I will make this plan work.

One other note from last night… Rob and I both played at that show in December I talked about here, with the Susi French Connection (a band called the Gentle Readers play all 70’s AM radio hits, lots of fun). Well, shortly after that show I had an idea about something to do to maybe offer to open for them again. Last night I tossed the idea offhandedly to Rob, as if I were just making a joke. He jumped at it, though, so it looks as if it may come to pass. Gentle Readers do these shows usually once a year (although they’re doing it on Valentines Day this year, I’ll give anyone details who wants them, I’m singing on the Hollies song again), so this isn’t anything that will come to pass until around December.

But… an all 80’s new-wave cover band. I already have about 6 songs in mind, more to come. Relive your college radio days!

Feel free to make suggestions. My list has doubled since I typed the last paragraph…

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the weekend and the holidays

Sunday, I had studio time. Not my own, but more work on the CD I mentioned a while ago. The band is called Desmond Drive, something I wasn’t sure of the last time I mentioned it. I’m still getting over my cold but managed to keep it together to do the vocals for them. It was me, Becky Shaw and someone who’s in the band doing a lot of three-part harmonies. The interesting thing was that, for each section we’d do, we seemed to alternate who was doing the low, medium, and high parts. This time I was paid, and well so. Which was good because while I was out Sarah’s car had a small fire so now we can afford to get it fixed.

Christmas does not exist much for me this year. It’s kind of sad. I explained a while back what usually occurs during the month of Christmas for us, but I posted that just before losing my job. It was going to be a lean year for gifts anyway, and that pretty much sealed the deal, preventing us from being able to get ANYTHING for ANYONE (which is not the usual guilt, it’s disappointment, because one of the things I feed off of during the holidays is the GIVING. I like it much better than the receiving). But I still assumed the festivities would occur. But between the job search, being sick, and other assorteds, there haven’t been too many available nights, and it seems to have fallen by the wayside. The fest on Christmas Eve is still on, I believe, but it looks like there will only be 4 people staying over that night (all very good friends, that’s not the point), and their situations being similar to ours our tree is and will most likely remain very bare. We always knew that at some point people would want to start having Christmas at their own house, but I don’t think we knew it would happen all at once. It’s just served to add to an already surreal time for me. It’s not even so much that I’m sad for it passing, it feels more like it’s not December. Like, for some reason I’ve mistakenly put up a tree way too early, or way too late.

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2 Dec: webcast

webcast on theguesthouselive.com

Sunday afternoon I went by the studio to sing a backing vocal part for something. Rob told me the name but, to be honest, I don’t remember it. (edit: It was called Desmond Drive) He had a group of people in, including Michael Lorant and Becky Shaw, and John was there. We sang a lot of “na-na”s. A couple of run throughs, one of which the females in the group sang an octave higher for some variety. I was, of course, asked to join the higher voice. There was some brief talk afterward between John and Becky about my range, something of which I really don’t have a clue about. Apparently I’m a tenor (I think I knew that much) but my high range is pretty extended. I suppose I should try to find out so I can tell anyone who needs to know. Particularly if I really want to try to push doing studio work or whatever, which I do.

Sunday night was the webcast show. It’s a converted house in Duluth, all of the bottom floor is a really impressive professional-level studio space. I mean, the whole project has to have run an incredible amount of money. Upstairs the living room has also been converted and that’s where the webcast performances take place. Two long couches are against the wall. Giant baffles hanging from the ceiling, 3 cameras in various places on the wall. Actually, there are cameras all over the house, broadcasting over the web. The house is full of musicians running all this stuff, all of whom were surprisingly friendly. Just a really impressive set-up.

I played through a Vox amp for the first time, something I’ve always wanted to try. I didn’t spend a lot of time tweaking it, but I was surprised to find I wasn’t all that impressed. I think I prefer my little Fender HotRod. Anyway, even our set-up and soundcheck were being broadcast, though I don’t know how many people might have been watching that. We covered a lot of last minute Bowie songs during set-up for some reason.

The show itself went really well, I thought. Musically we did as well as at the EARL, pretty tight. I’m not so sure, not having seen it yet, that I was very animated. It was hard to give a “show” performance in front of about 10 people on two couches. But I think it came across well. That opinion might change once I see it, of course. After the show I went downstairs to the studio and heard a little of what we did. There was something exciting and depressing about hearing myself in that studio. Surrounded by every single thing you might imagine when you picture a major label studio. Dimly lit cherry wood walls and every computerized toy you could imagine. The sound was amazing, as you would expect, and it was really good to hear myself reverberating around the walls of a room like that, and to know that I could do that given a chance, that the music I’m making is quality enough to sound like it belongs there. But also depressing in its way, because I HAVEN’T been given that chance, and the industry being what it is, I have no idea if I ever will.

Not sad, so much, but sort of bittersweet.