So here’s the second song I mentioned, the first written entirely during the coronavirus lockdown. When I was writing “Elephant,” I didn’t think it was about the pandemic but I think it kind of is. I’ll probably do another mix of this to bring up the bass a bit and bring down the vocals at the end a little. And maybe even some live drums! Stay tuned…
Okay, here’s a better bass — I used my ancient Jazz bass and it just has such a great sound!
Once again, huge thanks to Tony Mandracchia for the awesome guitars and Dan Westrick for the technical assists!
So. We’ve all found different way to cope with the utterly surreal situation in which we’ve all collectively found ourselves. Me? I decided to — finally — experiment with home recording. Never something I’d been very interested in learning about. Back when I was doing the Pickups, recording was more complicated and required a pretty hefty investment in equipment, and there were plenty of people who were very good at it.
Plus, I can sing and I can play bass, but I can’t play guitar. It seemed sorta silly.
And then I took 17 years off from playing.
But now? A decent computer and about $300 will get you what you absolutely have to have to record. And the technology is such that you can work with other musicians remotely and it’s really pretty damn easy!
So, here is my first ever recording. There are plenty of deficiencies — I just sorta rammed ahead without paying a lot of attention to levels and such on the vocals, and it shows — and I’d love to have a real life drummer instead of an Apple Bot, but you know? It gets the song across.
Thanks to Tony Mandracchia for the wonderful guitar work — it’s so much fun working together again! And to Dan Westrick, my current bandmate, for walking me through what I needed to get and giving me the confidence to try.
(Dan btw has some serious chops for the tech/recording stuff. I expect you will be hearing a lot of local San Diego musicians recorded in the PlunderCave when we’re able to do such things again!)
Todd wanted to play this next time so I pulled it out to listen. One of those tunes that was so much fun to play, and I am gratified that the bass part came back to me so quickly!
“A tambourine in the wrong hands…is a dangerous weapon”
So as I’ve been re-embarking on this whole playing in a band thing (which is a head trip in many ways), I’m rediscovering tunes that I wrote that I barely remember. Here’s one of them. It had been sitting on a cassette and I hadn’t heard it in 18 years or so (thanks to Dan Westrick for ripping it to digital so I could listen. Who has a cassette player any more? Not me).
Strange for me to hear it again. The musicianship was really solid–hearing Tony and Todd just made me happy. I don’t think Dana was on this tune for some reason — it sounds like me doing the backups (which is too bad, because I always liked the way our voices blended and balanced).
As for the song, it made me sad because it was about sad stuff, and it’s a sad song.
On the other hand, it’s very…musical. Like what’s the next TV show that wants to do a musical episode? Call me.
(Todd, me and Tony, after a set, some gumbo, and a few Sierra Nevada Pale Ales)
I thought I’d post a song that isn’t so political. This one was recorded in a hurry, but for the most part I like the way it came out. If I were going to change anything, it would be some of my lyrics, which seem a touch whiney to me now. But the tune has one of my favorite choruses ever, and features an amazing guitar lick by Tony Mandracchia!
So, I have this past. As mentioned on my bio page, at one point in my life I was conflicted as to whether I should be a rock star screenwriter or a screenwriting rockstar. Or possibly Secretary of State.
The front cover of our CD
Anyway, for a number of years, I had a band in Los Angeles, called the Pickups. I was the singer/songwriter/bassist. I played with some awesome folks, Tony Mandracchia, Todd Tatum and Dana Fredsti.
We played around town for over ten years. Had a lot of fun. Did some recordings, even. It was sort of pre-internet, or very early internet, so basically if you didn’t see us, or have one of our *gasp!* cassette tapes, and later, CDs, you never would have heard us.
Now, to quote the Six Million Dollar Man, we have the technology. And I thought it would be fun to share a little of stuff we did.
This song is the last song I ever sang in public. I sang it at an event in March 2003, a night of music at a club that doesn’t exist any more in Santa Monica, protesting the Iraq War. Heh. I wrote it long before that, but it still seems relevant enough.
“A tambourine in the wrong hands…is a dangerous weapon”
