Back from LA

Yesterday, I went to LA to do some pre-production work on the new album. I’m working with producer Dave Darling. Like most of us, Dave wears many hats; he’s a writer, singer, musician, performer, producer, magician, etc.. So far, so fun! I admit, I’m rusty and I’m not really used to being produced, but I’m super excited about it. It’s really nice to have an outside fresh ear on the songs, too.

In the past, I usually write a few things at a time and then gather the band to play it live in a rehearsal studio to work out parts, see how it feels [what works, and what doesn’t work]. Within that time of my usual Band Testing, if it works, I’ll usually record it, or rehearse it a bunch of times with the guys– so by the time the Record Light’s on, I’ve got a pretty good grip on what’s what.

This is a different experience though. See, for this, I’ve written a ton of songs all within the last few months and haven’t really tested them, or for that matter, learned them all that well. I’ve just been writing. And then once I have some bones of the songs, I move on to the next tune. In a way, it’s nice, because the songs are still so new to me so I almost have a fresh ear on them too, but on the downside, It’s like I’m learning my own songs again. *Mostly, I didn’t want to do much more than write the bones so I wouldn’t get stuck on hearing them a certain way, if that makes sense. So now, I’ve got a bunch of stuff and I’m keeping an open mind to anything; which makes pre-production possibilities limitless.

The drive from LA to Palm Springs to LA is always brutal. Traffic can suck the life out of me, so I’ve been staying the night there. That’s the plan when we’re doing actual studio recordings as well. It’ll be a huge help. Those of you who know how bad LA traffic can be will understand; It’d be no fun to show up to a studio session in Traffic-Zombie-Mode.

So, it was a productive trip… next week, we’re in the studio to track some parts. That’s when it gets REAL–not that it isn’t real now. Ha!

Oh! I should mention, this is going to be a different record from what I’ve done in the past. I’m thinking it’s going to reflect where I am in life; possibly even a different genre and stepping away from the hard-edged rock music I’ve done a little bit of in the past. Why? Well, that’s the past. 🙂