Drums, Guitar, and Déjà Vu

In the past two sessions, Gunnar and I have tackled a bunch of drums and guitar parts for the EP. These songs include "Steps to Drifting Apart" (which I play drum kit on), "Don't Walk Away" (guitar), "Extravagant" (guitar), and "Déjà Vu" (guitar). Gunnar will be composing drum parts and loops for all the other songs excluding "Nusury Rhyme", which will feature Cory Matczak of Surgery on his super awesome drum kit, made up of an old suitcase, chains, and various other interesting components that make raw, edgier sounds. Cory is also an excellent drummer, so we're very excited to have him.

"Déjà Vu" is a beast of a song to record, mostly because there are a bunch of time and feel changes. Gunnar has compared it to a puzzle. It could also be compared to "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles, which served as some inspiration for the song. It makes sense for the song to be this way, since it's about various dreams that I had during the span of a few months, several years ago. Here are the lyrics:

Déjà Vu

I'm squatting in your canoe, following a river called "strange"
Paddling my way with the current
It's 90 degrees and the sweat courses down
Revealing nothing more than my name

Oh Sonia, I found you running water through your fingers
Your clothes clinging to your sides, but your hair still dry
You'd been lost for days for whatever misfortune
Regardless, you accepted my offer

Together we wandered in circles
A serenity only REM could buy
How you found me will forever be a mystery
How you wandered through my aching mind

We carved our initials in the bottom of the boat
Colored it in with purple chalk
It was about that moment that I knew that I loved you
When we couldn't see two feet in front of us

I watched you pull apart the floor boards
One nail at a time, and five in my palms
And only at this hour of midnight
You discovered the way into downward facing dog

Together we wandered in circles
A serenity only REM could buy
How you found me will forever be a mystery
How you wandered through my aching mind

And morning comes to breathe down the back of our necks
And this is the sadness that farewell brings
I hold you in my arms, the only rivers in my eyes
And I pull you out of a chemical bath

'Cause déjà vu means we're in the right place at the right time
Yes, déjà vu means we're in the right place

...

And here are some pictures!

My electronic drum kit

Mapping out "Steps to Drifting Apart"

Me getting ready to record some guitar

Love,

KJ

Recording Session: "Am I As You"

Yesterday we recorded the guitar and vocals for "Am I As You". We set up Gunnar's mobile studio in my living room with a three mic set up - one mic close to me and a stereo set up a few feet away. Recording with this type of set up really makes things sound wonderful.

Single mic set up.

Stereo set up.

It was really cool to see the mobile studio in action as well. Gunnar has it all on one cart that, when vertical, can travel easily and, when horizontal, is the set up he needs to work on. This is what it looks like:

It's really fucking cool.

Once everything was set up, we recorded the song in a handful of takes. One of just guitar, and a bunch of vocals - two for the main take and a couple for some layered vocals at the end of the song. 

The song itself is an intimate expression of suicidal ideation, written several years ago when I realized I needed to go back to therapy. I have struggled with chronic depression for a long time and started with my first therapist when I was 13.

Here are the lyrics. Make of them what you will:

We took the long way home

Past a crippling set of stitches

Where conversation is a stray cat

Under the heaviest of clover

And I wonder to myself

Am I as inconsiderate as you?

We're couped up in a van

Driving down the wrong side of the road

Where ink splotches dye

The insides of my arms

And I wonder to myself

Am I as self-absorbed as you?

I want the words to lunge out of my mouth

Like vicious spilt milk on the dining room floor

And the gloom sets in as we lay under the table

We're begging the legs to fucking snap off

That way it could all be an accident

How long can this last

Once the pale dawn sets in

Now that my memory

Has forsaken what's wrong

And I wonder to myself

Am I as stoic? Am I as stoic?

I want the words down the back of my throat

Like geese retreating from the winter's stiff cold

And bridges will shake under the shrinking weight

Of my hippocampus begging to defy self-control

I could take the short way home

And, naturally, Eric wasn't phased by any of this :)

He stayed right there.

Overall, it was a success. I even got a really cool picture of one of Gunnar's condenser mics:

Love,

KJ

Click Tracks and Time Signatures

Today Gunnar and I figured out all the tempos for the tracks, complete with a click. The click is used to keep the performer on beat so you can put record multiple tracks and multiple takes together. This is, as Gunnar put it, "the least musical part", but it really does make everything easier in the end. And it gave us some time to sit down and get a better idea of what we want drum wise.

Gunnar explaining shit.

Notes and words to live by.

The more we talk about it and the more work we do, the more excited I get about the EP. I think it's going to be a good one!

Love,

KJ

Back in the Studio

Tuesday was the first day in the studio. To start the process, Gunnar recorded me playing through the potential songs for the EP to create some scratch tracks. For those of you who haven't heard the term before, it's basically a guideline recording that will later be replaced. We're going to use them to record drums, percussion, and bass as a foundation. Once that's been recorded, we'll discard the scratch tracks and go back and record everything else.

Anyway, it's so fulfilling to be creating an original EP and hanging out in Gunnar's home studio. Here are a few pictures:

The set up - Gunnar's living room

Playing through "Steps to Drifting Apart"

Gunnar wanted a picturing of me smiling :)

Gunnar and I will be meeting up to do more work this week. More to follow.

Love,

KJ

Shaving Your Head

It has been several years since I've recorded a solo album. I've worked on a couple collaborative projects (such as Goat & Lion) and have been featured on other artists' recording projects (such as BandBoxBuster), but haven't hit the studio for just myself since 2010. It's been too long.

Since the release of "Natural Progression", I've finished my undergrad degree in music, worked a couple unrelated day jobs, and threw myself into the freelance world, and ended up teaching music among other things. Presently, I'm preparing myself for a move across the country to Boston, in order to pursue a masters degree in music therapy. This is extremely bittersweet, for Chicago has been my home for the past 8 years, but exciting because of the new adventures around the corner.

Recording a new solo EP is kind of a Chicago last hurrah (for now) and a study of the growth I've undergone over the past 5 years. The title, "Shaving Your Head", references a symbol of change and vulnerability, as well as an act that I have done during major transitions in my own life. The songs that will be featured are personal, intimate, and honest - sometimes uncomfortably so, but in a way that I hope will be relatable and eye-opening. Especially, since one can be motivated to shave their head for an endless number of reasons.

Working with me on the EP is the amazingly talented Gunnar Jebsen, who will be primarily serving as engineer and producer. However, because he is also an accomplished musician, he will also be working on bass, drums, and playing his most loved instrument, the banjo. He worked on "Natural Progression" as well.

My goal now is to document the gestation of "Shaving Your Head", for that is something I wish I had done with "Natural Progression" in retrospect. More posts to follow.

Love,
KJ