The past week and a half, I’ve been on a writing streak like I haven’t been since I was working on There is Something and not nothing (probably late ’08 or early ’09).  It’s been Mars Lights stuff, writing vocals and lyrics to songs we’ve already demo’d instrumentally, sometimes years ago.

Six songs down, and I have two more demos I can work with; then I’ll have to start writing more riffs :-)

It would seem premature to talk about content before you can hear the songs, but I’m pleased with the variety.  There’s a happy song (of sorts… ) for the first time, some noir, and some science.  Plus, the usual lack of first- and second-person pronouns, and general mayhem.

This will be the first bigger set of songs we’ll have the chance to rehearse and play live before recording.  For the Sides, everything was recorded first, before we ever played a show.  In many of those songs vocals were just rough sketches when we did them, and in some, they hadn’t been started at all.  For the LP we’re working on, I think three of my four were done and had been played at our duo shows, but several of Drew’s had no vocals when we put down the instrumentals.  A few of my new ones include semi-improvised sections, so I’m especially excited to work those out in the practice room before we put them down.

We have about five albums we want to make, so there are loud, weird jams for the forseeable future.

Guitar pedal demos on Youtube are weirdly addictive (especially if they’re done by Pro Guitar Shop or gearmanndude). If you play, or you’re a gear head of some other sort, hours can slide down the drain without you hardly noticing until they’re gone.

However, I’ve learned a lot. What got me started was searching for an overdrive/boost to generally duplicate what I used Drew’s Fulltone Java Boost for on the Mars Lights LP we’re working on, and at our last couple shows when I’ve been playing through his rig. I ended up with the Fulltone GT500 (video below) and am happy with it so far.

One of my requirements was that the boost come before the overdrive in the signal chain; I use boost for some extra saturation on big riffs/choruses, not so much for volume (like you might for solos). On the 500, the order of the boost/OD circuits is switchable, which is perfect. Most importantly, I like the tone; dynamic and transparent, bringing the best out of my guitar and amp.

So far, I only like a pretty narrow range of settings, but I hope that with more experience, I’ll figure out how to get more variety out of the pedal.

Of course, in my digital travels, I’ve also developed a wishlist. I’ll save analog echo for another time (the short version is: Malekko Ekko 616v2, or DMB Lunar Echo?) and focus on dirt. With my main distortion sound set, I started looking for a totally different sound to use for doubling riffs in the studio and overdubs. The goal was to spend about $100 on a compressed, colorful drive, and after a lot of work, I arrived at the ZVex Distortron.

Then, Drew mentioned fuzz. Drew loves the fuzz, and I love the sound, too, but haven’t used much myself. He’d mentioned the Death By Audio Fuzz War, which is great but doesn’t do anything like the compressed drive I want first. I circled back to the DBA page, though, and found the Apocalypse.

Low drive settings on the middle (3rd) fuzz circuit seem to produce a fairly straightforward drive, plus it’s full of crazy and exciting sounds. I love how DBA pedals feed back, and how useable the whole sweep of the drive and tone controls are. So, that’s the dream-come-true option.

The bottom line; if you play an amplified instrument, get a boost pedal, at minimum. Clean, dirty, whatever; boost roolz.

As Drew and I finally finish Mars Lights’ Side 3, I’ve been thinking about those sessions (back in Feb-Aug 2009!) and all the recordings we made in my old carriage house.  Here’s what I can remember (and a few photos of the drums downstairs from July-Aug 2012):

• Mars Lights Sides 1, 2, and 3 (except a couple of guitar overdubs done in Drew’s basement) and in-progress LP drums
• Sally M/S Ride – All of There is Something and not nothing, and all of the overdubs for You Have To Wear The Boots (i.e. everything but my main guitar and vocal tracks)
• “Snow is a Bear,” from XMAS
• More mixes and masters (2012 Are Here, Believe The Honesty Bro, Making Up The Truth, White Air, The Sleepover EP) than I could count
• Drums for Cory’s upcoming LP
• Drums for my upcoming Ventura and semi-secret EP
• The original cast soundtrack recording for Khan! the Musical
• My overdubs for Cory’s The Silent Woods

Via MetalSucks, here’s Dave Grohl’s SXSW keynote speech.

I learned a lot about Dave’s story, from growing up, to Nirvana, to starting the Foo Fighters, that I hadn’t known before. (And I follow the Foos pretty closely!) But what was best, and most affirming, was his twin themes of “Do it yourself” (DIY) and developing your “voice.”

On the first, it’s how I’ve always understood punk; not a sound, not an era, not an aesthetic, but an attitude or stance or philosophy. “Don’t wait, don’t get permission, don’t be dependent on commerce, just make whatever you want happen. Do it yourself.” Really, more than just punk, too, it’s the original spirit of rock & roll; kids making music independent of the mainstream cultural/commercial power structure. I love that our biggest rock star is preaching independence and DIY from a pretty big stage.

Artistic “voice” is related to DIY, but not mutually inclusive with it. (Imagine a culture with a highly developed infrastructure for identifying and supporting artists as they develop, and some kind of stigma or punishment for those who try to work outside of the system.) Voice includes your style, your choice of subjects, your medium, your distribution, your creative process, and more. It’s your being-as-an-artist. It should be the most interesting, most important thing about you-as-an-artist, and so it should receive most of your attention and effort. We ought to talk about it more, and less about sales, industry stuff, and how cool or not an artist’s listeners are. I do a bit of this at MR|Review, and Dave does more in his keynote.

SXSW gave him a platform and Dave made the most of it, talking about some vital-but-often-overlooked aspects of music when we’d have been happy just to hear some road stories. Good man.

Blogging has been light as we anticipate the digital release of the new Strawberry Burns album, but we’ve been pretty busy making music, too.

• Dark Satellites has one more show in this run, next Friday in Omaha, and then probably a break until late March.  Drew is picking away at recording new stuff, song-by-song.
• Mars Lights – Drew’s main guitar tracks were finished in December, and now all of my bass and guitar is done, as of a couple nights ago.  We’re moving on to vocals, and a few more guitar overdubs for Drew on my songs.  Perhaps a fall release for the LP?  Plus, he’ll get Side 3 mixed before then.  I’ve written three or four new Mars Lights ideas lately, too.
• Sally M/S Ride – Ventura is on pause while the mic I need for acoustic guitars is occupied by the Mars Lights sessions.  I’ve written some more doom riffs for the doom experiment, and I’m tracking bass at home for an EP that will be sort of unofficial (but anyone who wants to will be able to hear it).
• Cory’s done guitars for his next solo joint, and will be doing vocals soon.  (He might be doing them right now.  I forget when that was planned to happen.)  Then he’ll send those to me to mix back into the main sessions, and I’ll record bass and background vocals.

That’s the bulk of it, though I’m sure I’m forgetting odds and ends.  I’m rrrrrrrl excited for Mars Lights, especially.  -h

The reliable Riot Room hosted a good show last Saturday night, featuring a band I’ve wanted to see for a long time; Ladyfinger (ne), whose third record, Errant Forms, is coming out in a few weeks. The sound was outstanding (clear and loud, but not uncomfortable), the stage changes were fast, and I enjoyed a Firestone Wookie Jack black IPA and a Boulevard Rye on Rye from their excellent beer selection. It only occurs to me as I type this, but I think the Riot Room has become my favorite club in town.

Ladyfinger hit pretty hard, mostly with new jams from Errant Forms. Being a long-time fan seeing them for the first time, the two older songs (“Over and Over,” “Little Things,” from Dusk) were my highlights, but the new record should be another great one, and more consistent with their previous work than the leaked “Dark Horse” indicates.

Chris’ vocals are more raw and punk live than on the albums, which revealed the band’s sonic roots in DC hardcore, which I hadn’t noticed before but are clear in retrospect. Pat’s drumming, on the other hand, is exactly as precise and hard-hitting in person as it is on their studio work. I’d see Ladyfinger (ne) again, any time.

All the way back at the beginning of the night, Back When, also from Omaha, opened the proceedings with a lead-heavy vibe that allowed melodic fragments to cut through only periodically. They’re in their second incarnation (the first was as a crushingly loud, slightly blackened doom band), which operates with more conventional tempos and arrangements than before, but is still plenty weird. Bass chords all over, on a Rickenbacker; that’s a win. I haven’t found Champion Hologram, which most of the set was pulled from, to be necessary listening, but I’d be happy to see them on another bill.

The second act, locals Everyday/Everynight, are still working through their influences (The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie). They had some nice vocal harmonies and played solid background-level indie music, but were a strange pick for a Ladyfinger show; lots of extended slow songs, and a overly long set for an opener.

Maps for Travelers played to the biggest crowd of the night. They’re fantastic at what they do, which is a strain of early-aughts emo-core. Enviously tight, great guitar tone (cleaner than you’d imagine, but it summed to a beautiful roar), big energy; the downside, for me, was that only one riff really transcended genre. Your mileage may vary.