OVERTURE
me – vocals
HITCHCOCK BLONDE
me – vocals
It’s good to be back at this.
We have two days booked next week, as well. Last night we tracked vocals for both of these songs. The lead vocal on both was done in one take, something I’m beginning to take some pride in. Maybe that seems silly, but I don’t have anything to put it into perspective, I haven’t really seen anyone else during that part of recording, but I do get the impression that normally tracking vocals is a tedious process. But the backing vocals went fairly quickly, too; a few repeat passes at a couple of bits, just to try and pin down the harmony line we wanted to use, but overall they were one take.
I’ve been trying to find something to “hang” this particular report on, rather than just have it be a dry recitation of events. I mean, I could try to repeat the goofier stuff that goes on… mocking some Black Crowes song off the new record; the glory that is “BOX;” but these things would be harder to explain and probably not really very funny in the telling.
I’m finding that I can be too vague. And while I feel a little like an ex-friend who once said “do people REALLY think I’m the king of sarcasm?” with a straight face, I’m going to talk about it anyway. I’m mainly talking about me musically. I know my lyrics are vague, it comes from trying to convey a mood usually, more than a story, but also I’m so leery of being too obvious that I think I err on the side of being too obscure.
And it extends to other aspects, for example: the last CD was actually a complete story. I didn’t spell it out on the CD itself, though, either musically (because, again, I hate to beat anyone over the head with something in a song, I’d rather they have to dig it out) or in the design of the CD (because I didn’t want anyone to be turned off by thinking it was a “concept album.” dude.). I did spell it out on the website, but I didn’t go to any great pains to point anyone to that page. So, as a result, no one knows. Just today I had to point it out to someone who had noticed that there seemed to be an undercurrent running through the songs and asked me about it (and that’s something else, I try to make it clear that people can ask me questions about anything in my e-mails and on the site and on the message board, but they just refuse to be drawn out into asking. Or no one’s actually listening.).
For the record, if you’re on the site, click on the picture of the rabbit and you’ll find it.
So, clearly, I am overcompensating for my fear of being too obvious. Any suggestions? Because the current CD is just as much of a whole piece. Not the linear story that Slumberland was, but there is an overall story behind the CD, something working behind the scenes that plays itself out through the course of the record.
And just as another example, I can’t begin to explain how uncomfortable I am explaining all of this without being asked. I feel a bit presumptuous and egotistical in assuming anyone even cares. This could be the real reason I am so willing to field questions about it, it’s a reassurance that spending time mulling all of these things over isn’t a sign of my growing self-absorption.
This is what it’s like to have to live with me. Send your condolences to those who have to, won’t you?