"Sometimes
I Get A Session"
For
someone like me who has little to say about technique and/or technology,
it's always hard to come up with ideas for this column - a column that
seems to be quite popular! My essential message always comes out the
same: forget about all the externals and follow your instincts, and
don't let people railroad you into taking the tried and true path if
it's not for you. Admittedly, this is the road with the fewest immediate
rewards. But I've been around for a while now, and I've seen some things.
There's always enough generic stuff out there. If you're highly imaginative,
iconoclastic, or just singular enough in sensibility to stand out, you're
needed! Pedals, string gauges, electric/acoustic, techniques - these
are all just means to an end. It would be a bit misleading - if not
wholly dishonest - of me to trot out some rules or even strong suggestions
about how to do things on the guitar or on anything, since I kind of
went about everything haphazardly, if not completely wrong! I think
"AMP DU JOUR" was so popular because it 's both funny AND
it supplies all you gearheads with the ammo you need to be gearheads.
So here comes my newest attempt, inspired in part by Tommy Tedesco's
wry column in Guitar Player Magazine many years back (hard to imagine
even opening GP at this point in time...) called "STUDIO LOG."
For many reasons, I have never been the guy one would call for a so-called
normal SESSION, either of the commercial jingle/film & TV variety,
or the pop album variety. For one, I've spent most of my life under
the radar - in the underground, so to speak - playing free jazz and
whatnot. For another, my skills are...well, a bit SPECIFIC. I'm pretty
good at designing arrangements- -even a hook here and there - for familiar-sounding
songs, coming up with sonic flavors, layers, and the like. But I'm not
a great reader, and my desire to do generic stuff (read: hack work)
is non-existent. These are jobs for real craftsmen. I really admire
those "tonemeister" types who can make a major triad sound
compelling, memorable, even fresh. But my concept of tone production
really only started developing about 10 years ago! But maybe that's
why now...SOMETIMES, I GET A SESSION or, Ruminations on the Recording
Session and its Attendant Challenges, Joys, and Inconsistencies. If
you look at the records I played a song or more on this year, six of
them are by so-called singer/songwriters (and there are two more in
some state of half completion that may emerge someday). This is really
odd for me, but can be really rewarding as well. In spite of my track
record of being mostly uncommercial, if not a bit "out there",
I enjoy doing any job well, and certain things that are easy or natural
for some players are harder for me (like making that major triad sound
absolutely effortlessly fabulous). And as we all know, getting better
at something one may not be so great at can stimulate growth. And maybe
cause a few gray hairs to sprout along the way, but hell, it could be
worth it. So here are some descriptions of a handful of so-called sessions
- some in real studios with pros you know, others are more low-key affairs
in home studios. What they have in common is that they all required
me to COME UP WITH SOMETHING BOTH UNIQUE AND SUBTLY SUPPORTIVE for a
fairly familiar-sounding SONG.
(1) MIA DOI TODD:
Session for her Columbia debut "The Golden State":
I had played on shows that
Mia was also on, so I knew that her music was quite stark. She seems
to be a bit of an acquired taste for most people, and the idea of her
on a major label like Columbia probably struck a lot of people as a
strange fit. But I had met her champion at the label, Yves Beauvais,
and a more loyal and devoted admirer one could not imagine. He and Mia
both seem to dig my work, so they insisted that I play on this record.
Apparently, the producer tapped for the record, Mitchell Froom,
didn't want me because he has his own crew of trusted collaborators
that he always uses, and he had never heard me before. This, coupled
with the fact that I ended up being the last ingredient added to the
record, put me more than a little on edge going in to the session, which
was to be one whole day of work on an unspecified number of songs. I
really wanted to make a good impression because I really like a lot
of Mr. Froom's work (especially Los Lobos' brilliant
album, KIKO), and I could really use some work in my own town that pays
more than forty to one hundred bucks! Anyway, Mitchell and I seemed
to ultimately work together rather well. I felt a little bad for Mia,
though, because she and Mitchell seemed to have completely different
work methods: he is fast, unequivocal, and sure of himself, while Mia
wants to take time to mull things over, which means leaving options
open. Mitchell is so sure of what he wants that when he gets it, he
erases all other attempts and/or ideas right away, so that come mix
time, there will be no agonizing over takes, no multiple-choice related
anxieties, no time wasted. What was fun and interesting about working
with him for me was that, without my knowing it, he was recording every
little noodle I made as I was trying to come up with a direction for
a guitar part. As such, at one point when I thought I was achieving
a solid direction, he said, "Here. Listen to what you were doing
when you had no idea how the song went. Now, play more of that".
Cool! At one point, as the song "88 Ways" was due to fade
out (I had been instructed to play a super-simple, sparse funky guiter
bit), he suddenly said, "Play a really really bad guitar lick!"
I played a twanky blues riff and he was pleased. Back when I was playing
with Mike Watt and The Geraldine Fibbers,
such "method" guitar acting was important to making the music
successful. Watt would speak in metaphors to get me to come up with
parts that were to sound variously like bicycle chains turning, propellors,
sailors holloring at each other, for his concept album "Contemplating
The Engine Room". On the Fibbers' song "Trashman in Furs",
Carla wanted the guitar solo (Fibbers songs rarely had guitar solos
at all) to sound like a super sincere but fundamentally incompetent
14 year old playing on his bed. So I'm down with sounding...like a total
spaz, if necessary. I recently did a HIDEOUSLY DORKY 60s-style fuzz
solo with HORRIBLE tone on a forthcoming Anubian Lights
CD... Anyway, by now Mia's album seems lost in the avalanche of hidden
commercial product. And the end result for me is that I can barely hear
myself on the record, which is neither good nor bad. Obviously, one
cannot get attached to any of one's contributions in a situation like
this - it's not my concern. I did what I could, and I did it fast -
the session was done by 5 PM. I'm on tracks 1, 3, 6, & 9.
(2) BLUE MAN GROUP - "The Complex":
This is their second CD and
first one with guest vocalists. I got a message from Josh Haden
telling me that The Blue Man Group wanted me to play a solo on their
new record. What?! I had seen them once in Boston at a street festival.
I had played with Mike Watt and the Crew of the Flying Saucer (Morphine
and Shudder To Think had also played, I recall). This
was back in 1995. But the guys in the core band had remembered me and
were allegedly fans. This could end up being a long story, so I'll try
to be brief. The main thing they wanted me to play on was a cover of
"Baba O'Reilly", the Who classic. They wanted a wild guitar
solo where the viola solo is on the original (at the end, where it speeds
up). So they sent a rough of it on a CD-R along with a couple of other
things, including a track of Donna Summers' "I
Feel Love", also vocal-less. I said 'yes'. Why not? They flew me
to New York, put me up in a modest but decent hotel.. Hell, I even booked
myself a gig at Tonic while I was there! I went to their soundstage/studio
in the East Village where they were rehearsing for their big new show
- a real rock tour - with David Bowie, Moby,
et al. All the people I met were REALLY nice. When rehearsals ended,
it was time for me to go to work. An amp was selected and set up in
the soundstage area, and all my pedals and such were in the control
room (it's a killer setup they have!). The first thing we worked on
was "Baba O'Reilly". The key band members, musical director
(the main drummer in the core band), three main (and original) Blue
Men, and 2 engineers were present. It was very relaxed. One of the Blue
Men, Chris, always has his little dog with him. The guys were constantly
having to leave to take calls and such (turns out they were having trouble
with Virgin Records people, their label at the time), but that actually
put me at ease. Anyway, I played a solo on the Who tune that really
flipped them out! The next thing I knew, more and more people started
coming into the control room (they had apparently called their wives,
friends, and such to come check me out), and I ended up playing on more
and more songs - including one that Josh sang on. Some of the tracks
were already pretty dense - the opposite of the Mitchell Froom style,
they had TONS of tracks going to be selected from later - so I had to
rely on my instincts about what would fit, and I fielded a lot of ideas.
But the more out there I got sonically, the more they seemed to get
excited. Ultimately, I ended up coming back the next night, and even
did more when the gang found out that I was in New York a month later
(Chris tracked me down on my cell phone and said, "Get over here!").
They had no idea what to pay me (and I never know either), but suffice
to say that the gang was generous, gracious, and they're fun to hang
out and drink with, too! They saved my ass last year! Anyway, funny
things about the album: for one, "Baba O'Reilly" never even
got on the record. Apparently, they never found the right vocalist for
it (I suggested Carla Bozulich, which I still think
would have been potentially amazing and kind of un-obvious). And one
song I'm on has that Gavin Rossdale guy from Bush
on it! Mr. Stefani! AND, I actually heard their version of "I Feel
Love" at my local gas station as I pumped gas into my car - a first
for me, hearing myself (sort of, it's really dense) on commercial radio
that way. But the funniest/saddest thing is that Virgin had totally
been in their shit about almost every aspect of the record, poo-pooing
vocalist choices, etc. (they'd already gotten Dave Matthews, for chrissakes!),
and they were refusing to commit to a real ad campaign, arguing I guess
that the stuff would sell at their shows. The first Blue Man CD (I've
still never heard it ) won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Record and
had sold something like 350,000 copies with no advertising at all! Now,
they wanted to step up, try some things, reach a broader audience, whatever.
I just love that Virgin would fuck with a group than can only make them
money (all their production is in-house, it's pure profit!). This is
why the industry is dying, why people like me have trouble mustering
sympathy for their short-sighted plight. Anyway, Virgin U.S. collapsed,
and Blue Man got on a subsidiary of WEA called Lava, and everybody's
happy. I ended up on 5 tracks, and can actually hear myself on 4 of
them (tracks 6, 8, 9, 10, & 13, if you care).
(3) NOE VENABLE - "The World is Bound By Secret Knots" (Petridish):
This barely qualifies as a
"session", because these people are my friends. The recording
was done on 2 separate occasions in their house. On the first one, I
used my amp, but later I just went direct. I knew that Todd, who records/produces
the tracks, was trying out a lot of different players and ideas, casting
about for various approaches - more the Blue Man approach than the Froom
approach by far. What Todd and Noe wanted mostly from me was sounds,
loops, textures to be added here and there. I've worked a lot with Todd
in the Scott Amendola Band and with Crater
(and since these sessions I've played his tunes in his jazz band), but
in his guise as producer I had no idea what to expect. I knew that he
and Noe are amazingly bright, sincere, and that they love Radiohead.
Anyway, it turns out that after giving them tons of tracks on most of
the songs - some were Todd's ideas, some were my "indulge me and
let me try this" ideas, that Todd and Noe had so many ways to go
on the songs that it was hard to finish the record. Maybe that Mitchell
Froom guy's experience really shows in his efficient and unequivocal
style. But knowing that just makes me more impressed with what they
achieved with this CD. It sounds really great! Noe has always exuded
a rare level of talent, and her vision seems clearer and more compelling
than ever on this recording. Though she's quite the darling of the modern
folk scene in the Bay Area, this is no folk record. Its antecedents
are more Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and
the like, if I must draw fascile comparisons (OK, maybe Radiohead, too).
But to give you an idea, one of my favorite pieces on the record is
called "Midsummer Night's Dream". I played various things
on this both times I recorded at the house. At one point I did twangy,
verby, compressed, Frisell-esque stuff. I did distant
howling chords with the Fernandes sustainer pickup guitar Henry
Kaiser gave me. At one point, Todd had me playing wah-wah bass
notes with lots of delay and the Whammy pedal down an octave. At another
point I played rhythm guitar with wah and a big paintbrush. But I'm
pretty sure that NONE of this stuff is one the final mix, and it's GREAT.
Todd ended up flying in odd loops I had created throughout the disc,
sometimes in ingenious and unobvious places. On "Garden",
Todd broke down my 12-string hooky chime idea both rhythmically and
harmonically. This process was fascinating and fun! On another piece,
"Feral", Noe really wanted a cinematic approach, with one
section of the tune suggesting a cat running at full speed through brush
and plants. Where would I be without my Electro Harmonix 16 Second Digital
Delay?! I created sputtering bursts of noise and looped them an octave
higher in reverse, much to everyone's delight. I don't think any of
that is on the final version, but the final version is really good.
That's all that matters. Anyway, Todd and Noe gave me a little bit of
money, but I would have done it for free. Their great friends, and this
was my idea of a good time.
(4) RICKIE LEE JONES - A track for her album, "The Evening
Of My Best Day" (V2):
I was pretty floored when
I got a call to come down and record for Rickie Lee. Me?? It turns out
that she is a big fan of Mike Watt's album "Contemplating
The Engine Room", and wanted to record some with that trio (which
included percussionist Steven Hodges). Long story short,
Pete Thomas (best known as the drummer from The
Attractions) ended up on drums. I knew that Rickie Lee had
been recording for a while, that Steve Berlin had been
producing (Scott Amendola had been called by him to play on some stuff,
which would have been brilliant), but he got fired. This kind of cemented
the rumor of Rickie Lee being potentially "difficult"! I also
knew that Bill Frisell's trio had anchored a couple
of tracks. So I was pretty nervous, even though my friends Brad
Dutz and Michael Elizondo had played a lot
with her and seemed to enjoy it. And she likes Watt.... I showed up
with my usual Oliver and Fender Pro Junior amps, plus a bunch of guitars
(my regular Jazzmaster, my Fender 12-string, my open-tuned Hagstrom,
my Jerry Jones baritone, and my Gibson 335, plus my full pedal board
and extra fuzz boxes, wah wahs... one thing I've picked up on is that
singer/songwriters don't have much of an interest in distortion, so
almost none of these semi-precious gizmos got used). The song was a
breezy, almost impressionistic number called "It Takes You There".
Watt decided that the bass should be kind of Jamerson-esque. Rickie
Lee was really friendly and relaxed while also being all business. I
was impressed that she sings and plays guitar 'live' on every take,
and in spite of talking like she has the world's worst cold, sings every
take amazingly. Anyway, my first idea for the guitar was so dumb: de-tuned
Hagstrom a la Thurston Moore (read: a bit intentionally
out-of-tune). The idea was gently quashed by guitarist and longtime
Jones associate David Kalish. I settled on a Jazzmaster
part that got refined later as Rickie Lee made a few suggestions. A
was asked to do some sparse fills - this is where I sort of end up trying
to channel Phil Manzanera - and as usual, gave them
a couple of tracks of 16 Second Delay looping. Later, Rickie Lee and
I thought that this old Epiphone hollow-body electric might be cool
instead of her Taylor (she seemed unsure about the viability of her
own open-tuned track, which was tuned down to C# in the bass). I did
some unison tuning on the 'B' string, the guitar was, over initial protests
from the control room, miked acoustically and run direct (Rickie Lee
and I both thought this might be interesting). Rickie Lee then had me
play a simple strumming part and sang me different notes that she wanted
emphasized. We later tried a sort of jazz ballad that had a double time
latin groove bridge, but as we groped around Rickie Lee pulled the plug
on it. The tune haunts me to this day, and I hope she records it some
day. Anyway, I got an advance CD in the mail, and the track has VERY
little of the approved "hooky" Jazzmaster track, touches of
the Manzanera, a shimmer here and there of loops, and mostly that Epiphone
acoustic/electric strumming that almost was an afterthought. There is
no discernable Rickie Lee acoustic guitar, and there's piano on it,
too (I'm dying to know who all's on this record)! The track's nice,
but let me tell you, I think there are some KILLER songs on this album
- way better than "It Takes You There". I highly recommend
the album, actually. But to think of Mike Watt and the Black Gang fans
checking us out on this amuses me a bit, because this isn't that vibe
at all! And that's kind of what the whole session experience is about,
in a way: service, malleability, but with a personal flair. Otherwise,
they could have just called Grant Geisman or someone,
right? As a bit of a rube on this scene, it still fascinates.
So there it is. I still don't think I played any beautifully fresh-sounding
major triads with mouthwatering tone. Maybe that's best left to David
Kalish, or Ry Cooder, or ?? But it's a new
world to me, and a challenge. Even when you think you've figured out
what the artist wants and how to do it, it's not over till the mix is
in your ears. And you never know what's going to be in that mix. Mystery!
Suspense! Another wrinkle.....
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