For the second post in a row the MOGpac heads south of the border. The circumstances: FJ and I booked another 10 a.m. session at BIrdcage on Wednesday to continue work on vocals. The day was unique, however, in that we decided to tackle a vocal track for the song "Our Faith." Which, as it happens, is sung entirely in Spanish... a language that neither FJ nor I speak.
The backstory in 100 words or less: I demoed in the song in the fall of last year, then FJ came and re-arranged it. Jamie Duffy of Acumen Nation/DJ? Acucrack/Chemlab stopped in the studio and added guitars, followed by another few months of writing/arranging. Then, in March, we mailed the computer files for the song to Leo Canneto (Virus 23/AM Pacific), who recorded more guitars and a Spanish lead vocal while FJ visited him in Los Angeles. A Gustavo Cerati homage, basically, and a damn good one at that.
While FJ knew he wanted the song to be a duet of sorts, he came to the studio with no real arrangement game plan yesterday. One idea floated earlier was to mix Leo's Spanish vocal with FJ singing in English. But after listening to the track on loop for about an hour, we realized that altering or eliminating any significant part of Leo's vocal to accomodate FJ was, well, pretty fucking stupid. It is a brilliant vocal, so why fuck with it? But in keeping with the duet plan, FJ saddled himself with the challenge of learning Leo's vocal in Spanish and doubling it. And he rose to the occasion, I must say, as he hammered the song out word-for-word over the course of a couple hours. One of his strongest deliveries yet.
We also found the time to track a rough vocal for a chorus of "Descriptive" yesterday, marking the first time we have ever recorded a vocal so early in a song's gestation. There is not much to write yet because the song is far from complete, but I think the final version of this particular vocal will be one of the finest performances FJ ever commits to tape. I predict that will be a difficult session, however, as the tune requires a delicate croon unlike most anything recorded by either hypefactor or The Aggression. More on how this plays out once we have the verse figured out...
Aside from the vocals, I have been putting in a lot of hours at the studio editing drums and trying to keep the album on schedule. "The Morning After The Life Before" is the priority song right now; we recorded a slew of guitar and bass overdubs in late April and early May, and we want to wrap up the vocals within a week. Once the live drums are mixed with some programmed rhythms (courtesy of Ash's wonderful TR-909 and, perhaps, Robin Emmet), this song will be a monster worthy of comparison to recorded music's best album openers. Modesty? Not in this case.
Also near the front of the editing line is "One.nine.five.six," the aborted song we recovered from The Aggression's final demo sessions. A vocal session for that tune will have to wait, however, as FJ and I agreed earlier in the week that Charles should be invited to re-write and re-track the bass line. While FJ and I have been on the same page from day one about what the song should be (Exterminator and Evil Heat-era Primal Scream, mostly), we both seemed to have reservations about our instrumental execution. In an effort to breathe some new life into our thinking, we gave Charles a wide berth in terms of what he can write and record, and I hope his ideas will allow us to revisit the guitar and vocal melodies later this month. If his performance on "Descriptive" is any indication, Charles' playing will properly anchor the song, and that is exactly what it needs.
And now for a non-sequitor: While the Birdcage studio (aka my apartment) has three rooms, most of the recording takes place in a room tucked in the northeast corner (as it is farthest away from my fifth-floor neighbors and, therefore, less noisy.) This is also the only room with a clear view of neighboring apartments, as it abuts directly on two other buildings. Lately, the view from my mixing desk has been getting more and more Cinemax. About two months ago, my distant neighbors decided to eat dinner in their lingerie. Last week, the people whose kitchen window looks out on the studio had some sort of professional photo shoot in their space, replete with many shirtless men. And last night, in a moment that would have thrilled Ash, I sat editing drums while a girl in the same kitchen walked around for ten minutes... topless. Now who said studio work was boring?
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