The entire record is now streaming on our BandCamp page.  Check it out here: Don’t Let Me Stay | John Velghe.

“It is a gem of a pop record, rich in melodies and harmonies, embroidered tastefully with strings, guitars, horns, keyboards, the occasional mandolin. It rocks hard and sways gently. It is softly lit in some places, bright and brash in others.”

This started out as an attempt to kill two birds with one stone: test some expired film and — assuming the film was still good — document my guitars with that film for insurance purposes. It morphed into a documentation of the guitars and other instruments still in my possession that I’ve played on various records over the past 15 years. Some not pictured have been given as gifts, some sold, and some stolen (pour some liquor out). I’ll probably keep adding to this as I find more film that needs to be checked. (there’s a lot of it). All of these are shot on a used Canon A1 35mm camera I was given for high school graduation by my father. Generally they’re shot on 100iso film developed in Rodinal. But, as experimentation permits other films and developers will be used.

When I wrote these songs they were in a nutshell.   On a cassette tape here, a voicemail message there, chords, words, melodies.  Demoing them amounted to a basic 4/4 beat and singing and playing into a mic.  A couple were never demo’d at all, instead committed from head to mic on the fly.  (something I swear to stop doing, do, regret, and end up sticking with thanks to the feedback of some great friends)  Each of the folks who played on these songs added something to it; like a kilner, stillman, and a blender.

I purposely went into this recording process without a finished product in my head.  A dicey proposition, but I’ve gotten to the point that I know “the thing” when I hear it.  Besides, going into a studio with full faith in the people you are playing with makes it a lot easier to stand or fall by the outcome.

So we’re here.  The tracking board has only a few empty boxes where the Xs go.  Mics have been aimed, Vox tubes blown, compressor knees flexed, mic ribbons tickled, cigarettes smoked, and spirits consumed.  15 songs in and there are some amazing parts committed to sine waves assembled from 1′s and 0′s.

We’ll complete tracking next week.  Then the songs will get rough mixed and will sit, like a good rye whiskey.

Mixing will happen in late September.  From there, it’s up to the drinkers of this little world to take it all in, put their woozy heads to bed and dream the dreams we hoped they would.

You can download the EP from iTunes or from Amazon.com.

Pretty soon our friends who subscribe to eMusic, Rhapsody and any of the other online music download sites will be able to get the record from their favorite site.

John’s playing with his Prodigal Sons on November 5th at Midwestern Music Company in Kanas City.

Upcoming show and tour dates will be forthcoming.

Thanks.

Working on this recording this weekend I was reminded of a guiding maxim for recording drums: feel trumps tone – every time.  This is sort of the opposite of physics or thermo dynamics.  It basically says that when you are trying to marry two or more instruments together in a song, you should always choose the instruments with the best feel; even if that means sacrificing the version with the best aural recording quality.

I won’t bore you with the particulars because it gets into all kinds of boring, mic technique engineering garbage that doesn’t really matter.  I think the overall lesson is the important thing.

When we listen back to some of the greatest recorded works ever – Robert Johnson, John Bonham, Frank Sinatra – it’s seldom those with the best sonic fidelity that send us over the edge with delight.  In fact, some of my recording engineer pals would say that these performances sound lousy.  Yeah, friends, but they feel great.

People don’t feel sonic fidelity, engineers do.  People feel performance, they feel passion; people feel feel.

Go with the best feel.

[wpaudio url="http://augusthour.com/music/clyf_0606.mp3" text="John Velghe - Clyfford Still"]

Please enjoy it.  Please don’t steal it.

Copyright 2009, John Velghe, BMI.  All rights reserved.

This week we begin tracking for a new recording. Of fourteen songs we’ve written over the past year we’re recording eight. That’s mostly because I’m pretty quick to punt a song if I don’t like it. That’s not to say that the songs of the Mendoza Lie are supposed to be musical masterpieces. Quite the opposite. The Mendoza Lie is mostly about abandon, hook, and id; in short, a departure from the whole music composing thing.

Imagine Wipe Out versus I Guess I just wasn’t Made for these Times.

So when we first set about recording these songs we were sort of limp about it. Things weren’t tight, or confident, or even deliberate. That was about six months ago. With this recording we’re a lot more deliberate, and concise. The tempos are a bit faster. The tones a bit more brash.

Every recording project is a new experiment. Whether it’s with the technical aspects of micing technique, and placement, or the more artistic aspects of songwriting and arranging, or the craft elements of instrumentation. In addition to being an experiment, it’s also a fluid process. So, things don’t always come out the way you might have expected. Hopefully, that’s a good thing.

In the upcoming weeks I’ll hopefully have time to write about this process. Please stay tuned.