So for those who actually keep tabs on this "Frosting side Project" (all 15 of you), this is truly your personal blog. For old friends of Spiv just passing thru, I'm in a "talky, reminiscent" mode, so pour yourself a milk, water, wine etc. and give me 5 minutes.

So here I am in the front office of Smart Studios in Madison, hacking away a Frosting Blog for y'all, my good friend Mike Zirkel in the control room, fucking with compressors, distressors and an endless supply of crazy reverbs and old ham radio gear, converted to studio "tools", working on mixing a handful of Frosting Collaborative songs.

It's really, really exciting to hear what is going on here.

The Background: In my years as a card carrying member/artist under the small, but INSPIRED Kentland Records umbrella I, in other great bands (Javelinas/Blackmaker) have done 2 full length records and several demos/mixes here at Smart. Mike and I go back at LEAST to 1997, when he recorded Simple Simons' King EP, and even some recordings in my basement studio.

Now, back in 2000 or so, Mike and I had talked. I said "man, I've been writing all kinds of tunes that don't really fit with any of the other bands, or have been rejected etc... but I really want to record and press them." We went back & forth via email over the years, and figured out that basically, he knows how I work, and I know how he works, we're both getting older, we're both slightly deaf, and have health issues - KILLER -LET'S ROCK!

It was just a natural fit for me to bring my Frosting recordings to Mike and churn out some good rock.

Now - here was my challenge. I couldn't afford to go to a pro studio from start to finish and make a full length record. My paper route money just won't cut it. So, it took a couple of months to not only get up the gumption, but to wire my home studio "Kentland North" unplug the shit that doesn't work or that is just SHIT, and find out just what the limitations were in order for me to make a record out of there.

So, after radically simplifying my recording setup, and buying a couple of reels of tape, I sifted through about 100 songs/riffs and picked from the "old" material I wanted to work with, and left plenty of space for new inspiration. Once I started hitting tape, I began to realize what REAL limitations I had facing me at the home studio. Mind you - it's OLD SCHOOL. 16trk, 1/2' reel tape for you geeks. Now, my machine is in need of some TLC also, so I had to cut it down to 14 tracks. Hmm.. what is this, 1968? Nevertheless, I was completely re-inspired, re-driven and the passion and determination perservered technical issues.

I'm kind of a shoot and go guy when it comes to recording. I have this old 60's gretsch drum kit, stripped of it's initial sparkly coverings, a bunch of OK amps, Tony's bass rig (xoxoxo), a couple of shitty 80's synths, a weird piano that the band ALABAMA used to use, assorted beer and smoke saturated mics, some nice guitars (I would hope so), about 50 guitar effects pedals (some for sale) and every once in a while if you plug into the silverface Ampeg amp, you will get a nice 120v shock. Despite those limitations, I said to myself: "Dude, after hundreds of recordings in your youthful career, you kinda figured out how to get some decent sounds, and can certainly play a bit better than when you was 16."

So- fuck it - GO! Let's make a RECORD here!

Instrumentation breakdown:

Drums: Being that shoot and go guy (boy am I gonna hear that term), I basically threw a few mics around the drums, mic'd the amps I decided to use, and threw down vocals. I think so far it's been a total logging time of 7 actual days of recording and overdubs. Special thanks to my good friends and amazing drummers, Frat Boy and Mr. Glynn.

Guitars: I tried a different approach this time - how about not having 10 tracks of guitar? I really pushed to make the sounds count, but didn't get too anal about it. Just try it a couple of times and then go for it. Simplify.

Vocals. I don't consider myself a singer - but when I thought about it, shit - I'm the SINGER here. Guess I just gotta go for it. No further comment. Laura Lopardo, on the other hand has done an amazing job spicing things up and adding some really nice texture with here silky vocals.

Keys: I am a guitar player that owns keyboards. I can get creative by screwing around and do what I have to do in my studio. Give me enough time, I can play any chord you yell out. Ask me to play tiny dancer, not gonna happen. However, I DO know three Human League riffs, for what that's worth.

That's it.

I decided I would NOT mix this record on my own. I don't have the gear or the patience to do it, press it, and live with it. Although there are still about 4 songs to be recorded, it was time to take the core of songs and start mixing.

So here I sit at Smart, and Mikey Z is doing an amazing job. He actually said that the sounds I got were really, really good! Even my shotty drum miking and 14 of 16 track machine!!

Honestly - in my opinion - this record is coming out amazing, and I can't wait for you to hear it.

Rock on with that, rock on Kentland, and thanks for your support!

Spiv



i was a little