Elo Kiddies!

Yes we are going back East one more time to join forces with our fearless producer Mike Chapman. We have 5 new songs to record, making a total of 15 & then we will pick the best 10 or so for our record. There's lots of amazing stuff brewing that we can't wait to tell you about when it pops!

Stay tuned to this blog for daily updates on what we're doing, thinking, drinking & saying. Can't wait to see you all real soon!

Bubblegum & Kisses,

Matt, Jodie, Chris, Jeff & Max!

The Commander!

DAY 1

Our flight was delayed 2 hours….we drank some beers & then stumbled onto the plane. Max was seated next to some old lady who smelled really bad… L Max's parents heard that last time there weren't enough beds for everyone so they drove down from Massachusetts & brought air beds & lots 'n lots of goodies! Thank you Chaz & Gail!!! Got to Grama's house around 1:00am, everyone was pretty beat so we crashed for the nite.

JODIE: First off, Burbank airport was a trip and a half. After they delayed the flight, the boys promptly started destroying my DETAILS magazine with my Brad Pitt layout. Very funny, guys. Then Matt decides to step outside the airport for some freshair. Yeah....he forgot to take his ID. So when they stopped him at security, he called Jeff to save the day. And save the day he did, Jeff races to security to bring Matt his ID....yeah Jeff forgot to take his boarding pass with him. So Jeff calls me to save the day. And I do. I race to the airport entrance to save both their asses. Meanwhile, Max discovered the flight is now leaving 20 minutes earlier than we thought, so I'm booking it like mad. I meet Jeff with his boading pass and we start going through security...and somehow I start setting off every alarm in the damn airport. I get frisked for another ten minutes by two hot valley ladies in uniform while Jeff laughs and takes pictures (damn you hidden batman pin on my jeans). we made it to the gate ontime, and all was right in the world again. Matt and I met a cool musician from a band called Little Beirut on the plane, but my addition is getting too long....

Ready to be abused by airport employees on both coasts...

Max & Matt...not sure what this means...

It's Chris!

It's Jodie!

DAY 2

Woke up early (9am) & went to get the drums & some amps..we had our Marshall's shipped & Chapman has lots of great gear too! Went to Guitar Center & got an AMAZING demo from a band called " "…check them out - they rule…Chris' fave new band! It was great to see Mike & be back at the studio…everyone agreed it felt like we never left. Everyone is really excited about the new songs we're gonna record. "Prom Song", "Lookin' Out for 1", "Roller Derby" & "When Can I See You Again?"…you're gonna love them! Spent the rest of the day setting stuff up & getting our sounds together.

JODIE: It was all wires, levels, equipment, and plugs.....boring!!! Good thing Chapman always keeps a stash of hot pinup books, the history of playboy, and victoria secret catalogues. The truth sets in that I'm alone with 7 men and I will have to deal......

Day 2 started off a little rainy...

Back to work...

Somebody's all tuckered out!

DAY 3

On the way to the studio we stopped at the store & some filthy old Wavy Gravy fool hippie asked Jodie "Hey, where are all the cool cats going to Baby?"…she looked at him & slammed the van door. Awesome. We started off the day re-recording "Let's Rock!" which we had done last time but we have since made it a lot better….it came out awesome & it was way worth the extra time. Next we did "Lookin' Out For 1"….that rocks & sounds huge! Done for the day & now we goto our new fave place…Rancho Alegre!! Tequilla & free chips! Yum!

Chris catches up on the latest news in the world of Quantum Physics while the microphones are getting set up

Jodie spends her time trying on Jeff's sunglasses

DAY 4

Hangovers all around. Today we recorded "Prom Song" & then "Roller Derby"…both of them came out awesome & the energy is through the roof! Threw the frisbee into the trees & it landed in a bees nest! Matt got chased but an ugly-ass black bee…it attached itself to his sweatshirt & kept stinging it… AAHHH!!! Time to go back indoors. We spent the rest of the nite talking with Mike about how we are going to get this music out into the world…lots of great ideas & everyone is totally committed & really excited about the future of the band. After that, we went to Rancho Alegre & Jodie was serenaded & proposed to by one of the Mariachi musicians playing at the bar……cute.

JODIE: Aahahaha you should have seen Matt running for his life from that bees nest!! The Mariachi guitarists' name is Hugo..the H is silent. oh yeah...

MATT: My fave part of the day was having Chris cut a vocal for "Roller Derby"...totally unforgettable! It WILL end up on the boxset. "Somethin' somethin' & you're my favorite. Somethin' somethin' & I'll never trade it."

Jeff & the frisbee moments before it goes sailing into the trees & bees nest.

Sometimes there's A LOT of waiting...

DAY 5

Mike got a hammock since the last time we were here…Jeff seems to really like it, he's very hedonistic. We ended last nite in no shape to pick which take of "Roller Derby" was the best so we started off the day with that task. Next we did the guitar for "When Can I See You Again?" which is a acoustic duet with Matt & Jodie….it's really sweet & different from all of our other stuff. We used Mike's daughter Astrid's acoustic guitar…it sounded beautiful. His song Christian dropped by the studio with a friend of his to say hello. OK, so on the way home we ran out of gas…well the van stopped running & the gas gauge said, "empty". So we called Matt's cousin & he came with a can of gas. In the meantime we got out of the car because Chris farted! We stood outside & pretended to be looking at UFO's & everyone who drove by would stop & look. Then we put the gas in the car & then started it…& we had a half tank of gas!?!?!? Ok, so maybe the car just stopped for some reason & we didn't run out of gas…whatever.

JODIE: "Tommy, we need you to bring us some gas." "Dude. This is very inconvenient."

Matt pouring gas at 2am

Jeff pretends to look at UFO's

Chris in the van with his fart.

"Eh, I got yo gas right heeyah..."

View from the hammock...

Jeff hard at work.

Here's our record! Trust us, it sounds awesome!!

DAY 6

We started off the day attempting to do a Pet Sounds photo shoot at the petting zoo that's located next to the studio. We scared a lot of kids & a few animals. Matt was feeding a goat some feed in a paper cup & then the goat ate the paper cup! Later, Matt & Jodie did vocals on "See You Again"…everyone said they got choked up when they were listening to them sing….wow! We split early & went to Rancho Alegre & got a proper dinner & then had some drinks. Matt's cousin Tom came out & hung with us at the bar…we left very late in the morning, the owner Flori was celebrating his 13 year anniversary of being in business & was very generous with the Tequilla. This contributed greatly to Jodie throwing up in the backyard of Grama's house at about 3 am.

JODIE: Ok, so i keep trying to check out those petting zoo pictures at www.superduperphoto.com. I'm sure they're gonna be awesome. My buddy Jon hooked me up with Jamie and Patrick who are sweet photographers on the east coast....Let's keep checking out their page. Thank you, Flori!

A LOT of time!

The AME's Vista Cruiser

The mighty French Press!

We're all searching for something...

DAY 7

Day off! Max is going to visit his folks up north, Matt is visiting his folks too & the rest of the band is headed for NYC. Our pal Kristen Flamio who played a few shows at The Fox & Hounds with us, lives in New York now & was having a party! OK, Jodie threw up IN Grand Central Station....all over! Yuck!!!

JODIE: Lemme just say I had what doctors call a bit of a hangover while we were en route to NY and to Kristin's Brooklyn BBQ. It took two trains to get into NY and I was a god damn champ....until we arrived at Grand Central Station. I must have turned bright white, because once we got off the train, while I was staring at a trash can Jeff asked "are you ok?" I could feel nature taking a hold of me but i FOUGHT with all my might. I told my organs "I am NOT throwing up today. I'm in charge." Then I took two steps and spewed. Projectile. Horrible. It went everywhere. Crappy coffee and Polish Springs water was REJECTED from my stomach and clung to the platform floor. OH MY GOD. I was that girl. awful. wait, is mom reading this? I raced to the bathroom stopping only at Starbucks to grab some napkins to clean the crap out of my hair and sweater for my big day in the big apple. by the time I got to Kristin's, I was ready to party. :) By the way, Kristin's roommate Jeff was a MASTER of the grill and cuisine. we had a blast, and Kristin: You freakinn ROCK!!! I love you and miss you even RIGHT NOW!!!

Breakfast of Champions

Jeff now only eats food that matches his clothes!

Matt's cousin Dan..

See Chris eat. Eat Chris eat.

DAY 8

Back to work…well sort of. Jeff stayed in NYC. Chris was puking & shitting….and puking…and shitting all day. But he still managed to cut a few killer solos. Matt & Jodie sang on "Lookin' Out For 1" & "Let's Rock!"… awesome! Chapman was showing us a YouTube video of some gay dude crying about Britney Spears…funny…well sad…no, funny.

Matt's cousin Tom goes "Metal"...

Max is Pro-Love..

Matt is Pro-Vodka...

Tom does his Slash impression...

Jodie's cover shot for Revolver Magazine!

DAY 9

Finished with vocals! We did "Prom Song" & "Roller Derby"..Jodie killed it! Now to hand claps (ow!) & tambourines 'n stuff. We all ate too much pizza today & are feeling a little sick. Watched "Mayor of the Sunset Strip"..can't wait to be on Rodney's show. Hey OJ may goto jail!?!? Um...ok. Our pals The Mulhollands are playing tonite @ The Key Club...go see them! Mike had a dog trainer come & do some stuff with his German Shepards June & Santo...the trainer wanted us to be involved too....Max declined. We keep going by Rancho Alegre after the studio but it's closed.... boo hoo! NOW LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!

JODIE: Picture this. There's NO entertainment at Grama's house and Chris powers up his laptop to watch a movie, and all of us get PSYCHED. WE all get our jammies on and Matt, me, Chris, and Jeff all sit shoulder to shoulder on the couch to Chris's laptop as it plays a movie...like it's a slumber party....precious moments.

MATT: I don't wear "jammies"...I have a pair of Adidas sweats & a filthy old Ramones sweatshirt that Arturo Vega gave me. FYI

Seemed like a good idea at the time...

DAY 10

Last day! Damn that went fast. We just wanna say thank you to Mike, Lou & Tommy for all of their hard work & energy!!!!! Thanks guys! Lots of thoughts...feeling really satisfied & also a little bummed. Finished the nite with diner & some drinks with Mike. We talked about the strategy for getting this awesome record out to the world. Lots of great ideas so stayed tuned take the trip with us. It's gonna be awesome!

The band + Mike + Lou - Tommy :(

It came down to this....

and this....

and this. :(

Til next time!! xoxox The AME!