Thursday Afternoon and Evening

The little studio in the basement was hopping this sunny, summer afternoon. I laid the foundation for two new tracks. The first one was penned for the new Squeaky and the Futures release. I decided to use a drum machine for some of the tracking. Usually, I prefer to record all of the drum tracks myself but decided to try something different this time. I used the drum patterns from the Casio keyboard unit I have been working with. The track itself is an upbeat pop-type song. I added some bass and phantom organ to the drum track.  We will probably add some guitar later on when Tony gets back from holiday. I was able to start another track the other day but the girls were not interested in participating. The tune is a happy punk kind of thing. It will require some severe attention before it is unveiled to the anxious, waiting public.

The second tune is more of an urban beat type of thing. I used an interesting hip-hop rhythm pattern on the drum sequence. Then, added a keyboard sound that was more like the quality of a really distorted electric guitar. A heavy bass guitar joined the fray shortly thereafter. The vision for the track was to have a dense groove flowing through the whole tune. The end of the track just kind of happened. I started speeding up the beat gradually until things get frantic. A keyboard track melts into this wall of colors and notes, sounding totally psychedelic. The coda rolls on for about two minutes after the basic groove has washed away. I am thinking about making this one a Junebug production and have my friend Aaron freestyle over the tune. 

Back to the first tune, it is now called "Soccer Song". Roxy and I wrote the lyrics tonight at a late night session. The kid was up recording until 11:30 p.m.(don't tell her Mom). We got lyrics and vocals for the "Soccer Song" down. Roxy added a cool Glockenspiel vibe to the tune as well. Then, I played her the first song I recorded today and she came up with the chorus on the spot. We both did vocal tracks for this one as well(chorus only). The song has a nice hook to it and we will write the verses with Squeaky tomorrow sometime. Squeaks will do her vocal parts soon as well for these tunes. All in all, a productive day at I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement studios.