Back on a Bike

I acquired a nice use bicycle last week through craigslist and I've been riding like crazy. I haven't owned a bike in over 10 years, and I had no idea how much I had missed it. I used to ride all the time as a child and a young man, even once doing the Bike Across Kansas event with my dad, which is easily one of my all time favorite memories. There is a freedom and adventure that comes from a bike, and I'm glad to be back.

I've used it to get to and from work a couple times already, and it's by far my happiest commuting experience. I ride to the subway at hollywood and vine, then catch the subway to the valley and ride to work. On the way home I've learned to pedal through the Barham pass and down around the Hollywood Reservoir. It takes about 55 minutes from work to my front door, only 20 minutes more than a car on a normal day, and by the time I'm home I have bug stains on my teeth.

here's hoping

finally

Finished?

I'm grooving in my office, taking one last listen to what may be the final mix/master of the S no S album "10 Digits". Two tracks into the listen and thus far I'm very happy. Shitty work speakers and still I'm not cringing. I'm so glad to finally be releasing this album from me, and me from it, though for the most part it was pretty painless. The songwriting was spread out over a long period of time, so it didn't feel labored. The studio was working well throughout recording, another blessing. I learned a lot this time around, it's my first totally computer (DAW) recorded project done solo by me. getting into track 3. "Who Killed Love". I love Adrienne Pearson's vocal contribution to this track, makes me very happy. Track 4, this one was a beast, but it has the distinction of having the most guest appearances of any S no S record. It started out sparse, and I've worked on it a lot, trying to get it to live up to it's potential. Ronnie's rhythm guitar is great and Angie belting out the chorus with me really drives the narrative home. This is a pretty overt attempt at telling a fictional narrative story in a pop song, something I've sort of saved for the folkier efforts in the past. Devin's organ solo at the end is insane. there are possibly 2 things that I will still have to fix on this one. that's ok. track 5. Far Out With You. This recording has been in the bag for a while, all I really needed to do was re-sing it. Track 6. Shake Off the Fever. This song tripped me out, I was surprised at the different places it took me, it's an emotional turning point in the album, perhaps one of my most positive songs to date. Look at me looking up! maybe I need to turn this vocal down a bit in verse one. it never ends. ;) This is the song that made me realize I had an album coming together, and that it had to be S no S. That solo is funny. Track 7. Under the Weather, I've considered dropping this song a few times, but I like parts of it so much that I deal with the parts I don't. i cranked the bass down last night and that helped. track 8. Dream a Memory, another tune that's been labored over and in the end, it's whatever it became, which I like but I'm not 100% confident that the song ended up being what it wanted to be. It's a different tone though, and it began by sounding like a lot of the other stuff on the album. track 9. Taming the Itch - this song was the second or third song I started working on when I got my computer back about 5 years ago. It's been patiently waiting for release for a long time. I did a bit of adjustment and re-singing, in January. I also added the whip crack and dropped a guitar part. Track 10. The Reckoning. I didn't think much of this song until Angela heard it and loved it, then I took another pass and had Devin add the chorus synth line, which set it off. Sounds good in finished form. Track 11. The Pen and the Twist - another song I've considered dropping. I've thought that perhaps I would enjoying fleshing it out further, and I may still, but I'm happy with how this version fits this batch of songs. sonically it's maybe the weakest tune here, it's a deep cut though, what ya gonna do? S no S is always more possible than perfect, guaranteed. Track 12. I'm a Mutation. ug... hearing this now makes me think it could be more perfecter. maybe not... this one has been the biggest pain in the ass. track 13 Ending of the End. I think this is done. ok, 3 tracks to slightly fix out of 13. I can do that and release this bastard next tuesday. april 9th. 4/9/13

Single Digit Countdown

I've been working on 10 Digits, the new album for my S no S project pretty steadily in 2013. It is nearly ready to go. The songwriting and demoing for the album has slowly taken place over the last 4 years or so. Many songs were originally written for Turbo Sunshine, but ultimately they did not fit that project. Over the last 4 or 5 months I've taken the demos and some new tracks and attempted to polish them, which is really a process of removing the bits that were annoying in some sense or another, and replacing them with bits that were not. Last night I believe I cleared the last major hurdle of removing a part I couldn't live with and replacing it with one I could. I plan now to make one last mix, and if all goes well I will call it done, release the thing and get back to working on the Turbo Debut and a couple on off commission works for a certain fabulous burlesque dancer. Fans of S no S do not despair, this is not a last gasp of S no S, but a brand new beginning. I hope that this is the opening volley of an all out audio onslaught the likes of which was last seen from me in the very early 2000s. Above is the original draft of the 10 Digits art work provided by my brother Devin. I've since changed a few song titles and tweaked the track order. The artwork concept is being tweaked as well.