LIE: Status: LIE

Oh, are you still here? Wow, thanks. I've had my head stuck up my studio for so long I wasn't sure if anyone would be reading when I returned....

I've got LIE half mixed so far. I posted The Dream and All That Mattered on a production forum to get advice on my mixes. Some of the suggestions I followed, and some I didn't. However, I've now got a baseline set for the 8 others to follow. The really strange thing is that the two songs are very different but both got 'sounds like Pink Floyd' references. Don't get me wrong, I think The Wall is a fantastic album, but I don't get the comparison at all. This isn't as weird as the guy who once wrote "Matt must have a TON of Tom Petty on his iPod."
Then again, my favourite comparison was being called "Bryan Ferry on crack." This was especially flattering since his cocaine-fuelled 'Let's Stick Together' is one of the greatest pop albums of all time.

Anyway, here's the status:
All That Mattered - done
The Dream - done
Love Isn't Enough - done
What To Say - done
Swagger & Twirl - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Welcome To The Nighttime - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Home - tomorrow
Don't Pity Me - almost done, a little tweaking needed
Wow - tomorrow (hopefully - this one will be complicated. I'll be saying 'wow' once it's finished)
Burn - tomorrow

And if you're curious to hear The Dream and All That Mattered, click HERE for a temporary preview.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

When I wrote my last post, I was about to re-record the vocals to my new album. I woke up early on that Saturday morning, blogged while having my coffee, then got to work setting up for a day's recording. Mic set up, levels checked, lyric sheets found (I have a terrible memory), backing tracks levelled…
The upside to singing these songs so often during the 'development' and 'recording' stages is that I'm pretty well rehearsed at this point. I quickly ran through What To Say, All That Mattered, and Wow. Tracking took a few hours, so I stopped to give my voice a break. While resting, I started listening back. I was pretty angry when I heard the same sonic issues that made me re-record in the first place!
Then I randomly spotted a wavy icon in the corner of the monitor. WTF was that???? It turns out that I had a strange filter automatically set on all my vocal tracks! As soon as I clicked that off, the original tracks sounded great. I didn't need to redo all those songs. I guess this is one of those errors that they teach you to avoid if you actually get propper schooling for this task...

So now I'm half-way through the mixes, and getting more and more excited by the day.

More good news: Jonathan Barrie has offered to create the album cover. I've been a big fan (and a close friend) for years now, and I'm flattered that he's interested in this project. He listened to my rough demos for inspiration, and came back with some fantastic ideas! He also had some new questions about my sanity, but that's a whole other story... One sketch was so good that it inspired a name-change. The album will now be titled "LIE: Love Isn't Enough." Once you see the cover, you'll understand the need for change.

Anyway, back into the darkest depths of the studio. See you soon!