11.26
DIARY BY GEOFF (the Real Story behind Making of the CD):
Day 1- Oh man this will be great, a whole week to record and kick back. Cook our own meals, go hang out in Northampton, try some new musical ideas out and finish the project. I just know we’ll be working 10-15 hours a day to get this done. I’m bringing food, guitars, beer, mixer, mic, cords, recorder etc. etc. I know Topper will be thrilled!
Day 2- Dan got here and we set up all the gear and organized the space. It was late when we got done so we hung out and drank some beer and talked about the production and what needed to be re-done. We’ll start for real about 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Day 3- Overslept and didn’t get done with breakfast until about 12:30. Started to record some guitar tracks but got this wicked hum that we couldn’t fix. When we finally got rid of the hum a neighbor called and complained about the noise. Rowen apologized and we had to close up the house. It’s hot as hell in here. Recorded about one hour and took a break for dinner around 9:00 p.m. After dinner I did the dishes while Rowen watched TV and Danny read a book. Tried to do some vocals but packed it in around 11:00. Better luck tomorrow.
Day 4- Got up early when Topper started to scratch the shit out of his ears next to my bed. Everyone else stayed asleep until around 11:30. Started to record guitar tracks but Danny got frustrated and his ears were hurting so we stopped. Still haven’t got anything to keep. After dinner we tried vocals but my throat is scratchy from the pot last night. Boy, does my voice suck! Well, there’s always tomorrow.
Day 5- Gorgeous day! Got up and decided to crack a beer! Cool man, just like Jim Morrison. Maybe it’ll help the vibe. Started to work around 2:30. Rowen needed to stop for food around 3:30 and we kept drinking beer in the sun. Wow! Too drunk to sing, Dan’s ears hurt too much to do guitar. Going to bed early. No keepers today.
Day 6- fucking dog started whining around 5:30. Man does my head hurt. I feel like puking. If I eat gruel again I know I will. I think I’ll just lay in the sun and try to recoup, screw the recording.
Day7- Dan’s decided his playing sucks and doesn’t ever want to play any solo’s again ever. Rowen insists on singing three or four lead vocals or else he doesn’t want any more involvement in the project. The neighbor called again and complained. Rowen told her to go fuck herself and we pointed the P.A. speakers out the window and played the 1812 Overture for three hours at about 110 db. Dan drank about a fifth of scotch and passed out at the dining room table. Topper took a piss on my bass and growled at me when I yelled at him. Rowen wants to reprise “tornado victims” as the intro to the CD. I tried a vocal, but everything I sing sounds like bad Tom Waits.
Day 8- Hard drive crashed in the middle of an eight track bounce. The Undo function on the machine isn’t undo-ing. We basically lost all the tracks we worked on for the last 5 days. Dan is now wearing double foam plugs in each ear and covering his ear with the hearing protective headphones. Rowen keeps looping the Indian chant in ACID and trying to sing along. We’re outta beer and it’s still early Saturday night.
Day9 – Ran out of beer and scotch last night. No packies open today. Dan got up, grabbed his guitar and threw it off the deck. He tried to find a hammer to “fix” the recorder but Rowen and I tackled him. Topper decided to chew up my guitar cords while I slept last night.
I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.
Day 10- That’s it. If I never see these fuckheads again it’ll be too soon. This was the worst idea ever! I got up, kicked a hole in each of Rowen’s monitors and took a piss into Dan’s amp. Wait till he turns that piece of shit on. Creative block my ass. I’m outta here right after I put a box of exlax in the dog’s bowl.