Ghost of the Sea...now with glockenspiel

Ok, so the glockenspiel isn't going to be an integral part to the repertoire, but I threw a little bit into a new track we recorded today, and I must say it adds a little zazz to the sound. The song is titled "Vibrant Lighthouses." Odd name, I know, but it's definitely one of those "inside" things. In fact, I think it only makes sense to me and one other person.

Recording went very well today. In addition to laying down the guitar parts to two more songs ("Vibrant Lighthouses" and "Change of Seasons"), we threw down some harmonica parts for "Leaves" and "Meet Me at the Gate." I've been getting progressively more excited as the weeks go by. The songs are starting to take shape, and it feels good to hear them recorded. I find I'm taking a much more critical look at my writing; it's hard to critique your work when all you're doing playing it live.

Chuck and I will be getting together again Thursday to go over the bass parts for what we have, and next Monday I'll be doing the vocals for the six songs we've recorded so far. By the time the sessions are all said and done, we should have a solid album of ten to twelve Ghost of the Sea songs for your listening pleasure.

That's about it for me tonight. Keep checking out the MySpace for continuing updates (and friend requests?). In case you forgot the link:

Ghost of the Sea on MySpace

Until next time...

--P

second round

Today marked the second day of recording. After spending my morning running errands, I once again hopped the 113 to Uptown. On the way, I listened to my recently acquired Jeffrey Lewis album, "The Last Time I Did Acid, I Went Insane." I saw this guy at The Varsity last year when he opened up for The Cribs. He's one of the funniest, personable guys I've seen live. Do yourself a favor and check him out.

It was a bit colder today, and my hands did not feel up to the task of playing guitar right away. But, after spending a few minutes inside, they started to warm up again. I decided to re-record "Leaves," the song you may have heard on the MySpace page. It took me quite a few takes to get it sounding exactly the way I wanted it. My fingers did not want to play transition from the chorus to the bridge, so that took most of the session. In the end, though, it turned out beautifully. Once Alain mixed some reverb into the equation, the song began to take shape. I laid down some slide guitar parts, because I knew they'd flush out easily. By the time the basics of "Leaves" was sounding the way I wanted, our session had come to an end. The whole ordeal took a few hours, but it was well worth it. I can't wait to finish it up and give you all a preview.

I've been playing along with the songs we've recorded the last couple of sessions to get the rest of the instrumentation down. I'm very excited to start putting vocals in along with some harmonicas and random other instruments.

That's it from me today. Short post, but I feel it should be. Everything is running so smoothly, I'm not sure what else to say. Until next time...

--P

holy crap, we got a myspace

Yup, you heard correctly. This is where I'll be posting the tracks once they've been deemed worthy of internet posting. I've decided to go under the guise "Ghost of the Sea." Let me know what you think. Its a play off of "Sea Ghost" by The Unicorns (one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands). The reason I'm not going under "Perry Hemmingsen" is due to the fact that I'll eventually be playing with a group of friends and like-minded individuals. Also, band names are fun, right?

Don't expect too much from this MySpace page yet...I still need to get some pics up, along with a bio and such. Anyway, I'll shut up now and give you the link:

http://www.myspace.com/ghostofthesea

--P

first session

I woke up at 11:30am to catch the 12:10 bus to Uptown for my first recording session with Alain. It was a beautiful February day; the thermometer did not dip beneath 40, and I thought it was the beginning of Spring for a brief second. Alain had everything set up when I arrived, so I didn't need to do anything except start playing his guitar. I used his Gibson so I did't have to lug my Fender around on the bus, which would inevitibley piss countless of MetroTransit passengers off. The acoustic guitar sounded beautiful. "That's what 40-year-old wood will do for you..." commented Alain. He had just replaced the strings, which provided a sharp juxtaposition to the body's warm character.

After chatting over Earl Grey tea for a few minutes, Alain and I adjourned to our resepective rooms: his with the computer, mixer, and mirad of recording machinery, and mine with a guitar, a chair, and a mic. He asked me what I wanted to play first. I responded with "this one." I have a terrible habit of not naming my songs, so I had to come up with some titles on the spot. I don't play shows, so I've never had to formally introduce my music. Thusly, every title is only a placeholder until I can think of something better.

So I titled it "Coming Home." It's a darker, folky song that reminds me of traveling to forget. Kinda bluesy, and a little Johnny Cashy. After 3 or 4 takes, I felt like I had it down. Onto song #2. Of course, I only had a working title for this one as well. It's one of the first songs I wrote that I feel is good enough to still play. I wrote it when I was listening to a lot of Saturday Looks Good to Me, so it invariably follows a poppy little I-vi chord progression. I think it's cute. This one was easy to lay down because I've played it so many times. This was basically the pattern for the third song as well. I wrote the third one (still untitled, of course) almost simultaneously with the aforementioned song, so I've had two years of playing it under my belt.

All in all, the recording session only took about two hours. I'm not sure if this is consistent with other artists or not; I've heard of guitarists taking eight hours for one track. But I felt good about them, and I think I served the songs justice.

I'm meeting up with Chuck sometime this week to go over bass parts. Alain sent me the three tracks, and I've been listening to them and playing along with my harmonica to see what fits where. I've thrown in some slide guitar as well, and it's starting to come together in my head. I have to hit up the hardware store for some various percussion (chain, copper tubing, etc.). In my mind, it sounds awesome. Hopefully, it comes out that way.

Until next week.

I'm an adult now?

It's been a good week. Numero uno, I accepted a job offer with Open Access Technology International in Minnetonka, which means I'm employed right after graduation AND I get to stay in the Cities. It sounds like Notsch and I will be sharing an apartment, which is awesome. I'm looking at the Loring Park area. It's beautiful down there, plus it's only a block or so away from Nicollet Mall. Secondly, I'll be going into the studio on Monday to lay down some tracks. Alain wants to spend a few months recording and mixing something, so it works out perfect. This is kind of the reason I started this blog. As lame as it may sound, I wanted to document my time writing and recording an entire "album" (I guess you could call it), since I've never done something this extensive before. So, be prepared to hear all about those exploits. I've been writing pretty solidly recently, which makes me feel productive. I also dropped $300 on new harmonicas, so that's a definite plus. It will be a pretty interesting collection of songs, I think. I'll throw some links up once things are moving along, and probably start up a MySpace page, considering I'll be looking at playing some shows as well.

The one thing that has been killing me is school. Not that it's been difficult, it's just that I've had a hell of a time trying to get motivated to study. Now that I have a job, I don't feel I really need to worry about anything but getting my degree. Although I think I may have snapped out of that today. I was destroyed by an in-class quiz, and I didn't even finish the assigned lab because I had no idea what the hell I was doing. On the plus side, there are still plenty of grades left to compensate for what I fucked up. My neurotic side did take over for a bit, and I was convinced the 7% or so that the combined points added up to would destroy my chances of graduation.

Anyway, track listing of the week has been mainly blues and R&B. I'm talking John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, (Little) Stevie Wonder, Prince, and James Brown.

That's about it for me tonight. I'll update Monday after the first recording session.

First

So I started a new blog. Hooray for internets and hooray for time on my hands. Hopefully, I will be posting somewhat regularly. Basically, this will serve as a soundboard for random thoughts and goings-on in my life.