I was checking my Myspace page earlier this afternoon, trying to keep up with all of the fabulous offers, media requests, messages from chix and general business nonsense that is funneled through it when I spotted an ad on my home page that asked "Are You Hotter Than Miley Cyrus?" and prompted me to push the flashing button to find out.

I think we have a title for the new Huck record.  I'm not sure yet because I texted Scott my idea and he texted back "yes,"  so maybe there's a title, or maybe Scott just has a very agreeable automated response on his phone.  I'll wait until I talk to him before I reveal anything.

Scott is playing at Vincent's tonight, and I think he'll be there every Tuesday night for the next few weeks.  Stop by and you might hear a few of the new songs, stripped down bare, the way Scott heard them in his head when the Song Faerie whispered them in his ear.

I'm home.

Nine days in West Boylston with Huck, watching four very talented people record a new album.  I ate too much junk, drank too much caffeine, took enough prescribed painkillers to fell a small horse, and was chased around Scott and Maro's house by Darth Vader's retired older brother.  I needed a couple of days to decompress before writing anything here.

Coming home was no treat.  I'd left a lot of things hanging when I walked away from it all to spend time with the band, and all of it was here to confront me when I got back. 

I filled two litter boxes with clean cat litter before I left.  Apparently the cat had a difficult time deciding which one to use, so in her Solomonic wisdom, she chose to go between the two of them most of the time.  The "Odor Control Crystals" I'd invested in don't work unless they actually come in direct contact with cat crap; if there's something offensive in the air beyond the perimeter of the cat box, it's none of their concern.  The two cat boxes, if you care to put your face close enough to them, smelled like a breath of spring.  The rest of my office did not.

I asked the post office to hold my mail instead of stuffing it into my tiny post office box while I was away.  At some point before my return, perhaps the morning I told them I'd be back in town, someone gathered up all the mail that had been set aside for me, rolled it into a tight log, and pounded it into my mailbox with a mallet.  I had to rent the box next to mine so I could drill from the side to relieve pressure before I could extract all of the mail.  Luckily, as is usually the case, most of the mail they put in my box wasn't for me.  I took my pile of fusilli-mail with me and left most of the log on the counter in the post office.

I still haven't listened to the rough mixes of this new album.  I listened to it being recorded, and listened as Roger mixed the tracks as we went along, giving us all an idea of what the final product would sound like.  It's really going to be a fantastic record once it's mixed and mastered, but I need to give my ears a rest, to put a little distance between the recording sessions and my first listen outside the studio.  Paul sent me the latest mixes - they're in my mailbox, waiting for me when I'm ready.

I'm still surprised and happy that the band and Roger got so much done in about a week.  This is the fifth album I've put out by this band, and I don't think we've ever had as productive a string of days as we just did at Tremolo Lounge.  There is one song still in limbo, and there are some vocals still to be recorded, but the album is nearly ready for a final mix only a couple of weeks after they began to record basic tracks.  Is it possible that the final step to superstardom could be this painless?  Is this the one?  That would be nice - I ordered my Ferrari this morning.

Scott has once again come forward with another collection of very cool pop songs.  I've loved his music since the first time I heard it, and this new album is no exception.  He's so excited about it that he wants to release some rough mixes on Myspace, but I think I'd like to wait.  Yep, I'm the bad guy.  No, it's not ready yet, now go outside and play until I call you in.

I take nothing away from Scott when I note that Paul's fingerprints are all over this record.  He's really come into his own with this band, helping to mold Scott's ideas and offering some of his own, and this true collaboration is exciting to witness.

Danny once again offers his rock solid performance behind the drums.  Scott decided a while ago that he didn't want to over-rehearse the songs before they came to the studio, thinking instead that if he could keep Paul and Dan a little off balance they might bring something fresh to this project.  They did.  Dan's rock steady sensibilities still shine through, but he had to make decisions on the fly in the studio, and his playing sounds inspired.

Of course none of this would come together as well as it has without Roger steering us all in the right direction.  The band uses many references to other musicians or bands as a shorthand when talking about music, and I heard them in the studio:  one song is wide open like a Who song, another has a riff reminiscent of Sugar, and I played the tambourine like Liberace.  Very soon, if they don't already, musicians will reference Roger much the same way, perhaps telling their producer to "make it sound like it was recorded at Tremolo."  If they're smart, they'll go directly to the source.

I'm rambling now, and if there was a video to go along with this post it would show me at my desk in my office at 10:15pm, drinking a Diet Coke and pounding away on this keyboard.  Not much to look at, but that's what I do.

So Sunday has arrived and Huck now departs from the nest that has been Tremolo Lounge for the last nine days.

Here is my summary.

We are all very very tired. I know that I am desparately trying to get the studio cleaned up and ready for the next session so I can go home and sleep for 12 hours. Colin has actually been sleeping for about 12 hours every day this week, but that is due to the illness that he and Paul seem to have been passing back and forth all week. Today, Scott is complaining of feeling nauseous. That could just be his breakfast, but I think it's safe to say that all of us could use a little rest.

We are all very happy. Listening to all the rough mixes on my way to a gig an hour and a half south of home, I was so thrilled with the quality of what we did on many levels. First off, the songs are really good. I was just about to start listing song titles and announcing how great the lyrics are, but I realized that I would have to say that about every song (except "Kobyashi Maru" which is just a chant of those two words over and over. I might suggest that Scott sings "ken lee/tulibu dibu douchoo." We purposely kept the overall production from ever getting too over-produced. Of course, the line between produced and over-produced is constantlychanging, but I think we did a great job of keeping things simple, yet still sounding powerful.

When I listen back to the roughs, I don't hear anything extraneous, and I don't hear anything lacking, as far as arrangements are concerned. There's nothing wrong with building up the tracks with layers of cool ear-candy overdubs if it's what the music requires, but the mantra this week was not "what else can we add", but "does this need anything more than is already there?" With rare exception, the answer was no. Today, we added tambourine (played expertly by a still-under-the-weather Colin) and a first for a Huck record: harmonica. We added two really effective harp tracks played by our good friend Craig Rawding.

We are also sad. Any time you are holed-up with a crew like this, you grow very acustomed to every day being like this. Now that I'm left alone in the studio, alone with Mr. Henry, that is, it's sadly quiet and It feels much more like parting with your best schoolmates for summer vacation than it feels like the end of a job.

We are also sad because it has been a hard week in some ways. Speaking for myself, luckily my week-long lockout project coincided with my girlfriend being away on a week vacation. I felt a little less guilty about not getting home at a reasonable hour every night, but I still missed her and I look forward to her return tomorrow.

We also lost a great presence in our local music scene this week, Ralph Moberly, who was the man behind the legendary Worcester rock club that bears his name to this day. I was unable to attend any of the services/celebration of his life that went on all day yesterday, but Scott and Paul were there to wish Ralph well in his travels beyond this mortal coil, as they say. To quote the song "Dear Elliott", "I want to wish you all the best. Please get some rest."

We ate better than usual. Huck sessions are typically begun by asking "so what are we eating?" This time around, we give major props to Paul's dad who kept our fridge stocked with some fantastic homemade pasta fagioli, rigatoni and meatballs, chili and american chop suey. Thanks to all those comfort foods, we didn't have room to finish the five or six bags of various chips that have been sitting on the shelf. I think I did polish off the bag of Bugles, but I swear that there were only a handful left. We also ate a good amount of fruit this week, which helps to balance the toxic amounts of Starbucks that we were drinking.

I'm confident in saying that this CD is going to be a new favorite for a lot of people. For now, we're keeping it to ourselves, so don't burn a bunch od copies of the rough mixes to give to your friends, Scott.

Good night, you Princes of Tremolo Lounge, you Kings of West Boylston.

Roger, producer

So saturday was a second day of recording and giging for both the band and Roger. We started to feel a little sad that it was all coming to an end. The day consisted of very light work, singing along to cartoon themes and trying not sad that for the first time in eight days Mr Henry was not at the studio.

We played a very special event for a local legend who passed away a couple weeks ago. Ralph Moberly was the original owner of Ralph's Chadwick Sq Diner, a legendary Worcester club. There was a great piece writtien in the Worcester T&G about Ralph.  It was a day long celebration of his life that started with services in the morning, a parade from the church to his former club (with clowns and all) followed by 12 hours of music and celebration at the club. We were honored to be one of the acts asked to play. You will see some of the show at the end of the video

So today started off much like any other day this week. Back to the old Tremolo Lounge. Scott, Roger and I laid down some vocals... well tried to. We did get some done but our voices have been suffering for the past couple days. I guess you never do expect to come down with a cold while you are in the studio. It was still productive though. We had a good friend of ours from Boston, Evelyn Pope, "phoned in" some backing vocals on one of our songs. We are hoping to add full versions of them as we get to mix down. You can check out her and her Husband's amazing band Ashby . We are also hoping to take advantage of Craig Rawding's offer for some backgrounds and harmonica work. If you have never heard Craig, he is one of the most talented singers this area has ever seen. Check out his new band The Generators

So we had to cut the day in the studio a little short today. Roger had a gig down at Foxwoods and we actually had a gig booked for the night also. Since we were short on video footage from the studio we decided to take the camera to the show. The audio isn't great but since we have been letting everyone in on our everyday lives lately we might as well keep rolling.

So some how I developed a pretty bad sinus problem that turned into a head cold the last two days. I just took some Nyquil so I figure I have about ten minutes to write before I pass out and start drooling on the keyboard.

What did we do today? Well I took a nap and Scott did a bunch of vocals. Our uber producer Roger also laid a bunch of background vocals for us and a good friend Nicole stopped by and added some also while she was there. It is becoming somewhat collaborative with everyone in and out and I can see in the next few days more outside talent coming in for some help

I don't want to jinx anything here but there is something very special happening in this studio now. Friends have been stopping by and lending their talents and I can feel Roger cooking up some great things. We're very lucky to have wonderfully talented and creative friends to come along on this trip.

"And during the few moments that we have left...we want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand."

~Malcolm X

Paul Dagnello and Roger Lavallee both speak the language of people who are obsessed with music and the gear used to make it.  I try to listen and learn, but their references are often so esoteric that it's obvious that I'm only pretending to know what they're talking about.  My contributions are little more than echolalic gibberish, and I usually have to wait until they return to speaking English before I can really join the conversation.
 
Paul also showed us his talent for songwriting when he took a song that Scott had written that wasn't working out very well at all and turned it into one of the better songs on the album.  If the song Scott wrote was an article of clothing, it would be a pair of footy pajamas with three legs and a three-button poo-hatch in the back.  Scott discarded it, Paul fished it out of the trash, and with some alteration, a nip here, a tuck there, and a few sequins, voila:
 
Hammer pants!
 
It's not quite like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but he did manage to make the musical equivalent Hammer pants out of footy pajamas, which was a pretty impressive thing to witness.  We're all very excited about the song now, and when Roger finishes mixing it I think it will be another pop gem from Huck.
 
Scott is digging the Hammer pants.  He's dancing from side to side around the studio, his fists on his hips, shouting "Don't touch me!"  Paul corrected him a couple of times, saying "It's can't touch this," but Scott won't listen.
 
Wait until he realizes that Paul sewed the poo-hatch shut.

We had a nice new video to put up but according to YouTube they are in the process of "site maintenance". So hopefully things will be up and running when we return tomorrow and we will post it then. I know... heartbreak.