Monday, July 15, 2013

Is It Wrong?

Is it wrong to watch a TV series over and over and over again just because you like the music?

Well, if it's wrong, then I don't want to be right...

Rosemary & Thyme

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Studio Remodel

I have been working so hard and waiting so long to be able to do this. Every "extra" penny from the day job has gone into savings, and now my studio room is finally remodeled.




























Before:
When I moved in, most of the house was in good, vintage condition and just needed a little patching, paint and minor freshening up. But this room was a different story. It's the larger of the two bedrooms, and it had been "updated" at some point in its history. It had dingy, dark carpet, some very unfortunate faux-wood paneling, and a completely intolerable drop ceiling. It's an old house, and I knew there would be trouble lurking under all that grim decor. So when my friend and I removed everything, we weren't at all surprised to find large cracks in the plaster, damage from a former roof leak, and split floorboards. Sadly, all the good "before" pictures were lost when my computer crashed a couple of years ago, so this is all the proof I have:











 






It was pretty bad, and even though I really like doing physical home-improvement work, this job was way out of my league. Experts had to be called in. I was a nervous wreck the first week, but then I began to trust.


During:
Day 1: Demolition.
Whoa. They tore it up! When I got home at the end of the day, I knew that I would never have been able to do this myself. At least not without causing myself a great deal of distress. I was so happy, because they uncovered almost two feet of additional space in the ceiling.


 


When I went over to the windowsill, I could tell that this nail had been being such a jerk all day long. Just look at him. What a menace! He needs to be defenestrated.


Day 2: Removal.
After the demolition, a mystic portal opened and delivered an additional crew of guys who hauled all the debris away. I almost wish I could've left it this way, but there were several reasons why that wasn't possible.























Day 3 - 4: Rebuilding.

The core crew came back and framed in the walls and ceiling, attached nailers to the brick, installed insulation, and ran all new electrics.


















Day 5 - 8: Surfaces.

Sheetrock was installed on all the walls and the ceiling, then mudded and primed. Also, 3/4" plywood was installed to create a totally solid, squeak-free floor. There is nothing worse than a squeaky floor when you're trying to record vocals.



Day 8 - 10: Finishing.
Trims, outlets and light switches were installed, and the floor was filled and sanded.


























And then... I painted!



























Since my house is small, this room might need to serve a few other purposes besides just recording, but I won't know until I have everything organized. I have to admit, though: part of me wants to leave it completely empty. Sigh...

But that's crazytalk! So I've told that part of myself to shut the hell up and start moving things in!


Friday, July 5, 2013

We Said 'Yeah!'

And then we said "Hell, yeah!!!"

Kings of the Mic Tour, July 2, 2013, at Stubb's in Austin, Texas.

It was a quadruple bill consisting of De La Soul, Public Enemy, Ice Cube and LL Cool J. Can you believe it!? It was so completely great. Every single second was crazy! A few of my favorite moments were when Ice Cube surprised us with his verse from NWA's "Straight Outta Compton," and when LL Cool J did "Loungin (Who Do Ya Luv)." And before the show, Chuck D was out amidst the crowd, sweetly posing for pictures with people. It was one of the few times in my life that I really wished I had brought a camera.