Road Ravings: 191,000
Road Ravings: 191,000 miles
Hello there. I bet you're wondering why you haven't heard from us in a while. Unless you were on a cruise ship that left Miami bound for the Bahamas a couple of weeks ago, you probably haven't heard or seen from The Sixers since last year. I know, it's been a while, but I'm not going to sit here and type this road journal full of apologies. The Sixers never apologize! OK, we do, but only when were 100% wrong and there is no doubt. In this case, we are doing right by you. We've been creating, formulating and churning and pasturizing a new album for you and it's taking a hell of a lot of time.
With our albums in the past, we've had a similar formula. Find a studio, book the studio for 10-14 days, spend two of the days loading our gear and getting "sounds"* and then whatever time is left is purely dedicated to making the most stressful and unnerving record we could possibly make. Of course, they didn't turn out that bad, but at the time such is the feeling of imminent doom...
To counteract our previous experiences, we're making this album very differently. When it's all said and done we will have been in five different studios, worked with three different producers and produced "sounds" like no other "sounds" we've heard ourselves play in the studio before. I know this "sounds" crazy, but don't think this record will be "sans" Sixer "sound", because it's still there for your listening pleasure. Enough of talky, talky. Let me let you inside my CAMERA PHONE!
Let us introduce you to Sir Tom Schick. He was actually knighted in his native land of Cleveland, Ohio, but doesn't like to talk about it in fear he might be labeled the "American Elton John", which we don't quite understand. He also refuses to have his picture taken in focus, which is too clear in these pictures... Not really.
All you have to do is Wikipedia Tom's name (without the "Sir", for obvious reasons...) and you can see all the projects he's worked on and why we were so inclined to do the business with him. We've been getting a lot of work done and having a ball doing so. A majority of the Schick sessions have been done in this small, but quaint little studio in the lower east side of Manhattan. What was once probably a tenement (and that's a positive description of the size of this place), was converted by its owner** into a wonderful studio, albeit its liberal and unconventional wiring system***
Now my friends, without further speculation, here is Sam Kassirer (right) and his hardworking sidekick engineer Brandon (left). Sam owns a wonderful studio (picture shown above, please add 20 inches of snow for accuracy...) up in the middle of no where Maine where because of its lack of contact with the outside world, work gets done. There was no television, Internet or cell phone reception, which created zero distractions. I did fear Kathy Bate's character from Misery might shoot out at me at any moment, but that kept me and the other Sixers on their toes... Sam has done great work with our friends Josh Ritter and Erin McKeown, so we were very eager to work with him. In this picture, Sam looks tired. Cabin fever...
So, there are three more studios and a couple of more months left of getting this album together and when it's done, we will be very proud to give it to you. For the month of March we're heading overseas to play for the boys and gals of our military, but when we get back I hope you see more us and we see more of you, just like it should be... But until then!
boots
* This tends to be the bane of our existence. The first day of the Glassjaw sessions, zero music was recorded because we couldn't get the drums in tune.
** The owner of this recording studio we have nicknamed Cheevers. He is an omniscient character and his presence can be felt in every nook and cranny...
*** Most conventional wiring systems have outlets (XLR inputs for all you gearheads)for cables to be plugged into in one area, this way if you have to rewire something, you know where to go to plug an unplug said wire. In this recording studio, Cheevers, ever the eccentric decided to put these outlets everywhere in the studio. EVERYWHERE. There are outlets in the ceiling and floor, outlets in the kitchen, outlets in the bathroom... I guess this comes in handy if you want to record in the bathroom or kitchen, but we never needed too... Innerestin'.