Wow it WORKS!!!

Here is a brief list of my recent discoveries:

On average it takes 3 broken microphone stands to assemble 1 functional one, similar ratios apply to guitar stands.

Scrap lumber is significantly less expensive than the stuff they sell at OSH or the Depot, particularly when you are talking plywood.

Discarded lottery tickets are not always losers, I found one good for a free ticket, which in turn became $5.

An abandoned couch will feel befriended if you put a new cover on it.

“Wash and Wear” is the term I give any article of clothing I find in a dumpster.

A lamp is not trash if it only needs a new light-bulb.

If it has a “Take Me” sign on it, the imperative at least deserves consideration.

Your wife/girlfriend really loves you if she finds a way to appreciate a gift, presented as “discarded on the street” rather than “purchased at boutique”.

“Construction Waste” is another way of saying supplies for a smaller project.

One man’s thrift store bag is another man’s ebay inventory?

No matter where life takes me financially I hope that I don’t forget these early days scraping and scrapping. Somewhat curious and somewhat fitting, that material waste is one of the predominate luxuries enjoyed by a materialistic society.

All that said I can’t wait to get out on the road and play the music we’ve been working on for people. This is certainly an opportunity afforded by a society of material wealth and for that I am certainly grateful! Yeah!

Thanks so much to Richard Hench (richardhench.com) and David Landsberger for the beautiful photos of us playing at The Mint!

Stream the pre-release single “Your Love/Not Enough” now from the Violet Lights’ homepage, myspace, or facebook pages

OR

sign up on our mailing list and download it for FREE!!!

And that’s not all we have going either!  We’ve just begun rehearsing with a full band in preparation for takin’ the ep LIVE!

Thursday — 06-01-2011 — 1000 hrs. — GMT

Amber and I successfully transfered 5 Top Secret Files to a secure server at:

Metropolis Mastering — Chiswick High Road — London — UK

…and with that our production work on the Sex & Sound EP is drawn to a close.

Thanks to Graham, Geoff, Jeb, Thom, and Baraka for the engineering efforts they contributed to the tracking and mixing phases of this project. Their focus, expertise and well trained ears have elevated the songs beyond anything my personal efforts could have achieved.

NOW — We are working ’round the clock, to put together a live show that will help us represent all the excitement, frustration and exhalation that went into the record.

I really, literally can’t wait to begin sharing this music!

-Joel

…we also happened across information that lead to the discovery of ongoing credit fraud in my name. And have begun climbing a sludgy hill of phone calls and document collecting and faxing?!? in the hopes of correcting the discontinuities in my credit history.

…and the mixing has once again been placed on hold due to the breakdown of hardware at the studio in Austin, TX. Hope to be back up and running this week sometime.

On a slightly happier note we had a nice Thanksgiving here in Santa Monica, and were very excited when Amber discovered the growth of some ice crystals on the inside of a jar containing frozen pumpkin destined to become a pie.

-Joel

So we put our life’s work into a cardboard box and shipped it off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  On the surface it seems to be questionable judgment, but in reality, not a bad call.

15 months into the recording of the Sex & Sound ep, a hard drive containing the completed tracking sessions is on its way to Mix Engineer, Justin Carl Perkins of the Mystery Room for a rock and roll mixing like you never heard.

We are excited to hear what he hears in the sessions we’ve been slaving over.  As long as USPS doesn’t lose our package we are Close, with a capital “C”.

I did send it priority mail so I’m assuming getting it to Miltown is pretty high on their list this week.  Time will tell, but for now I’m feeling pretty good about our chances!

-Joel

Jeb Lipson, the proprietor has put together an absolutely beautiful collection of vintage guitars and amps that made getting the “right sound” both easy and enjoyable.  And just like that the “Sex and Sound” choruses where big and awesome!

We are getting so close I can taste it! It tastes pretty good too, like wintergreen.

-Joel

So Graham got us moved into studio 1 and started bringing up a mix.  I joined him after fulfilling my personal assistant duties for the day and helped to fine tune some of the balances and make treatment decisions on several tracks.  However when it came to the real “mixing” Graham was the one making it happen.

We printed our final mix just shy of 2 a.m. and cleaned up the place to make way for one of the studios more recognizable clients.

When my alarm went off that same morning just after 6 am I had momentary “mixed” feelings about the whole thing, but listening back to the track we’d made got me excited for the next opportunity to get into the studio and deprive myself of some sleep!

One down four to go.

Check out the pics below to see mixing the track “Ready or Not”.

-Joel

Rock n Roll mixing begins.

Well hopefully it will begin soon.

Below are some photos from our final tracking session at the SSR.  I performed a few more vocal fixes as well as some guitar overdubs, while Amber got busy in the vocal room prettying up one of the numbers by adding a female voice.  The session was definitely a necessary one and legitimate improvements were made.  We kept doing stuff and Graham (our go to engineer) kept nodding and what not so we must have been on fire.

With any luck we’ll be back in the studio for a few days of concentrated mixing,  but regarding the tracking experience we’ve had here at the SSR,  it’s been just so damn cool,  from the staff and the vibe,  to the equipment and the live rooms,  I gotta say, this is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  When I’m at the  SSR my imagination runs away with me to places it’s rarely gone in my adult life.  The feeling of possibility is a good one and it keeps us doing all we can, in hopes of returning here to track an album!

-Joel