Holy hell, it has been one scorching summer here in Texas. I’m usually on tour in the summer and miss the brunt of it, but I’ve spent most of this summer at home sweating my ass off.
I leave in a couple of weeks to start the next Dodos tour. We start in Big Sur, loop around the country, and end in Boulder. I had a totally great time with them in June, both musically and socially. We didn’t spend much time together last summer when they supported the New Pornographers, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got in a van together. They are funny guys, great musicians, with adventurous musical tastes and a love of great food — that’s just about all I could ever hope for in tourmates!
Mixing them live was a challenge at first — there’s no bass player, and the drummer plays a kit of floor toms, a snare, and a couple of cymbals. The two guitarists also each play through two amps, so I spent the first week or so experimenting with different mics and mixing strategies. I also brought all my own microphones, as well as Z-bars and LP Claws — all I need from a club is 3 tall boom stands and mic cables, and we’re ready to go. Changeovers take all of 10 minutes, so long as the opening band gets off stage quickly. It’s really a great gig.
I’ve done a decent amount of studio stuff this summer, including a 7-day stretch this past week. The first few days were spent with two different high-school-aged bands, which were a rewarding challenge. My first-ever recording studio experience (at 16) was definitely not awesome, so I try as hard as I can to give younger bands the opposite experience.
Austin’s The Gary came down to record 5 songs this past weekend. We tracked and mixed 5 songs over the course of a lazy day and half, and I enjoyed their company and their music very very much.
Tre Orsi played a couple of shows, including one with Mission of Burma. Holy hell, THAT was exciting! We’re lying low until next year while we work on new songs and raise newborn children.
Lessee, what else? Oh, there’s this thing.