Matthew J Barnhart

A big ice storm blew in last night, slowing most of North Central Texas to a crawl — schools and government offices are closed, no one’s on the roads. A perfect time to update the site, I suppose.

I spent the past two weekends recording a new EP (possibly half an album) with The Distant Seconds from Austin. I did an LP for them last year (Spectral Evidence), and we all got along famously.

The modus operandi for this session was “quick, almost dashed-off”, but as the saying goes, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy”. Still, setup was relatively quick, and we were tracking by about 3pm on Saturday. I tried a few different microphones for the drum recording this time, all in the pursuit of something closer to The Blank Generation or Chairs Missing:

• Kick: Electro-voice RE20 on the full front head. Typically, I use an AKG D112 or a large diaphragm condensor in this application. I used the RE20 for a more direct, mid-rangey tone, rather than the slightly hyped sound of the D112 or overly warm tube condensors
• Snare: Beyer M201 on top, rather than Shure KSM141.
• Toms: Sennheiser MD421. Typically, I use two condensors, top and bottom, on each tom, but the MD421 is really useful in these situations. (I also used these for the Great Tyrant recordings.)
• Overheads: Coles 4038, close to the cymbals. Often, I use the overheads to get a full image of the kit, but this time I really wanted a lot of detail on the cymbals. The Coles, being ribbons. are much smoother than condensors typically used here, and also have excellent transient response.
• Ambience: Neumann CMV 563 w/ M7S capsule for Mid, Soundelux e49 for Side, 4′ in front of the kit. Been playing around with these a bit, previously on the Handbrake LP and the Tre Orsi tour EP. This setup provides a nice ambience that’s not as explosive as widely-spaced omnis on the floor. In our main room, though, I think the omnis work better more often.

We also did all of the vocals through a Shure SM7, Daking pre-amp, and Purple Audio MC77. I really love this setup, though I often use another pre-amp that’s less forward in mid-range.

We finished tracking everything (including quite a few keyboard a guitar overdubs) by Sunday evening, finishing early enough for the guys to drive home to Austin that night and get a few hours’ sleep before work Monday morning. The next weekend, Matt, Charlie, and Kirk trickled in, one-by-one. We re-cut a few vocals and then started tearing through the mixes. Things went very quickly from here on out, and the last mix was printed around 8pm on Sunday.

Next up for me: a lot of mastering this week (including a new Fishboy album), then sessions with Tre Orsi, Beautiful Supermachines, and The Me-Thinks in February. Then I head out with A.C. Newman for a couple of US tours.

Also, I just finished mastering Daniel Folmer’s new album, The Roaring Twenties. This is the third album I’ve done for him in a year or so. Very prolific! Great singer, and very insightful songs. He’s playing a record release show this week in Denton at The Hydrant Café, then another at Good Records.

My year has been off to a slow start, thanks to a wicked case of the plague that’s been going around Denton for the past couple of weeks. Rather than writing songs for the new Tre Orsi album, practicing, and fixing stuff at the studio, I’ve been home, congested, watching Netflix movies and playing poker.

I have managed to accomplish a few things: I spent four long days tracking with Nervous Curtains. The amount of overdubs and edited planned meant that we went straight into Cubase rather than to tape. Typically, when a band has an ambitious list of overdubs and very little time in the studio, I get worried, but the band was on top of things at all times, and tore through their to-do list like an army. Hats off to them.

Mixing for that album will be done by Sean’s Paper Chase band-mate, John Congleton. I’m really excited to hear the final album, especially their transcendent cover of “Jesus and Tequila”.

I’ve also been doing a lot of prep work for the A.C. Newman tours — creating itineraries, scheduling flights, arranging instrument rentals, etc. Most people would find this tedious at best, but I actually enjoy this kind of work. It looks like the band will be great, including Jon Wurster (of Superchunk and the Mountain Goats) on drums. I’ve never met Jon, but his Scharpling and Wurster comedy records (on Stereolaffs) get a lot of play in the Tre Orsi tour-wagon.

Next weekend I’m doing an EP for The Distant Seconds, which I’m very excited about. I really enjoyed making their full-length, Spectral Evidence, which just got a great review in the blog, Austin Sound. (I don’t particularly hear the Silkworm influence, but I’m a little biased.) Until then, I’m going to sit on the couch and watch Space Balls over and over again.

Since returning from the The New Year’s European tour in November, I’ve been either sick, tired, or distracted, hence no updates. Today finally finds me back in a writing mood!

So, The New Year European tour: mostly wonderful experiences. The Tanned Tin Festival in Castellon, Spain was unbelievable, as should be expected. I had the honor of running sound for a reunited Come (their first show since 2001), which was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. Other highlights, as best I can remember: Simmo, et al in Nottingham; the regal hospitality of Grainne in Glasgow; driving perilous mountain passes with 50 mph winds in Spain and France; most things about Duedingen, CH; Giovanna of Bellini and Uzeda; our gracious tour guide in Vienna, Ani; Jann and Kai in Hamburg; Earl Harvin in Berlin; Wim in Antwerp; and Steven Thomasson.

Before The New Year’s European tour, Tre Orsi did 8 shows with Magnolia Electric Company. Such an incredible band, playing a really well-honed set of songs. The final three shows of the run were with Bottomless Pit, who I can’t say enough great things about.

Now that I’m home, I’m settling into studio mode, preparing for sessions with Sean Kirkpatrick’s new band, Nervous Curtains, another Deep Snapper LP, and a few other things here and there. These days I’m mostly trying to squeeze in some studio management work, repairing equipment, catching up on bills and invoices, etc.

I don’t hit the road again until February, when I’ll be mixing and tour managing the A.C. Newman North American tours. I hear he’s an incredibly nice guy, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m especially looking forward to avoiding SXSW for the first time in years, though I’m sad to be missing the inaugural NX35.

Tre Orsi plans are being made — we’ll hopefully finish our LP and play some regional shows before I take off with A.C. Newman. We have more plans for the Spring, but I’m not going to jinx anything.

Finally, my top whatever records of 2008 that I’ve loaded into iTunes or can otherwise remember, in alphabetical order:

• Allroh Nym EP (Graumann)
• Ancestors s/t LP (Youth Attack)
• Bone Awl Not For Our Feet (re-issue) (Klaxon)
• Bottomless Pit Congress EP
• Chris Brokaw Canaris CD (Capitan)
• The Dead C Secret Earth CD (Ba-da-bing!) 
• Future of the Left Curses! (Too Pure)
• Harvey Milk Life… The Best Game in Town (Hydrahead)
• Human Bell Human Bell (Thrill Jockey) 
• The New Year The New Year (Touch and Go)
• Pierced Arrows Straight to the Heart (Tombstone)
• Pyramids Pyramids (Hyrdrahead)
• Washington Phillips What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? (Mississippi)

I’ve done very little record shopping the past few months, due to both schedules and poverty, but here’s what I’ve been enjoying lately:

• Washington Phillips What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? LP (Mississippi Records)
  Other-worldly Christian blues, recorded between 1927 and 1929, played on what sounds like a toy piano.
• Bone Awl Not For Our Feet LP (Klaxon Records)
  Really powerful, not gimmicky, American black metal. (A Chris Brokaw recommendation.)
• Kylesa Time Will Fuse Its Worth LP (Prosthetic/Havoc) 
  Missed them opening for Pinback, twice!
• The Wax Museums s/t LP (Douche-master Records)
  For a lot of bands like this, singles seem to be a better format, but fuck me if a whole LP of these guys isn’t entertaining through and through.
• Vivian Girls s/t CD (In The Red) 
  The opposite of the Wax Museums, for me anyway — I think I prefer Vivian Girls in 45 rpm doses. Really great, idiosyncratic recording.

It seems like every band in the world was on tour this Fall. We constantly joked about a festival of all the bands who played across town from the New Year. A few: Future of the Left (w/ Ted Leo), Kylesa (w/ Pinback), The Dead C, Mission of Burma, Les Savy Fav, the Residents, Deerhoof. Yikes.

I arrived home Wednesday afternoon, exhausted, unshaven, and in need of a shower and my own bed. The New Year’s Eastern US tour was good in a many ways, stressful in others, but I was just happy to be home for a few days. Tre Orsi played the first three shows (Philly, Boston, New York), and they went pretty well, by my estimation.

Highlights of the tour (for me):

• Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia and their excellent beer selection
• The Pike Room in Pontiac, MI and their great hospitality
• Priceline.com
• Kuma’s Korner, Irazu, and Chris Manfrin’s café in Chicago (Hot Doug’s was closed for vacation)
• Hanging out with the Donofrio, Midgett, and Andrews families
• Dinner with Bill Barbot in D.C.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been furiously planning and organizing The New Year’s European tour. So much left to do — ferry booking, gear rental, work permits, blah blah blah — but so it goes. I have a couple of mastering jobs to complete before heading out again on Monday for a month.

Speaking of which, Tre Orsi is doing 8 shows with Magnolia Electric Company, from Texas to Chicago. Dates are at treorsi.org, of course. Some shows are with David Vandervelde, Will Johnson, and Bottomless Pit as well. We’re going to eat enough BBQ to stop a train or something.

I’m spending Election Day off in Chicago with Howard and the Midgetts. The day after, Howard and I fly to Frankfurt to start The New Year’s European tour. We’ll either be hammered in happiness or drunk in depression. I’ll finally be home on Dec 1st, at which point I’ll probably sleep for a day, then start back at the studio non-stop until I finally collapse. Yay!

I finally arrived home last night at 11pm, after a 14-hour drive from Denver. Long drives, a busy schedule, and general exhaustion prevented me from writing anything, though I did manage to whine on Twitter here and there.

The band for this tour was Matt and Bubba Kadane, Mike Donofrio, Chris Brokaw, and Will Johnson (filling in for Peter Schmidt). Jeff Ryan filled in on drums for the Texas shows, as Brokaw was playing with Thurston Moore at ATP that weekend. Jeff and Will did an admirable job, stepping in on short-ish notice, making relatively complex music seem nearly effortless.

Everyone’s spirits were high despite the ass-whip that is a Western US tour, including the cancellation of the Houston show due to the hurricane. Matt Taylor and Linda Dreeland in Albuquerque, Keven McAlister in L.A., and Chris Weber, Kathy Lindenmayer, and Joshua Lindenmayer in Seattle provided much-needed hospitality and camaraderie. A Weather were wonderful touring companions and tight bros — I look forward to seeing them again soon.

A few highlights:

• Stacked enchiladas at Garcia’s in Albquerque
• Kilt-lifter Scottish Ale, provided by the fine folks of Stateside Presents in Phoenix
• Aquarius Records in SF, and a surprise run-in with Ian Bjornstad (Denton ex-pat, member of John Vanderslice’s band).
• Dinner at the Doug Fir in Portland
• The fine folks of KEXP and Sonic Boom Records in Seattle (including Dallas ex-pat Rick Brooks)
• Every single second of time spent with Chris, Kathy, and Joshua in Seattle
• Marco of Marco’s Pizza in Denver filling up parking meters in Denver to thwart the fascist meter maids
• Bro-down, Ladybro, Internal Bro, Rainbros, etc.

Time for record shopping was tight, but I did pick up the new Wax Museums LP, a Pink Fairies LP, a couple of Mississippi Records releases, Vlad Tepes, Vivian Girls, the new Prisonshake, Pyramids, and a few other things I’ll someday get around to cataloging.

Today will be spent mixing the Tre Orsi tour EP and prepping for our shows next week with The New Year in Philly, NYC, and Boston. Studio time this week, finishing up Les Americains and the Naptime Shake as well. Ok!

I’m back from vacation, well-rested and looking forward to a very busy Fall.

Vermont was gorgeous, of course. NY was fine and dandy. Montreal was all too brief of a trip. Lots of good food, good people, and almost no work. (I did sneak in a few hours here and there, advancing the upcoming tour for The New Year.)

I only did a few sessions in August: a couple of days with You and Me from Dallas, and another two days with Tre Orsi. Bubba Kadane of The New Year was co-producing again, and it was a much more productive session than our last attempt, in April. We did 5 songs, and I’ll be finishing up tracking and mixing for them next week. Most likely these will make their way onto a limited tour-only EP for our upcoming dates.

This Wednesday is my last day as an employing at the University of North Texas, where I’ve been working for four years. I’m now finally out of debt and can devote all my time to the studio and touring. To say I’m excited about this is an understatement.

This week: recording new Dallas band, Les Americains (former members of DARYL), finishing up the Naptime Shake and Tre Orsi recordings. After that, The New Year’s Western US tour starts. (I’ll be blogging about the tour here, on Twitter, and over at Food About Music.)

And I’m very much looking forward to this:

For quite a few Wednesday nights now, Pam Chittenden has been cooking incredible, cheap meals and serving them at Dan’s Silverleaf. Sadly, I missed out on last night’s pork loin stuffed with sundried tomatoes and manchego cheese, and JELLY ROLL! with fig and lavender jelly, but thanks to Howrad (the the wizard behind the Stage Dumps curtain), the world can live vicariously via her Reckless Appetite blog. Things usually get going around 6PM, and the full three courses is $11 ($10 if you bring your own plate).

Also Wednesday nights @ Dan’s, Joe Cripps hosts Old Timey Drink Night. Gimlets, Old Fashioneds, Sea Breezes, Perfect Manhattans, Sidecars, and just about any other grandma/grandpa drink you can think of that takes an unbelievable amount of work to prepare. He made me a stellar Old Fashioned, which I had in honor of my dad.

While I’m at it, might as well mention that Bookish Coffee’s new Nicaragua Aldea has been pretty stellar for me. I just ordered a bag of the Brazil Camocim 3C to compare.

(Please forgive the nerd talk and whining about first-world problems in the post herein.)

I’ve had my 8GB iPhone since October, and I love it dearly. It’s a great phone, and with the iPhone 2.0 update and the App Store, it’s even more useful/addictive than before. With it, I can travel (even in Europe and Canada) without a laptop, for the first time in years. The only real burr in my ass has been how to pick and choose what songs are synced to it from my ~35 GB of music in my iTunes library. Read the rest of this entry »