From the Studio: Soulmate

Greets, all! Sorry I’ve been away for so long. I caught a bad case of “day job” and have been up and down the highway like a nymphomaniac’s zipper! I got a few minutes now to stop in and chat with all of you willing to take the time to listen to me ramble.

Still in the recording studio with Division, and things are progressing nicely. “Gemini” (See previous post) was wrapped up, including backing vocals; some established, some new. Mike (Blevins – guitar, backing vocals, engineer, producer, man from another planet) has really done a great job with everything he’s been asked to do on this CD. The guy has to perform his own parts and direct everyone else with theirs.

I’ve found myself really enjoying the give and take with Mike during these sessions. Commentary tracks on DVD’s routinely have an actor discussing the experience with the film director and I can completely relate to that. Fortunately, Mike and I have a familiarity with the material going back as far as a few years on some songs, and we have a great personal relationship. A few times, the facial expression from either of us was enough to signify approval (or usually disapproval) of a certain take. The best and worst thing about this CD is that it’s very dynamic. The material isn’t one speed at all, and there are lots of subtleties in performance and engineering that really bring out the emotional roller coaster we want listeners to ride.

“Soulmate” was tonight’s project. Born from real-life experiences (mine and a friend’s), this is the stalker song of the Control Issues CD. The song is sung from the stalker’s perspective, bouncing from vulnerable to enraged. I think we’ve managed to find a great balance with tonight’s session, and that doesn’t include the HUGE vocals in the chorus. This is one of the songs people will sing along to the first time they hear it. The catch is that they won’t all sing the same thing since the song features a ton of moving parts.

Mike, Noodlez and I played a gig last night in a smoky bar, which fed into the raspy-ness (not sure that’s a word) needed for the parts tonight. I figured things would go a bit rough, but after about 15 minutes tonight, we settled right in to a groove and really drilled the song. We’re looking to wrap this one up later this week in the next session. That oughta put us just about halfway through the disc, so you guys and gals out there don’t have too much longer to wait before gettin’ a sneak peek (or listen) at some of the material.

We will take a break from recording next month, when Division performs LIVE at Jaxx Nightclub with ZO2 on Friday, July 17th! Tix are just $10 and you get the first Division gig in For-EVAH! Need tix? Email, Message or leave a comment. Thanks for listenin’!

One Love,
nK