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Well it’s probably a few months late but last night I was thinking I ought to keep a little better track of the process of making my albums. The process is so important, and I feel like by writing about it here it will not only keep you up to date but help me keep track of what’s going on.

After REDWOOD SUMMER, I started writing new songs pretty much write away, but very casually. I like to have an audio recorder on me at all times (lately it’s my phone) and when an idea comes up I’ll record it for later purposing. The lyrics at this point are improvised but what I like to try and capture is the feel behind the idea. I’d say that since last summer I have between 10 and 20 sketches for songs that I revisit to see if they are album worthy.

Before REDWOOD SUMMER I had been performing a set of about 5 or 6 songs accompanied by my beats and effected cello. Those actually came about before I even started writing REDWOOD SUMMER but somehow I let it sit long enough that they ended up on the backburner.

So, to the present. Right now I’m working to not only bring those back to life, but also to add some fresh material to that set. The tone and sound of those songs is comparable to my album “Midnight Door”… but my personal challenge and caveat is to be able to perform those songs live, using the parts and pieces to be able to improvise around them in a live setting. It’s tricky when you do it solo, without a band, and with more than just your primary instrument involved, but I like that challenge and I like the end result. Also the marvels of modern technology allow me to give it a shot and so I’m doing that.

As a result of my stubborn insistence on performing these epically layered pieces live, I tend to lament the days of simply picking up the guitar or cello and just play, the way I would for a more simple live gig. The artists I admire the most can do this with so much talent and subtlety that a wall of sound is not necessary for them. So I’ve been working on pulling that out of my hat as well. Sitting down, playing and singing. Practicing it a bunch and then recording it pretty close to that pure sound of one person, one room.

And then, as I cannot seem to stick to one persona musically, I have developed a set I’ve been performing at art galleries and parties that is electronic music influenced, the cello, some beats, no vocals, lots of effects. This music works well for all kinds of settings and I enjoy the luxury of not needing to sing, and of going deeper with my cello playing. I’m working on recording these as well.

RIght now the electro-cello stuff is closest to being a hole album, mainly because I’ve had a full hour plus of music together already for performing live. The parts are in place and all that’s left is to lay down my lead cello parts.

I’m getting the arrangements together for that and my goal is really to create an album that is best suited for long drives, long walks, long sessions of work, that can be listened to over and over again. It’s tricky with electronic music to not get too repetitive or even too complex. My favorite electronic music gets folks dancing and sets the right tone, and it tends to sit in one music scale for a good long while, long enough for it to become hypnotic.

The acoustic album is in the works and I like where it’s going. I was real influenced by working with Chuck Ragan recently, he’s a great example of a guy and a guitar putting great songs out there with no frills and nothing lacking. Also, his vocal strength reminds me that sometimes to get the right feeling you’ve really got to belt it out. The only problem with making that album right now is that some of the songs end up being catchy enough that I want to add layers to them and some beats and move them over to my “Midnight Door” style album. So I constantly am producing, and diverting the songs into where they need to go.

Anyways. That’s where it’s at. Today I’m going to retouch the last three songs I recorded for the acoustic/solo musician album, and I’m going to get deeper with the electro-cello album.

This post is kind of a leadup to upcoming posts where I’ll be more specific about what I’m working on, and share some snippets of what I’m getting done each day, in true blog fashion.

Thanks for checking in, can’t wait to share the music with ya… Take Care!

Luke.

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Life has been rolling along. All the sudden it’s May. It’s not even May, it’s the middle of May. Wow.

That slip of the tongue of time has happened (for me) because I’ve been buried in music. Culminations occur tomorrow night, Thursday at the downtown art walk in Los Angeles, where I’ll be playing some jams at the Annex Gallery. Basically I’m playing cello, mixing it up with beats, and making rad action happen all the time. It’s cool, playing music in the center of one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s why I’m here.

On the other fronts, I’ve been writing new songs and nostalging about old ones, culminating in at least a couple new albums by the end of this (very busy) Summer.

Life is good, my fingers have callouses, I’m deeply inspired.

Still awaiting, I suppose, the big break, but I’ll just keep making this music, like I always have, and that will do it, I think.

Let me know when I should come to your town and play a gig.

I sincerely hope you are well. Thanks for checking in. You know I’ll post some new music here when I feel it is deserving of your ears…

In all things, do good, be well. Etc.

Luke.

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This Friday, April 9, I’ll have the honor of again joining Chuck Ragan on a few songs at the House Of Blues in Anaheim as he opens for the legendary, highly influential Bad Religion. Considering how many hours of my life Bad Religion’s music has consumed, I’m really excited to get to play at this show!

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People have been asking me for the past several years what looping software or hardware I use. And I say “I actually don’t use looping software.” Or they ask me if I’ve heard of such and such, most often Zoe Keating, and of course I have. I’ve found that these days there is this very common thing for string players to use looping software/hardware.

Looping is when you play a part, a little device (a foot pedal or a laptop) records that part and plays it back in rhythm. You can then play another part, and then another part, and then another part on that. It’s quite the spectacle, and I’ve seen one guy perform a whole big band piece by playing all the instruments one by one into the looper and having the sound build into one big unified sound. It works really well for string instruments, because, as in the case of symphony orchestras, the more the merrier, sound wise.

I’ve tended to avoid it, but now I’m in the belly of the beast, as I’ve finally thrown down for some Launchpad/Ableton Live action.

To make a long story short and to spare you the music geekery, with Ableton Live, you play your instrument into your laptop and on the spot you can chop it up and spit it out musically & rhythmically, the idea being that it is seamless and smooth.

So, for casual observers this post basically ends. I’m looking forward to adding this capability to my electro-cello sets and I want to tell you to look forward to it. Pretty exciting the possibility. Oh, and do check out Zoe Keating, and also, please drop me a line on any other amazing cello playin’ musicians you may have heard of that I might not know about.

For those more interested in the Launchpad, read on for my “first impressions” review.

Pretty much everyone seems to hype this thing to death, and when you get it out of the box and plug it in and all its pretty lights light up you kind of feel like you are going to understand why. It feels very capable, and is very compact.

Getting used to the basic basic functions takes approximately 5 minutes. Not even being a rabid Ableton user, I was able to get the gist and to see WHY people go apeshit over this thing. It does make a pretty clean translation from the software to the hardware.

My big question was and is, can I play it with my toes? (seriously). If you’ve seen me live you know I operate my current two drum machines (an Akai XR20 and an old school Korg Electribe) with my toes. I cue up parts that I’ve pre-writ and set them off when I need them, like when the chorus is coming up.

Tangent: Why not just set up the song and play along to the whole thing? The answer for me is that, yes, even though I do in the end tend to play the songs pretty close to the same length each time I play them, I really believe that the essence of music lies in its possibility. And so I must have the option to repeat a verse or to have the bridge go on for ten minutes as opposed to 30 seconds.

So back to the toes. I think I can play the launchpad with my toes. What I hope to use it for is to NOT replace my drum machines that I currently use, but to loop and shape sounds on the fly over the top of my beats. I think that less is more with this type of thing, so for the time being I’m working on being able to create a bass line for myself for a solo, as opposed to layering out the whole song.

With the Launchpad, though, you can preload your parts of songs (using your laptop as well of course), and I could in theory have rich textures live. I just don’t want it to ever cross that “karaoke line”, the place where you are just playing along to pre-recorded music, as opposed to creating it every time you go out there.

Back to my “review”. The only complaint I have is that there is a LOT that can be tackled by this thing, and I quickly found a plethora of youtube videos that demonstrated people tearing it up with them. BUT, there seems to be this assumption that you already know how to do some pretty basic stuff, like understand user functions, midi programming and even simple audio editing in Ableton. Also, Ableton claimed/claims to have a “whole chapter dedicated to the Launchpad” in its user manual for Live 8, but after searching around and downloading the newest versions of the manual, such a thing does not appear to exist. So there’s a little bit of assumption that you already know how great this toy is and thus we don’t need to spell it out for you.

Otherwise, I’m really happy for it. One of the main selling points for me, consciously or otherwise, is price. I wanted a few things for my live electronic set arsenal: a looper, some more effects, and another drum machine. With a $199 investment, I essentially get all those things and a LOT more.

The only thing I am trepidatious about is the notion of using a laptop live. The only folks I’ve seen really pull this off in a non annoying manner are DJs. Otherwise there tends to be, with laptops in a live performance, a lot of technical problems and a lot of noise posturing that is really, in my ever so humble opinion, not music.

Alright. Well. The point is you should look forward to some new sounds on the coming albums/live performances.

Also, if you are interested, and want to use Ableton Live, and have $200 burning a hole in your pocket, I give you permission to go out and buy a Launchpad. And also, I wish someone were actually paying me to endorse this thing.

Also, as a pre-emptive comment, I DO in fact feel strongly that a musician and an instrument (voice is instrument yes) is all you will ever need to make the most beautiful music ever. But if you are like me, and like to take many side roads off of that main road, using the modern worlds’ many technological bounties is not necessarily a bad thing…

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A couple of props to give out, I’m moving forward with new recordings and new shows (news soon), but in the meantime:

My bro and his photography. He’s based in the bay area and does incredible work with people and places. He also has a vast, extensive background with bands and music photography in general (can’t wait til he publishes a book from his deep archives).

Frank Zio. He made sure to find me immediately after my set opening for AFI in Santa Cruz and gave me this poster. It’s now framed on my wall. Super nice work, super nice of him to do that.

MiseryXChord: Check out photos from the AFI show (and lots of other rad shots) here. Thanks for posting them, they are amazing

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*warning = this is a loooong rant.

Luke Janela live at The Catalyst, January 28, 2010 - Photo Credit: Pete Geniella, petegeniella.com
Photo: Pete Geniella

Last Thursday, January 28th, I got to open for AFI, one of my favorite bands. We played The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, and all the pieces fell into place for a great great show.

The show had been big in my mind for too long, I knew it was on, but the band I had recorded REDWOOD SUMMER with wasn’t to be available. I thought, ok, we’ll just make it happen for a good long while, and yet the band wasn’t nailed down, even just a couple weeks before the show.

My own fault, because the obvious choice for the best drummer was right in front of my face; I finally realized that I needed to call one of my best friends and bandmate of many many years Mr. Keith Feigin. He was with me for my first show ever, he recorded Blue Star, he recorded The Key, he is an amazing drummer. However, he hadn’t played drums, literally, for 5 years. Nonetheless, he was open to the idea. We’d jam on the songs, and if it worked, great. If not… welllllll….

My brothers pointed me in the direction of a guitar player they knew also in Ukiah (Keith lives there now), my hometown. A really talented guy who knows the business, touring all the time with his band, Luke Slinkert. Fortunately for me, Luke is also a huge AFI fan, which meant that the expenses and time spent practicing and traveling, especially when compared to the nominal guarantee we were getting to play (standard for opening bands) were worth it.

So I headed up to Northern California with less than a week to prepare for the show. A new band, I didn’t know Luke S. that well, and I didn’t know if Keith was going to be comfortable playing drums at all. I didn’t know how well my cello would play live, if my amp would even do the trick, if this was really realistic at all, or if it would all sadly implode.

I was optimistic, however!

Got into Ukiah, really really excited and anxious for our first practice that day, stopped by a friend’s apartment, bent down to pet the cute gigantic growling pit bull and promptly got bit in the face by said dog. Everything was suddenly chaotic, the dog got pulled off, I looked down at my hand and blood was dripping everywhere. Asked where the bathroom was, went in, and saw my lips looking pitifully mangled, kind of hanging there, as if confused, in all kinds of directions.

We rushed to the hospital, Keith was there, my brother Nate was there, my Mom showed up soon. I was sitting in the emergency room and I was on the verge of tears not because of the pain, which was pretty intense, so much as the idea that we would not be able to play this show. I wanted, I needed to play this show. It mattered to me.

The doctor stitched things up and took his time. He was great because he seemed to care and methodically put 28 stitches in my lips and face. He did a nice job. I went home, high on morphine and still wondering about the show.

The next morning things were good enough in my face to go ahead and schedule a practice, albeit without vocals from me. We’d play through the songs and kind of evaluate if it was even conceivable to go up on a stage in front of 1,000 people in less than three days. Things went well. I don’t know how, but Keith could really really bust it out still. Luke S. had memorized all the songs quickly and instantly was laying them down. The first time through the set was a little scary. The second time, the songs already sounded great.

So we had two more rehearsals to go. And they went really really well. Our set was only 6 songs and went like this:

True North
Strobe Light
The Unattended Ball
Time Is Near
Closure
Fever Saved Me

It clocked in at about 25 minutes, and we played it over and over again, just one song leading into the next. The last rehearsal we played through the set 5 times straight. That’s all we could do.

And it sounded good. I can honestly say that I wish I could re-record a version of REDWOOD SUMMER with the songs recorded in this raucous, garage/punk style that we had formed together in few days. Cello, Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Vocals. Simple, sweet, short.

There’s a kind of crummy sounding/looking recording of it available for the curious here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4262515

We drove down to Santa Cruz the day of the show. I went to college in Santa Cruz and knew it oh so well. I learned to really play cello there. I played the clubs and coffee shops (mostly coffee shops when I was there) often, it was my town. It was epic to return to the big venue in town and be loading my stuff in.

AFI’s bus and equipment truck were there, and the equipment had been unloaded. To me, it was an impressive setup, boxes and boxes of gear and stage equipment. The stage was already setup, with AFI’s huge banner tied like a curtain behind the drums. Davey Havok was walking around talking to all the folks at the Catalyst (he is a verifiably super-nice person by the way), Adam, their drummer was there. I love Adam, I don’t think I know very many people, musicians or otherwise, who are as cool, kind and humble as he is. Smith was running the show, Fritch was selling the merch. Much of the AFI crew was intact from the last time I had seen them play, only since then they had gone on to sell millions of records and land a #1 billboard debut. And yet they are still real, down to earth, nice people. No BS. And they are GOOD if not AMAZING as a band these days. I watched their sound check and they now have this amazingly fluid sense of their own sound, super super tight and just, in their element. I suppose the countless weeks of touring will do that for you.

Pre-show AFI, at the Catalyst

My nerves were crazy. I was still on antibiotics for my wounds and couldn’t really eat well so I had been on a liquid diet for the whole week. It was an enormous and woozy feeling. All my favorite people in the world, my family and my girlfriend to name a few, old college friends, showed up pre-show.

At one point me and Keith walked around the block to go grab a protein shake for me and a bite to eat for him, and the line to get in the club was already around block. That recognizable AFI crowd, dressed in black, non-conformist, devoted. Then we were scared… would they boo us off the stage? Also, up on the marquis, my name alongside AFI and Ceremony. Really cool for me, a good image, unexpected, and great.

The Marquis

Then we just tried to be not nervous. And soon enough it was time to get on stage. And we’d have to not blow it, of course.

Keith pre-show

And we got up there and just tore through the songs. The crowd was amazing. They were kind and into it. There were a lot of people in there too, 500-1000, I can’t really say a good estimate, but a lot. And the sound ruled, and my bandmates NAILED IT. And it was fun. This was it, a good show, good music, that euphoric state that musicians live for. It really was… yeah. It was great.

I had a lot of people to talk to when it was over, and thus I missed Ceremony. AFI put on an incredible performance, as they always do. Those guys play their hearts out EVERY TIME they go on stage, and that is often. They give everything to their fans, which is how it should be, in my opinion. The songs were so tight and so good, they played a couple really old ones, and a couple new ones off of Crash Love, and a few from in between. I was kind of in heaven, I had a great view, and I love seeing AFI play.

AFI performs live at The Catalyst, January 28, Santa Cruz

My brother took some amazing pictures of AFI that night, check them out here.

So the night settled down, nothing to crazy that evening, as my stitches were still healing and that was a good excuse to kind of get to ruminate on the whole thing. I couldn’t have asked for a better show, with better people around me. I’ve already directly said my thanks to all mentioned, but to my family, my girlfriend, my friends, to that crowd, and to AFI, I have a lot of gratitude.

Now it is on to the next big show. I’m eager to get it all going. I’ll let you know as it unfolds… Thanks so much for stopping by…

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First off, I’m thrilled to let you know that I’m opening for AFI on January 28th in Santa Cruz… why thrilled you asked? as opposed to excited? Well, I’ve passed through the excited threshold and into the realm of thrilled because AFI is a band I’ve admired for a long long time, and who, in their music and their unrelenting devotion to creating their own sound, their own way, have become one of my favorite bands ever. So basically I’m opening for some musical idols. Pretty cool.

Next off, life has been changing in big and little ways, mostly big… I now live in Los Angeles… still settling in but indeed, it is done. We’re perched on a little hill and I’m really excited to see how the music fares down here.

Last off, for now, I have a lot to say for and about Nevada City. Though I feel very happy to move forward etc., I feel I owe a great debt to all the amazing musicians and friends I made there, and have a good long rant to write about all that. Will miss the good things there… very much!

Onward!

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Yesterday REDWOOD SUMMER finally made its way onto iTunes which signified a kind of final touch to the release of an album. (JUNEAUREVOIR is still on its way there)…

So how does an album come about from start to finish? I’ll tell you the story of REDWOOD SUMMER…

Basically a year ago I decided I was going to record a new album… the steam had stopped whistling for MIDNIGHT DOOR and it was time to explore new songs again. Only I became distracted when making MIDNIGHT DOOR… I was frustrated that I had recorded all these songs off that album without having a real live setup for performing them. The songs were written on the road and out in the world, not the usual where you try out songs live generally before they make it on the album. I was stripping the songs on MIDNIGHT DOOR down to the drum and bass tracks and pressing play on my ipod and performing along. Which, I have come to accept, is totally legit, especially of course if it is YOUR music you are playing along to, your beats, your sounds. I used to think it was not so legit, until I saw a few performances that incorporated the same technique, and it didn’t feel or seem weird to me at all. One caveat of this is that I really think if you play along to beats it HAS to be electronic… it’s true to me that playing along to ‘real’ sounding drums from a machine is kind of cheesy looking/sounding (in my opinion). Plus, then you are truly playing with the whole organic meets electronic thing, which does yield some interesting results and feels very much a part of our times. I think I like Thom Yorke’s solo stuff so much because he is able to work with (besides the brilliantly abstracted beats and great compositions) his raw voice, very plainly effected, wafting over the top of what feels like a Bladerunner landscape.

Holy tangent.

Anywaaaaays, the point is is that I got distracted by working on beats and effects that I could perform live, without accompaniment, and most importantly, which left lots of room for improvisation if necessary. My thing with electronic music and all music really is that if there is no room for improvisation at all, if it is super super polished and things are always done “perfectly” and the same, it is not really music. It’s theater. Which is fine. But I feel like at the core of music is the subconscious and its yearning to budge in and elbow things around here and there. I feel like it’s about the emotions of a room becoming one with the music. Et cetera.

So I worked on that and played a few different art party type things, improvising cello over beats around set songs and making the beats go this way and that and using lots of effects.

How did that lead to REDWOOD SUMMER which is very organic and non-electronic? Well, I just kind of missed making bedroom acoustic guitar anthems. I got so far away from home with that stuff that I really felt sentimental about sitting down and writing poetic lyrics by a fire with an acoustic guitar. Which is EXACTLY what happened with the writing of REDWOOD SUMMER… we had the opportunity to house sit a really beautiful house in Nevada County, with vistas of the foothills and gorgeous star filled skies, and there was a woodstove and no tv and no internet and the evenings were cozy and quiet. And I just started writing songs like crazy.

Most songs you hear on REDWOOD SUMMER were written in a three week period in January (more irony). Usually the process was to just grab ideas quickly, really as quickly as possible, meaning not interrupting the flow of musical idea by writing it down… this time I just used a handheld recorder, played through a new “song”, whether it was finished or not, and then started another. If it was any good, I kept it and worked on it. I’m not sure what my lyrics sound like to you, but you might be surprised to know there was a pretty good amount of polish on them. Obviously I’m not a real storytelling songwriter, but I do like to make the words work their own story and set their own stage. I spent a lot of time on various pretentious preconditions that I won’t bore you with.

I really wanted to record these songs to album as quickly as I was writing them, but you know, life gets in the way. We had to leave that housesitting gig but actually ended up returning in April I believe it was. By this time I was anxious to get this REDWOOD SUMMER thing on tape, I had a good sense of what I was doing and what I wanted, and I didn’t want it to slip by… so I set up my recording equipment in the upstairs bathroom of this great house, which had a really big all tile shower. I fit all my mics in that shower. I liked the closeness of the sound that the mics picked up in there. I tried just doing things simply, getting good guitar takes first and foremost. A huge part of REDWOOD SUMMER was playing guitar a lot again, so it was important to lay that down. Another part of the album though was actually, really, fully incorporating the cello into the main thrust of the song, making the cello NOT a supporting instrument but the center of the sound.

So what I wanted, by the way, was a country album. Well, not a country album in the traditional sense, but an album that felt like the places I’d grown up, the woods. I’m not sure that that makes sense or that it translates at all, but that’s why you have side A with its sparkly, sunny, swaying rhythms, and side B with its darker undertones. It feels like meadows and forest to me, it feels like Northern California to me. And of course, I wanted the process to be more “like it used to be” when I wrote songs: the edge of a bed in a lonely room to sit on, a quiet spot on earth, and no “coolness” filtration, no “authenticity” filtration, no input whatsoever from the “tastemakers“.

So I got most of the basic tracks down. I recorded cello and guitar, and I sang most lead vocals.

By that time it was May and soooooo much more time had gone by than I wanted.

The last four months of album making are probably the strangest for an independent musician. You gotta understand, when you are working full time and being a musician in your other time, there is no label pressure for a drop date, there is no pressure whatever, and so it is very very easy to let albums slide along and before you know it it takes 5+ years to finish an album. I have seen this happen many times, and I just really wouldn’t like the feeling. For one, or perhaps the main thing is that I try and capture a specific window of time/my life/my thoughts/the world in my albums, and if it takes more than a year it just seems like too much input on that front, too many influences. I mean, I had already been completely influenced by the Nevada City music scene subconsciously… I really thought that the mountain melodies and rocky yuba campfire cabin ghost song vibe wouldn’t get to me through Mariee Sioux, Alela Diane, Casual Fog, Them Hills and others, but they did, dammit I admit it, they did influence me. They inspired me to return to my personal truth being the core of the music. Purity of vision, untampered. It was really playing with Aaron Ross that had this affect on me the most. I have never heard let alone met a songwriter so talented and so potent with their own truth in music. And I was hanging out with him all the time, recording albums, playing shows!

The last four months were just a matter of gathering people in one place. It seems easy but for some reason it can be maddening. I wanted a real ‘community’ vibe on a lot of the songs, and getting Aaron Ross and Cody Feiler to sing on a lot was essential. Molly Allis banged out the drums in one day (one one take mostly! she is amazing), and of course Chuck Ragan and I met up for an afternoon to trade music. There were still lots of little things missing, the cello solo in the middle of ‘True North’, a piano for ‘The First Step’… these things really just kind of slowly slowly fell in line. But the finishing magical touch was realizing that my beautiful and way too modest girlfriend has a beautiful voice. We started by recording her voice on ‘Soundless’ and I realized I needed that voice on a lot more of the album. What was good about that was that it was pretty easy to get her in the same room with me! The “choir” you hear in ‘Strobe Light’ was recorded the day before I finished off the album, layering loads of her lovely voice until a big enough sound was achieved.

So, yes, this is an epically rambling post and I congratulate you for reading this far…

So you’ve got the thought of the album, you’ve got the writing of it, you’ve got the preliminary recording, and then the tricky follow up recording. Now you’ve got to do something with it.

As an independent musician (without a lot of money) you end up doing your own mixes, and therefore listening to the songs over and over and over and over and over again. I’m not very good at mixing, I always want all elements to be louder, and have a hard time with nuance in sound, but I learned a lot with this album. In the end though I’m not sure if I would have ever landed on what I wanted, it changed too much. It would be ideal to hand off songs to an external ear that you trusted and then say “have at it!” but it’s just not possible for me. I’m a control freak about my music, and plus, I felt my tracks were a mess and wouldn’t want to do that to someone!

Basically what happens is you spend four hours straight looping the chorus of one song trying to decide if the cymbal is too midrangy and whether the cello should have a touch more reverb. It’s kind of awful and time consuming but somehow rewarding.

Lastly you just set a date to send it off to be mastered and you stick to it. Because the mixing could literally go on for-ev-er. Thankfully Grass Valley is blessed with the best engineer with the coolest studio and greatest gear and mostly an incredible ear in Dana Gumbiner of Station To Station Recording… The luxury of calling him up is not something I took for granted.

He took my final mixes and really really filled them out. He made the sound of the cello big, and the sound of the backup vocals full. He kind of technicolored the album, in short.

So, and really, this is the part I want to get to… so you are done. You have the final mix, all mastered, and in your hands.

You may have noticed that there is not a lot of time to think about promotion, with everything else going on, let alone booking shows. But that, my friend, is what you must go and do.

I make my CDs through a ridiculously great and anonymous company that cranks them out quickly for me, and most importantly, for my meager budget, does not require that I buy 1000 at a time. At that point I send them to CDBaby, which gets them for sale, and also sends the digital files off to iTunes and Amazon and a number of other digital retailers. CDBaby truly is necessary for the independent musician, especially moving forward into the digital age.

And also, because if you’re reading this deep into the post you must be somewhat interested, also you wait. You put the CD out and you wait. You wait mostly to hear the pebble reach the bottom of the well. A few friends and family casually tell you that they like the album and it makes you glow for days. You check your email and website statistics incessantly to see if it is spreading on its own. You spend a lot of time doing that, it’s true, and I bet it’s true for most artists so I’m not afraid to admit that I’m in the phase where you are rather keen on listening for whispers of feedback.

The next and perhaps last step of an album though, and don’t you forget it, is to go out and play shows. You can’t can’t can’t sit around waiting for feedback. You have to go and bring the music to people directly.

And so the life of an album evolves. I still really really want to put out a vinyl version of REDWOOD SUMMER and JUNEAUREVOIR. I think it would sound great on vinyl. I’m working on a big move, and I really would like these albums to get wider distribution. It would be great, of course, if a label with reach picked either of them up. Playing more shows will be great. Getting JUNEAUREVOIR and its cello epicness into film would be my dream with that.

But mostly you, sitting somewhere, maybe standing, maybe headphones, maybe not, maybe at home, maybe in your car, maybe with yourself or with friends, mostly you hear it. Mostly for maybe only 1 minute, it makes a dent on your day and makes your day more important and beautiful the way that music can do that. Maybe it becomes a companion for a few months because it speaks to where you are at in your life. Maybe you know someone who it seems like would love it. That’s the final, and most important step. It could be now or 20 years from now. That’s one thing I love about making things. You never know…

Wow thanks for going with me down those million tangents. In short, REDWOOD SUMMER is done but not done. Hope this inspires you to bring things to completion (but not completion)… if anything, it might be oddly inspiring that 10 songs could take over a year to get out to the world… and yes, the year is worth the effort.

Be well, enjoy October,

Luke.

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So this thing happens when I finish an album, it’s kind of weird. My excitement turns to a vague fear.

I mean, not like, deep-seeded fear or rational fear, just a general fear. I think it comes from: bracing for reaction (critics, friends, family, etc., will they love it? hate it?), letting go something that was yours, and what next?

Some musicians have the what’s next generally worked out, I don’t, yet. You promote, you tour. OK, got that.

Letting go something that was yours… that’s different, and I think is really at the heart of this vague fear. I was talking with my girlfriend last night who is a painter and has better words for these things, and she said that she experiences the same thing, and that what it is is that she really enjoys the process. Making the art is not really about the finished product, it’s about the process, and I always, always, always forget that.

And then, yeah, the basic fear of rejection. Of course I have that. I’m certain all musicians have that. But, I think you maybe develop a “confidence” like Kanye West because it doesn’t really matter whether people like it or not and besides, they will! Also, that confidence definitely makes people more intrigued to hear it. Plus, in my case, I am waaaayyy beyond the question of “would I make music if people didn’t like it?”…

Of course I will. I will always make music, I love the process.

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The first best thought when finishing an album (or two) is that revelation that a big project was indeed taken on and finished.

It takes a while. A lot of hours. I mean, you can do an album project in 2 weeks or 2 years. It could be the same music. It could be the same end product more or less. There is no end to the tinkering that can be done. The layering, the “perfecting”.

It’s like any big project. Starts as an idea, takes its mutations, many different hangups, lots of different things to learn, and then, finally, after that final push it becomes a reality. It’s important to remember the process.

When you record and mix your own stuff, it’s a bit different than handing it over to an engineer to finish off.

That’s where a good amount of critical feedback is good, from yourself mainly. I am stubborn, but that’s not why I don’t like to hear about the flaws until after I’m done. I do get feedback though, and lots of good ideas from friends. But as far as the “artistic” influence, I try to stay true to my instincts. On the other hand, sometimes your ears can’t hear it anymore. I’ve had a huge amount of feedback from my girlfriend and good friends and family on these albums. Volumes too loud or not loud enough, ideas on how to introduce a new part of the song, inspiration for the concept… sometimes I just needed someone to listen to it so I could watch their face during certain parts of songs.

Redwood Summer and Juneaurevoir came about as a concept. They both were about getting down to my more straight forward roots musically. Do what comes naturally, don’t over think it. Why haven’t I recorded an all cello instrumental album yet? I mean, it’s fun, it’s rewarding, and it can be enjoyed by a huge spectrum of people. And with the rootsy sound of Redwood Summer, it harkens back to my earliest albums: no self-censorship, no attempts at adhering to a certain sound per se, just songs straight up.

In retrospect Redwood Summer is very pop oriented, in the sense that most of the songs have a traditional verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus format. I always thought that would sound formulaic, and it is formulaic, but you can’t tell, that’s not what I listen for anyways. All my favorite popular music has that going on, and, yes, it’s trite, it’s been done before, but it sounds good.

In retrospect Juneaurevoir could be more ‘perfect’. I have been nice and open to the different tones and sounds. I didn’t use much in terms of effects, but I had thought I would use no effects whatsoever, like a recording of chamber music. I don’t have written versions of the songs even. Someday I’ll do that. This is the first in what I hope is a long string of cello albums.

Anyways, after mixing for 80+ hours the past couple weeks after work, I am struck by how big every ‘little’ project is.

But getting it done feels amazing. It makes it all worth it. I’m just waiting for a call and then they get mastered, and then I don’t get (have) to work on them any more…!

You can pre-order them now. They’ll be at itunes in September, and CDs will be available 9/9/9.

Thanks for stopping by!

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OK so I’ve been talking about this for a while but now the album is getting mastered this Friday!

I’d really like to have any and all of your voices on the backup vocals for the chorus (just the chorus… easy!) of my song ‘True North’

The lyrics are simple and maybe cheesy, but whatevs. They are:

“Start a great fire
start a great fire
start a great fire

in your hearth

turn a blind eye
turn a blind eye
turn a blind eye

to the lie”

The way I envision you being able to do this is to simply open up any audio recording program on your computer (garageband on mac, audacity on PC), put headphones on in another program (say, itunes) press play on “true north”, press record on your audio program and sing along during the chorus into the computer’s mic. Yup, that mic is fine. It’s ok if it sounds treble-y, it will create a roomy ambience, it is the easiest option, and I will fit it in the mix however it goes. I don’t care if you sing it amazingly or not. I want the sound of many voices. If you have a better mic that is fine too.

Then you press stop on the audio program. Save the file as pretty much any audio format, and email it to me. No, I won’t hear the rest of the song because you had your headphones on, but don’t clip it down to just the chorus or anything like that so that it is easier to line up with the recording.

If you have time that is more than great. If you don’t, I understand. But please just take 5 minutes to do it if you want/can! You will be immortalized forever and most likely a radio signal will send your voice into space. Most likely. You will get credit on the album. You will be irrevocably awesome.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me know if you think you will. I need it by thurs at the absolute latest (Sorry for the late notice… )

The mp3 is noted here. If it doesn’t show up in this facebook post, go to http://midnightdoor.com/word/?p=467

Thanks Guys!

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Spent the weekend sorting out dramas in my world and also putting the final touches on the new Cello album JUNEAUREVOIR.

Mixing cello can be pretty rough. It’s so full of bass, obviously, but the more you pull back on that bass, the more tinny the high ends seem.

Also, it’s one of those instruments you just want to cover with the frosting of reverb. But I’ve found that it is very very easy to go overboard on cello reverb. It has its own resonance which gets lost the more stacks of reverb you throw down.

As far as dramas of my life go? Well, let’s just say that plans, even when huge and pivotal, the big boulders of plans, can slip out of place and wreak havoc. More to come on that later.

If your are interested in how I record the cello (ie you are a recording nerd like me), read on!

I’m sure some people have figured this out, and that nicer microphones can make it sound great. I have figured my own “method” out on this last album. It is simple, not profound, and is as follows:

I take my nicer mic, an Audio Technica that is powered, a fairly small condenser mic, it looks sort of like this. It’s not that one. Anyways, it has a full bodied sound and also picks up the “icy” part of the cello, those highs where the bow moves across the string. I put that in front, facing the bridge, about six inches from it, straight on, or as much as possible.

I don’t believe in mic’ing the f-hole. Too many fluctuations in tone and none of that bow sound action. I happen to like the bow sounds, even on “perfect” classical recordings. Or, I should say, especially on “perfect” classical recordings. My favorite recording of the Bach Suites is Pablo Casals’ very early recordings of them. One take, wax cylinder, lots of imperfections, no retakes, lots of real natural beauty. Perfect and authentic sounding to me. You can really hear the bow moving across the string. I like it.

And then, and this is odd, but it works, I decided that it is ok to record with a pickup if the pickup picks up some tones that a mic just can’t. So I used my Shadow Nanoflex Cello Pickup and recorded the two, mic and pickup, together. The blend of the tones allows for a more full tone. I tend to roll off the low end on the Audio Technica, and also to roll off the high end of the pickup. Low end of the mic is full of hum, high end of the pickup is full of hiss. But they compliment each other nicely.

So what you end up with is like, if you had your ear right up against the cello PLUS you have a prime spot seated in front of the cello. I like the blend of the two.

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Just got back from the most epic and amazing trip I’ve ever taken. The Azores are incredible, and my month spent there was truly inspiring and beyond words and pictures. 

I had the great privilege of seeing some traditional Azorian music, and am happy to say I think I’ve found some influential roots… more to come on that front. 

For now, some pictures:


Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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I played at St. Joseph’s in Grass Valley this past weekend and it was seriously one of the most fun shows I’ve played in a while.

I always love playing there, even just being in that room, but this was super cool and fun and good. Got to play with Molly Allis of Huff This! on a couple of songs, and later in the evening she returned the favor and played with me.

And it was all about the crowd: they/you ruled. As soon as Molly started pounding out awesome drum action, everybody was on their feet and dancing and we ripped through new material off the upcoming album “Redwood Summer”… people danced to ‘The Unattended Ball’, ‘True North’ and then it all got crazy and everyone got loose for ‘Fever Saved Me‘. I mean, I’m telling you it was great.

Thank You!!! to all who made it, I had a ton of fun.

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So I don’t know about you but spring 2009 has been crazy!

So much going on and I will indeed spare you the details, despite the fact that this is a blog.

What I want to tell you:

2 big shows this week
April 18 & St. Joseph’s Hall, a 20 minute set of my new stuff, a benefit for a libraries in Africa, Moore Brothers, Molly from Huff This!, food, dancing, a great event.

Facebook Event Page for Books Across The Water

PS – Why not become my fan on facebook if you’re reading this? Click here.

Then, on the 24th, the eagerly awaited record release for Aaron Ross & The Heirs Of Mystery, of which I’m an heir. Also at St. Joseph’s. Facebook event page here.

Albums: yes they are not done. They will be done for my friends by mid April like I had hoped, but for the public, I am simply going to have to let it ride until I get back from the Azore Islands, where I’ll be for the month of May.

Which means I may not be posting much in May!

Just thought I’d let you know… thanks for stopping by!

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Sometimes I listen back to early drafts of the songs I’ve worked on and since revised. I often post them here, because they say a lot about the process.

I realize today as I am listening to some of those that despite our progression as people towards more and more “well-rounded” and oh so effective professionals, we often get it right the first time. The tendency to rub things down and polish them until blemish free is so tempting, so addictive. And oh so boring.

(more…)

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And why should I?

It’s pretty much an inner circle clique gathering once a year to pat themselves on the back. The radio stations are owned by the same people putting out the albums, so where is the competition. We all know there is no innovation there.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Coldplay and a couple of other past Grammy nominees, and they are the nicest, coolest, warmest people you’ll ever meet. It’s nothing personal against the inner circle. But I’m just so sick of it.

What I’m sick of is, in a nutshell: you won’t watch the grammies and discover any music you haven’t already heard force fed to you millions of times before. The industry is collapsing under its own weight, and they go on toasting the same tired formulas.

Now that I write this though, I am not afraid to admit that I am terribly out of the loop. I’m also too old for the grammies, and have no expendable income to spend on money anymore. So I guess it’s not up to me! Which is fine.

My point is: let’s have a yearly awards ceremony that actually salutes the innovative music that has come about this year. Let’s take the airwaves back. Let’s push the real music that we care about out beyond the shadows of indie-land. The music industry is seriously in need of a breath of fresh air (which I think we will be seeing in the next couple of years… I can kind of sense it…).

That’s all. Not that it matters what I think. I wish I cared. I love music… I should care about the Grammies… right?

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Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Just wanted to thank everyone who came by my show earlier today (the earliest show I’ve played in years by the way). It was great fun to play in that room with its sound, and I really appreciated people taking a moment out of their days to listen. I also enjoyed talking with many of you after the show. Thanks for the kind words and for checking in…

Keep checking back or sign up for the RSS feed to be notified of what’s new.

Be my friend on MySpace, check out my Facebook Page, and find my music on iTunes.

See you soon…

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Hello, are you looking for the moon?

December and November were such a crazy wash for me I was feeling burnt out. Right now we’re house sitting a really beautiful house outside Nevada City and I feel life returning to something better than it was.

I’ve strangely writ a good part of 4 new songs since being here three days ago, and feel like I might have more. Starting to flesh out the lyrics etc.

Other music life has been busy too… recently:

Traveled to record with Huff This! at a former 60’s rock star’s LA estate. Obviously fun to the max.

Added bass tracks to Aaron Ross’ new record and therefore we are sending it off to be mixed and mastered.

Scheduled a few gigs, with Aaron and solo action… I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll put a new track up here pretty soon…

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Dec 14, 2008 
I’ve been working like mad lately and in my late night hours I’ve been burning through my music list. One of the tracks from my old band “The Key” came up and I decided I’m really proud of this whole album, especially in retrospect. Especially in retrospect because I wrote this song about the approach of the US warplanes at the beginning of the Iraq war from the point of view of an innocent kid. Maybe my age, maybe in Baghdad… I still think it fits. The sounds at the end are from a giant (80,000 plus people) anti-war rally on the eve of the war. Before that scumbag W. pulled the trigger. Listen and enjoy…

In other news, I’m super busy in life and otherwise.

This Thursday I’m playing a show in Sacramento with Aaron Ross & The Heirs Of Mystery at a new club. Go to his myspace page for more details…

After that I’m driving down to Los Angeles to do some cello recording with Huff This! They’re putting together their album and I’m super glad to be able to contribute perhaps.

In the meantime, good progress is made on the solo cello album, the new cello/beats/vocals album. Those two will probably be released at the same time, in early spring.

Yes. That is what is. Hope you’re doing well…

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Nightfall, Waterfall
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Live Oct. 24 - GVCFA 

This has been one of those clusters of time where big things happen and there isn’t really even a way to gauge how much it impacted. To see Barack Obama elected was something I never thought I’d witness in my youthful days, and not for the reasons the media is obsessed with. I know it meant a lot to me to see this, as halfway through the minute after MSNBC announced he had won I was calling all my family quite emotional. That happened. It was beautiful.

Now here in the whirlpool or resilient aftermath, whatever it’s called. Things have been quaking a bit. I’m listening to old music and catching up on some long overdue chores, generally putting things into categories and then evaluating each and every one. Like: for instance: music. The album of songs I’ve been playing live is getting to the point of “ok, well, let’s put it out!”… though I’d like to have a sudden revelation and record another song or two with it. The other albums are floundering, and have taken far too long to put together. But it’s all organization at this point… a lot of the material is there… just waiting to be shaped up.

And then there is Aaron Ross’ new project, The Heirs Of Mystery. That album is almost done. A trio: Aaron singing playing guitar, Cody Feiler on electric guitar and backup vocals, me on cello and backup vocals. It’s a fun mix, it’s a good mix, it’s the kind of mix that doesn’t happen often, musically or personally… I really admire and respect those guys on all levels and I think that what we end up putting out, such as this last Sunday at the Crazy Horse Saloon in downtown Nevada City, while the sweaty pre-election crowd sat waitingwise under the redlights hearing for the first time… I think it is good. It is good music.

So tomorrow evening downtown Nevada City again, playing cello for an art opening at the Mekka… will be an interesting thing… fun I hope. And lately that’s what I mean, just a constant waterfall of these types of opportunities, crossing paths with really cool people. Nevada City has opened a bit, and yet…

now winter is upon us in it’s own way

and who knows… I just feel that of course, as always, as usual, it is not enough to be sitting here waiting for the next page to turn, waiting for the blind spot to become defogged, and perhaps even waiting for some approval to crop up out of the ether, because you know, we all want that. And, as it is shown, we are all getting there, older, and wiser, and closer to our fate, whatever it may be.

So, in short, things roll forward. I’m moving this more into journal form again by the way. I don’t really mind if it offends anyone that I shall tell of my days and nights and life in a truly vain manner on these pages. It’s what it is. I don’t need no excuses…

“The darkness has got the best of us… there’s a darkness in this town that’s got us too…
they can’t touch me now… you can’t touch me now… they aint goin’ to do to me what I watched them do to you… ” – Independence Day you should know perhaps who by

So yes, thanks in the air, the full fall leaves weighting down just enough. Enough passing by in a blur to become one with each exhale, the days. The sharpness of breath, the long-ness of the night. The books to read, the family to see, the projects to complete. The holy arena of reflection. It always happens, thank goodness.

Ambition is the answer to the vanity that tears me apart. I know I want to do more, and I believe that it will come about, the restless dreams of each and every night meaning something, meaning that indeed there is meaning. Simple tasks like homework pull me into two halves, the perfectly numb and the perfectly distraught. That’s where I’m at… You?

No, I haven’t been drinking. I just get this from the crisp air, from being on the cusp of change. From being a part of this second that said: write.

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Leaving sf 

the Oakland air is headed into fall chilliness and the sun is setting earlier. Autumn is here, nothing to be done about it… It’s been a long good week on both coasts.

I’ve been putting off posing though I’ve known for a while that the Mondo Cello Fest has been postponed until next spring… There are many reasons for this, most I’m not privy to but it comes down to economics for now. I’m terrifically sad to not be playing the west coast, and I’m particularly sad to not get to meet all these amazing cello peers.

But, it means I will rebook and be able to finish my albums. Life moves on…

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It’s been fast and cool and full of nostalgia and crazy weather and we are headed south again, leaving portland, and the bridges behind… again.

It’s the best city, and the rain settled in on us, and the lightning was everywhere, and so were our friends, and places to eat, and to get coffee. Now we camp our way back to Northern California… “home”…

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Here I am in Powell’s books in my former city Portland. It’s not rainy, or cold, it is really really hot. People are flocked to the indoor spots, and here, books are being flipped through with indifferent non-commitment.

Such a great city, and so much happening here. Easy to deal with, comparatively, and vibrant. The energy of youth is off the charts, and the ambience registers thickly.

I miss writing music here, but it’s good to see that it is a time that has indeed passed. In other words, I’m also glad that I have moved along, done cool things… writ new stuff.

Speaking of which, keep an eye out for new material on its way, it basically is all going to arrive at once in a flood, most likely by mid-October.

Just checking in, have been out of touch. Thanks for stopping by!

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When I lived in Portland, OR for a number of years a good friend of mine said “Hey have you heard of CD Baby? You should sell your CDs there!” and I said “OK!”

Since then they have been my favorite ally as a musician, and I’ve always recommended them… to any musician.

So, if you don’t use CD Baby, you should definitely consider it! Click here to see what a rad music page looks like over there 😉

I have been reading the founder Derek Siver’s thoughts on Music Marketing for many many years. He is a cool, genuine, nice guy and he often will drop emails to folks just to say “Hey you! You can do it!” It’s great.

I realized yesterday that this really could apply to ANY field, and so, if you need to get yourself inspired, download his pdf on getting your music out into the world. It will be applicable if you are a musician of course, but I think it can help if you are anyone who has ambition and needs to focus it!

Visit his site daily for good solid thoughts that really will help you stay on track. Do it now!

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I know I haven’t posted in a little bit… I have tons of awesome excuses! But really I’ve been practicing. I’ve been playing some music with Aaron Ross and Cody Coyote (we might do a bit for the show on Saturday, we might now!). But I’m thinking: hey! I will record one of my last practice sessions here and post it to the site here in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!

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Was listening to this instrumental electronic album I had made a few years back while driving through the redwoods in Northern California this weekend. I still like it. It is good to be moving along to. I can’t wait to start another album of the same “genre”.

Here is the first track, check it dude:

[display_podcast]

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Being sick is fun. I take it as a sign to slow down, stop what I am doing. Rest.

My brain has been on overload too fast too much, not enough getting done, never enough getting done. So here I am, in my bed, writing on a laptop.

Music has been coming along though. It’s funny how it always takes a bit of chopping and reworking, no matter how long you do it. As I get more experience with recording music I realize that it is a good thing to be hyper critical of the end product.

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I’m sitting here at work waiting to get out of here. I’m waiting for a ride from my good friend Eric because its pretty much chains out there weather.

We got a hit of snow as of this morning and now its getting slightly more interesting, brown outs, being stuck here. I’m quite anxious really.

Had to cancel a recording session and now I’m just eager to find my way home.

It’s winter certainly.

The snow has turned slushy a little bit, but it is cold enough to freeze as soon as it is near the ground. I’ve always been a fan of the snow. It makes me feel like things are being cleaned out. Cleaned over. Starting fresh.

Tonight it is more drama though… kind of fun…

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In 2008 we have felt the bitter cold, and driven up the frozen highways, at 20mph, while the snow takes all sight. Made my way to work, and back, and had a few moments to bang on drums. There is much to do, and I’ve yet to do it. But that’s ok, we shall prevail.

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Since my hard drive crashed I’ve been much more aware of preserving and saving and backing up the music that I’ve made. Sounds obvious but it’s easy to let it sit on a CD in the back of a book of CDs that you haven’t opened in five years.

So there’s this album, I made long ago, my third release as a solo musician, back in Santa Cruz, called “Still Dream”. I recorded it onto my four track, and then I had it mastered with a friend who was in the recording program. Funny thing happened though… when we were playing the four track back through the nice machines, the pitch was bumped accidentally up just a little tiny touch. And so everything I put into that album for my ears was ALL WRONG. Voice sounded squeaky and it just… wasn’t me. So now through the miracle of computery geekiness, I am taking that CD and slowing it back down to my real voice’s actual pitch. So its cool, it will be the album I have never got to hear. I’ll put some stuff up here soon!

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laying low tonight as the sun set a little earlier.

This week I put together footage from the performance last weekend, and have it up on youtube, last.fm, here, et cetera.

So its there, and it is good.

I’m visualizing my life in the coming year. Who knows where I’ll be, but I have good thoughts on what I’d like to be doing. Mainly playing/collaborating. I want to meet people who want it to happen.

A hot day and a light breeze, pomegranite juice and flax seed tortilla chips.

Time to water the plants.

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august is more than midway, Kate and Pete have had their birthdays, Nate’s is coming up.

Last night played the Power Palooza event on top of a roof with the green lights spinning all around and the summer night. All day in the art room practicing, and coming up with a few new songs.

Yes summer

last weekend we were on the beach, Navarro beach south of Mendocino and we watched the meteor shower with the new moon keeping the sky dark. We visited the Big River Ranch where we used to live and saw Lucky the landlord. The buildings were in ill repair, all were moving out, and it flashed in my mind to take it on as a perfect life project, trim the apple orchards, get the garden going, carve the paths out of the woods. Shangri-La.

But who is to say. Kate made peach cobbler from the peaches there, we were back in reality and spending our time on music and painting, which is the way it ought to be.

Currently reading :
The Matarese Circle
By Robert Ludlum
Release date: February, 1979

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Things are rolling along so fast. Today is a strange wake up day for me.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts and things going on the line. The CD “Midnight Door” is getting into iTunes as we speak, I’ve made a couple of short videos and am working on more.

Played last Thursday with Aaron Ross and the band at the Miner’s Foundry in Nevada City. The show was incredible, the most fun I’ve had playing music in a long time, and such a great group of musicians.