Before this I’ve mostly thought about my contributions in music as chords & riffs, melody and words. The groove was just something that happened — or sometimes mysteriously didn’t happen and I’d have no idea why.

But what to do? I can’t re-record the album every time I learn something new or get better at something. I know that doesn’t end well for me (or anyone who wants to hear my record in the next ten years).

So I took some time and I’ve gone back and re-addressed things, trying to avoid re-recording everything or changing them too much (people already like a lot of these demos! some have already been licensed!). Here’s an example of one I’m working on right now:

Excerpt of the original “Feel Free Plastic Surgery!” instrumental

Excerpt of the new version

It’s been confusing to diagnose and treat this without starting over. In this one I ditched the South American drum loop that I wrote the song on top of and replaced it with a more straight ahead rock pattern I tapped in. Then re-recorded the bass to fit better.

I’m still working on it (I’m concerned the snare on the 4 is late sometimes), but the new one is more fun to me, dancier and rockier. It’s such a small change and I feel dumb that it’s taken me forever to understand and figure out. But… maybe it’s a good thing? I don’t know, we’ll see.

People have been asking me about my record and I really appreciate that you guys are looking forward to it despite all the radio silence from me. Honestly I’m still struggling with it, getting the songs how I want them while not going all Chinese Democracy. It’s a tough balance.

But it’s moving forward now and I’m optimistic I’ll be able to wrap it up soon. Thanks for your patience and support. Have a sweet 2012.

I have another song demo nearly ready to go which means that’ll be nine out of ten done for the next album, holy smokes! The tenth track is getting there as well. With luck I’ll be working on finishing the record by the summer. So that’s nice.

Guess Who’s a Mess (demo 2)

Okay, moving on…

Guess Who’s a Mess (demo)

It’s the title track and will probably be track 6 on Guess Who’s a Mess.

Venue: The Tranzac Club
City: Toronto, ON
When: August 7, 7pm
Cost: $12

Event listings:

Facebook
MySpace
Eventful
Upcoming
last.fm

• The show would be at Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company in Vankleek Hill, Ontario.
• There would be a round trip bus from Montreal or Ottawa (depending on which city has more interest.)
• Cost would be $30, which is your cover and a brewery tour.
• It’d be in the spring or early summer.

Anyway, please let me know if it’s something you’d attend. Thanks!

So I think we’re doing the top 6, but I’m not sure what to do about Making Me Nervous. It’s the most popular song but many people think it’s a bad fit for Rock Band. I’m sort of thinking about doing a remix with more guitars, but maybe that’d kill some of the fun. “Play along to a different version of a song you kinda liked!”

Request from Brad if he’s up to it. Bunch of friends and I think Clerks 2 is an awesome movie! We wanted to know if Brad would do a cover song of Goodbye Horses from Q Lazzarus. You know the creepy silence of the lambs Buffalo Bill song. Take the creepy out and see clerks 2 to understand the humor in it. Everyone at work loves Bradsux and wanted to see if Brad would attempt a cover of it. Such groups that actually sounded better that did a remix were Psyche. Anyhow just small request.

I listened to the original and didn’t like it. Then I noticed it was stuck in my head and I started to like it. Then it seemed familiar and I realized my wife was obsessed with it a couple months ago. So here’s my cover:

Goodbye Horses (cover) [6 MB]

You’re welcome to mess around with them however you want. Please send me a link to anything you do – when I’m done the demos I’ll be looking to see if there’s anything I want to include on the finished record and then I’ll be in touch (so including a working email address would be a bonus.)