the king of rock & roll
The guitar was a Fender strat in the bridge position for the rhythm and neck for the leads. I used a Catalinbread Manx Logarithm fuzz pedal through a Fender Deluxe Reverb hand-wired reissue. Most importantly, I got to break out the MXR talk-box, which is always a blast. This is a bit of a parody of the 70's rock stars. You can probably pick up a few of the not so subtle references.
holey
Same guitar set up as Gun and Slo. I really love that Orange Fuzz pedal.
Cover artwork was created from a photograph by Ryan McGuire.
gun
Another LA story. Same guitar rig as for Slo. In the bridge, I doubled the guitar with a cool fuzz pedal made by Orange called the "Fur Coat." I also used it for the lead solo in the outro: super creamy.
Check it out: https://orangeamps.com/products/fx-pedals/fur-coat/
Slo
This song was inspired by a real life escape from one of the many LA fires.
Bailing is OK, so long and you do it cool.
Guitar was a Fender Custom Shop strat through a hand-wired deluxe reverb reissue. I liked the single coil pups because they gave a more transparent sound, like fire and smoke. Bridge pups for the crunch and neck for the leads.
There was also an Catalinbread SFT pedal, which was used for the bar chords.
Check it out: https://www.catalinbread.com/index.php?category=all&product=sft
mission commander
Recording Notes
I wanted an old-school 70's Brit-vibe so I hauled out the 57 Les Paul R7 and fed it into the hot channel of a VOX AC15 hand-wired reissue: nice and crunchy! Steel-string guitar was recorded with a Warm Audio WA87, a Dizengoff D-4 preamp and finally a Warm Audio WA-2A compressor. Lots of harmonics yes? For the vocals, I was going for a sort of Bowie-esque glam-rock sound with lots of harmonies. (There is actually a 3 part harmony in the chorus.) As per usual, vocals were miked with an AKG C414 and souped up through a UA 610 Mark II preamp.
THE BEST DAY
Recording Notes
I was going for a warm vintage sound, not harsh or in your face, while preserving harmonics, headroom and energy. I used a 52 Gibson Les Paul Tribute guitar, with the bridge P-90 selected and plugged into the normal channel of a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Vocals were tracked through an AKG 414 microphone and a UA 610 Mark II tube preamp/compressor. In the mixing stage, all of the sounds were treated with vintage-style plugins, including lots of tape saturation, which (IMHO) delivers a more natural compression.
This song was written for/about a close friend of mine who was addicted to meth and heroin. The “Best Day” was about his celebration day, the day he left re-hab to start his life over. It is a bittersweet song because he passed away six months later from health complications.
Hollywood boulevard shuffle
Recording Notes
This song was inspired by a conversation with a homeless man in Los Angeles. He was ranting about the jungle and all of the predatory creatures that were closing in on him.
I was trying for a very over the top 70's Glam-Rock sound with a bit of a grunge bite. The guitar sound is a Gibson Les Paul played through a 1974 Marshall JMP head and 4x12 cab with Celestin Greenbacks. Vocals were tracked through an AKG C414 microphone and a UA 610 Mark II.
incidental life
Recording Notes
I really wanted this to sound like a period piece, recorded in Abbey Roads around the time of Rubber Soul. The acoustic guitar was recorded through a Warm Audio WA-87 tube microphone and a UA 610 Mark II tube preamp/compressor with the lows rolled off. The guitars was subsequently compressed with the Waves Abbey Roads REDD plugin to create a sort of harpsichord sound. All of the drums and the bass were processed through a Dizengoff Audio D4 preamp (a faithful recreation of the REDD.51 circuit used at Abbey Roads in the mid-60’s) and a UREI LA-4 compressor and finally through a Warm Audio EQP-WA tube EQ. Vocals were tracked through an AKG 414 microphone and a UA 610
relax
Recording Notes
Guitar was a 57 R7 Lest Paul reissue played through a Marshall Blues Breaker hand-wired reissue. Vocals were done in one take with the usual set up.