In The Studio: Colin Bullock
I guess he liked what I was doing.
After a gig with him in November, and another last month, Colin Bullock asked if I could come and play bass on his new record – essentially all the tunes we’d been playing live.
I headed out to Room & Board Studios in Abbotsford, BC, which is run by Ryan McAllister. Ryan’s band some years back was called Dakona, and they had some success in North America, signing to Maverick Records and presumably playing a crap-ton of shows all over the place. Turns out Ryan is a great producer, and even though he was officially just engineering and playing host, his laid-back vibe and songwriting experience helped us over a few humps with parts of songs here and there. He’s having me back next month for some more recording on other stuff, so I’m looking forward to working with him again on that.
As usual for bed tracks, it was just bass and drums for those two days. Colin and his producer/roommate Francis were kind enough to have put some work into preparing good quality guitar/vocal scratch tracks. Much more helpful than playing to a click and looking at a chord chart while annoying MIDI pads drone in the background. The drummer was the same as the live shows, and also a guy I’ve played with in The Reckoners, another Vancouver band. His name is Sam Heard and he’s a motherfucker on the drums. For example, drop the needle on any classic Tower Of Power tune and he will not only play Dave Garibaldi’s drum part verbatim but sing you the horn parts while he’s doing it. Sick. The two of us are such jazz-funk-fusion dorks I’m surprised we got anything done amidst the yakkin’.
Fun Fact: this was the first record where I’ve played every single one of my basses at least once — the Lakland 55-01, Ibanez acoustic bass guitar, Fury fretless Anthem bass, and the Geddy Lee Signature Series Fender Jazz. I think the album is going to sound rad.
I’ll have some video up of the sessions soon, as will Colin, but I’ll wait for the mixes and try to sync the video with that so you can hear everything. In the meantime, some photos from the sessions (and some more on Flickr):
Check out my Flickr page to see more photos from this and other recording sessions, as well as from live shows and tours.
Lakland Basses: A shameless plug
I’ve been playing a Lakland Skyline 55-01 for a couple years now. It’s my only 5-string bass and it sees a lot of action for precisely that reason. Leading up to finding it, I had been on the hunt for a 35″ scale 5-string with really even-sounding Bartolini or similar pickups, but that also had a bypass switch to go from active to passive for some more tonal variations or if the 9v battery ever gave up the goat during a gig. The 55-01 was exactly that, and it sounds great, plays great, and looks great – simple as that.
So, fast forward to last month when I sacked-up and wrote an email to Dan Lakin with a brief resume outlining some of the highlights of my music career thus far. I figured that musical instrument and equipment manufacturers considering artists (not that I would ever seriously refer to myself as an “artist” in public, but whatever) for endorsement want to know that their gear is going to be seen first and foremost. Being heard is also not a bad thing. That means that if you can tell them there have been, and more importantly will be TV appearances, big concerts, and music videos where you are using their stuff, you’re helping your case. So that’s the kind of info I gave, and I’m pleased to say it didn’t require any embellishment or exaggeration on my part. The same cannot be said for other aspects of my life, but I digress.
Obviously, if you’re a hugely famous and successful musician all of the big dogs like Fender and Gibson (not necessarily the best – just sayin’) will likely come to you and start giving you stuff in hopes that you’ll use it in a highly visible way. The next step up from that is if you partner up with a manufacturer to help design an instrument or other piece of gear with your name on it. That privilege is usually reserved for legends, although there are exceptions.
Neither of those scenarios are applicable to me at present, but I’m certainly thrilled to now be on the list of endorsing artists for Lakland Basses. There are some really heavy dudes on that list. My thanks to Dan.
Recording: Colin Bullock
A couple weeks ago I played my first gig with a talented chap named Colin Bullock, a singer-songwriter and guitar-player from Australia living here in Vancouver. Just days before the show he asked if I would be able to throw down a bass track on a new single so he could release it at the show with the launch of a new music video.
I was happy to oblige, so I recorded a bunch of solid passes with some different ideas here at the home studio. Not wanting to make any executive decisions without the artist present, I sent all nine tracks so Colin and his mixing engineer could figure out what they wanted to use. Listening to the finished track, I don’t really know if the bass part is a conglomeration of a bunch of takes or if they just took one they liked and slapped it on, but it seems to work either way.
We have another gig coming up at the Railway Club here in Vancouver on Wednesday, December 30, so I hope to see you there. In the meantime, keep up to date by checking out Colin’s Facebook Fan Page.
And here’s the video for “Something Worth Smiling For”…
Recording: Ben Rogers
Earlier this year I got a call from Matt Rogers, a great producer/composer/guitarist I met at UBC in the Music program. He asked if I wanted to play some bass on a few new tunes written by his brother, Ben.
I’ve played some live shows with Ben and Matt sporadically over the years, and each time was some of the most fun I’ve had onstage — the tunes are well-written and Ben is without exaggeration one of the most engaging and entertaining performers I’ve ever worked with. (As a side note, there was one show I did with Ben and Matt that wasn’t as fun, but that had very much to do with the fact that I had had four wisdom removed only days earlier, and was thusly A) self-concious of my swollen face, B) a bit under-nourished for lack of solid food, and C) whoozy from the Tylenol 3s).
Ben himself might tell you he has many musical influences to his bluesy folk tunes, but I think that Woody Guthrie and Tom Waits are pretty safe bets. I was stoked to hear some gospel singers added on the final tracks — great harmonies and such a rich, heavy sound. Because it was at Baker Street Studios, I was able to play the ’60s Hofner Violin Bass with the 30-year-old flat-wound strings again.
Ben has got some stuff cookin’ with a record label in Los Angeles, the details of which I don’t really know, but I was happy to head over to Baker Street Studios to spend the day with the Rogers’ and my buddy Ryan Stewart, a phenomenal drummer and producer in his own right.
Here are the finished tracks. Let me know what you think in the comments.
River At My Back Door
Time Will Tell
To see some more photos from this studio session, check out this Set on Flickr.
Music video: “You Make Me Feel”
The first single, “You Make Me Feel”, from Jessie Farrell’s upcoming album and the music video were released a little while ago to radio and CMT. The video was directed by the talented dude named Colin Minihan who has directed heaps of videos for other rock and country acts. I make a small appearance with the rest of the the band towards the end, which is fine, although our choreographed dance in the style of Janet Jackson’s “Control” evidently didn’t make the final cut. Maybe next time. It’s too bad because I really limbered-up for that.
604 Records also put together a fun little Behind-The-Scenes video. If you listen closely you can hear us making off-colour jokes while Jessie tries to talk to the camera.
I’m excited about the new album coming out. The new tunes are really fun to play and after the terrific year or so that Jessie has had with her CCMA Awards, Juno nominations, and BCCMAs, there seems to be some really good momentum ramping up to this record’s release and all the shows that will go with it.
You can also check back here for tourdates.
Nominated: Bass Player of the Year!
Just when I’ve convinced myself that it’s time to pull up stakes and join Cirque Du Soleil as a diminutive Chinese contortionist, I get word that the Canadian Country Music Association members have nominated me for Bass Player of the Year for a second time.
I wrote a fair bit about the CCMAs last year (didn’t win in my category, FYI – please, no tears), so I’ll just say that I’m quite pleased to be working with an artist like Jessie Farrell (nominated again this year) who is building a career with lots of hard work and guts, and also with Tucker and JGo — both excellent players (nominated in their instrument categories) and high-functioning social deviants who make working in the band such a tremendous pleasure.
The CCMA Awards are in my home town of Vancouver this year and I’m looking forward to doing my part to show all the industry’s out-of-towners a good time when they get here. The CCMA’s are from September 10-13, with live shows around the city and other schmoozy industry events happening here and there. I’m performing with Jessie at a Universal Music party on Saturday the 12th, but just go to CCMA.org for all the info.
Many thanks to all the CCMA members who are responsible for my nomination!
Toni Childs in Sun Valley, Idaho
In late May I spent a week in Ketchum, Idaho – a swank little ski town in Sun Valley – for a gig with singer-songwriter Toni Childs (official website here).
It was a pretty short-notice gig because Toni’s usual rhythm section couldn’t make the trip from Australia, so my friend Chris Van Sickle who plays piano and B3 with Toni gave me a call, emailed me the charts and mp3s a couple days before we were set to leave. Also new to the gig was another friend of mine from when I lived in Victoria, a drummer named Tom Salter who was in pretty much the same boat. On electric guitar was Adam Dobres, also from Victoria and another guy I had played a bunch of gigs with before. On rhythm acoustic and electric guitar was a Nate, a surfer dude from Hawaii via New Jersey. A terrific sound tech named John Borys was doing sound. I worked with him when I was a teenager playing gigs in Victoria with different bands, and it was a totally rad to catch up with him after many years.
The band rehearsed in the old Opera House for 4 days leading up to the show. We were able to leave all the gear set-up all week which allowed Chris and I to rent some bicycles. The “commute” from the little condo where the band stayed to the Opera House was a nice bike path through the valley. A couple hours of tunes, a lunch break, some more tunes and then the bike ride home as the sun was getting low was just about one of the best work schedules I think I’ve ever had.
During rehearsals, Toni really knew what she wanted to hear and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. This was actually nice for me because it took some of the decision-making out of my hands and I could just play my parts as best as I could. The music was primarily world-beat pop, I suppose from Toni’s experiences writing and recording in Africa and working with musicians like Peter Gabriel, but there were also a couple numbers that were definitely more rock with a little R&B in there too.
The concert was at the Sun Valley Pavilion, a 1500-seat, $30-million venue just a couple hundred yards away from where we had been rehearsing. Toni had decided late in the week that she wanted to fly in one of her regular band members, a cellist from L.A. named Ana Lenchantin, so we brushed up on a few of the tunes at our (really long) soundcheck as the venue’s crew was getting everything together. The show started just as the sun was going down, and with the exception of a few dodgy endings, everything went off without a hitch. Toni’s fans were ecstatic and by the end of our set there was a happy group of people right in front of the stage singing along and getting into it.
The highlight for me, aside from traveling to a new place which I almost always enjoy, was getting a chance to hang out and play with some old buddies and bandmates in that new context. Sun Valley is a beautiful place, and if I ever won the lottery I might consider purchasing a small, modest chalet in Ketchum for a ridiculous sum of money in hopes of running into the likes of Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis at the local organic market.
Clockwise from left: Adam Dobres, Chris Van Sickle, Toni Childs, Tom Salter, Ana Lenchantin, Nate, me.
Go to my Flickr page to see more photos from this trip!
Recording: AJ Woodworth
Photo by Kris Krug
Photo by Kris Krug
In late February I was privileged to be asked to play some bass at recording session for the lovely and talented country singer-songwriter AJ Woodworth. I met her through my good friend, the irrepressible Jesse Tucker, who co-wrote a few of the tunes with AJ and played electric and acoustic guitar on the tracks.
I had gotten some demos of the songs and chord charts ahead of time, but I had never actually witnessed AJ singing in-person, nor had I met the producer for the session, Paul Shatto, drummer Kyle Radomsky, and keyboard player Simon Kendall who were also working the session out at Vogville Studios in Port Coquitlam, BC.
This is actually the kind of scenario that I love for one main reason: Even though I hadn’t met these folks previously, I knew them by reputation and résume and therefore knew that they were all excellent at what they do. That means that I get the thrill of making music with people I’ve never worked with before, all the while trusting that it’s probably going to turn out totally rad.
And I think I was right.
(Judge for yourself by listening the totally finished mixed-and-mastered tracks below.)
For anyone curious about the nuts-and-bolts of the day:
We did four songs in total. AJ sang a live scratch track for each take into a mic in the control room and Tucker played scratch guitar tracks in there as well. Bass and wurlitzer and drums were all set up in the same room, which I like because I can watch the drummer to make sure I lock in with what he’s doing. We did four or five takes of each song on average, everyone helping to make slight arrangement and harmonic adjustments as necessary. For two tunes I played my Lakland 55-01, and for the other two I played a 1970s Fender Precision bass (with strings older than me) that was graciously loaned to me by my buddy Dave Hall. Both basses sounded killer through the Avalon M5 preamp and perfect for their respective songs — the Lakland a bit more slick and growly for the poppier stuff and the Fender to get a bit more of a vintage R&B-style tone. Simon did some more keyboard overdubs (Hammond organ, etc.) on a different day, and all the guitars and final vocals were done over the course of a week or two after my session.
To see some behind-the-scenes photos of the session go to my Flickr page.
AJ is a tremendously talented artist who is moving up fast in the Canadian country music scene, so expect to hear her name again if you’re into this kind of music.
“Get Away Car”
(M. Pulver/C. Thorsteinson/D. Ruttan)
“Real Best Man”
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
“Love Like That Too”
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
“Right Our Wrongs”
(J. Tucker/A.J. Woodworth)
Recording: Cory Woodward
In February I got a call from my friend Matt Rogers, an accomplished producer/composer/arranger here in Vancouver. He was producing an album for a singer-songwriter named Cory Woodward at Baker St. Studios in North Vancouver, B.C.
Maybe this says a little something about how “picky” I am about projects I work on, but I hadn’t even heard any of Cory’s previous work when I replied to Matt with an immediate “Yes please.” I was at UBC in the music program at the same time as Matt. We spent some time in the Jazz Band together there and he pulled me to play bass on an album he produced a couple years ago. The stuff Matt works on ranges from music for TV and film to demos to full albums of all different genres. That said, if he’s stoked about a project it usually means that he’s going for something original and something that maybe people haven’t really heard before. Even better. Not only am I “in” but now I’m excited about it, too.
After a couple rehearsals, a personnel change in the drum department resulted in Ryan Stewart coming in at the last minute to learn 10 tunes in one night. If you had to have a drummer learn 10 tunes in a night you would probably want it to be Ryan. These days Ryan has his producer hat on more than anything. Among other things, last year he co-wrote and produced the debut album for Canadian Idol finalist Carly Rae Jepsen which had a couple hits on radio. Having someone like Ryan who is listening and thinking like a producer to the entire sound of each song and not just hyper-focused on drum parts is a major bonus.
The tunes? For lack of a better description I’ll just repeat was said to me: Arcade Fire-meets-Born In The USA-era-Springstein. Cory is a great songwriter with a really awesome voice like Springstein and maybe a bit of early Tom Waits in there too. Make no mistake – this isn’t a retro act. The songs are modern and quirky and original. Even if they borrow from classic rock paradigms, something always gets turned on its head.
I got to play the studio’s bass: a 1960-something Hofner violin bass (AKA, a “Beatle bass”) with strung with flatwounds that are older than I am. Sustain was almost non-existent, which was perfect. It sounded rad, finger-style and especially with a pick, which is not something I play with very often.
Matt and Cory are likely still working hard on finishing the record. There was talk of a horn section, big synths, guitars, string arrangements — I don’t exactly know what they will be layering on top of our bass and drums, but I can’t wait to hear it.
Check out more photos of the recording sessions on my Flickr page.
I also have some video that I will put up here when the songs are finished. Stay tuned!
Jessie Farrell nominated for a Juno
The headline pretty much says it all. If I can add anything it’s that she has been nominated in the “Best New Artist” category. This is pretty cool, because country music traditionally doesn’t have a particularly strong presence at the Junos. Jessie won a bunch of awards at the CCMAs and the BCCMAs which is terrific, but the Juno nomination is a pleasant surprise.
The Junos are being held in Vancouver this spring, so I’m looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed after attending a schmoozy party or two. I’m being presumptuous now, but I like the idea so I’ll just go with it right up until I get turned away at the door. Also, I’m not yet sure what the plans are for Jessie performing at the awards show or at another venue in the city as part of JunoFest, but I’ll be sure to post it here when I find out.
In the meantime, congratulations to Jessie, and to the rest of the band for all of their hard work in the past year. Crossing fingers…now.
