02023-12-18 | Backstage, Touring
At the end of the last tour the four of us discussed merch and CDs and Backstage. It was suggested that I make a QR Code for a webpage that shows links to Backstage and Bandcamp. Since I often mention that Jon and Robby have their own music on Bandcamp, I suggested we make a page with four links.
The next idea was to have a few stand-up displays made that we could put somewhere inside any venue, perhaps next to Stephen’s mixing position. Another idea was to print either stickers or postcards and offer them to people.
Ideally I don’t want to use plastic (stickers and stand-up displays) or paper (postcards) but I don’t see another solution. In any case I came up with a few designs this afternoon.
I am currently leaning towards postcards.
Any thoughts or ideas?
02023-11-03 | Backstage, Photography, Rain Music
La Mesita is the 11th track from Rain Poems.
It started with the Saddest Chord Progression Ever. That was followed by this sketch on 30. June.
After listening to the music for a while I decided that the arpeggio was moving too fast. I then recorded it again, playing at half the tempo. This sounded much better to me. I realized that the fast arpeggio played back at half the speed would move at the same speed as the new arpeggio. So I recorded it at half speed–one of the greatest Pro Tools tricks–and added it. The slowed down guitar gives those chords a sense of gravity and adds low tones and fullness.
I had a certain landscape in mind when I worked on this piece and at some point I remembered a photo by William Clift.
This is the image, La Mesita, which is part of the Whitney Museum of American Art collection.
I met William Clift in 1989 or 1990 and bought a bunch of postcards from him and this one was my favorite. I also used one of his photos in the booklet of the 1991 album Borrasca. William Clift mostly works with a large format analog camera. Imagine walking through the landscape with a large format camera on a tripod and carrying a bag with stuff… film, light meter, etc. The dedication, contemplation and experience! He has a gallery in Santa Fe, at 203 East Palace Avenue.
02023-11-01 | Backstage, Performance, Touring
Our engineer Stephen uploaded a couple of live recordings he made during our October tour and I just had to listen and do a quick mix. I picked dreamy afternoon which we started playing on the East Coast tour. Not bad at all. My partner didn’t think it was live and wondered when Robby had added his cajon to the recording and why there was applause. It really does sound pretty great. I’m a happy chap right now.
02023-09-22 | Backstage, HuHeartDrive
Gia asked
Is there any sort of ode to petrichor on this album?
Yes. Bossa de Petricor is the title.
Mark asked
Around when will these songs be released?
I released the first one today. It’s the 6th track of the album and I think it’s a great first single. We performed this piece live last week and really enjoyed playing it. It’ll be on the setlist for a while. :-)
Songs from Rain Poems will be released over time, only on Backstage. In some cases there will be different versions available, some binaural mixes for example. I am working on a limited edition CD version but that will probably happen in the first quarter of the new year.
You can find the link to Backstage in the menu (above left) or follow this link. I added the first single dreamy afternoon (Lo Fi Flam) and FLAC and ALAC files are available for download.
02023-08-29 | Backstage
I wrote about my experience in the meditation cave and have been posting that with images to Backstage. The gallery design of the new site is gorgeous and images look great. I figure when one opens a shop one has to have something in it. Same with Backstage, there should be plenty of posts that one can discover when the doors open. There are shelves with words, displays of images and video, sounds of music new and old. Doors will open soon. Just dusting and getting everything ready. :-)
02023-07-02 | Backstage, Website
Learned about Fog Chaser (LINK to his website + LINK to his Substack) on Substack when Ted Gioia (LINK) linked to him and wrote:
Music business model: Song gets released to subscribers first before showing up anywhere else. This is also fair and karmically valid–because subscribers pay artists better than do streaming platforms.
I considered Substack as a platform. But, considering what I see happening when platforms change hands, I am not sure I can muster enough trust. Hello Twitter, hello many things that Google bought and eventually mothballed. Once the valuation is up, the same could happen with Substack. Sure, the social aspect of that platform along with the recommendations, human as well as algorithmic, could be very beneficial. But I am an oddball anyway. Better to do my own thing. I had the Ottmar-Friends subscription service 15 years ago. Ahead of its time. Perhaps I should have kept it going. The world might have caught up with me. It’s important to trust that the world catches up on one’s creations. True not just for painters and musicians but also for anyone opening a little store of any kind.
It’s good to see that other musicians are experimenting with the same ideas. My membership program will go a lot further than offering the work to its members first… it will offer the work to its members ONLY. Easy to second guess myself but I’ll stay the course and wish Fog Chaser lots of success.
