Zapruder Point
Consumer/Songwriter

Shortly after moving to Chicago, I realized I couldn’t swing an apartment by myself, and so was looking for a roommate. Mutual friends hooked me up with Tom, future drummer for the “classic trio” version of Zapruder Point. Getting to be friends with Tom was one of the more serendipitous things to happen in my adult life.

No less cherished was the friendship I formed with my next roommate, John Aselin. Again, the arrangement was born out of us having mutual friends, but we got to know each other very well, and we ended up playing guitar at each others’ weddings. Aside from being a funny, laid back guy like myself (heh), John has also pretty-much always written songs, pretty-much always recorded them, and pretty-much always assembled them into albums that he puts out himself. Sound familiar?

Musically our styles are pretty different — John’s well-versed in British Invasion and Nuggets stuff, and he can play, erm, at least three more instruments than me. But in conversations at the apartment and since, we’ve struggled with shared issues inherent to songwriting: economy of phrase, how and when to use solos, etc. In short, he’s been a comrade and an inspiration.

And he’s got a new “CD” out. I put the CD in quotes because John’s going “the Radiohead route” on this one, making it downloadable from his website on a pay-what-you-like basis. Not only that, John’s giving the same treatment to his back catalogue. I remember playing these older albums of his all the time when he wasn’t around, and it was amazing how each album had a specific vibe, from the sequencing to the cover. I mean, he was as deliberate and thoughtful about putting these things together as I hoped I was being with my stuff.

Anyway, I would say that dipping into his older stuff is worth it, but what I’m really here to endorse is the new one, Ever Near the Distance. I’ve been listening to it heavily for weeks; it’s just a tight, concise pop-rock record, bursting with hooks, a couple white-hot guitar freak-outs, and just as many gorgeous, reflective moments. In short, many flavors jammed into one smile-inducing half hour. You can preview the whole thing (and all the other stuff) here:

http://www.johnaselin.com/music.php

Aselin Working the Magic Boxes

I think it was all the way back in April when I sent Aselin and Larry a trio of songs to learn for possible recording down the road. The date we’d set to get together was this past Wednesday. Actually, I thought we were just getting together to tighten up the songs, not to record per se. But Aselin’s got such a seamless setup at his space that he thought we should go for it, and it ended up being a good thought. We ended up doing live trio tracks for two songs, and I think the remote, asynchronous learning (apologies for the invasion of job-language) of the songs led to fresh, loose takes. Which might actually fit better with my Garageband doodles than I’d thought. But as for the night in question…

At first, I was pretty uncomfortable, to be honest. It’s been a long time since I’ve played with other people, and whenever that happens, I feel extremely uptight and/or just plain OFF rhythmically. It’s NOT like riding a bike, unfortunately. But with a little encouragement (and beer), I got over myself and loosened up. The first song we did was “The Oldies Station,” one from my current batch that I’m most proud of. The chords stay the same across a pair of long verses, but Larry mixed up the beat half-way through each, changing along with the vocals. That was a cool method, actually: At their request, I played the songs solo before we recorded, to remind the guys of how they “went.” We did three takes, then “just one more” “just in case,” and of course this last one nailed it.

I thought the second song would prove more problematic, and it was…but not for the reasons I’d anticipated. Basically, “You Are Not Your Own” is a rambling country song; I think of it as “Louvin Brothers-like,” when all I really mean is that it’s “Gospel Jubilee-like.” Each verse tells a different story about a different person. Kind of like “The Next Thing You Know,” but a little deeper, description-wise. There are points in the verses where, for dramatic effect, a chord could be played for twice or even three times as long “as usual,” but this would be more of a live conceit, and I was worried that dynamic would be lost in studio. It didn’t help that I didn’t have lyrics done for the last set of verses, which were the most dramatic/pausey ones.

What we ended up doing was setting up a mike that wasn’t plugged into anything, and John and Larry encouraged me to just sort of mock-sing the thing, to “telegraph” when the changes were coming. It felt corny at first, but it worked in the end. It’s a weird paradox of playing live, playing with other people. I know I’m supposed to look at the other guys, to arch my eyebrows and tilt my head in order to steer my ‘mates through things, but I’m so used to playing alone at this point that I feel awkward doing so. Thankfully, all that OVERT signaling isn’t so necessary when you play with folks like John and Larry, who have gobs more experience in this realm, and so can “read” an extra bend of the knee, or the hair-toss that precedes stepping to the mike. In short, bless those guys. They’re awesome.

No but so the “difficult” thing about recording the second song was just m’damn FINGERS. Playing a pair of songs over and over, especially a pair of (for me) “fast ones” is an intense workout for the ol’ digits and callouses. When I’m in the basement, plowing through an hour of my repertoire, there’s plenty of room to breathe, but not here. I know Aselin could have kept going, and I appreciate his enthusiasm, but I. Just. Couldn’t. Larry’d had a late night previous, so it was just me and John at the Matchbox afterwords. I don’t normally stay out late weeknights, and I’m not sure why. Especially in the summer, with a nice sidewalk table, friendly company and traffic-watching…

I’ll post what comes of this, probably. Or at the very least, just to be sneaky, I’ll get “The Oldies Station” as a one-mike demo recorded, just ’cause I like it so much. Thanks to John and Larry for their willingness to do this. They said they’d be willing to do some occasional “two-song sessions” going forward. I’ll have to think of songs I got now that would work as trio pieces. Hmm…

Just so you know, I haven’t been posting with regularity due to some work drama.  To make a long story short, it looked like I was out of work for a minute…and then suddenly it didn’t.  And now I’m not really sure what my employment status is going to be past the next couple of weeks.  It’s definitely crazy, but I can handle it.  Meanwhile…

Last Monday, the newly-reunited Feelies were playing a free show at the Millennium Park band shell.  Tom and Casey used it as an excuse to visit from Cincinnati, and I sat with Tom and the rest of the Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness (the erstwhile tribute combo I’m proud to’ve been a part of) in the pavilion after some lovely picnicking on the lawn with some other friends.

Yes, it was uncrowded enough to get into the pavilion — halfway towards the stage, actually — just as they started playing.  At first, I thought they were a tad shaky, but they were really cooking by the fifth song or so, and it was heavenly.  They did one new song, a truckload of favorites, and a surprise cover of R.E.M.’s “Boxcars” (which was actually a perfect fit).  I couldn’t stop tapping my foot with each song.  My calves got sore.

As with a lot of favorite bands, it’s hard to describe exactly what’s so appealing, and the difficulty’s greater with the Feelies.  I mean, their songs are very repetitive, and with the best ones, the repetition is sort of the POINT.  In some cases, it’s used to mesmerize (“When Company Comes,” “Let’s Go”), while with others (especially in the live setting), the repeating riff or jangle is like a track they lock into, and the ride just gets faster and faster (“Away,” “Slipping (Into Something)”).

The highlight of the show was easily “Crazy Rhythms.”  During the extended percussion breakdown, people rushed the stage, clogging the aisles all the way back to where I was sitting.  I like to think this was an outpouring of pure Feelies love — they might disappear for another twenty years, and we were relishing our last few minutes together.  Couldn’t have picked a better night for it, either — no humidity in the mid-70’s, pink clouds dusting the skyline as night fell.  A gorgeous night.

Small postscript:  A couple nights later, Aselin had an opportunity to introduce himself to Chicago-based rock critic and famous Feelies-obsessive Jim DeRogatis.  Jim remembered the Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness, and told John he’d mentioned us to the Feelies themselves, and they were sincerely touched by the tribute.  He also said we should have told him we would be at the show — he’d have introduced us to them backstage.  Shucks.

Anyway, even though he’s way off about Springsteen, DeRo (as they call him ’round here) is a-o-kay in my book.

Scott’s visit continued to be a whirlwind. We recorded the basic tracks for 7 songs on Wednesday. He didn’t realize that with my set-up I can only record one mike at a time, and he didn’t feel comfortable doing separate vocal tracks for at least a couple of the songs. Fidelity was compromised as a result, but only slightly. And you know me–I kinda LIKE hearing the rattling of the piano keys in the room anyway (though naturally I did my best to minimize it in the mix).

You’ll just have to trust that there’s no sibling rivalry when I say that Scott is ten times the musician I am. Recording him was kind of amazing. For starts, he plays keyboards AND guitar AND drums, all well enough to record. This one song he did, “Juneteenth,” he played the main guitar chords and sang it in maybe two takes. Then he turned around and played some extra guitar bits–three distinct parts–all on a single track. Oh, and that was in one take. And vocals? I remember from being in a band with him how reliable his backups always were when we recorded. Only now he’s writing these complex lead parts for himself–with trills and falsettos and all–and nailing them with total nonchalance. OK, so maybe it does make me a little green…

That night we watched the first disc of the first season of Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. The less said about that the better. Thursday we did some big-ticket yet inexpensive tourist items. If I was a real blogger I’d post pictures, but of course I forgot my camera. That night we met up with Aselin and Rachael to see a couple bands at The Whistler in Logan Square. The scene was thick with hipsters, so we feared for the worst. But when they hit the stage, the bands were actually very tuneful and, as Scott put it, “delightfully un-cool.” Love Raid is a basic indie rock trio with a little extra swing and a killer cover of “Hungry Heart.” All City Affairs is a funny-white-guy-doing-beats thing, but sincerely funky and joyous, never spilling into schtick. Positive vibes ruled the night.

Next day we got back into recording, with an unexpectedly long break to get a burger at Kuma’s Corner. That place never ceases to surprise me vis-a-vis its crowdedness at ANY hour. I had the Neurosis. Scott had the Lynrd Skynrd, which was the special. I gather the specials at Kuma’s are always NOT heavy metal, but I’m not sure. At any rate, the experience is so damn manly, with a pint of beer, and a stupid-big burger, and metal music blasting at you. Makes the air outside smell all the better when you leave. Can’t top it.

Saturday we met up with Aselin at his music space. On Thursday he’d offered to play harmonica on one of Scott’s songs, “Night Doesn’t Move.” After that, he had Scott play keyboards on something of his. We half-heartedly mulled over going out afterwards, but as Scott said, “the music IS the fun.” Which was certainly true. I really like when musical minds get together and reach a common goal. And being around people who, like me, write and make music with no hope of profit…it makes me feel like I’m not so crazy for bothering. Anyway, here’s “Night Doesn’t Move,” with Scott’s permission:

Night Doesn’t Move [Monologue Bombs - April 2009 Demo]

I’m not sure what-all will become of these recordings. At the very least, they will serve as demos for the new full-band version of the Monologue Bombs, Scott’s singer-songwriter outlet. I will keep you posted, should Scott start his own blog, or offer them online in any other capacity.