Pachyderm Sessions: 5/30/07
I took pictures on my cell phone, so I apologize if the quality isn't amazing. I just wanted to be able to walk you through the experience as it was presented to me, so without further ado -
In the morning I felt I needed to begin exploring the outside, since when I had arrived it was nearly dark. I heard there was a stream running through the property so I ventured out to find it. Turning around after exiting the rear door this is what I looked back on -
When you first get to the house, I walked in and set your bag down. Looking around, I was are amazed at the expansiveness of the house. It's HUGE.
There's no one even there. I saw a few desks where the studio owner and one of the assisstant engineers hang out, then decided to walk around for the self tour. Following the hallways I found myself on the lower level, where I discovered the indoor swimming pool. In place of artwork, there are plaques on every wall commemorating Pachyderm for the work on various platinum albums:
I remembered that the owner of the studio told me that I would be staying in the only clean room left after they've just had multiple artists come to stay with them. He told me it was the "Cobain Suite" with a laugh. I observed after expecting the rooms on the upper and lower levels that there really is only one clean room left. Here's where Kurt Cobain slept when Nirvana had sessions here. I slept there, but not very well for obvious reasons.
In the morning I felt I needed to begin exploring the outside, since when I had arrived it was nearly dark. I heard there was a stream running through the property so I ventured out to find it. Turning around after exiting the rear door this is what I looked back on -
That gazebo way up there is awesome. There's a catwalk out to it from the upper living room. I played guitar there while I waited for the producer to arrive. When he got there around 10:30, we left to go to the studio. Funny, I explored the house all night and found no studio. It's in a different building I was previously unaware of.
The producer and engineer spent about an hour setting up. I used the time to walk around the studio and feel out the space. It was a very impressive place. It was like something you only see on TV. In fact, it was exactly something I had seen on TV. In Mason Jennings "Use Your Van" DVD, he takes you behind the scenes to a studio - to this very studio. It was unreal when I looked at the piano there and realized that was the one Mason was playing.
And so it began. I played and played. And in the end I ended up with 5 tracks down after about 6 straight hours. The first track took an hour and a half with all the takes. I was nervous. The second track took about 45 minutes. We ate lunch. Then I just started ripping through them. According to producer Tim Anderson, I was in the groove at that point. Funny, maybe I was.
Around 4pm they started mixing the tracks. They put compression and reverb on the vocals when necessary. I knew that we weren't shooting to create something CD quality that first day, but these guys still made me sound great. Even with the subtle mistakes I pick up, at least those mistakes sound amazing.
The plan moving forward is for the studio's owner, the studio's previous owner, and the producer to sit down this week and listen to my music. Matt Miller, the owner, said after they go through my songs they'll decide which ones to produce. He said I'll be hearing from him this week. Maybe next time I go down there I'll be making these songs into real music, something that other musicians can add to for a full band sound. That's just unbelieveable to think about.