Kevin and Matt wrapped up the lead vocals to the new album last night, hammering out “Bend In The Wind”. Similar to “Blowin’ Away” there was some trial and error in finding just the right pocket to the mid-rangy chorus. In contrast, the vocal ripping at the tail of the song proved effortless.
Kevin and Matt tracked vocals to "Blowin' Away last night. After hitting the first verse on the very first take, it took an hour singing the chorus over and over and over before it finally clicked.
"Matt is the best vocal producer. He has been able to unlock different character and characters in my voice on this album. It's like recording with a vocal coach in the studio." (Kevin)
Kevin and Matt tracked vocals to "Blowin' Away last night. After hitting the first verse on the very first take, it took an hour singing the chorus over and over and over before it finally clicked.
"Matt is the best vocal producer. He has been able to unlock different character and characters in my voice on this album. It's like recording with a vocal coach in the studio." (Kevin)
Kevin and Matt whipped off "Pretty Diamond" this evening with a little help from Matt's son Jagger.
Kevin and Matt paid some dues last night, tracking the vocals to "Don't You Cry" in 95 degree weather. However, that didn't stop Kevin from enjoying a hot grande soy vanilla latte. The guys also took several lengthy breaks to debate Bible scripture.
Frank whipped off the drums to the last 2 songs today "Bend In The Wind" and "Pretty Diamond". According to the guys, the drum fills at the end of "Bend In The Wind" are epic. There's now talk of some percussion (shakers, tambourine, a fish?)
The guys took a couple weeks off from recording. So where we at now? 2 more drums to go, 7 more bass, 4 more vocals, 2 days worth of guitars, some more keys, mixing and mastering. In the meantime please enjoy this vid of Frank gettin' raw in the studio.
Last night Kevin and Matt tracked the vocals to “Time Keeps Runnin’”, which is the most epic song on the album having 4 choruses and 2 musical interludes. Each chorus was sung a little differently, both lead vocals and harmonies. One harmony part was a unique blend of full voice, head voice, and falsetto. Singers recognize.
Last night Justin Fisher laid down bass to almost half the album. It was a Connecticut reunion of sorts as Justin, Kevin & Matt are all former Connecticutians. They traded stories about the good ole days in between takes: the Manchester Bandroom (Bezzini Brothers), Sunset Strip, Shufflepuck, etc...
Kevin & Matt tracked the vocals to "No Matter" today and made another wacky video. The studio hit 80 degrees again (towards the end of the session) prompting a rendition of "Hot In Herre" by Nelly.
Kevin & Matt tracked the lead vocals to "Wastin' Time" tonight. Beforehand Matt made Kevin re-sing "day" and "I" over like 15 times to touch up "The Monster". There may end up being some cool vocal effects on the album, though autotune will not be one of them. And even before that they shot this wacky video.
Kevin and Matt whipped off vocals to "The Monster" tonight. There were some scary high notes. Pun intended. They had to consult mutual friend Dan Formica on one pesky chorus vowel.
Kevin and Matt tracked vocals to "When You Call". Trivia: Kevin and Matt used to be telemarketers way back in the day.
Frank whipped off the drums to “Don’t You Cry” and added tambourine to “Blowin’ Away”. And no, there will not be any cowbell on this album.
Kevin and Matt cut vocals to "Empty" and "Choose Love" today and here's video to prove it.
Kevin and Matt cut vocals to "Slow Dance" today in a 4 hour no holds barred session.
Frank flexed his muscles on "Blowin' Away". The 8 measure drum roll is quite something else. He also scratched an idea for "Don't You Cry" which he'll wrap up next week.
Tomorrow Kevin and Matt cut some actual keeper vocals. Stay tuned for more...
The bass player has landed. Justin scratched bass lines for "Choose Love" and "Empty".
Frankly my dear I'll go ahead and cut 3 amazing drum takes. That's exactly what Frank did today tracking "When You Call", "Time Keeps Runnin'" and "Choose Love". The best thing is that the guys are just letting him do whatever he wants with the drums and it's been working out perfectly.
In other amazing news, Justin Fisher (Psoma, Nerf Herder, Shufflepuck) is going to play the bass on the album!
First post of 2013. Matt and Jason have been working really hard under "radio silence". They have guitars tracked for almost all of the songs. Video coming soon from Matt.
Kevin and Matt just scratched the vocals to song #12 "Blowin' Away". Many bad wind related puns were told during the session. Kevin suggested a saw accompaniment. Matt mimicked the sound of a 2 man saw going back and forth. Nope.
Matt’s been on a keyboard jazz odyssey this week adding scratch keys to “Don’t You Cry”, “Bend In The Wind” and “Time Just Keeps…”. The album is becoming very colorful.
Today Kevin and Matt scratched vocals to “Pretty Diamond”. Kevin stopped the song cracking up to the verse lyrics: “With just one taste of your milk, I went and bought the whole farm”. Re-write!
Kevin and Matt scratched vocals to "Don't You Cry" today, after reviewing the BPM's (beats per minute) of all 12 songs on the production spread sheet. Kevin's voice was extra scratchy, still not 100% recovered from his laryngitis a couple weeks back. He promises to sing along with Journey's "Greatest Hits" album until it's go time on the actual vocal recording. Anybody want to loan Kevin an old muscle car for authenticity?
Testimony from Kevin regarding the 2013 AM Radio album:
“Musically, this is the most exciting project I’ve ever been a part of. Some of these songs are personal favorites from stacks of songbooks written over the years, old and new. And they are no longer just my songs. I took them as far as I can with an acoustic guitar, my voice, pen and notebook. Jason (Moore) has been making them his own by arranging them and adding his own special magic. None more evident than song #12 “Pretty Diamond”, the scratch guitars laid down just last night.
Twas a busy day yesterday in AM Radioland. Frank whipped off the drums to 2 rockers, “The Monster” and “Empty”. Frank is really proving to be a one take wonder, further reinforcing the adage “practice makes perfect”.
Jason also scratched guitars to “Blowin’ Away”, reminiscent of a spaghetti western with elements of Henry Mancini’s “Mystery Movie Theme” (which happens to be the ringback tone on Kevin’s cell). This song was written backstage on the Weezer Dusty West tour back in 2002.
It was a slow week as Kevin has partial laryngitis and Matt is busy polishing his Emmy. Frank took a stab at "The Monster" to flesh out drum parts and Jason is working on "Blowin' Away" as song #11.
Oh yea, and happy belated birthdays to Jason (Nov 26) and Kevin (Dec 6).
Last night Kevin and Matt busted out scratch vocals to songs #8 and 9, "Empty" and "Time Just Keeps On Runnin' Out On Me" aka "Doozy".
Kevin and Matt scratched some vocals tonight to "The Monster". It's the type of song that you could yell "yeehaw! it's Woody's round-up" over the instrumental section, because that's exactly what happened.
Shox and Matt cut backing vocals to "Wastin' Time" and "Choose Love" the other night. Yesterday Jason scratched out guitars to the next 2 songs in the queue, "The Monster" and "Empty".
Right now in this very moment longtime buddy of Kevin, Shoxwaken Hincks (World Without Sundays), is busting out some serious backing vocals with Matt. Some may remember an early AM Radio show in Hollywood where Kevin And Shox duet-ed on "No Diggity" by Blackstreet. Some may even be trying to forget. hehe
We are in the middle of a songwriting frenzy here. There's no telling how long it may last.
Kevin and Matt just tracked scratch vocals to "Bend In The Wind (It's Only Love)". There was some serious belting on this one a la "Becoming You".
This is the “week of Frank”. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a short work week. Though it does mean that Frank is knocking out drums to the new AM Radio album from his studio in the OC. Yesterday he laid down 2 very different but amazing takes for “No Matter”, and today 3 for “Wastin’ Time”.
In other news, Jason tracked scratch guitars in a higher key to “Bend In The Wind (It’s Only Love)”. Following the trail of keys, the song has gone from F# to D to F.
This just in... today Frank laid down some solid drums to "Slowdance". Sh** just got real!
The guys cut scratch vocals to "When You Call" last night, opening the song with the throwaway line “this goes out to the telemarketers”. For the second time they attempted "Bend In The Wind (It's Only Love)" but concluded the song is not as dynamic in a lower key. Speaking of keys, Matt has been adding oldies style keyboard parts to some of the songs, working on them into the wee hours of the night. There is a wondrous collaboration occurring between Kevin, Jason and Matt on this album.
Jason finished the scratch guitars to "Bend In The Wind (It's Only Love) last week and last night Kevin cut the scratch vocals to "No Matter". Matt and Kevin came up with a harmony/counter melody for the chorus that is as strong if not stronger than the chorus melody itself. Magic does happen in the studio.
Frank Reina will be playing drums on the new album! Frank played on Kevin’s single “Rise” earlier this year and (among other really cool gigs) Scott Weiland’s albums “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Happy In Galoshes”. For more on Frank please visit www.frankreina.com.
Jason recently cut scratch guitars for “No Matter” and is currently fleshing out “Bend In The Wind (It’s Only Love)”. That makes 6 songs chosen so far (out of 50) for the new album.
Kevin cut scratch vocals to "Slow Dance" tonight and then lent some super sonic harmonies to Matt Corey's heavy metal project. "Slow Dance" is in a lower vocal register like the verses of "I Just Wanna Be Loved".
Jason cut scratch guitars to "Slow Dance" yesterday. Today Kevin messed around with 2 different keys for the song. AM Radio used to do that a lot back in the day, try a song in a few different keys until the vocals sat just right.
Jason cut scratch guitars for "When You Call".
Kevin added scratch vocals to "Wastin' Time" and "Choose Love" tonight. Quote of the evening:
Kevin: "I'm really trying to focus on pitch. "
<Matt & Kevin listen back to the take.>
Kevin: "Perhaps I need to focus more."
Jason cut scratch guitars for "Wastin' Time" and "Choose Love".
The guys are still choosing songs from a list of roughly 50 songs.
AMRadiotheband.com is now officially launched!
This just in... We just finished recording our new single "Bad Luck" with Emmy Award winning producer Matt Corey. Press play on the AM Radio Player (just to the right) or visit our Music Page to listen. The "Bad Luck" MP3 is now available (or soon will be) at your friendly neighborhood digital download store.
But that's not all folks! We are also currently working on a brand new full length album with Matt. Jason is recording scratch guitars this weekend for the first four tunes. Stay tuned for much much more…