pirates

We're starting preproduction for the new Houstons record this week. Mike is down in the middle of Mardi Gras, but we pinned him down for new drum loops on Pirates, Black Water, and All We Ever Wanted before he left. The loops were inspired by the Bonham outtakes that are floating around the web, and are a really crunchy bottom end to some new orchestration and guitar work by Matt. We'll try to get some mp3s up on the site soon.

backfire

. . . my resolution to be a handy blogger in 08, well, it didn't work out so much. So far! Things have been wild and wooly, but I'm finally getting new material finished up and offered up to the band. December was the time of new ideas getting started and not much finished. A lot of lyrical cloudiness, where I had an idea of what I wanted to say but a block in how to articulate it. For a while I thought I had kinda aged out of this or had just become more skilled at naturally coming up with flowing lyrics, but it actually seems to come in waves.

Waves of consciousness, actually, have been a recurrent theme lately. There is a lot of deep-seated heartache and anger. Simultaneously, a great amount of joy. I want to capture all of this. It helps to write like this. I've always been told that it helps keep the mind in order when otherwise things might unhinge my thinking. Perhaps this is true.

We're out on tour for a bit starting tomorrow. I love the freedom. Hard to hang out in bars for extended amounts of time and watch the progression of the night unfold at something of a distance. It's like an aquarium. Sometimes I can actually feel the water pressure, it's funny. Like the metaphor becomes surreal.