Drummer Stereotypes

There are several drummer stereotypes, and if you are a drummer and happen to fall into one of these categories, that’s okay.  Everyone has their own preferences.  It’s just frustrating when you’re looking for the rarest of the breeds…

1)  “Hi, I’m [age 13-18].  I’ve never been in a band before, but I want to play… What’s a click track?”

2)  “I am so into progressive music like Dream Theater… I can play to a click track but only if I can see how many notes I can put into a measure.”

3)  “Thrash metal, black metal, blast beats only.  What’s a click track?”

4)  “Hi, I’m [age 40-60].  I can play about anything.  Love classic rock and country.  I been playin’ for 30 years… What’s a click track?”

5)  “I love jazz and blues.  Improv gets me most excited!  What’s a click track?”

6)  “I’ve been playing at least 5 years.  I play to the song and try not to overplay.  I love hard rock and modern electronic rock.  I completely understand the need to play with a click, which is why I have since I started playing.  I understand creating a pocket for the bass player and playing the exact same patterns and fills every single time a song is played is crucial for developing the band’s confidence, allows us to get tight, and is the definition of  professionalism.  Oh, and since there are so few drummers who understand all these things and execute them, I (like Josh Freese) am in very high demand.  In fact, I’m playing in about 20 bands right now.  I have no time to join your project.”

Doh!

This is all meant to be tongue-in-cheek.  I’m sure one of these could easily be made for singers, guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, etc.  Hopefully if you read this you got a good chuckle.  If you happen to think of yourself as falling into category # 6 and aren’t in 20 bands, please email me at relesser@relesser.com though…  We want to talk to you!

Wait for it… Progress.

So I think we’ve found a piece of the puzzle.

AND

Discussions are yielding a couple of twists.  Whereas chapter 1 for Prelude to Zero seemed finished, I have been handed a challenge.  And I accept.

 

This means release for chapter 1 will get pushed back.  If all goes according to plan though, it will be well worth it.

 

More to come.

 

-A-

Burn Baby Burn

I’m writing this blog while the mix is rendering.  That’s right folks, the first song for PRELUDE to ZERO Chapter 1 is pretty much done.  Assuming that after a couple of days I don’t want to change anything, I’ll try to get a preview posted.

Now, it’s onto the second song for chapter 1, which is done musically and just needs new lyrics and vocals…

I’ve also enlisted the help of a graphic designer and the two of us have been working on the artwork for Chapter 1.

 

I’ve actually had a few audition requests come in, which is very cool.  I’m starting preliminary meetings on Thursday and will schedule the auditions to happen sometime in the coming weeks (March?).

 

In other news, Relesser has already been booked for a festival in Fall 2012.  How do you like that?  No live band and already have a festival date…  I can picture it now: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage… Relesser!” and I get up on stage with a laptop and just hit play while proceeding to dance Napoleon Dynamite style (moon boots and all).  C’mon admit it, that’s what you really want to see.
Cheers.

 

-A-

Album Title / Studio Update / Arson

As I write this, I’m listening to a rough mix of a new-old song.  It’s promising.  Well, at least right now it sounds that way.  After I sleep and my ears are fresh, I could walk in and listen to it and it totally blow.  Wouldn’t be the first time.

This is all part of the whoop-de-doo announcement that was made yesterday:  The title of the first full-length album by Relesser will be “Prelude to Zero.”  It will feature reworked / re-recorded songs from the 1996-2000 era of Autumn’s Descent (a few of which have never been released), along with some completely new songs.  The plan is to release 2 songs at a time in “chapters.”  The song I have spent the better part of the last two weeks working on is now titled “Arson.”  Formerly, it was titled “Detrimental” from the Zero to One EP (1998).  Musically and (especially) lyrically, the song has had a facelift to fit with the modern Relesser sound.  Ideally, Chapter 1 of Prelude to Zero will be out in February (or March at the latest).  I hope to have a preview clip of the 2 songs posted before they are released.

In other news, I am starting to take resumes and audition requests for the Relesser live band.   Here’s what we’re looking for:

Absolutes & Desirables:

Basically, if you…

• love to play for the love of playing,
• have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ,
• are at least 18 years of age,
• have your own professional-grade equipment,
• are willing to travel,
• are able to rehearse / perform an average of 2 to 6 times per month,
• and can overlook / ignore criticism from people who “don’t get” what Relesser is all about, then

please send your resume or audition request to relesser@relesser.com

 

I haven’t decided on how many people should be in the band.   My good friend Robby (RAMzi) always said he really thought the dynamic of a 4-piece works well.  And after years in 4-piece lineups, I agree.  I have also been in 5-piece and 6-piece lineups before and, aside from extra setup time, they sound great and are a lot of fun.  So I’m thinking this is what Relesser might shoot for as a live band:

Possible Configuration 1:
Asche – Lead Vox, Rhythm Guitar + Some Leads here and there
TBA1 – Rhythm Guitar, Synth (switch between songs or even in the same song), Backing Vocals
TBA2 – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
TBA3 – Bass, Synth (switch between songs or even in the same song), Backing Vocals
TBA4 – Drums (electronic & acoustic)

Possible Configuration 2:
Asche – Lead Vox, Rhythm Guitar + Some Leads here and there
TBA1 – Synth, Backing Vocals
TBA2 – Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
TBA3 – Bass, Backing Vocals
TBA4 – Drums (electronic & acoustic)

Possible Configuration 3:
Asche – Lead Vox, Rhythm Guitar + Some Leads here and there
TBA1 – Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
TBA2 – Bass, Backing Vocals
TBA3 – Drums (electronic & acoustic)
Yoda uses the Force to magically make our Synth & Sequencing happen live (Autumn’s Descent did this & it worked)

A few resume / audition requests have already come in and I’m looking forward to many more.  I am looking for a great live band that will be fun to hang out and perform!

 

Cheers

-A-

I’ve had this distance on my mind…

Hope everyone had a great Holidays.  After nearly 3 weeks in Florida, I was happy and bummed to return to Indianapolis.  Happy to get back in the studio.  Bummed to leave 75 degrees for 20.  And why, why, why do I always get the best song ideas when I am furthest away from any equipment to get it down so I don’t forget it?!

I’ve been back less than a week and have realized 2 things:  1) It feels very good to be back in the saddle and recording.  2)  My studio bass is in need of some major repair.  After 15 years, it just needs… help.  Perhaps it’s time I pick up that Thunderbird I’ve had my eye on for a few years now…
Anyway, I have made considerable progress in laying drums and guitars on a new-old song.  It’s coming along nicely and I can’t wait to wrap it up and move to the next one already.  I’m hoping to release some tunes sometime before 2013 rolls around.

 

I’m also working on the criteria for the live band.  More on that later.

 

Cheers!

 

-A-

 

Crash Landing

It’s been a while since I posted on here.  It’s been even longer since I actually have been able to work in the studio.

4 weeks ago, despite all the appropriate precautions, the studio computer caught a nasty virus.  Required a new main hard drive.  With my schedule being what it is, I was unable to get the system rebuilt quickly.  It took 3 weeks this time.  I am still not done reinstalling & configuring VST plugins.

Additionally, I have been traveling extensively this past 3 months.  South Dakota, South Carolina, California, Chicago, and (coming up) Florida.  I think I’ve done more traveling this last quarter than I have in the previous 2 years combined.
My original, overly ambitious goal was to work on remixing an AD song per week, thinking I would have at least one album worth of material ready for relaunch by Christmas.  Before I had a kid and back when I was working an hourly job, I might have been able to do that.  Today, no.  I’ve been thinking I would rather put out something of quality rather than rush something through.

I am still planning on starting auditions in the first quarter of 2012 for a Relesser live show.  Don’t know how fast those will go or how fast I’ll get the show together.  I have seen a few shows this past year that really inspired me: Celldweller’s revamp, the new Guns N Roses, icon for hire, & Nine Lashes have given me some pretty great ideas of concepts I want to translate live.   I really miss playing shows.

More info to come soon.

Happy Christmas to all.

-A-

 

Blah.

Have you ever noticed at retail outlets, when you go to pay for something with your debit or credit card that they require the signature on the electronic screen?  Have you also noticed that the cashier really isn’t paying attention 99% of the time?  I’ve started writing lots of other things on the pad rather than my name.  I’ll write “Not my name” or “The cashier isn’t paying attention” or “Audit THIS!” or “Blah! Blah! Blah!”  That last one is what I felt like for the better part of the last 3 weeks.  I rarely get sick.  I have been sick for at least 14 of the last 20 days.  Just now starting to get back on top of things.

 
I started the sound replacing of the drums from “Step Up to the Plate / Principle 21″ from the Autumn’s Descent “Character Assassination” album last week.  I am about half way through the process.  Originally, I didn’t plan to alter any of the playing that Omar Villarreal did on the song.  While doing the sound replacements, I started playing around with some of the beats  for different parts and made some modifications while leaving all the fills intact.  I think I like it simplified a bit.  Next up will be to “fatten” the guitars a bit.  I have decided I may re-record the guitars on the chorus of the song – I think I might try just sustaining the chords instead and just listen to see if I like it (rather than leaving the current chugging eighth notes).  After guitars, I need to look at the bass, synth, and vocals and see if anything needs tweaked or “fattened.”

Next up will probably be “Caesar” from “Character Assassination.”  I have been very happy with that song since it was released.  I am hesitant to change anything on it.  I’ll most likely just “fatten” the guitars and vocals and maybe let it be.

I started on another Relesser song about 4 weeks ago.  I have the arrangement, basic drums, and the guitars finished.  Haven’t touched the song in about 3 weeks though.

In other news, I did get to watch Guns N Roses streaming live from Rock In Rio on YouTube a couple weeks ago.  Axl’s voice wasn’t in the best condition.  I recall him nailing the older material and then not really knowing which vocal part to sing on the “new” songs.  The rest of the band was amazing.  Between Bumblefoot and DJ Ashba, I found myself saying “Slash and Izzy who?”  But alas, GNR without Slash, Izzy, and Duff really isn’t GNR for a lot of people.  This really is Axl’s solo project where he’s keeping the name GNR for the marketing and branding.  I can’t really blame him for that.  I mean, he can charge hundreds of thousands, if not a million + for a performance as GNR.  And the arenas will fill for that name.  What do you think he could charge and what kind of crowd would pay to see an Axl Rose solo project if it were marketed as such?  Not near as much, I can pretty much guarantee it.  So all that is to tell you that yesterday I was first in line (online) to purchase my GNR tickets for the Indianapolis concert at the Conseco Fieldhouse on December 8th.  DJ Ashba grew up in Logansport, Indiana with my good friend Trampas Young.  Tramp and DJ still keep in touch once in a while.  Here’s hoping for some sweet backstage passes for this show…  It would be a treat to hang out with Tramp, DJ, & Axl and get a group picture.

Relesser business cards were ordered yesterday.  And I have been itching to go play a live show.  I keep telling myself I have to get songs done first, get the live electronics programmed, audition players, find a new rehearsal spot, rehearse, book test shows, and the book the real thing before it all materializes.  Geesh.  Hopefully the next time I write, I’ll have another song or two finished.

Keep your stick on the ice.

-A-

Um… Next?

Well, if anyone has visited relesser.com this past week, you’ve noticed that the site is debugged and running.  That means that yes, I did get that song to 95% and shelved it.  I let a couple close friends hear it and so far the feedback has been positive.  So that probably means I’m moving in the right direction.  It’s just where to go from here…  I could pick another oldie and work on it.  I also want to write a new one.  I can’t seem to make up my mind.  Nor can I seem to get inspired one way or another.  I’ve been sick for the past 5 days, which hasn’t helped either.  Hopefully I will be more productive this week.

I ran into a small problem while uploading the new relesser.com:  I accidentally deleted the autumnsdescent.com website in the process.  Seriously, it wasn’t intentional.  Both sites are housed on the same server and I accidentally deleted all the AD files on there.  Normally I keep a backup on my hard drive.  As I was about reload the AD site to the server though, I thought that while it’s down I could at least update it a bit.  And then I ran out of time.  And as its been down for a couple days (autumnsdescent.com now points to relesser.com in the interim), I’m wondering if I should keep autumnsdescent.com a separate site of just incorporate the two sites into one site.

If you’re reading this, maybe you can help me out by answering the following questions:

1) Would you prefer to visit a separate AD site, keep all info on relesser.com, or do you not care?

2)  Which song(s) from the Deadletters era would you most want to hear updated?

 

Smooches gracias.

 

-A-

And so it begins… This might take a while

I’m finding it exciting and frustrating working on this project (Relesser).  I have so many things in my head and I can’t seem to get it all down fast enough.

Earlier this week, I organized a spreadsheet detailing the songs to be worked on, remixed, and finished.  It was overwhelming.  I didn’t know where to start.  Add to that the Relesser website needs debugged and relaunched, my normal day job’s demands, and the time I want and need to spend with my family and I quickly realize this project won’t materialize over night.  I didn’t think it would.  I just wanted to have a sense of accomplishment a little faster, that’s all.

So I decided to pick one thing – a song – and start there.  I jammed through a few oldies that haven’t been touched in a while.  Settled on a ballad from 1996.  It had been recorded and released on the Deadletters album in 2002, but never been played live (none of the lineups liked it enough to play live – which has always had me questioning whether or not it was a good song in the first place).  In 2006, I started a rework of the song for potential release on the Autumn’s Descent self title.  I never got the new version far enough to present to the lineup and they were pretty much wanting to make the record heavier  (which I was in favor of) anyway.  So the rework sat shelved until about 2 weeks ago.

I had Dakotah (long time friend and AD road crew member) in the studio with me for a couple hours the morning before the Rockfest 2011 show.  In addition to Autumn’s Descent performing, I was to do an acoustic set as Relesser at the fest.  I hadn’t really had time to put one together and practice it properly so, at the last minute, I was going through songs to see what I could play.  We scanned through finished songs and demos in the studio and came across the tune I’ve been chatting about (which, for now, will not be named).  I had piano, cello, a drum loop, and some sequencing already in place on the 2006 start.  Dakotah really liked it (and admitted she had been a big fan of the original song – which gave me some encouragement).

This past week, I restrung the acoustic, double checked the arrangement, laid basic guitars and lead vocals.  Next will be additional synth, sequencing, bass, backing vocals, real drums, etc.  My original goal was to get a song done per week for the next year.  I don’t think that is remotely feasible now.  I think each song will be on its own timeline.  There is a very good chance I will get this particular song about 95% done and then shelve it and work on another.  A few weeks or months down the road, I’ll pull this song out again, listen to it, make final tweaks, and prep it for release.

I haven’t formally announced it in a press release yet, though I think I did mention this in a previous post here on WordPress:  I am going back through the Autumn’s Descent catalog and remixing (and in some cases re-recording) songs.  There are two reasons for this.  1) There are decent chances for this material, if properly produced, to be licensed into TV shows, Movies & their trailers, & video games.  2)  Some of these songs were limited by the production I was capable of at the time.  Now that I have better resources, I would love to hear some of this material reworked and released closer to what I originally had in my head.  Given that lyrically & emotionally, my heart really isn’t in the same place where much of the Deadletters material came from (thank God!), I am still giving these songs a chance for the sake of the art involved.  If this first tune is any indication, it looks like it might be promising.

I also have a full-length Relesser album of [mostly] new material that I am working on.  I originally thought I would release the old AD material first by the end of 2011 and then release the full length Relesser album in 2012.  Now I’m leaning towards dividing it all up and doing a little of both at the same time.  That is, I’ll probably work on an AD tune or two and then shelve them (waiting to release a series of them together).  Then, I’ll work on a couple new Relesser tunes and start releasing a couple songs at a time in chapters a-la what Celldweller has been doing for the last couple years with his new album.  That gives people something to listen to and get excited about while I continue to work away.

Oh, and I need to get that Relesser.com site back up and running smoothly soon.  Perhaps I’ll tackle that after I get this song at 95%…

Until next time, don’t fade away.

-A-

Redeaux

Okay, so it seemed like a good idea to begin with.  I studied about 3 or 4 different sites I really liked and attempted to emulate them when building the first Relesser site.  The result, which I only kept up for a week, didn’t meet my expectations.  It kept wrapping – everything (header, body, navigation bar, pictures…) on different screens and browsers.  As a result, it looked very amateur.  Now I might be an amateur programmer… I just don’t want the end result to come off as amateur.  So back to the drawing board.

Fortunately, I did have another idea I had already started.  Now I am wrestling with the HTML coding in Dreamweaver to get it to look like it is supposed to.

I am also torn in how I am spending my time with Relesser right now.  I can either work on new tunes or work on the website.  For now, I am going with whichever I feel like working on at the time.  That can only work for so long though.

 

In other news, I spent about an hour mapping out songs for Relesser to work on.  I have no shortage of material.  It is my intention to go back through the Autumn’s Descent catalog and “remix” songs for the purpose or licensing.  Many of the songs that have been done in the past 16 years have had an audio production quality not quite good enough (or in some cases, very far off) from the level needed for being licensed into TV shows, movies, & video games.  By going back and remixing some of these songs, it should allow for these songs to get into the licensing companies and generate some income.  Some songs will be exactly as they appear on their original album – just a little fatter sounding (with broadened EQ, panning, compression).  Other songs, I intend to full-on remix by rearranging parts, recording additional (or replacement) instruments and vocals, and releasing that way.  All of these songs are expected to eventually be released through FiXT  and/or iTunes & Amazon in the coming months.  All this is in addition to a full-length, all-original Relesser studio album.  I am seriously considering pulling a Celldweller move and releasing that original Relesser album in chapters.  We’ll see.

 

More to come.

 

Cheers.

Asche