Gig report: 9/21/23 Sunset Grooves at Lake Whatcom (private party)

We got to play a private party yesterday, as part of a local biotech company's end-of-summer celebration or something. All we knew going into it was that it was called "Alpinealooza," or something like that. Turns out, the company was called Alpine Immune Sciences, and we were playing at the CEO's summer cabin on Lake Whatcom just outside of Bellingham.

Since the location was about 90 miles away, AND they wanted us to play starting around 1:30pm, that meant early wake up for me at 6:30. After morning rituals, I drove to Jen's in Ballard, usually a 30-35 minute drive, but for some reason, traffic was lousy, and it took closer to 45 minutes.

Good news was, they were all loaded up. Bad news was because of me, we got on the road about 30 minutes after we wanted to. Dennis drove Eric and I and, after a quick stop at Starbucks, we were off.

I didn't take the day off work, but did bring my work laptop and took 2 60 minute calls both on my way to Jen's and in Dennis' back seat. Aggravatingly, though I "needed" to be on both calls, it turns out that I didn't need to be on either call. No worries, still good to show my face.

There was an accident on the way up, which added more time to our delay. Dennis narrowly avoided some accidents on his own as well, a few times coming up rapidly behind traffic that he wasn't expecting to be at a standstill. Hairy moments, but after our fairly uneventful drive otherwise, we made it to Lake Whatcom.

The summer house on Lake Whatcom

The backdrop to our stage

The backside of the summer house

We parked and got our stuff down to the beach. As with many beaches, the ground is not level, but a slope down to the water. This location was no different. Thankfully it was sunny and fairly dry; it did rain the day before and walking around the side of the house was a little damp and slick in spots, but not where we performed. We got the gear down there and commenced setup.

I brought both L-1000s and my Zoom pedal and a change of clothes. On the way up, Dennis realized he forgot his performance wear and once we got set up, he realized he also forgot his in-ear monitors! He left around 11:30 to the nearby Guitar Center (20 minutes or so away) and disappeared. We finished setting up and partook in the catered food, some BBQ brisket and smoked chicken, Caesar's salad, cornbread and some sparkling waters. It was great!

The party guests showed up while we were setting up and they were a crew that seemed pretty, well, biotech-y. They were nice enough and I was surprised that many of them had brought bathing suits to take advantage of the lake, where the party host had put out kayaks, paddle boards, as well as giving rides on jet skis. I can't imagine partying with my coworkers and opting to put on a bathing suit in front of them all. Anyway, moving on...

After eating, Dennis came back and had on a spiffy pink short-sleeved button-down shirt. Looked fantastic, with tropical theme to boot. And some new white pants. Apparently, he stopped by an adjacent TJ Maxx and plucked those items off the rack. It was perfect! He took a few minutes to get situated and before long, we kicked it off.

Dusty got a new, matte-finished kit

The staging area; I was off to the left, stage right

The basses

Prior to the gig, I took our setlist and programmed in patches on my Zoom B2 Four. I tried to come up with tones similar to the artist's original sounds. I didn't really edit anything; I ended up going through Zoom's default patches and comparing and listening to what I liked the best. Though I don't know if anyone out front noticed, I could definitely tell in my IEMs and I enjoyed the variety and interaction it required to make sure I had the right patches dialed up.

The actual terrain was challenging as well, since, as mentioned earlier, it was not level. I was having to lean towards the front of the "stage" all afternoon as I was downhill from my mic stand. We didn't really have a crowd either. The people that were there were eating, playing cornhole, going in the lake or the hot tub, or standing by the drinks. No one was dancing or really even seeming to pay attention to us, but we sort of expected that going in; it was a Thursday afternoon, after all!

Performance-wise, I was happy with how things went for the most part. "Brandy" has been challenging for me lately, don't know why. I know the parts, both on bass and vocally, but I've been goofing it up, like I have the yips or something. I made sure to run it a few times this week and as I played it yesterday, definitely was mindful at not messing up where I normally was messing up. I think I had one flub, but otherwise felt pretty good about it.

We came up to a break, grabbed some ice cream sandwiches from an ice cream truck that the host had brought in, and then jumped back on stage. When we started the first set, it was sunny and warm and thankfully we had the canopy as it did get pretty hot in the sun. During the second set, however, though it was still sunny and beautiful, the wind picked up and it got quite a bit cooler.

The set was looser as well since we knew that no one really cared about what we were doing. I was walking around with my long 25' foot cable, just listening to the FOH and stretching my legs, then racing back to my mic to sing backing vocals. It was just fun, outside practice at this point.

We finally finished up and though no one was overly enthusiastic when we played, lots of people offered good feedback. I think the crowd was just less about the live music and more about the activities and socializing. No worries, though, we got paid either way.

After packing up, we took the sound guy (kid from Western) back to his house 20 minutes north, and then headed back to Seattle. I got back just in time to get my car from Jen's and head over to Robb's for a quick PITO practice before heading home for the night.

Here's a couple more pix of yesterday:

Yes, they had a private dock

Unclear as to why the open mouths

 

DTG

From last week's recording session with Jonathan, I mentioned him being the first person I recorded with. I asked if he had the recordings and he didn't, but to reach out to Andre, who does.

In high school, Andre was a year ahead of me and was the school's shredder. He was in the cool kids band, called the Unexcused. They always closed out all the school talent shows. Aside from being the only decent bassist at school, I'm not sure how he and I hooked up. Maybe it was through Todd, who was the school's baddest drummer. He and I did play together in the jazz bands throughout school. But, maybe he was in the Jazz Ensemble (think varsity) and I was in Jazz Band (think JV).

Anyway, somehow, the three of us hooked up and recorded some songs at Jonathan's house. I super-duper vaguely remember practicing at Todd's house, about 2 miles away from where I am now. I do not remember whatsoever recording any tunes, other than doing it at Jonathan's house. I think we did record separately, building it up Lego-style.

I reached out to Andre today and he sent me a link to a Dropbox that had all the stuff he did in high school, including the stuff he, Todd and I did, called DTG ('Dre, Todd, Gwon). I forgot about that name (did I even know about it?) and definitely forgot that we did more than one song (called Marsupials).

Looking through the Dropbox files, there are 5 songs! Marsupials, Fire in the Hole, For Always, Shadows and Hot Potato(!). For now, I've heard the first three, though For Always is a guitar instrumental. Well, they're all instrumentals; that one is guitar only.

In hearing Marsupials, though I remember the main riff, as I was listening, some of the stuff came back to me. But the wildest part was hearing this from 35 or so years ago. I must have been 15-16? And Joe Satriani was big at the time and it was pretty clear that Andre had that influence going. All three of us were pretty dialed in for our age; I've heard adult bands that were worse than us.

I started Fire in the Hole and I do not remember that song at all. But, as I listened (and got confirmation from Andre that it was me), just based on the bass part, I knew I played it. I still do the same stylistic things and parts. Though the song is sort of dated (late 80's instrumental guitar rock), we were pretty dang good. Sure, we overplayed, but who didn't at that age?

I'm gonna listen to Shadows now and do a stream-of-consciousness reaction.

• only 2:48. Minor arpeggiated guitar, no bass or drums. Could be cheesy; hearing potential bass parts in my brain right now.
• And I come in early, ahead of the beat; what else is new.
• Pretty contrived part. Trying to stay simple, but busy enough, and it's sort of there.
• Second time through "verse" is OK. Adult me might straighten it out a little more.
• Bridge part: it's passable. Sort of boring, but it works under Andre's soloing.
• Chorus part: not loving it. Choppy, not smooth enough for what the song needs.
• Overall, 6/10. Song was short, one time through the chorus. Given a teenager was recording it (me), it's not that bad.

Now, the last song, Hot Potato, I have no idea. I think it may be along the lines of a Satch Boogie, like a fast shuffle/boogie. Let's see how it sounds. Here are my reactions.

• 4:01, here we go.
• And there's the EVH riff with high hat. Lots of chromatic guitar. Blues based progression.
• Really reminiscent of Let's Go Crazy by Prince.
• A little loose when bass and drums come in.
• Some punches, nothing crazy.
• Beat kicks in, riff repeats. I tried to come up with a nifty bass line to go under the first guitar solo. Todd drops out to high hats.
• Back to a verse/main riff and I am behind the beat; trying to get too tricky. Really pulling the beat back. Sounds like Andre does too on his rhythm guitar at times.
• Ok, to the bass drum punches part. Off time!
• And now the riding the E part. Pretty loose
• And we are done

I see where we were trying to go with that tune, but I'm not positive we got there. However, again, for a trio of high schoolers, I'm not totally turned off.

I think I had my Hohner Steinberger copy at this time and may have recorded with that. Otherwise it was my blue Ibanez SoundGear, but really, I don't know. And I don't think we ever played out live at school.

But then I just had another memory pop up that me, Todd, Andre and a girl named Nicole tried to play in a cover band, where some dude said he could get us into clubs. We practiced a few times in his basement off of Bellevue Way, but it never went anywhere. I think we played Lights by Journey and Heartbreaker by Pat Benetar. Sheesh, that's crazy. I should revisit those memories with Andre sometime.

Free stuff

I love free stuff. I love thrifting things. It gives me great joy to pay a little for something that used to cost a lot, but even better when it's free.

A few weeks ago, someone posted a nice bass rig on Facebook. It was an Ashdown of some sort and I made a comment like, "nice." A day or so later, an old FB friend, Chris, reached out and said he'd give me his old, non-functioning Ashdown head if I wanted it. I said, "Why not, if it's free, let's see what happens?"

I headed to his house in Shoreline/Lake Forest Park area last week and picked it up. He treated me to an espresso (he works for a company that makes espresso machines) and chatted for a few minutes.

I got it home and plugged it in and confirmed that, yes, it does not work. It powers up and gives a super loud hum, like an unplugged instrument cable, only louder.

Last time I had an issue with my amp, it was my Trace Elliot and I gave it to Brian Roe to fix. He had it for a week or two and for about $150, it was fixed. For the Ashdown, I reached out to him and he said he'd take a look. I dropped it off with him last Monday, Labor Day, and now I'm waiting.

He said he needed schematics for the amp, which Chris had, and he got them to me, which I forwarded to Brian. I also posted that video on Facebook, which was then commented on by Mark Gooday, who was the founder of Ashdown. Though I've heard from TB that he's not the most technical dude. Which seemed to be true as he just told me to contact his service lead, Dave Green, who then advised me to take it to a tech.

I was hoping it could be something quick and easy to fix, but I have no clue when it comes to these things. Here's hoping Brian can fix it for cheap and then I'll have a killer new amp to work with.

I realized all my amps are British: The Trace, an Orange Terror Bass, and hopefully now, the Ashdown.

Stay tuned.

Studio days are the best days

I had the pleasure of spending most of my day at London Bridge Studios with my old pal Jonathan Plum. He and I went to high school together, him graduating in 1989, me in 1990. Our paths crossed because of music, of course.

My first ever "recording session" was at his parents' house, around the corner from where I currently live now. I had my Peavey Basic 40 amp (which I still own) and we put it in his bedroom closet. I think he had a 4-track at the time and I played bass to a song by our school's best guitarist, Andre Maguire, called Marsupials. On drums was Todd Clineschmidt, and, fun fact, both Andre and Todd still play together in a local surf rock band called the Delstroyers.

Anyway, over the years, I've had a few projects record with Jonathan. First off was a band called Ethyl, where we recorded 6 songs with him in a studio in the Georgetown area of Seattle. Maybe 10 years later, after he was co-owner of London Bridge, I recorded with Lund Bros., doing several tracks that ended up on a record called Sanguine.

By total coincidence, Jonathan started dating a gal who happens to be my bandleader's wife's sister. Who also happens to live next door to where my bandleader lives (the sisters live next door to each other), which also happens to be where we rehearse. So by way of that, Jonathan and I have sort of stayed in touch.

With Planets, Robb has brought in some new songs (and by new, I mean over the past several months) and we've been working on them. We've played them live and decided to finally record with Jonathan. We've most recently done two stints at Robert Lang Studios, but I've really been pushing to work with Jonathan. We had him over to listen to the songs last week, and today we met up at London Bridge Studios to make it happen.

Legendary!

LBS is nestled in the back of what seems to be a small, generic office park. You pull off of the main road, drive up a small hill and there, to the right of some apartments on the other side of the parking lot is London Bridge. From the outside, you'd never know that bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Candlebox, and more, have recorded there.

My little band was booked for the afternoon and we were planning on doing 3 songs to get drums and bass and as much guitars as we could. I got there, loaded in, and got set up. I had brought both my Trace-Elliot and Orange amps, my 210 and 115 cabinets, and all my pedals. I brought both G&L L-1000s, as well as my Precision. I also brought my work computer as, after all, it was a work day.

Cass set his drums up in front of the legendary brick wall. It seems weird, but once we heard the drums, it all made sense. All the platinum records for the other bands also lend credibility to that wall. I started with the HOG; I wanted to try recording with it as I've recorded with The GOLD before, so I wanted to hear how the other bass sounded.

We started with a song that was first known as "Misguided Head," which was then called "This Is Just a Blip," and now, at the suggestion of Jonathan last week, is now known as "I Unraveled," which is perfect. As with most of our songs (and with all 3 that we recorded today), this song starts with guitar. Robb begins and then Cass and I come in and do our thing.

Our first few takes are to stretch a bit, get a feel for the headphones, the mix, the room and each other. Those takes also get me thinking about what I'm hearing tone-wise for my bass. I brought the Orange but JP recommended on using the sound that got me here. So it was the HOG into my pedals, into my Trace and a pick and off we went.

With "I Unraveled," there's a lot of fast picking and some quick runs in the second verses. There are also some quieter parts where I was doing busier stuff, but toned it down a bit for the recording. We did a few passes, some in-room listens, and then a few more passes. Once Cass felt like he had a good take, Jonathan did some Pro Tools wizardry and cleaned up my timings (I am ahead of the beat a lot), and then had me punch in in some spots.

For the verses, I'd have my Spark Booster turned on, giving the bass tone some hair and grit. I could have used (and have in the past) the AGS circuit on my Tone Hammer pedal, but it was a little *too obnoxious for this song. Being able to toggle the SB on and off worked out just fine as I was able to get the volumes of clean/dirty to be pretty equal. With AGS, it would be too loud and would have to be on for the whole song.

Through the headphones, it sounded clicky and buzzy. Once I got in the control room with the monitor speakers? Wow. Gnarly and aggressive and definitely more affected than any tone I've ever had, but it worked for me. The guys liked it too and JP was down with it, so we worked with it.

After that tune, we busted out "Sit and Spin," a song Robb wrote about the first time he saw Darla at the old Seattle club, the Sit and Spin. It's a pretty basic number based on a bluesy riff Robb has had for a bit. We played it pretty bombastically during rehearsals and JP offered some suggestions based on crashing last week's practice. We used some of them and passed on others. For this tune, I had the SB on the whole time, as the song is pretty loud and dirty.

Weirdly, I thought this song would be more challenging to lock down as it has some E to D string picking, where I skip over the A. I have some trouble with it when practicing, but it seemed to be OK today when we recorded.

As with the last song, we got drums dialed in, then JP did his magic on my bass with the timing, I did some punches, and then it was onto the last song, "Nomenclature." Of the 3 songs, this is the oldest, having started playing it around the January/February timeframe. Robb brought it in and we really loved it.

At first, when we were learning it, I didn't know what to do on the bass. So much of what I do is busy or melodic or syncopated; for this tune, I kept it simple in the verses. Ride the A at the 12th fret in the verses, and then dropping down to the end of the neck in the pre-chorus and choruses. I tried to get Butterfly Boucher on the bass lines, going with octaves and aggressive picking as well.

Ironically, as simple as that part is, it gave me the most problems today. I think part of it was just the fatigue of a 6-7 hour day of recording, listening, punching, and not eating much. The mental part of it is tough enough. I have also never recorded as a pick player, so that muscle (despite playing with a pick for at least 18 months now) is still developing. I really tried to focus on precision and accuracy and found my right hand getting tired from holding the pick so tightly.

Anyway, with "Nomenclature," Cass was getting tired too. He beats the heck out of his drums, really getting his money's worth and by the end of the session, we were both dragging. Luckily, he got a take he liked after a few tries, and my parts were easy enough to clean up with a few more punches. Robb did some guitars, and the day was over before we knew it.

The plan now is for Robb to get the tracks from JP, and then to try mixing at his home studio. We could have JP do it, but that's another several hundo that we'd just as soon save. Besides, it was Jonathan that suggested it and Robb is super excited to try mixing as he's never done it before.

The three of us feel great after the session. Drama that we had had with other bands and band members was non-existent. The fact that we trusted Jonathan as we knew him before coming in, was helpful as well. Not that other engineers were bad or lesser than, but having history with JP was definitely beneficial, to me, at least.

Overall, super excited with what we did today and already looking forward to getting back to LBS again in the future.

photo by Mike Mitchell