Paul – Page 8 – Dog Is Blue

March 3, 2011March 3, 2011

Recording Update: House of Miracles Photos

Quick update: we’re back from recording at the House of Miracles!

We made the snowy drive late Saturday night for a few days of recording with Andy Magoffin. Our car was so crammed full of gear I thought it might burst, but we still managed to fit Anna Atkinson between guitars in our backseat.

Suffice to say, we had a great time in the studio and we’re incredibly happy with the way the album is coming together. Here are some quick teases and tidbits for what you can expect:

– 8 of the 10 songs were predominantly recorded live off the floor.

– In contrast to …Makes Ghost Noises, acoustic guitar is the main instrument on only one track so far (in fact, that’s the only song it appears on at all at the moment).

– Our 6-string banjo is the lead instrument on 2 tracks (one of which being “Laura’s Song” ).

– Anna Atkinson is the 5th Beatle. She contributes viola, accordion and backup vocals (not to mention that she and Laura sound amazing together).

– The word “raunchy” was thrown around a lot in describing the guitar sound.

– I sound like I’ve never said the word “fuck” in my life.

– Laura’s biggest screw up might be the albums best moment.

Stay tuned for more important updates concerning the release of Tortoise (a word Andy had a lot of fun saying, by the way) as well as a tour to support it! In the meantime, here are photos from the session (we brought a video camera too, but I forgot to pack any tapes…).

February 24, 2011February 24, 2011

New Music: Laura’s Song (Live Demo)

The story of “Laura’s Song” is two-fold. The first part involves a garage sale last spring where we found an ancient German 6-string banjo, branded Korri. Despite it’s less-than-playable condition at the time, we fell in love with it and probably overpaid. Though if I’ve learned anything about buying new gear it’s that, given all the stuff I buy that she begrudgingly puts up with, I damn well better buy the odd thing Laura actually likes.

The second part stems from wanting my partner-in-crime more involved in the writing/recording process. She’s become so integral on stage that it’s time we really showcased her on a release (that and after every show people always say “why doesn’t Laura sing more?” …jerks).

We were looking for a simple, bouncy ditty to end the new album and it seemed Laura was inspired by that beautiful relic of vaudevillian charm we’d had hanging on our wall for months, so the aptly titled “Laura’s Song” was born.

This demo is the two of us huddled in the living room around the on-board mics of our Zoom R24. She’s got the six-string banjo and I’ve got an old Casio.

Laura’s Song (Live Demo) by Dog Is Blue

February 22, 2011February 22, 2011

Goodbye: Project 165 Goes Out with a Bang

We got some sad news on the weekend: Project 165, one of our favourite art spots/alternative venues run by some of the best people around, is closing it’s doors next week. It’s tough funding an artist run space on the best of days, rent increases and hard economic times make it nearly impossible.

We’ll miss Project 165 like nobody’s business, as the fertile and supportive atmosphere has been home to some of our favourite shows. Unfortunately, the real kicker is that we can’t even be there for the big closing party coming up this weekend (we’ll be recording our new album in London…bittersweet).

Of course, that doesn’t mean YOU can’t be there to kick it one last time with the best crew around. Here’s the Facebook event with all the details.

Goodbye Project 165. Thanks for the good times.

February 15, 2011August 23, 2018

DIY: Seven Fuzz Pedal

Seven Fuzz Pedal

Fuzz, fuzz, fuzz.

There’s nothing that a DIY pedal enthusiast loves more than fuzz. So many variations on such a simple effect. Hell, you could probably make one with an elastic band, a pipe-cleaner and an old orange. However, in the case of the Andrew Carrell designed Seven, maximum tweakability was the name of the game, hence the namesake number of knobs.

With a few tweaks the Seven fuzz can go from all out swarm of angry bees to farty sputtering robot. It might hog a lot of space on the ol’ pedal board for one effect, but in a studio setting this guy will have a myriad of options to cut through any mix. I just hope I don’t forget what those knobs actually do, as labelling ain’t my thing.

Click the play button for but a cursory glance at some of the various settings this bad boy can crank out (starts with clean tone, ends with some added wah from the crazy alphabet pedal I posted last week).

Seven Fuzz Pedal

February 10, 2011February 10, 2011

New Music: Stan & Georgie (Live Demo)

Fostex 812 Mixer Knobs The closer we get to going into the studio to record the new album the more I feel the need to post demos for some feedback. “Stan & Georgie” in particular has been a live favourite since we started playing it last spring. Personally, I enjoy watching audience members try to clap along and then pull the rug out from under them*.

The song itself is simple in accompaniment and details the faulty foundation and ultimately bitter dissolution of an elderly romance. The bridge lyrics and title are borrowed from the classic traditional tune “Frankie & Albert” (Look up the Taj Mahal version if you want a thrill).

As for the recording, this demo comes from the same live reel we recorded in our living room that yielded both “Tortoise” and “People.” You can hear the old analog trappings at work during the bridge, as the tape garbles lovingly.

For the album version I doubt we’ll add to much, but feel free to leave suggestions!

Stan & Georgie (Live Demo) by Dog Is Blue

*There’s a funny video from one of our recent sets at Broadview Espresso where a good friend of ours started clapping along just as I switched back to the verse. I couldn’t hold in my laughter and had to pause the song to recuperate.

February 7, 2011

Show Recap: Rancho Relaxo with Smugshot and Richard Gracious

Rancho Relaxo

When: Feb. 2, 2011
Where: Rancho Relaxo, Toronto ON
Who with: Smugshot, Richard Gracious

Set List:

Dusty Bones w/Anna Atkinson
Southern Ontario w/Anna Atkinson
She Said
Tortoise
People
Young Enough w/Anna Atkinson
Raise Your Dead w/Anna Atkinson

This was the night of the “big snow storm” that had all of Toronto (not to mention southern Ontario and a good chunk of the U.S.) stocking up on canned goods, sitting in their panic rooms locked & loaded for the apocalypse. Of course, we only got about half of the expected white stuff here, so the show at Rancho Relaxo went on as scheduled.

Getting ready to record our new album this month, we used this set as an opportunity to work on some of the new material. Case in point, Anna Atkinson joined us on viola for a few tunes (complete with a great new haircut…) and “She Said” was played live for the very first time.

Of course, I’m an easily distracted mess, so new accompaniment and the debut of a recently built guitar pedal along with strange stage hum made for interesting results. Thankfully, I make it a habit to surround myself with beautiful, talented and dependable women who pick up my slack and slap me with it.

Given all the hoopla over the snow, it ended up being a good time. We were very grateful for an audience who actually braved the overblown weather, and both Smugshot (complete with Keytar) and Richard Gracious (who ended the night with a drunken dance party) were a lot of fun (and each covered bands I’d completely forgotten about—Wheatus and Afroman respectively).

Bring on the House of Miracles!

February 2, 2011February 2, 2011

New Music: She Said (To the Robot) Demo

Zoom R24 Faders Sometimes a song takes a while settle. This particular tune has been around in various forms longer than just about anything on …Makes Ghost Noises, but didn’t make the cut for that album because it just wasn’t ready. I had pretty much written it off as tied too heavily to a specific time and place.

It’s amazing what a slight tweak can do (…or in this case completely ditching the chorus along with a change in tempo).

Suddenly the newly christened “She Said (to the Robot)*” has become a song that we’re not only excited to debut tonight at Rancho Relaxo, but also to have on our soon to be recorded new album.

As for the demo itself, Laura was away, so it’s just me doing my best “reverberated Springsteen.” It was her decision to put it up as is, but I can assure you that she’s got some backing “oohs” in the new arrangement that will make you melt.

Oh, and forgive the huge cough at the end. I was really sick when this was recorded and could barely make it through the take without hacking up a lung. Whiskey was the only thing keeping me going…

She Said (to the Robot) [Demo] by Dog Is Blue

*The title is still up for debate, specifically the “(to the Robot)” part, so if you’ve got any suggestions let’s hear ’em!

January 31, 2011August 22, 2018

Crazy New Pedal: Fuzz, Echo, Wah, Chorus Woo!

Crazy Alphabet Cookie Tin Homemade Guitar Pedal: Fuzz, Wah, Echo, Chorus in one!

Laura (re: half the band) was away for the last two weeks of January working on her tan. Of course, we all know that when the cat’s away the mouse will…uh…build a ridiculous guitar pedal.

In this case, I had a few quirky circuit boards kicking around and decided to cram as much as I could into a single alphabet-themed cookie tin. All in all, I’m not sure how useful this will be on stage, as it’s pretty unwieldy, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun.

The breakdown is as follows: the first switch (and 2 yellow knobs) operate an auto wah—the Dr. Quack circuit (a better version of the EHX Dr. Q). The second switch (and 4 red knobs) controls a crazy fuzz/echo circuit based on the “Noise Ensemble” (I added a few extra knobs). Finally, the third switch (and 2 green knobs) works the modified “Little Angle” chorus (I’m still tweaking this one to taste*).

All told, it’s a crazy mess of sonic destruction that is both versatile and absolutely insane. For a sound sample of me going through some of the various possibilities click the little red play button below:

UPDATE: after band practice last night I tweaked this monster even further, adding a toggle switch in place of one of the red knobs so that I could make room for a knob to control just how crazy the chorus can get—the answer: real crazy.

Crazy Alphabet Cookie Tin Homemade Guitar Pedal: Fuzz, Wah, Echo, Chorus in one!

January 26, 2011August 21, 2018

No Will Power: Another Vintage Saturn Guitar

Two Vintage Japanese Solid-body Saturn Guitars

It’s no secret that I have zero will power when it comes to buying new gear. In fact, some might even say the band exists simply because I had to justify owning so many instruments. Case in point, if you follow the band on Twitter you likely saw me agonizing over the decision of whether or not to buy yet another vintage Japanese Saturn electric guitar. Surprise, surprise—I bought it (it’s the small one on the left). What can I say? I love these wacky axes.

Some say they were built in Japan by Kawai, others say Guyatone, but everyone seems to agree that Saturns first appeared in a 1968 Eaton’s department store catalogue. Personally, I don’t know how I’ve ended up with three of these (all different, mind you), as I’d never even heard of them before I saw the first one on Craigslist last year. However, I was instantly enamoured with their wonky shapes and mystique.

They also get a pretty bad rap, as they were cheap entry level imports for kids who couldn’t afford a Fender or Gibson. In my humble opinion, that negativity isn’t entirely deserved, as with a good setup these bad boys play very well (I wouldn’t have three if they were garbage…). Guys like Hound Dog Taylor and Ry Cooder championed this notion with cheap Japanese guitars of their own (just check out the cover of Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers for a multi-pickup beast).

Of course, I don’t have a lot of “high end” axes kicking around to compare these to, as I’m still a kid who can’t afford a Gibson or Fender, but there’s a reason the rest of my electric guitars have ended up on Craigslist. Actually, price is another beautiful thing about these mysterious relics—I paid a total $350 for all three of them (not including setups and a little work here and there by my amazing guitar tech*)! As for how they sound, I’m by no means a “tone aficionado,” but I know what I like and these are fine by me (especially through my homemade Fender Princeton).

They also get a lot of comments when we play live and suit the rest of our homemade gear very well.

Hmm…it just occurred to me that this entire post is pretty much self-aggrandizing piece of effort-justification so that I don’t feel bad about buying another piece of gear…yep.

Oh well. Guitars is purty.

Small Scale Vintage Japanese Saturn Electric Guitar

*The hollowbody needed the most work (it as also the cheapest), as a bridge inside had collapsed, but now it plays very well and might just be my favourite of the bunch.

January 24, 2011January 26, 2011

New Music: People (Live Demo)

Fostex 812 Mixer Knobs Remember way back when I said we’d recorded a full reel of demos on our trusty Fostex R8 (the same session that yielded the live demo for “Tortoise”)? Well, seeing as Laura (re: half the band) is away until February, I’ve had time to revisit that reel to see what else was there.

The result is a live demo of “People.” This is one of our newest songs and has only been tried live once or twice, but will probably be the most irreverent and playful on the new album.

As usual, it features yours truly on my Hollowbody Saturn and homemade 5F2-A amp with a tambourine on my foot, and Laura on Polysix—she came up with the idea for the second half based on that sweet organ sound. Oh, and apologies for the f-bombs at the end…it’s a fun way to close out the song, but we’re still deciding if they should make it to the album version or not.

People (Live Demo) by Dog Is Blue