recording – Dog Is Blue

March 10, 2011March 10, 2011

Album Update: Fun with Bass

Here’s a strange admission: None of our previous recordings have featured a bass guitar.

The low-end was always supplied by either a synth (the Realistic MG-1 is a personal favourite) or an electric guitar EQ’d down an octave.

That’s all changing on Tortoise, as a while back I stumbled across a real beauty of a bass guitar. It was a gamble, as the price reflected that it didn’t actually work, but that’s never stopped me before. A wire connecting the pickup windings had disconnected, which made for an easy fix.

The end result is a real nice 1970s Univox quasi-P-Bass copy that plays like a dream (not that I know much about dreamy bass guitars…).

Get yourselves acquainted, as this bad boy provides the bottom thump for half the songs on the new album…

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…).

January 14, 2011August 27, 2018

Dog Is Blue At The House of Miracles

The House of Miracles

We’ve got lots on the go over the next few months, so stay tuned for a bunch of announcements. Suffice to say the biggest news is that we just booked studio time at the famous House of Miracles in London, Ontario. We’ve wanted to record there since becoming a band, so we’re pretty damn excited. We’ll be there for a few days putting finishing touches on our new album, Tortoise, which we’re hoping to have out in April!

Expect more demos in the meantime, as we’ll need help narrowing down which new tracks make the cut. So far we know that “Tortoise” will be the title track, and “Southern Ontario” is a must, as it’s become one of our most requested live songs. “Little Dragon Slayer” is up in the air at the moment, so take a listen to all three and let us know what you think (on Twitter, Facebook, or via email: paul at dogisblue.com)!

Also keep your ears out for some pretty wild collaborations and covers coming down the pipeline before then…

November 19, 2010December 30, 2010

Adolphustown Session: Farmhouse with Anna Atkinson

Adolphustown!

We’ve Generously been given the opportunity to relax/record in a nearly 200 year-old farm house just off the Bay of Quinte for a few days. Cramming our untrustworthy lemon full of as much gear as we could, we left Toronto in the dust and arrived in Adolphustown late last night.

So far we haven’t done much but set up instruments and tune down a half-step to match the amazing old piano—Oh, and Laura beat me pretty badly at ping pong. However, tonight we’re being joined by the wonderfully talented Anna Atkinson (as well as an awesome ragtag crew of Laura’s friends in the visual arts).

We’ve played a bunch of shows with Anna in the past and she blows us away every time. Unbeknownst to her she’s slowly being assimilated into our band. One day, years from now, she’ll wake up and not remember how she became part of Dog Is Blue, but by then it will be too late to argue…

Anyway, enough creepy ramblings. Check out her music for yourself and see what we mean.

Not sure what these sessions will become—demos for the next album? A farmhouse EP? Extreme ping pong grudge match? Whatever the case, we’re in Adolphustown (I’ll never get tired of saying that name) working out the kinks on some new tunes.