Gig Diary - February/March, 2003

Woodstock, NY

In the studio!

This is going to be interesting! Susan Robkin and I are entering the studio this month to start on the new album. She and I are flying to Woodstock, NY to work with producer/guitarist Elliott Randall and the all-star lineup of musicians he has rounded up. Including one of my favorite bassists, Tony Levin (see this picture of me and him a long time ago). We will be working at Jerry Marotta's studio, and he will also be playing drums.

Sunday, February 2, 2003 Click here to see the photos!

Arriving in Woodstock.

Susan and I arrived in New York City (JFK) on Sunday afternoon. Susan's manager, John Velasco picked us up and drove us to Woodstock, about 2 ½ hours drive. He entertained us the whole way with stories about some major musical icons he has worked with in the past. We found our hotel, a bed and breakfast type place that really looks more like a motel. The place is empty, and we have to ring the doorbell to get the owner to come out of their house across the way to check us in. She directs us to a place to eat dinner (it was about 8:00), which John drove us to and headed back to the city. We enjoyed a delicious meal and took in the atmosphere. This place is cool, very artsy and lots of hippies. We called a cab to get back to the hotel, and the gentleman who picked us up was very nice and showed us where the natural foods store is. He also told us which pizza place is best.

Back in our room, which is actually a sort of "apartment" on the second floor of the house where the owners live, we discover something terrible, and yet wonderful at the same time. There is no phone. And no cell phone service. There is a pay phone booth in the parking lot, which I went to to call Pete to let him know we'd arrived, and that we didn't have a phone! Chilled out watching a movie starring Jack Black called "Shallow Hal" which was kind of enjoyable. Slept well. Elliott Randall, his wife Jane, Simon Hanhart our engineer and the keyboard player Chris are due to arrive at the hotel tomorrow morning.

Monday, February 3, 2003

Day 1 in the studio.

I don't know where to begin. Susan and I were not sure what time Elliott and co. would be arriving, and we contemplated walking to the store for some groceries. Figured as soon as we set off they would drive up, and in fact, they did. We met them driving in as we were walking out, and they stopped and I was introduced to Elliott and Jane and Simon. Elliott informed us the keyboardist Chris is very sick, so he lined up a guy called Kenny Ascher instead. He's played with James Taylor and Paul Simon and I don't know who else. I GUESS he'll do…!

When we got back it was finally time to head to the studio, which is owned by drummer Jerry Marotta and is called Jersville. Jerry himself came to pick us up. He's lived in Woodstock since the mid-eighties. His studio is right across town about 5 minutes drive. It's a house in which each room is part of the studio. The living room with a big picture window is the control room, a garage is the drum room, back bedroom house guitars and additional world percussion instruments. We walked into the control room and there is Tony Levin holding a Fender Jazz bass getting set up. I have to hold myself together…I was rather nervous being in a room with these people and having difficulty feeling normal. It got better, but I definitely had a few stutters before I got comfortable with everybody.

A word about who these people are: Elliott Randall is producing and playing guitar. He is well known for playing with Steely Dan in the seventies, and more Top-40 sessions and commercials than I even know. He is very down to earth and a bit of an old timer in that he has been in the music business a long long time, and has seen it all. His wife is Jane, and she is English. Very delightful lady!

On drums is Jerry Marotta. I know him as having played on all the older Peter Gabriel albums of which I am a huge fan, and lots of album sessions. His studio is very relaxing and comfortable. It's not a sterile sort of place, like big commercial studios. It's just like hanging out at someone's house. On the walls in every room are gold and platinum record awards for albums Jerry has worked on. Indigo Girls, Hall and Oates, 10,000 Maniacs, the list goes on.

Tony Levin is playing bass, at least for this week. I have long admired his work with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and numerous other sessions he's done, including with members of my favorite band, Yes. He is one of the most respected players and very in demand. I do consider him an influence on my playing, and greatly admire his ability to groove, play melodically and tastefully, and his phat tone. He is nominated for a Grammy this year, for his recent solo album that Jerry also played on.

On keys is Kenny Ascher, also a studio veteran. At this writing I don't know his background, but he talked about playing with Paul Simon on a gig with Tony (there was lots of reminiscing going on) and working with some major players and producers.

The engineer is Simon Hanhart who is also English and through sheer luck was able to rearrange his schedule to fly in for this project. His credits include Marillion and Asia, two of my very favorite bands. He's currently nominated for 5 Brit awards. He is very sweet. A guy named Pete is assisting, and is the regular engineer at Jersville.

So I'm sitting in a room with all these legendary people, hardly believing that we're really here. Every once in a while I'd look around, and see Tony Levin, who is SO recognizable, and just ask myself if this was really happening. The guys are trading stories about the sessions and gigs they've done, many of them with each other, and it was just a joy to hear them reminisce. We all talked about how much the industry has changed, and how music is so disposable these days, and how refreshing it is to have a group of musicians actually in a room together to play. Instead of one at a time.

The first song to work on was 13 Days. Elliott pulled out his famous Strat. I said, "ooh, it's the Strat!" and he immediately handed it to me to check out. I showed him the 13 Days riff, which nobody seems to be able to play properly but me. Tony walked over and played along a bit. That was kinda cool.

Once they got the sounds together, Elliott played the demo Susan had sent of us playing. Then they ran through the song a couple times. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear Tony play my bass line. I found out later he thought it was really good, and didn't want to change it. He complimented me on it, even. WOW. It's such an honor to have them play through a song that I wrote, and Elliott proposes something and then looks to me to make sure it's ok. We all talked a lot about arrangement stuff, and worked out things like the bridge and coming out of it and what exactly should be there. A few different things went on, and eventually what they ended up with was almost exactly what I first envisioned for that spot.

Simon proposed slowing the tempo down. They settled into a nice groove, then later when Susan went to sing along for the scratch vocal, it was too slow so they sped it up again. Jerry's drums sounded HUGE, and he did some really cool things. He played almost the exact same thing Pete was doing on the demo on the bridge. Kenny started out playing a very similar part to Dave Loy's part on the demo, but then Elliott had him change it a little. He also decided to lay out on the verse, then he got inspired by Susan lyric "don't you love this place in winter?" and threw in a flourish-y thing that was just perfect.

A few takes and they got it down. We took a break and they did a couple more takes. Then Simon and Elliott did some Protools editing while everybody hung around socializing and trading stories. Tony re-did a few bits, and then Elliott called it a day. Tomorrow we go in around 10:30-11:00 and begin the next song, which will be "Wonderful" (the song AND the day I'm sure!)

Elliott's vision for this project is all about vibe. It is so important to him to have musicians who jive together, and we are really getting that great feeling you get when the music just happens freely. Even though I am not playing, I am listening and watching and absorbing. It's just amazing, and as cool as I hoped it would be. The guys are sweet people and so warm and friendly. I think we got the vibe.

Tuesday, February 4, 2003

Day 2 in the studio

Long day, went from 11:00 am til almost 12 midnight. The guys laid down the basic tracks for "Wonderful" and "Surfacing To Breathe". There is just too much for me to remember about the day to write it all down. Just a great feeling from everyone. The musicians like the music, and are all very conscious about their parts and wanting them to work for the song.

Wonderful came together fairly easily, more on that later.

Surfacing To Breathe: Elliott played the demo, which was done in Pete's studio and Dave's in various sessions. I announced as it started playing that "a drummer wrote this tune". They all seemed sort of impressed…and all really liked the song, and the vibe of the demo. Especially Jerry. Tony asked me about how I played the bass pat on the intro, which I fingerpicked. He said "oh, well I'm not so good with my thumb, so I'll have to figure some other way to play it." He changed it to a kind of tapped thing, and it worked really well. He paid very close attention to my lines and complimented me on them. Later he actually thanked me for the great bass lines, saying it helps him a lot to not have to come up with something. This is about the most flattering thing someone of his stature could say, except maybe he could have suggested that I play them….but that wasn't to be! Not yet anyway.

Jerry liked the groove on the demo, and felt it important to get as close to that as possible. He said it almost could be the record but wasn't quite up to standards production-wise. They ran through it to get a tempo established, then Jerry wanted to make loops because it wasn't feeling right without a 16th note thing happening. So he took a "half hour" (translation: 2 hours) to make up a loop using his myriads of percussion instruments. It sounded KILLER. Then, when everybody played with that going, the groove really came together for the whole band. When they got a take that was fairly happening, Tony re-did his bass track all the way through to nail down a few things, and then later after he'd left, Jerry re-recorded his drum part. It locked together with the bass perfectly. Jerry thought the constant backbeat was too much, so he took some out during the verses so that when the chorus comes in it really has a nice impact.

In the course of the day, there are many breaks where everyone mills around chit chatting, getting to know each other (in my and Susan's case) or remembering old times (in everyone else's cases). We learned that Kenny co-wrote all of the songs from the Muppet Movie with Paul Williams. He also wrote a hit for Helen Reddy and has worked with so many great artists. Simon worked on some albums with Yngwie Malmsteen, and had a funny story about what a "joy" (wink wink!) he is to work with (Simon is English.)

Towards the end of the night, as it was getting late and the guys were listening back to the takes of Wonderful to decide which one to use, I started talking to Jerry about Peter Gabriel (it started because I brought up the "a one…two….one..two..four" count off he did at the beginning of "Games Without Frontiers" and Susan joined in when he brought up some bands he liked. Then he grabbed his CD case and paged through. Surprisingly, he pulled out a CD of Fiona and Kip Winger singing a duet called "You're Sexin' Me" that he decided to pop on for us all to hear. So we rocked out to that for a minute. I remember that song from years back when I worked at Strawberries in Boston used to listen to that stuff. Jerry exclaimed, "after hearing that, you won't have any trouble deciding which take to use!" Elliott decided to wait until tomorrow and he would put down a quick guitar track on the 2 most likely candidates and then choose which take worked best.

Lots of tea all day long courtesy of Susan and Jane, as well as healthy food for everyone to munch on.

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Day 3 in the studio

Went in around 10:30 am and played back the 3 takes of "Wonderful" in order to choose which one to use. It was decided to edit a magical performance together out of the three. Some confusion arose in the process because 4 bars were added to the bridge after the first take and Simon got a little frustrated. Finally got it all sorted out and he did all the editing while the rest of us tried not to disturb him. Tony stopped in with his daughter Maggie to say hello, then were off again.

Kenny started on the keyboard overdubs beginning with "13 Days". Jerry fired up his old analog synths - a Prophet V and a VS (I think) and a few other more modern things. They fiddled around with sounds and Kenny came up with some marvelous stuff. Simon had lots of ideas for sounds too.

Jerry had brought his golden retriever, Beulah over. She is very cute and cuddly and has terrible doggy breath. But she is so cute and loveable. Pete was also there later with his little dog named Ralph.

Played back "Surfacing to Breathe" and Elliott and Kenny decided that nothing more need be added in the keyboard department. They are just flipping over that song. Moving on to "Wonderful", Kenny thought a sound like angelic voices might be nice for the choruses. Once again Jerry and Elliott collectively twisted knobs on the keyboards to find the perfect voice-like sound. What he ended up putting down really made the track so beautiful, and it's starting to sound very melancholy in a Genesis kind of way. Which I happen to love! All those minor 7ths.

When Kenny was finished and was picked up by Jerry and Tony's friend Doug to be driven back in to NYC. Doug was already driving in and offered the ride. We said our goodbyes as Simon was continuing to work on edits on the bass tracks and the new keyboard tracks. Soon after he needed a break, so we headed out to dinner at the Bear Café where Susan and I had eaten our first night here. It was Elliott, Jane, Simon, Susan and me. Jerry had gone home earlier, as had Pete (the local one). Had a delicious meal and lots of laughs. Got to know Simon a little more now that we could see his face! It's fun having English people around (that would be Simon and Jane) and hearing how they speak, I just love it.

Back to the studio for more editing and backing up, then it was time to crash so we could start fresh in the morning with guitar tracking.

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Day 4 in the studio

We surprised Jerry in the morning with a birthday cake since it was his birthday. He was appreciative. Started on guitar overdubs on "13 Days". In the afternoon Tony came by and gave us a picture he printed out of Susan and I on the couch. He had superimposed pictures of his 2 dogs on it so it looked like they were on the couch with us! So cute. He'd promised to bring the doggies by to meet us, but wasn't able to so he made that instead.

Elliott put some nice guitars on the track, and since it was a bit late in the day they wanted to start on the vocals so Susan wouldn't have to sing all three songs in one day. Simon wasn't happy with the mics in the studio, so the vocals Susan gets today and tomorrow will likely not be the finals.

A friend of Elliott and Jane's came up from NYC with some pizza from Manhattan which was heated up and enjoyed by all. Stayed at the studio til 12:30am.

One more day to go here, and we need vocals and guitars on two more songs, and percussion. Perhaps a tambourine on "13 Days"…

Friday, February 7, 2003

Day 5, last day in the studio

Last day to finish up guitar overdubs, percussion and vocals. Had enough time to do some guitars and percussion on "Wonderful". Elliott had to spend some time getting into the groove on "Wonderful". Finally just got it, then Jerry added some shakers and hand drums. The song has really become more of a ballad than it was. Before, it was a more funky kind of mid tempo thing. Now it's full of minor 7ths and getting kind of Genesis-y. Cool!

Susan cooked up a bunch of food, including her famous eggs and veggie sausage and yams. Or as Jane put it in her Yorkshire accent, "'avin' a fry-up". It was evening before Susan could do vocals, and by then there was a question of how best to spend the remaining few hours we had. Elliott decided to have Susan throw down the rest of the scratch vocals so at least she's have something to play for people for the time being.

Susan nailed "Wonderful" fairly quickly with 3 takes, and Simon edited pieces together (he calls it "sorting it out" - a.k.a assembling a comp track). On to "Surfacing", and went through a couple times before they called it done. Simon sorted it out then started on a rough mix. No time to lay down guitars on "Surfacing To Breathe", but it almost doesn't need any. Simon finished up the rough mixes, backed everything up, and burned a few CDs. It was 2:00am when we finished up and said our goodbyes to Jerry and his studio.

Saturday, February 8, 2003

Got to sleep in just a little, then had a last breakfast with Elliott, Jane and Simon. Discussed doing the rest of the project and when and how to proceed (yet to be determined.) Elliott wants me to play bass on the rest of the tracks, as does Simon. So there's that to look forward to. They got their car packed up and headed back to Manhattan with Simon who is staying at their apartment there. His flight back to London is Sunday morning. We plan to meet in NYC for dinner.

Susan and I walked into Woodstock to look in a few shops before our cab showed up to take us to the train station in Rhinecliff. Took the Amtrak into Manhattan, then a cab to our hotel. Whew, what a week. We chilled out for a bit, then waited in the lobby for Simon, Elliott and Jane to meet us for dinner. Wonderful meal at an Italian place nearby with the best chocolate mousse in the world. Really had a good time chatting and looking forward to more fun times together. Said goodbyes, and went back to our hotel.

Susan and I went to the hotel's club/bar on the top floor to get a drink. It was freakin' LOUD in there, people having to shout over the music, crowded, and the $8 per glass wine was bad. Nice view out the window. We tried to take our drinks down to our room in the elevator but the bounce caught us. When we did leave, a middle aged man in the elevator introduced himself to us saying he was a comedian.

Sunday, February 09, 2003

Slept in, then had breakfast at a Lindy's down the street. French toast for $10! Welcome to New York City. We walked around Times Square for a bit, bought a couple things, then later had dinner at the Playwright Café. Then back to the room to relax.

Tomorrow morning we meet with a lawyer friend of John's to play him the tunes. Then we come home in the late afternoon. We're tired and ready to go home! It's been an unbelievable little adventure, and well worth it. Can't wait to come back to Woodstock and finish the project, and have an amazing album to show for it. Rock on!

March, 2003

Back in the studio!
Susan Robkin is continuing work on the new album in the studio. She is in Woodstock, NY working with producer/guitarist Elliott Randall and the all-star lineup of musicians he has rounded up. Including one of my favorite bassists, Tony Levin (see this picture of me and him a long time ago). We will be working at Jerry Marotta's studio, and he will also be playing drums. I'll be playing bass on 3 songs and spending just one day in the studio this time.

Friday, March 14, 2003
Jersville Studio, Woodstock, NY
I played on two songs for the upcoming Susan Robkin album, “Get Up, Go On” and “You Bother”. Susan and co. spent the whole week in the studio working on basic tracks. Playing previously during the week were guitarist/producer Elliott Randall, drummer and studio owner Jerry Marotta, keyboardists Kenny Ascher and Chris Palmero, and Tony Levin on bass. On Friday, it was just Elliott, Jerry and me. Simon Hanhart is the engineer. Had a great time with these guys, listening, learning, and playing. We first listened to the demos that were made with Susan’s band back in Seattle, then ran through the song until it was nailed down enough to do a few takes.

I was the only common denominator between the two groups of musicians between the demo and here in the studio, other than Susan obviously. It was an interesting challenge for me to be already intimately familiar with the songs, and yet needing to be open to any changes in arrangements, or to how my established bass part might work with Jerry playing instead of Pete. In a way, I had to forget what I already knew and approach each song from a fresh perspective. For the most part, things remained relatively similar but for a few refinements here and there to the dynamics and general groove. All in all, it went quite smoothly and I didn’t feel too intimidated!

There wasn’t enough time to do a third song that was originally planned, but there may be yet another session scheduled to record a couple more tracks. We’ll see what happens. Next to be done are guitar overdubs, then Susan’s final vocals. After that will be the mixing and mastering done by Simon.

Outside of the studio, Pete and I stayed in New York City for a few days and had a blast! Glad to be home though due to the recent world events. Let’s hope things end quickly so we can get on with being a nice peaceful human race like we’re supposed to be.