The above quote is from the movie “Singles” .. if you’ve never seen it check it out…

Today started off with some production notes with Chris Cahill (my drummer in Baltimore) on our newest project “Devine”. We have finally found us a singer, just in time for Chris to have his hard drive crash, effectively losing all drum tracks for Devine’s first album. We had to have Chris re-track all the drums all over again, the newest drums are much more focused.. apparently having found a lead singer has gotten Chris energized.

This weekend I have a whole heap of studio work to catch up on.. I’ll be posting much more later this week.

So I’m heading off to bed, Seinfeld is on the tube, and I am beat. Last Monday (Sept 28th) was spent at Quicken Loans Arena watching Kiss & Buckcherry. Short & Sweet: Buckcherry = crappy. Kiss = Okay. The highlight of this show had to be the VIP Suite we had..breathtaking views, I really hope to catch a show worthy of this $3000-a-show suite.

Tonight was the 2nd night of running the 110 and 220 volt wire runs in the studio. Breaker box is mounted and Breakers installed. We should have Heat and Light by the Weekend- just in time for the winter winds off of Lake Erie.

I’ve been watching the Blog ” ain’t no sleep when you’re living the dream” Being a huge vintage gear nut and that the Smashing Pumpkins are one of my favorite bands, its only natural that I am enamored with the process that will be bringing to us the new Pumpkin’s album. Check out the video of the boys looking for the fuse inside their tape machine… priceless.

The leslie 145 the resides up at my Mother’s house will be finding it’s home at “The Mohawk Studio”, gonna have a ball hooking that up to the Vox Super Continental. Not to mention it works well with tons of different instruments. I’ll be posting more this week, we have lots of work to do…

Goodnight..

S(p)TD

So building a studio is a pain in the arse.. I never new so much could go into just wiring. I’m so very thankful that all the studs are exposed and all we have to do in rough in the outlets and fixtures. I can not imagine running this much wire if the drywall was already finished..I’m contracting out the drywall and carpet, I wanna get that right the first time.
Over the weekend the wife, I and another couple went out to dinner Sat. night. Killer japanese habachi(sp?) can be found at Nagoya up in Port Clinton (careful catching chicken with your mouth as I took a header backwards trying to catch it.. And yes I did ) Onwards to the Mon Ami winery which was playing host to “Rumours” (Fleetwood Mac tribute band). I’ve never been to Mon Ami, and I thought it was a great place to catch a show like this. A little on the pricey side but hey, you have to spend a little to have your own boutique bonfire pit out back. The band “Rumours” and I go way back to the late 90’s, and I have seen my share of their shows. They have a new girl up front as Stevie Nicks (later found out her name was Liz), who when pared up with Claudia Doman (from the band “New Decade” as Christine Macvie ) gave the band some well-needed energy. There were a few nervous moments I saw during their performance that made me miss those anxious times on stage. After catching a very crowd pleasing 1st set, we moved on to Lyman Harbor’s show with T.A.P.P (The Allen Parker Project). My first time seeing this act as a spectator, the first impression was; Why does Lyman Harbor start a show at 7pm? We got there at 10:45pm only to see a sparse crowd that was thinning out as they played their last 2 songs. Having a few more beers we watched the crowd roll in at 11:30pm..if you are paying for a band at least give them a chance to entertain your crowd when they need it the most.
TAPP played pretty well from what I could hear..unfortunately this leads to my other boggle with Lyman.. The acoustics in their club is beyond horrendous. Standing dead center of the venue was like listening to MTV’s 120 min. with my head in my aquarium. (hey they played 90’s Alt Rock.. What’cha expect I use for a reference?). I’d like to catch TAPP at another club sometime when the insane Lyman reverb isn’t smacking around my madulla oblongata.
This coming weekend is looking to be a busy one. Friday I have “New Decade” at i-5’s..
Sat. I start recording drums for the new band “Rhymes with Orange”.. That afternoon I meet up with Christine & Jim from the band (recently defunk) “Lucky Numbers” and Eric Nottke from MassMOCA (Mass. Museum of Contemporary Arts)we are all heading down to i-5’s where I’m recording “The Womack Bros. Family Band”. We just did a photo shoot a few weeks ago, and are getting together an EPK and this winter an album. Have fun this week guys..you know of any local acts you think I’d like to check out drop me a message.. See ya at the show.

Shawn

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend… if you like to blog i suggest you check out “cellspin” (www.cellspin.net) blog to multiple locations at once!

testing…

We have landed in Huron.. all the animals are accounted for, not a dish broken. The big move to this small city by the lake has been an ordeal of sorts, if there is another move I will outsource the move entirely.  I’m feeling sore still after 2 weeks, good news is I joined the gym down the street…  feel the burn!

Paul Fuhr, a friend of mine from years back contacted me for an Interview for his Blog a few weeks ago. Tonight he has posted said interview.. enjoy!

BTW… this blog will be the official blog for The Mohawk Studio. We are getting ready to wire up it’s electrical systems, lay drywall and carpet…  stay tuned!

• This Past year has been intense, from the birth of my new company (SG Entertainment Group) to the growing pains of an expanding company (Uni-Tech Environmental Services). Never in my life have i actually felt the proverbial “Feast or Famine” catchphrase as I have this last year.
• I saw the sudden reunion of my closest friends, so sudden in fact I was wondering if something terribly wrong was about to happen as if I were trapped in a Stephen King movie. (Its incredible that we are all out there in the world, doing everything.. and yet we can say “hey!” pretty much 24/7 …like we were 5ft from each other at lunch)
• I sat and waited for my uncle’s murder trial to start.. only for it to be postponed 3 times, my Mother is supposed to fly down to Tampa next week  to be a witness in this trial. As usual I sit and watch.. hoping our family can finally get justice….if there is a birthday present that would mean the most to me… let 2009 see the conviction of my uncle’s murderer(s)

I’ve learned that there is much more to life than:

1. Mohawks
2. Bass Guitars
3. Meat & Potatoes
4. Phone Books
5. Patchouli
6. DJing
7. Business

As I hit 32, I’m looking to:

1. Explore Japanese & Spanish Cuisine (lived in Japan and I was an idiot who never saw the culture)
2. Growing back a Full Head of Hair
3. HDTV
4. Being a Great Music Producer & Engineer
5. Blackberry
6. Exercise a lot
7. See that Business has its place & time.. not allowing business to run me.. I run the business. Not allowing it to come between my wife, family.. and friends.
8. ….getting a new Mohawk

I Guess that kinda sums it all up… I also would like to post more up here, its trivial… but in a way therapy.

So I leave you this, a song that fits the times at hand… almost a hymn if you will- for a better time ahead. 

I’ll see you on the otherside of 32..

S(p)TD

sitting here waiting for my Dad, watching National Geographic Channel. Seconds from disaster is the name of the show, I suggest you watch it, brings to light what we tend to take for granted.

Greetings from my bed, I’ve been sick for 4 days now- getting rather stir crazy.  I am watching VH1 “Classic Albums” Series, and falling in love all over again…. 5 Words-

“Dark Side Of The Moon“

I studied the shit out of this Album back when I was 16 (and “The Wall” as well, for the record). There were no interwebs or TV shows about them. I was fascinated even then on how they made it sound that way, so I made many treks up to the library to discover how & why. As I evolved musically over the years, Dark Side was always in the background. Subconsciously, it became the litmus test for the newly discovered gems that tickled my ears ever since.

Watching Rodger & David describe what led up to the concepts for this album. Alan Parsons flawless engineering (actually there were a quite few pioneers engineering this Album) while in the studio and the tricks they used to make it happen. They actually break down the entire album.. track by (breath-taking) track. I used to listen to this album back when I was in High School, enchanted by it’s haunted melodies. I really tuned into its use of Minor vs. Major (Chord) themes… ( “The Wall” used this technique in an even grander scale).

Time Signatures… holy shit- “Money” is 7/8 until the sax solo.. then it goes to 4/4  The back to 7/8 again…and this all happened all by accident! (well according to them anyways) *”Money” BTW was the album’s 1st single*

“Us & Them” was a instrumental piece written for a Movie (“Zabriskie Point”)… literally written on piano while watching the movie at the same time- the Movie’s Director (Michelangelo Antonioni) said of the song: “It’s too slow.. it reminds me of church” (HA!)

I get chills everytime I hear the Hammond B-3 Organ fire up throughout the tracks..   now that I think about it- this album has to be a huge part of who I am.. musically. In all of its somber, poignant, thought-provoking glory. I know I’m gushing a little too much about music from an album and a band that (well..lets face it) pretty much flies over the heads of 99% of today’s youth. I can definatly say this is a “Top 3″ of all time Albums for me.

“mean, they’re not gonna kill ya, so if you give ‘em a quick short, sharp, shock, they won’t do it again. Dig it? I mean he got off lightly, ’cause I would’ve given him a thrashing, I only hit him once. It was only a difference of opinion, but really, I mean good manners don’t cost nothing do they, eh?”

slainte’

S(p)TD

great food was had at “Shinto’s Japanese Steakhouse” in Strongsville…  went to “Slim & Chubby’s” down the road afterwards- drank way more than I should have.. pics to come later!

nite!