So as you may or may not know or care, we've been trying to record an album for quite some time now. And so far, to no avail. But things are looking up for the month of October, so it may actually happen. I think all of us are dying to just unload these songs that we've been playing for a year or two, get them on an album and just not have to think about them anymore. We've talked about trying different things. In the spirit of this, I've decided to record every time I have a riff or idea pop into my head and I'm near my computer. This happens a lot.
Unfortunately, it happens more frequently when I'm on a subway or walking through the city or somewhere that is extremely inconvenient for me to record. And my memory sucks. It's bad. The short-term stuff is just not there, though I do retain an encyclopedic memory of football games from the last 10 years. Weird the shit you can keep in the ol' noggin. Anyway, I have two long tracks of various ideas. Some of this sounds like it could be ok and some of it is doodling. There was something I was working on a long time ago, and I never got it to a point where I wanted to present it to the rest of the lot and make it into a bonafide song. I think I got hung up on it. I don't like unfinished business. So I've been noodling with that a little bit.
This also gets to the heart of something else I've been dwelling on: mortality and the life span of a band or any project really. Ben said that Jay Reatard said that you only have a certain amount of albums or years in you before it's over. Very true. I always thought albums, but for some, maybe it's years. We've been together for a while with not a lot concrete to show for it. That said, this band is the most fun I've had. And yet, I know that if it were to end, I would have a lot of regrets because I haven't given 100%. Even at the shows. Even when I go crazy. I haven't given it my all all the time. I've taken the flip a switch approach, and it doesn't work. So I'm ditching that approach in favor of consistently trying. Because I would hate to keep doing this without giving everything I had.
And so in that spirit, I've taken to trying to remember the riffs that pop in my head 5 to 25 times a day. I'm recording, even if 90% of it sucks because that 10% might be worth it. And really, the only people that have to hear the 90% crap is the rest of the band, and if I can't be comfortable with them hearing the parts that suck, then I really need to be doing something else. This also means I'm going to have to drop part of my snark filter. But somethings are for the better.
P.S. Though I've said elsewhere that Unwrapped is the worst show on television, the Food Network is still a good standby channel when nothing else is on. And really, Unwrapped tries to remove the "mystique" surrounding heavily processed, mass produced, mostly unhealthy, fast food and snacks. Please do not remove this mystique. This stuff is disgusting. Stop trying to make it seem like it is otherwise, Marc Summers. Ok, I've had that tangent in me for a while now.
Goodnight,
Enrique Schmerhorn and the Panamanians
2 comments:
that's something i've always thought about. every time we make an album, i assume my time is up. I'm just like, "well, it was a good run." my theory is this:
great artists get about 10 years in which they can do their most important work. think of the Beatles, for example: 1962 until 1972 when, with a few exceptions, their solo albums all went down the shitter.
good artists get 5 years or so. your Wilco's and such.
and a precious handful get a whole lifetime (Dylan, Waits, Paul Simon).
now, i don't even presume to fit into one of those categories, so i guess i have nothing to worry about. because shitty artists can be shitty forever! there's no end to shittiness! hooray!
but really, i think of that a lot. and i'm glad you think of it too. i also secretly fear that i won't know when i start really sucking hard and i'll just keep thinking that it's good.
I think that's how it is with people. They don't realize they suck until it's too late. Does Wilco realize that this latest album is completely underwhelming or are they just really having fun and that's what they want to play nowadays? Maybe bands just become increasingly insular and there's an increased disconnect between what fans want to hear and what the band really wants to play.
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