Didn't know I just released a new album? And that I sent out the 10,000 pressing in one day? Read on - and visit www.puretracks.com to purchase the 2 new tracks!
A couple weeks ago, JoAnne, my boss at Aviva, where I work, decided to promote one of their products ("Fastrax") by offering music downloads from Puretracks - Canada's leading download site - and approached me to promote the whole thing by offering up a CD of my music...
She asked whether we could put "Subway Sparrow" - her favourite song - on the disc. Unfortunately it wasn't recorded yet, but I suggested, sort of joking, that I could write a song called Fastrax and then we could record both at the same time. And who knew? They bought it! I started writing Fastrax songs.
I wrote 2 new tunes - and also adapted "Smart" - my song I wrote to pitch Smart Canada to give me a smart car to tour with - which failed. I still play the song all the time and the band likes it, and the themes seemed sort of similar. Anyway, I pitched one new tune and the new version of Smart, now renamed "Fast Track" - which we picked.
Out in the open I've been broken but patch up
The catch? There's no catch. I'm just coasting
Out on the road no stopping, there's no more problems
They may say that that's the wrong way
but hey, I'm loaded with options, I'm floating
Hi, Hi How you doing today?
Maybe the best thing we could wish is for a getaway these days
Why - Why are we losing our way?
Well who cares if the finish line's far
Anyway we go is Smart
I changed the last two lines to:
We'll just laugh at the world flying past
We're on a Fast Track
And ta-da! Instant cool sell-out song!
One week later, I've booked a ton of musicians and a studio. What's great about using someone else's money is that it gives you free rein to experiment, so I got to work with Brian Moncarz at Whirlwind sound. He recently produced The Junction and is a hot upncomer - we met to talk about doing my last CD but didn't get to, so this seemed like a cool opportunity.
I also booked Jeff Daze, my bass player & drummer extraordinaire (Jeff calls "Fast Track" my sell-out song - he likes to interject "Gap! Nike! Burger King!" into it). For guitar, I asked Devrim Elelekli who's is currently touring with Kalan Porter - increasing my Canadian Idol connection. And on drums I asked David Portello - who I've played with before for another Aviva show - he's a tight drummer and a nice guy to work with.
Our keyboardist, Robby, was recommended by Brian and I got Kevin Fox, who plays with Danny Michel and Damhnait Doyle - and who I'm a huge fan of - for cello on Subway Sparrow.
The timelines were a bit ridiculous. We had 2 days to record 2 songs, 1 night to mix, 1 night to master, and 1 night for interactive CD bits. Everything had to go right or we wouldn't get it to press on Friday in time to get it to a convention by the 12th.
Thursday, Jeff & David laid down a tight rocker rhythm for Fast Track, and then we chiseled away at the sparse arrangement for Subway Sparrowm, trying to find a balance between heartfelt and cheesy and between rich and overdone. Brian was busy during the recording (he's engineering an album with Producer David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, Tool, Silverchair)), so I got to play producer a bit - which I found, at least in the start, has everything to do with just hiring the right players and letting them play - and then just telling them what you like. This producing stuff is a snap.
Jo-Anne came by with her partner, Jean-Guy and we all agreed that this was WAY, WAY cooler than our day jobs.
Awesome multi-instrumentalist, Jeff laid down the riff for Fast Track and David threw in some tambourine for fun. I'd hoped to get to vocals, but all we got down is acoustic guitar and by the end, Andre, my engineer, and I were so tired we're slurring, so we head home.
Friday, we're back at it. We finish the acoustic, fixing some holes and head right into keys. Robby does some amazing organ on Fast Track - totally channelling Bob Wiseman from Blue Rodeo. Andre and I are enjoying it so much we just keep recording take after take. Then we switch over the grand piano in the studio and find some beautiful takes on Subway Sparrow. I really like second verse:
My grandma had a clock she kept it in the kitchen
Every hour chimed [and the piano plays this nice chiming bit]
And out a little window came a little bird
Who whistled her the time [and the piano kind of whistles... it's really pretty]
Again, I wish we had time for vocals, but Kevin Fox arrives and we head into cello land. This is old hat for Kevin, who says, "just let me try something" after hearing the tune. Kevin's version of "trying something" is laying down a brilliant 3-part string section which fits perfectly. It's stunning.
Jo-Anne drops by again, this time with her son, Andrew, a budding young guitarist who drools over everything in sight.
Again, no vocals for the wicked, because Devrim arrives and brings out 18 guitars and 27 pedals. This where producing gets hard because Devrim offers any sound you could every possibly want - but I just ask him to keep playing and stop him when I like things. I like a lot of things and we lay them all down. Andrew sits behind him and tries to copy the riffs.
Finally, finally, finally with very little voice left, we record vocals at midnight. I have many regrets on this - that the organ and the cello had to be mixed low - but mainly I'm pretty precious about my vocals and one shot late at night is not enough. But still, we get some okay takes and cut them down by, I don't know, 3 in the morning or so.
I get the weekend off.
Monday night, we start mixing at midnight. I bring supersized cokes so that we stay awake. Brian mixes everything perfectly - we talk a lot - and I get out of there by 4:15am. Home by 5, Asleep by 6, 2 hours sleep, and I'm back in the office. Wheeeee!
Getting to work on my music at work is awesome, but getting the CD artwork & interactive stuff ready is a ton of work - just barely getting it ready in time to master it with Erik Kofler, who mastered my first disc. Mastering at its simplest is about making a bunch of individual songs sound good together - like an album - and Eric's very good at it - getting Subway Sparrow to still sound intimate (and audible) next to Fast Track's big rock.
I test the disc on the way to Indie Pool the next morning and then hand it off.
5 days later, 10,000 CDs are shipped across Canada - which I believe is platinum... in Finland. It's at least VERY COOL for a Canuck indie artist.
I've got a box of my own of these, so if you're into getting an exclusive tune or two, or are into commercial insurance solutions - I'll be giving away some at future gigs.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the Gryffin-the-cat Fundraiser. My friend, Marisa found a poisoned cat and brought it to a nearby vet. A whopping bill later she was much, much poorer, so we threw a shindig to raise some dough - and raise it we did - thanks to all you generous souls, we raised over $750. Thank you all! 
This week 10,000 CDs with my music on it are being sent across the country. If you've come from the Fastrax/Puretracks promotion, welcome to my site! Check out 