July 24, 2003
What's the noun for slovenly?
Sloven?
I don't know why I took a picture of this, but it's the Sharkbite couch with some of my ADAT demos strewn about. This is the stuff I recorded at home (some of which I put out on that "eight little songs" self-release.) We're using them as a reference, since I worked out some arrangements on them that I'll have a hard time remembering; and we're considering using pieces of some of the bedroom tracks, mixing them in to the recordings we're making now. How much we'll do this hasn't yet been determined, though at minimum I think we'll probably snatch some of the sound effects, at least, from "London" "The Boyfriend Box," and a couple of other tunes, and maybe some back-up vocals, too. Some of the sounds on those tapes have me scratching my head trying to figure out how I did them, so it's nice to have the option of using them without having to deconstruct everything. I should write this stuff down, but of course I never do. I should take better care of my tapes, but of course I never do.
Over on the left is my taped-up Epiphone Coronet/batwing, which is the main guitar I use these days. I have all sorts of others that I've acquired over the years, including some with pretty impressive "stats", but I always come back to that one. It's as old as I am and sounds better than anything I've ever tried. So, I should probably take better care of it. But of course I never do.
Posted by Dr. Frank at July 24, 2003 07:21 PM | TrackBackI love these posts from the studio. Looking forward to more pictures, sounds, cyber busking etc.
Posted by: Lynn at July 24, 2003 07:27 PMFrank, I have to mention how great this is, to actually be able to digitally sit in and "watch" one of my most favourite bands record.
It kinda inspires me to actually get off my ass and write for my band.
Posted by: Bryan at July 24, 2003 07:53 PMNot seeing an open thread, I just wanted to use this post to thank you for the early-June mention of our site and to explain that the Dr Frank to whom I pay homage with my nick is/was Dr. Frank Porter Graham, NC Senator, President of UNC, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and mediator of the first Pakistan/India conflict. A great American and a great North Carolinian.
Take it easy. Keep blogging.
Posted by: DrFrankLives at July 24, 2003 08:23 PMquestion for you - screeching weasel ultimately turned into Ben Foster's band, and The Queers, Joe King's. Has MTX officially become the Dr. Frank band, in the sense of a revolving door of musicians alla SW and the Queers? Or is the new line-up for more than just studio time? Neither option is meant in the negative sense, I'm just curious.
Nick
Posted by: nick at July 25, 2003 12:14 AM"screeching weasel ultimately turned into Ben Foster's band, and The Queers, Joe King's."
No way! Re: SW-- Jughead was there nearly all along, and Vapid and Panic made enough album 'appearances' to warrant their rightful inclusion in the "classic" (at least I'd consider it that) SW lineup.
The Queers have included B-Face for a long time, haven't they? And Jym's been with MTX a goodish-long time now, no? I wouldn't say that MTX has become "Dr. Frank and His Backup Band" at all.
...My apologies Nick, I don't mean to pick any 'fights' or answer questions that I have no place answering. This comment-post is my inner record-nerd rearing his ugly face. That, and I've been drinking since about 6:30.
Make of that what you will. =)
Posted by: geoff@vvinyl.com at July 25, 2003 01:05 AMIt's the kind of pic my grandfather would take, only, err...punk! This is so cool.
Posted by: spacetoast at July 25, 2003 02:54 AMyeah, you're right on the sw front to some degree, Geoff - Jughead has been in since the beginning, and Ben has said that SW would only be SW with Jughead along. Then again, he has also expressed annoyance before at the Panic/Vapid line-up as being considered by fans to be the "classic" line-up.
As for the Queers, B-Face has been gone for a lonnnng time from The Queers, and line-ups have changed completely three or four times over the past like, eight years or so.
DONT GET ME WRONG, I LOVE BOTH BANDS! But one thing that i've found disillusioning is how a lot of bands are largely forwarded by a single person. Take away that nucleus, and the band falls apart. Obviously, not all bands are like this, but i would say it is the majority. So if that's accepted as correct, the next question is how close to the center the rest of the band is. For example, I play in a band, and Im that person. I write the songs, and tell the others what to play, and itd all basically disappear if i suddenly left. And while everyone is loyal to the band, if my bass player left for example, it would above all be a matter of finding someone to fill in.
so actually, my question is largely answered with the fact that jym is still in the band, i wasnt sure on that one, or if the lineup had changed completely again. and again, for some reason, asking if its a "revolving door" band sounds kinda negative - but i think that's cuz a lot of people have this misguided impression that bands are cohesive units as opposed to a single driving force. im definitely NOT one of those fans who believes in "classic" lineups or anything.
Anyway, no need for arguments!
late,
nick
Nick- I'm ashamed of my Queers-lineup-ignorance-- I guess I just always associated B-Face with playing bass on all the records. The fact that he played on 'Don't Back Down' is probably why I assumed he was in there for the long haul.
As far as Ben being annoyed that fans think of the Weasel/Jughead/Vapid/Panic lineup as the 'classic' one, well, then that particluar lineup just shouldn't have recorded so many good songs together. Or, maybe I'm just thinking of the front of the 'Beat Is On the Brat' record where their names are laid out like the'Joey/Johnny/Tommy/Dee Dee' logo and I just clumsily equate one with the other. (Now, watch me elaborate even further on THAT mostly-irrelevant tangent: "Yeah the logo said Tommy, but I might hafta put Marky in the 'classic' lineup, and...")
Anyway. It is indeed neat when a band keeps a solid lineup for all time. I can completely understand lineup changes though, every time I remember how hard it is to even get four people to be in the same room at the same time, even twice a week. =)
I guess only believe in 'classic' lineups when it's fairly clear to me that a certain group of people seem to click better live, or on an album, than the same group with 1 or 2 substitutions. A lot of bands end up being fronted (or led, or headed, or insert-word-here) by a single person because it's that single person who writes most of the material; in some cases they *are* the core of the group. I have no qualms with that.
Posted by: geoff at July 25, 2003 03:00 PMI believe I speak for Ted when I say that we hardly feel like 'revolving-door' musicians for Dr. Frank, and that we both feel, and are treated, that we're a definitive part of this band.
While this line-up most certainly is a new phase to the band, it's still MTX. We're proud to be a part of both the tradition and the future of the band and, dare I say, expect the credits to read 'MTX is: Dr. Frank/Jym/Ted Angel/Bobby J' for a long time to come (and after this time in the studio, you can probably add 'Produced by Kevin Army' to that credit list as well).
-Bobby J
Posted by: Bobby J at July 26, 2003 06:25 AMbobby,
glad to hear it. good luck with it all, and know the name in the credit line-up thing makes me green with envy.
late,
nick