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Yet another amazingly titled song. This is Jam 1. Mike and I wrote it earlier this semester, and this is the quick demo we did in an hour or two. A final version is slowly being pieced together.
Roberto and I.
Roberto’s wall of toys. One spoiled grandson.
Roberto decided that he would interrupt my reading, swing a bat around, and watch Spongebob in my room.
Giant slug at school.
The first day we were doing service work in Ecuador was a pretty cool day. We started work at 9 in the morning, ate lunch and continued on afterwards. We heard some noise in the town square right outside of the school, so we walked out. The band was practicing and a man in came up to us and gave us all a shot of some liquor. We all accepted (it’s rude to turn down anything without trying it once), and went back to work. 20 minutes later we hear the band roaring closer. In the middle of classes, the band and the town (maybe 30-40 people) paraded into the courtyard to celebrate, Holy Week Style. The videos below show how it all went down. You can see one of the local women come up and grab me for a dance.
They passed on a mask from person to person, as well as a cape. One kid in our group got to keep the cape at the end of the day, which I guess was a big honor. They also carried in a giant wooden barrel of some fermented fruit booze with chunk of fruit in it. They wanted the visitors (us) to carry it back out to the town square. 3 other friend and I lifted the barrel onto our shoulders (suspended on 2 logs over our shoulders) and danced our way out to the town square. They place the mask on me while carrying this barrel, which pretty much blinded me. Blindly dancing with 50 pounds on your left shoulder is a challenge, but I managed (I’m a stud). After finally moving the barrel to the town square, I was offered some of the Holy Booze. If I had to guess what my piss tastes like, I would compare it to this. After the town drunk traded me my fruit booze for some coke (which I just dropped on the ground), another kind local gave me a shot of warm pink liquor. After 20 minutes or so of more dancing, we left the celebration and went back to work. Definitely one of the most spontaneous and random things to ever happen to me.
Schoolchildren terrorizing the principal’s office.
View of the Indian Markets in Otavalo from a balcony.
The ring leader handing out shots as we had an impromptu party in the school courtyard in the middle of classes.
Still adjusting to being in Dayton for the summer. Some aspects of it are cool, but it’s still not always great being here. I’ve been aching to be in Ecuador again. That or just abroad seeing new places. This sumemr is sure to be an experience either way.
Here is another demo. Definitely takes me far from here when I listen to it. I just called it somber, cause that’s the vibe I get. Pretty much just a piano riff over and over with some drums and a simple little guitar lick over it. Really simple, but I think it’ll end up being a really good song at one point.
Kids hanging out in Otavalo.
Waiting for the holy week parade.
Cathedral in Otavalo.
Schoolchildren.
This is probably one of two songs I actually finished tracking last summer (spare a vocal take or two that I would’ve liked to redo), but in the spirit of the new direction I’ve taken on this blog, here is an imperfect version of The Beach. Also because Leslie wanted to hear it aaaaall the way over in Spain. I haven’t touched this session in awhile, so the mix is subpar (as well as the recording quality), but here is a completed recording. For those who have actually heard some of my music, many know this song.
A quick in on this song, its obviously about an experience at a beach. A friend and I were pretty rocky a few years back when we were visiting a friend in northern Michigan. We went to Sleeping bear dunes, and the two of us wandered far into the dunes and ended up mending some things. Of course no explanation ever does a situation justice, but after an hour of hiking over dunes, we found an isolated expanse of beach. Everything was right at that moment. Just a magical moment out in the elements.
Right now I would love to be back in Ecuador with the group.
Mt. Tungurahua smoking in the weeks after an eruption.
A schoolboy and I.
A glorious Andean Mountain. It reminded me of the landscapes in Demonhead (Old school NES game).
Billy and two others painting the school.
Our progress after the first day.
I talk about the studio alot, so I figured you might wanna see it. Also because Mike requested. It’s been rearranged, and I’m really starting to like this setup. Although it is a mess right now (soon to be completely cleaned and inventoried) We just hooked up a 24 channel console. We were originally gonna sell it because we never used it. However, it’s good to learn on, lets you physically mix and push the faders, and it looks really sweet. It’s good to still do some things the old fashioned way. Not to mention it makes me more familiar with the mixer in general which makes me quicker during live sound.
I actually know how to operate it all for the most part.
My bedroom with my host family in Riobamba.
Little school girl eating some sort of plastic wrapper.
Schoolchildren fighting for the camera’s attention.
This is the first song I’ve actually completed at the studio. Only took me two years. It’s unmastered, but that’s something I’ve yet to learn. I’m pretty happy with the mix. Probably one of the most chill and intimate songs I’ve done, but let me know what you think. You can also check it out on my MySpace.
Bathroom wall of a restaraunt we ate at on the way to Riobamba.
Nice blue house in the Ecuadorian countryside.
When we pulled to the side of the road to watch Mt. Tungurahua in it’s smoking volcanic glory, a few kids went to relieve themselves near the train tracks, only to be caught off guard by a few teens invading their bathroom time.
…in Ecuador. Here is some more from my trip.
Chuchucurro, or pork, pork rinds, empenada, fried banana, potatoes and popcorn.
View from a restaraunt I ate at one the way to Riobamba.
Dinner my first night there. Ecuadorian fast food. Some sort of shrimp and cilantro soup with fried plaintains and popcorn. They put cilantro in everything. It was great. The Fanta was also heavenly. It’s made with real sugar there. It makes all the difference.
Tunguraua Smoking
At the Eq(c)uat(d)or
In honor of their (Death Cab for Cutie) new album (Narrow Stairs) being released today, there is a certain demo I’d like to post. I feel like this is me trying to be like Death Cab for Cutie. Although it sounds fairly different, the piano riff and drum beat remind me of them. The distinguishing aspect: Vibraphone! I hope you enjoy it. I feel like this song will one day shape up to be pretty darn sweet.
Quito dissolving into the Andes.
View from my bed the first night in Quito.
As I arrive in Ecuador.
His name is Rebelski. Look him up and listen to his music. Fun, imaginative and original.
Other than that, here are some more remnants of my trip to Ecuador. A little video action this time around. Today’s content is centered around my 3rd day in Quito. In the afternoon, we drove to the top of Quito. In the middle of the city is a giant hill, and atop it is a monument of the Virgin Mary. There was also some sort of dance festival up there as well.
View of Quito from the top.
Brother and sister at the festival.
Little boy about to wreak havoc on Quito with his paper airplane.
Riding to the top of Quito.
View from atop the monument.
That’s the name of today’s clip. When I demo an idea, I give them lame names like “piano”, “fast”, or “upbeat indie”. I came up with this riff and programmed a quick drum beat underneath it. The song was upbeat and sounded a bit indie (whatever that really means. Probably an independent band, which really doesn’t lend itself to any certain genre, but I’ll use the term anyways). It reminds me a lot of Nada Surf, although a bit happier. This song hasn’t grown into anything more than you are about to hear since I demoed it about 3 months ago. That’s the cool thing though. I’ll probably stumble upon it this summer and add more.
Elizabeth and Ryanne in the Old City of Quito.
A local working one of thousands of food stands.
Window shopping.
