don't quit your day job

The Party Faithful, off duty

10.18.09

oh boy, here we are at it again....trying to be cool drummers when really, we're clearly meant to be on a keyboard (me) and guitar (patrick). 

this shot came after 24+ hours of being holed up in our studio in a recording session for drums. no complaints, just a lot of set up time and being a supportive bandmate. a huge eye-opening experience...just by watching. 

here's the rundown:

DAY 1, Friday:

11am: waiting in a coffeeshop with bobby (our said drummer du jour), over tofu scramble and coffee.  we head over to our first stop in willyburg to pick up some special gear, only to find out that fedex hadn't arrived at their quoted time (as per usual).  luck beholds us and just as we're about to leave stop #1, bobby sees the fedex carrier walking towards my car holding a package...potentially ours.  after a quick chase and signature, the package was released and put in my trunk. Success.

1:30pm: personal errands in the city, since we have about a 5 hour gap before heading to our other pickups, which could only be arranged post-work ours. i drop off thankyou cards to my future employer thakoon (wheeee), and we stop by sam ash for some mics. i play with photoshop on my laptop, waiting in the car, while he does his thing in sam ash.

6pm: hungry and tired. breakfast only lasts apparently for a few hours.  by this time we are both starving to the point where all conversation is put on hold, the silence entertained by the subpar radio music. back to greenpoint we situate at Brooklyn Label (yum) and prepare ourselves for the trip to Long Island, to pick up more gear.  

7pm: mic pickup, done. head to Dream Hire for more mics. (yes, we need a lot of mics). the poor guy helping us out has a tough job, working 10-8 every day, including holidays.

  

8pm: arrive in Long Island for, you guessed it, more mics. i meet We The They, who invite us to a halloween gig, tbd. it's interesting to see how other band studios are set up, which instruments they use and how they use them...the lights, the backdrops, everything...after chatting with their keyboardist, i realized i'd rather have the larger nord electro 2 than the smaller but more powerful nord electro 3.  to each their own...i guess i really do need those extra ivories to feel like a pianist.

10pm: back in our studio in williamsburg for the grand Setup. clear the studio, set up drums, set up mic positions.  

1am: signal processing. (wtf?) i later learn it's a serious skill to understand the web of cables that are involved in cable hookups for Recording. i am convinced that all recording engineers are are cross between electrical engineers and mechanical engineers. brilliant minds.

4am: day 1, over. the room is ready for recording, aside from finalizing mic positions. oh, we are still missing 2 mics....to be received the next morning. i drop bobby off and head home. don't sleep until 6am.

DAY 2, Saturday:

11am: get a text from Patrick saying he'll arrive at my door in 45 min. i rub my sleepy eyes and psyche myself out for the day.  it's going to be another long one.

12pm: Patrick and I arrive at coffeeshop for more, um, coffee. bobby meets us there and we chill for a bit, talking about our next song and how we want a Steinway grand and real orchestra to be a part of the recording. dreams and coffee...pretty good combo.

12:30pm: finalize mic placement.

1:30pm: ready to record drums!!! it's awesome.

7:30pm: it's a wrap for today. more tomorrow, but time to party.  we gorge on delicious tacos from La Esquina (interesting crowd, fantastic food) and grab some drinks at the Gatsby before meeting erica and friends to watch a band play. then we head to B Bar, for shots of Petron, shop talk, and munch on fries and calamari while 6 of us cozy up in a round booth. 

2:30am: band sleepover. yay!! i pass out, after having 'discussed' loudly with erica my apartment situation. we should just get a band house already....oooor, not.

DAY 3, Sunday:

11:45am: i can't believe i sleep until then.  bagels and coffee, then back to the studio for the final round of recording. but first, a drop off to our mixing engineer of the drums tracks from Saturday. 

2pm: more drum recording. this time i'm up for playing the keys, for "2013"...i'm liking it a lot. literally, music to and in my ears.

7:00pm: it's a wrap. it's always crazy when you realize it took 18 hours to set up, for 1.5 hours of breakdown. it's all in the preparation....

8:30pm: to sunnyside, where we all mentally and emotionally part ways yet stay under 1 roof.  totally pooped. but totally worth it. We are halfway towards an album.

pinch me again

i had one of those nites the other nite where i thought to myself, "when things are meant to be, they just fall into place."

case in point: half of our band was out of commission on tuesday, a scheduled practice nite. so the other half (the drummer and i) set out to jam a little jammy. and pretty much knocked out a solid framework for a song, in a couple of hours. drums, bass, wurly, vocals, even harmonies. and both of us went into the session rather uninspired....or at least i was.  

but something-of-a-musical-chemistry took over and gave birth to a new song, that's bred with potential to be even better when the rest of the band contributes their ideas.  4 music heads are definitely better than 2.

then we hit the bowling alley for the always healthy hot wings and 'rock n' roll fries', washed down with Sweet Action beers.  not to shabby for a regular tuesday nite.

the following morning i received a phone call from my future employer - a verbal offer to a design studio that i had been checking in with for the past half year.  he's kind of a big deal, and i guess my persistence paid off.  ecstatic i was...as the week following last week's drama was continuing to flow with good news.

let's hope this high lasts for a lil' while...

go on, help yourself

...was in williamsburg today, with my friend michelle after an eggs-and-americano brunch at five leaves (the late heath ledger's joint).  it was a traipsing kind of day, with few obligations but thoughts-a-plenty (...i wonder what our Thieves mix will sound like...what's on the agenda tomorrow...that font would look good on a tote bag...hipsters are so homogenous...oooh i want some ice cream from that truck...what.am.i.doing.with.my.life....).  at 71 degrees and sunny, it was a good reason to enjoy the fall sunshine while it was still around. clad in bf jeans, speckled mint-green tee,  aviators, matte grey polish, vintage jewelry, and converses, michelle and i discussed Life and hipsters...and more life.

three hours later we parted and i wandered into a bookstore on bedford avenue, flipping through the various fashion magazines. i realized it's actually one of my favorite things to do - to skim all the latest issues and maybe purchase one if i'm really inspired (i'm probably the store owner's worst customer scenario).  i mean, i want to make sure i'm getting my money's worth of fashion content, hehe.  the glossies, afterall, become so disposable so i try to be choosy and collect the interesting/international/special ones.  

after ten minutes of speed-reading jalouse, 10, W, and V Magazine, i decided to slap down some cash for the latest issue of self service, a hardcover bi-annual fashion magazine that i don't usually splurge on.  took my new purchase in my hands, sat myself down in some shade at mccarren park, and read. and flipped. and read.

self service has a lot of nudity. and a polaroid-esque aesthetic. and glorious high fashion spreads.

it also has great layouts and fonts, playing with embossing and texture, without an overload of text. in fact, there is barely any text at all, save for the consecutive interviews in the back. each interview is printed on different colored paper...and oh, quick note about the paper, it's a nice weight, cardstock-eque, printed with a matte finish. 

i read what katie grand had to say about indie vs. corporate publishing, was inspired that stella mccartney also had stalker habits, and learned of jason schwartzman's penchant for everything that is movie-oriented. and he loves eddie murphy's 'coming to america,' the barbershop scene.  he and i are totally on the same page.

overall, worth the splurge, and definitely in a league of its own. the only issue is that, being a bi-annual publication, the fashion lags with the current seasons...but i'll still take it.

photos courtesy of La Coquette  

encore for alber

vulnerable armour

elegant ruffle cinching

my signature one-earring look finally gets validated

only lanvin could make an unfinished armhole and exposed zipper look so...acceptable

beaded tropicana

sequin encrusted glory

the most luscious leather u could ever wear

upon doing some sweater-trend research for my boss i couldn't help but revisit the Lanvin show on style.com.  the details, oh my lord, are insane and amazing. half the fun of Fashion is the details...the sweeping folds...the blingy accessories...oozing with lux, glamour, all the fantastical feelings and images that come to mind when one naively thinks of Fashion. (the underworld of actually creating this dreamy image is another story....being a fashion assistant myself, it's quite the opposite of glamourous). 

but one can dream and visualize, at least on the runway, no?

please, do sit for this one

i heart alber elbaz, of Lanvin, for this gorgeous Spring 2010 collection. 

gooorge.us.

and whether you like it or not, sequins and jumpsuits are totally here to stay. at least for one more season! 

also, the red dress shown above, is draped in leather. leather. when was the last time you saw draped leather?? exactly.

alber's officially a genius in my book.

keys to my heart.

all photos courtesy hedi slimane diary.

so well done.