Well, the short answer is no. I didn’t even get close to what i needed by my deadline, but im also not behind on my time table. Curious? I had allotted time for both tracking and mixing - and instead of doing all the tracking, then all the mixing, ive been doing both to give my self a break on one task or another.

Anyway so right now im looking at the beginning of august to have the finished product in hand. I continually underestimate the sheer amount of time and work(and money!) that goes into a project like this. The worst part is, as soon as im done im most certainly starting on another one, a labour of love i suppose. I dont understand why bands take 5 years to release a record. We have the technology.

Alright, so where was I? I promised a real post right? Well here ya go.

I wasnt able to get as much done as I had hoped(or anticipated for that matter) but as of today 2 songs are completely tracked, 2 other songs are about 80% tracked, and 2 songs are 50% tracked. I am hoping to put a tour together for the fall and in order for that to have a possibility of happening I need to have everything tracked by friday and all the necessary stars would need to align, but it can happen. A lot of work that is, but it can still happen. A couple of the remaining songs will be difficult to do, and the others hopefully wont be too difficult.

My other band played a festival this weekend and it was pretty awesome. Huge pro stage and production from some company out of Cranbrook, they did an exceptional job of making our noise sound like a proper band.

Im really happy with how the finished tracks are turning out, with the addition of other influences on the music in the form of real drummers and bass players, the songs are really taking form. I think one of the most important things you can have while writing songs is an open mind. Just because you wrote a song one way, doesnt mean you cant change it later. It may sound awkward at first because youre not used to it, but a little time can provide you with new perspectives on old things. That sounds like a fortune cookie. I love cookies.

I do however know what songs will be making an appearance on the still untitled album. Though the songs, and the names of the songs may change, the current tracklist is as follows:

Wind & Wildfire(working title)
Leave The City
Just a Little Longer
Straight Outta Hell
No Light
On The Rise Pt.1
I Am The Tree
What Do You Wanna Do Now?
Black Mistress
Meet Me In The Morning
On The Rise Pt.2

Currently the total running time is an estimated 47 minutes. I have been trimming the fat in order to meet the ideal album time of 42-45 minutes. So far this has been an excellent learning experience for the next album - and like everything else in life, it takes far longer than expected. I am extremely determined to make my tracking dead line of friday june 30th. That will give me a week or so to mix the album, usually it would take slightly longer, but i have gone extra mile while recording to get the source sounds as good as I possibly can, which make the mixing process much more painless. I have done the best I can to create the most with what I have(which isnt much). After Im done recording and have a little more time Ill provide some picture of my “”studio” and gear.

For me,the last few months have been a highly creative period, and because of the ‘concept’ nature of the project I have a lot of material I have written that I cant, or am not using for one reason or another. The 30ish unused songs will make doing the next album easier. Some pure crap, some real gems. I guess that only time can tell. lol maybe im getting ahead of my self just a little.

Anyway, if I can get it all done, friday night we’re going to have a celebration at soundgarden with the chevelles. If it doesnt get done we’re(well I am at least) going to drink away my loss of a tour at soundgarden with the chevelles. Either way somebody wins.

Finally the tracks are starting to be recorded. So far the bed tracks to 4 songs have been recorded and I have been working on them as much as I can. Im pretty happy with some of the guitar tones ive been achiving.

Anyway, I have another session with a drummer tomorrow as well as friday. Im hoping to have all the bed tracks finished by sunday and everything recorded and in the mixing process by late next week. I have to keep this short so ill post again on the weekend with more in depth details.

Dont forget this friday The New Weather Machine will be performing at The Slice Bar and Grill. Band members include Jason Shultchen and Brad Brower.

Unfortunately due to a few foreseen and unforeseen event the recording has been pushed back. Fortunately one of the things delaying the album is a string of new songs that I think fit well in context to the rest of the record I have planned. Included is a first for me, a power ballad of sorts. Well maybe its not a power ballad but its got a couple of the cheesy and necessary elements. I didnt really plan on it, but it is what it is. lol . It can be found for a short time on the Rock and Roll page. I also had the opportunity to re-write bits of a few tunes that i was unhappy with.

Primarily the delay comes from a few other things though, including my amp giving out on me, work, and some other personal things.

Anyway, the end result is a handful of new tunes and some new demos. Originally I planned for 40ish minutes of material but from the looks of it it will be more like 60 or 70. The amount of songs in the pool is growing faster than i can work, and im not looking forward to have to pick out the final tracklist, but eventually I have to say “when”. Maybe I could do a double album.............


Dont forget Saturday May 12th I will be performing an acoustic set in support of Red Wine Smile at Tommy G’s Pub in Lethbridge.

So I’ve whittled down my song pool to 16 songs, of which 12-14 will be used on the record. Recording will begin early next week. Now that the songs have all been recorded and demo’d in some form, tracking everything should only take a week or so(less any revisions). Im anticipating mixing also take a good solid week, depending on what comes up on the schedule. I’ve chosen a mastering house to master the album, which has roughly a 5 day turnaround, as well as a CD duplication house with a 2 week turnaround. So right now we’re looking at 3 weeks for recording and probably another 2 or 3 weeks for post production, which puts the record out roughly at the beginning of June.

Also on Saturday May 13th, I will be performing a solo acoustic set in support of Red Wine Smile at Tommy G’s Pub. I will, in some form, be playing a selection of songs that will be featured on the album.

In the next few days or so I will also be adding some video to the site.

Cheers

Well here we begin. Officially my new project The New Weather Machine is a go. I’ll bring anyone who cares up to speed.

-Im working on a mildly ambitious concept album
-In the last 3 months or so Ive written roughly 30 songs for the project and have demo’d about a third of them
-The album will be 40-45 minutes long
-I will be doing as much as I feel comfortable with for the project including all the writing, mixing, and producing
-Touring and live performances of the album will happen at some point, right now its impossible to tell when - but sometime after the release of the record
-The album will be released sometime before the fall(sooner rather than later)

I guess that about sums up the current state of the project and the “band”. I thank you for checking out the site and the music, and hope you’ll stay tuned.

Cheers,

Jon