Attempt 10,000

Well, once again I am attempting to record an album's worth of material, both in quality and quantity.

I have been down this road many a time before. Each time I get impatient and settle for tracks that are not up to the standard they should be. In previous attempts either I settle for inferior performance due to impatience, or I end up with recording errors due to not setting things up right and then being too lazy to start the process over again. Most of these recordings are now floating around labeled as "demos." Check out http://www.myspace.com/dandylyonwhine if you don't believe me.

The last time I tried to do this I enlisted the help of some friends with a decent recording setup to help me record. I figured that having other people on board and excited about a project would make keep me going and doing it right. Unfortunately they live quite a ways away and schedules have not been lining up. Only getting one day in a month was not working out well for the recording process, especially with my idea behind the recording process.

My identity as a writer comes much in the American Singer/Songwriter tradition. When one comes from that tradition it is extremely easy for every tune to sound like just another fok-rock song. My philosophy for this album is to work like Wilco did on the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album, which is to deconstruct the song through the recording process and try to come up with a different approach. This can come from trying something new while recording, jamming and recording multiple takes, it can come from recording it the standard way and then trying to approach it differently. The idea overall is that I don't want these songs to sound the way I already hear them in my head. Most of these songs have been floating around for years. I'm bored with them the way they are and will and have been coming out that way on the recordings I've made.

I've started tracking already on what I hope to finally be the finished product. I already like the way it sounds and I think I'm on the right, pardon the pun, track. I've been through alot of changes and a lot of things that have been trying in the last couple of years. I've made a lot of decisions that have made major changes in my life. I am not complaining, so far I've somehow magically come out on top, but it's also been eye opening. It's a hard reality to wake up to when you realize that nothing is as it seems. What I'm getting is that this newest period of my life is the one that I'm finally somewhat coming into my own and seeing certain things the way they are, all of which prepares me to make the most honest album.