Welcome to KS.Calm, v2.0
I am embarrassed to realize that I hadn’t updated my site since last summer. These foolish things. There are numerous developments on several fronts—the most obvious being a site redesign, which synchs up nicely with the design of my new record—more about that later. The site has several new features, a billion new photos, a map showing my location, and more. I’ll be selling records here soon as well, and posting music.
My last post was June 03 so I will give a month-by-month description of what happened.
June 03 REM Europe tour. This was the healthy, play tennis every morning half. We headlined Glastonbury, Werchter Festival, two nights at Brixton Academy and more. Saw Radiohead’s intense and moving Glastonbury set.
July 03 REM Europe continued. Too much happened for me to ever write it all down (thus, I didn’t!) but we played some incredible places—the Waldbuhne in Berlin; the town square in Locarno, Switzerland; snuggled up to castles in Vienna and Munich and so forth. Had a delirious, sleepless couple of days in Warsaw, a fully mad four days in Dublin, and gallons more. REM filmed their show in Wiesbaden, Germany, for release as a DVD entitled A Perfect Square—I’m in the footage and of course playing in the band for the length of the concert. Visit the appropriate place at remhq.com to order it. It’s a really high-energy, awesome looking concert document, Also, some live tracks from the tour evidently appear as B-sides to the single for REM’s single ‘Animal’, but I haven’t checked that out yet.
The tour ended in Switzerland and I went to Connecticut for a little vacation, to visit my dad and take some tennis lessons. No joke.
Aug. 03 I played a really enjoyable show in NYC at a plant store. I am not making this up. The Green Room has a piano on a tiny stage, a bar and tables on one half and for-sale vegetation on the other. Lots of friends—plus my dad, my tennis pros and Bridget St. John, whose song ‘Ask Me No Questions’ I covered on the split EP I did with Jon Auer (called ‘Private Sides’, see merch page). She was, and remains, absolutely lovely. I am hoping to have her play with me on my tour this summer.
I headed to Seattle to continue to work on ‘Soft Commands’ (at this point I was considering ‘Danzig in the Moonlight’ as the title). I spent two weeks at the Soundhouse in Seattle with Kip Beelman, writing and recording. The songs ‘Death of A City’, ‘For Your Sake’ and ‘Cyclone Graves’ were written and recorded here. I had a string section come in to play on ‘Death’ and ‘Don’t Die’ (coincidence?) and Sarah Shannon came in to sing on ‘Death’. Bill Rieflin and Fred Chalinor were on hand as rhythm section on ‘Cyclone’. At the same time, I managed to play three shows in Seattle that month—Jon Auer & I played back to back solo sets at the Sunset Tavern, plus a very punk impromptu set with Eric Corson (Long Winters) on bass at the Comet Tavern the same night and the following night Jon & I played a private party.
REM’s tour began again with a week of rehearsals and live performances for various media at the Warehouse Studios in Vancouver; we played there as well (and got to see Radiohead in the same venue the next night).
Sept. 03 REM cont. Actually came back thru Seattle right at the top of the month and played a blistering set at the Bumbershoot festival. Later we spent three days in LA. During this time we played a smashing set at the Hollywood Bowl, taped some for-TV performances, and, on Sept. 8, I married Dominique Sassi, whom I have known since 1993 when she did marketing and promotion for the Posies in France, and have been close to ever since. This is personal stuff, I won’t go into more detail here, but you can ask me about it sometime in person.
REM had some superb shows—including two nights at Red Rocks in Denver, the Austin City Limits Festival, and at the United Center in Chicago. A long and intense meditation on ‘Country Feedback’, with members of Wilco joining us onstage, and including me on bass, was released as part of REM’s fanclub single for the holidays last year. Also, while in Chicago, I played on a Minus 5 track called ‘Hotel Senator’ but I’m not sure what’s happening with that.
Oct. 03 REM headlined Madison Square Garden, triumphantly, and wrapped up the US tour with a generous and uplifting set at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Also while in NY we appeared on David Letterman and, at something like 9am, the Today Show. The next day we headed to Europe to do a number of TV and radio appearances—Top of the Pops, Jools Holland, etc etc. We taped live mini concerts in Milan and Oslo, and headed to LA for a few days to do Jay Leno, Ellen Degeneres, and a radio broadcast from the Avalon (formerly the Palace, where the Posies made their LA debut in 1989). I flew home on my 35th birthday and rested for a day or two.
Nov. 03 spent a few days playing on recordings with Annmarie O’Grady, a talented singer, songwriter and tennis pro (!) I met that summer in Dublin. The stuff we did is really cool, I haven’t heard when it will be released yet tho’. Opened for John Wesley Harding at the Tractor. Went to Paris to hang with Dom. Came back to Seattle and finished up recordings I had started that spring with Ben Adams, we have done 5 songs together for release down the road. After that I continued to work on my rec., adding vocals and doing some mixing. Bill Rieflin played on ‘Je Vous En Prie’. At the end of the month the Posies played a private event in Seattle.
Dec. 03 I spent 3 intense weeks rehearsing and touring in Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal with WaFlash. I could prob. write a book about this tour. Not here. Bootsy Holler has taken some fabulous photos, I think they can be viewed online, and the recordings I made in early 03 with WaFlash should be available soon. In fact, they are available in Senegal. Bootsy is making a video for one of the songs as well.
I spent the holidays in Tours, France, and New Year’s Eve in Paris, overdoing it.
Jan. o4 I came back from Paris and had time to shoot some photos with Bootsy (you can see these on the website). Went to Athens to rehearse some new material with REM—during this time, I managed to finish the lyrics to Cyclone Graves (which I had started in Paris) and Je Vous En Prie (which I had started in the van traveling from Senegal to Mauritania). Came back from Athens and recorded these last vocals, and then Kip Beelman, who had engineered all the Seattle sessions, had a previous engagement and thus Scott Colburn stepped in to mix the last bits—and did an excellent job. Also Bootsy and I did another photo shoot—which in the first 5 minutes resulted in the cover image—which in itself was a test shot to test the lighting. During the photo shoot when I was trying to explain the kind of title I wanted for the rec. ‘Soft Commands’ –a reference to the kind of AAA mellowness of ‘Come Away With Me’ by Norah Jones, et al—struck me as a versatile description of my music, my methodology, and a few other layers.
Feb. 04 The Posies began their first album sessions since the 1997 recording of ‘Success’ at the Soundhouse, with Kip at the helm again. We furiously composed and recorded 12 songs in 16 days. A real creative workout, marvelously executed and captured by the team. I spent the whole time mastering Soft Commands in the mornings etc., the different sources and styles of music proved a challenge, ultimately vanquished by the very talented and patient Rick Fisher of RFI CD mastering in Seattle.
I headed over to Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas to play on REM’s new record. As this was a last minute invitation, I had to flay back to Seattle after a few days to perform with the Posies at the grand opening of the Neumo club in Seattle, and of course after the show fly again to the Bahamas to resume my work at Compass Point. I had been dreaming of recording at Compass Point for years, and I was not disappointed by the experience.
Mar. 04 Continued with REM, was sad to leave but it was time to embark on another intense writing and recording exercise, this time with Big Star at Ardent studios in Memphis. We spent a week and a half there and then headed to the South By Southwest Music conf. in Austin TX. I have attended it a few times—as a panelist in 1993; with the Posies in 1996; with Saltine in 2000; as a solo artist in 2001. Always enjoyable, sure—but this time was an absolute triumph. The Posies blew the doors of a small club called Bigsby’s, Big Star filled the Austin Music Hall, and I played some emotional sets at the Lounge and an outdoor show put on by Yep Roc., who are releasing Soft Commands in North America. Already the home of the Minus 5, I met them—initially meeting Stephen J. in Austin, and then meeting the whole label in Chapel Hill/Carrboro—during the REM tour and have found them to be superb and ambitious and kind. Perfect. Rykodisc, the current home of the Posies and Big Star, are equally enthusiastic and positive people, and I have high hopes for both situations.
SXSW wrapped after I got to join Robyn Hitchcock and John Wesley Harding for two acoustic impromptu sets and accompany John Roderick (Long Winters) as well.
Back in Seattle, I worked on my contribution to the lyrics for the Posies rec., and spent the next 10 days or so recording them and other bits at the Soundhouse. Also, Jon & I did back-to-back solo sets at the Sunset, again.
Apr. 04 Went directly from the studio to the airport to catch a flight to NYC, where the Posies played the Northsix in Brooklyn for some reason…and the next morning flew to Memphis to continue the Big Star rec. While in Memphis Big Star performed at a Memphis Music Heroes Awards show—a glitzed up nod to the local scene’s most respected talents. Mike Mills introduced Big Star, and we shared the night with Ike Turner, Little Milton, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Scotty Moore/DJ Fontana, and many others. The Posies spent a day at Ardent, or should I say, Jon & I did, recording a new song for as yet unknown release.
I spent a week in Paris and then spent a week putting finishing touches on the Posies rec.
May 04 which is now. I am in Paris for a while, as an expectant father. Again, I will keep personal details to a minimum. The Big Star rec. is mixed, and the Posies rec. has a little mixing left to do. My rec. is coming in July, and I will be touring the US at that time. I am laying a bit low right now to spend time with my new family, and then I expect to be active in support of my, REM’s, the Posies’ and Big Star’s rec.’s for quite some time. While in Paris I am taking French language classes at a cool little language institute, PERL/Ecole des Roches. It is surreal and marvelous to be in school again. School ain’t like it used to be! It’s stimulating and productive and as most of my classmates are in their 20s and 30s (there are younger and older students—I have a 62 year old in my class) there’s none of the social grappling/mental torture I associate with my previous 15 years of education. Towards the end of the month I am planning on working in the studio with a French band called Cheap Star. After school that is!
I plan to post regular updates to the new site. Enjoy.
Love
KS
Paris 5/14/04
May 16, 2004
This week I have been in Paris, studying French and generally playing house, more or less. As I am usually on tour or in the studio, during which times I don't often have a quiet time to put on a record and really get into it. When in the studio, I get up in the morning, maybe have time to listen to half a record, drive or walk 5 minutes (this has been true in Seattle making my/the Posies rec., in Memphis making the Big Star rec., and in the Bahamas making the REM rec.) and spend at least 12 hours in the studio, take 5 minutes to get home, and generally need quiet, and more likely sleep, when I arrive. And when I am in the mode of writing music and lyrics, I don't listen to any other music at all, to clear some space for new things to arrive. So for two weeks here in Paris I have been getting around to listening to many of the things that were piling up in my office in Seattle for literally years.
Some things I have been enjoying:
Yoko ONO Season of Glass: I realize now that Steve Miller brutally absorbed and regurgitated Walking on Thin Ice to make the fairly insipid (sorry Steve and Rick!) Abracadabra. OK, maybe, A. is not the worst song in the world, it's not offensive, but, when you put it in context with the subject matter and delivery of Yoko's song, there is a feeling of injustice, not nearly as many people know Yoko's song.
Gary JULES Trading Snake Oil for Wolf Tickets: this is a very touching, beautiful gentle rec. reminiscent, superficially, of Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Dylan: but he has his own vibe certainly and it's really approachable and soft.
Also, I had a chance to set up a decent stereo here, and thus revisited the latest Posies and Big Star things I have, and was pleasantly surprised by both; what I have here is the Posies song we recorded in Memphis last, month, which is based on some music I wrote there on the gorgeous Steinway; and a combo of rough and final mixes from the Big Star sessions. I think this rec. is more fun than the earlier works, "fun" is not what most associate Big Star with. And of course, I don't believe the original Big Star rec.'s can be bettered, or even approached, really. They are the perfect synthesis of studio, humans, mood, age, and times. The studio still exists. But the cast, times and emotions are vastly altered by the intervening 30+ years, and thus this record bears resemblance to the others in proportion.
I also came across something that had been on the floor of my office for who knows how long, an unmarked CDR that turned out to have a brilliant cover of the Posies song, "Please Return It", I asked around via internet and found it was by a French band called Paloma. They slowed it down, and turned into something gentle, acoustic, almost country.
I saw a lot of music this week, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter on Monday in my neighborhood (I happened to be walking home with groceries when I passed the club and saw that my friends from Seattle were playing in ten minutes!), and the next night at the same club I saw Swell. Wednesday I saw the Skatalites play an excellent show at the Cabaret Sauvage, out in the ass-end of nowhere in some Logan's Run looking jive they call a park out on the edge of Paris. Saturday night I saw Liars and (Seattle-ites again) the Blood Brothers play moderne punk art rock in a little club, and closed the night getting shitty drunk with various friends and Jesse Sykes again; I have been living so clean lately that I must admit 3 drinks absolutely killed me. So imagine what I was like after five of them! (joke).
Not much news wise; my rec. Soft Commands is out in N. America in July, and a tour to follow; of course I'll post the dates when they are confirmed.
Love
KS
Paris
