DOUBLE REALITé
It was a highly productive week in the studio--in fact, with all the rest I had the preceding week, I worked at nearly twice my normal speed and the results were exceptionally good. The first day I was basically done mixing the first song by dinner time. Even with all the b-sides, alternate mixes and file management I attended to on the last day, I was out of the studio by 9. So, Mateo's album, which I started working on in July, seems to be done. I really honed a lot of studio chops making this record, and it was hard work, but really fun.
I was a little sad to be leaving my comfort zone at Question de Son studios, but I needn't have been. I was looking forward to a couple of weeks off, catching up on all the little projects I never have time for. In fact, on Friday, I started crossing things off my list--I went down to
rue Montgallet, which has dozens upon dozens of little shops selling electronics, and bought a really cute little firewire drive, for the exclusive purpose of backing up this mac, since it's been getting old and shaky lately. I executed said backup, and was ready to move on to my next task, opening a bank account here in France. I had to run to Pilates, and was caught in email before my shrink appointment that evening. I had an email from an old friend in NYC asking me if I'd like to try my hand at some music for a commercial. Usually he works on movie soundtracks, but with the writer's strike/SAG strike rumors, diversification ensues. I checked out the parameters of the project, and found that it was in my skill set. It's actually submitting a demo, with very specific requirements, for possible inclusion in a commercial. But, there's a small budget. So, I called Question de Son with the unlikely hope they'd have available time--and they did, miraculously--except, it was the next day. I thought about it, and went for it. I called around for musicians, and found that Julien, who played on Mateo's album, was available for the next morning. Ok, it was on! I canceled my tennis match with Remi (he's used to this by now). Dom, Aden, and I went out to dinner, to celebrate Dom's new job, and to celebrate the fact I actually had a night off! We went to the Polichinelle, which always has good food, and despite the fact the bar was packed, the restaurant had a table for us. Dining out with a three year old means the conversation is sort of limited, but we had fun, and we indulged in a bottle of wine, which meant the two lightweights were smashed. Aden had to drive. The woman who is always waiting on tables there, very friendly woman with short blonde hair, prob. about 50, actually remembered me from the last time I dined there--months ago--and lavished attention on Aden. Very cool place.
We went to bed early so I could be prepared for whatever I was going to do in the studio the next morning, and I was rested enough that I woke up early. I went to my favorite cafe (my secret, TYVM) and picked up
pains chocolats--no I'm not describing a toothache--for the girls.
Dom, Aden, myself, my huge keyboard, my bass, a guitar, and a bag of misc. equipment got in a cab and went to QDS--Dom and Aden continued on to other errands. Julien arrived, and Fred (QDS co-owner and in house engineer uneqaled) and I got to work. I worked on two possible submissions, with different styles and tempos. Remi brought by his acoustic guitar for me to use, and I played bass, guitar, tambourine...then I sort of hit a wall. I need to sort thru and experiment--essentially do all the preparation AFTER the fact. So, I took the session and my stuff home, and headed directly to meet my friend Benjamin at the Iron & Wine show. I made it for about half the show. Good: great vocals, great pedal steel, Leroy who played with Wilco on keys, much musical versatility. Not so good: one song encore, even tho people were going nuts; reggae jam, zero stage banter, and long songs segueing into the next with no space for a breath--sometimes in jarringly different keys. But the most beautiful vocal moments were really impressive, and worth seeing for sure. "Cinder and Smoke" was done differently from the record, and was very much a highlight too.
After the show I had a beer with and rode the metro home with Benjamin; I ran into
Terry Lee Hale coming out of the venue, always a bundle of energy he is!
I strode home past all the hipsters sprawled around Le Motel, smoking in the cool night air.
Love
KS
Paris
