CHECK OUT THE DISCIPLINES OWN CELL PHONE! FOR A LIMITED TIME,
CHESS MOBILE NORWAY IS OFFERING THEIR NEW XZITE PHONE--WHICH ALSO BROADCASTS YOUR MP3'S TO YOUR RADIO--PRELOADED WITH 'SMOKING KILLS'!
A very productive week in Stockerau, working on the A Life A Song A Cigarette album...we worked thru cello, guitar, keyboard, vocal and other overdubs. I had a nice routine, wake up, head out to Ihm's cafe, stop at a payphone and use a phone card to call home or make business calls. Ihm's is a much more tranquil spot than the busy cafe/ice cream parlor near the studio; it just took me a few days to find it. I spotted it on the way to the post office (where I bought phone cards and mailed many Disciplines promos), and noticed the banners on the window describing it as a 'Football-free zone'; an important consideration since the European championships are in Austria this month. Inside, I found a quiet terrace set off from the town's high street (also an important consideration, since the high street conveys every truck, combine harvester, etc. by--another reason the cafe Rotzer is not ideal) and very good espresso.
We had some incredible summer storms--huge lightning strikes--at one point I was admiring a rainbow and saw a lightning strike arc almost perfectly parallel to the arc-en-ciel. Rain was coming down so hard at one point, the gutter pipe fell off the wall, and the passage was flooding! No studio damage. Alternately, we've had, most days, hot sun and temperatures around 85-90 F.
I had been under a little stress trying to sort Disciplines business in the mornings, finally I said 'fuck it' to a few things that weren't resolving and thus were stressing me out. As soon as I did, they of course started to resolve lickety split. I felt much better. The call center by the studio finally got their phones installed, so I had another phone option. Nothing beats Barcelona for sheer number of taxiphones for incredibly little money. Austria seems quite expensive. A €10 phone card might last me three days of calling home; in BCN, a €5 card lasts me a week. Stockerau had 3 payphones within easy reach; one on the main square (that was blended in with a bus stop, so I didn't notice it the first few days), one inside the post office, and one about 5 minutes down the road. There were times when I would be on the phone with Dom or with the Disciplines' label and a local would be pounding on the door for their turn in the phone booth. I effectively shut down all superhero business in Stockerau (which is what the 'S' actually stands for) for a week.
We had a bassoon player come in for a song--I'd never recorded one before--another first.
Yesterday, ALASAC singer Stephan and his g.f.
Marilies did a song together--I put them out in the passage next to the studio--sent up band memebers to block access to the driveway/parking (nobody came, but we do share the parking with other business; this was on a Saturday evening so we were safe) and set up some mics--we have incredibly loud swallows and, later, crickets, on the recording. It doesn't sound like it when you're outside, but put a few mics around and suddenly the place sounds like the Florida everglades. It sounds amazing, the recording!
On Friday, I was editing a vocal, and the guys texted me 'you have to come see this'. I tried to go out the door to the high street, but it was already locked. We don't have a key to that...in fact, I don't know who locks it at night (and Sunday) and unlocks it in the morning. So, I went out and cut thru a big hotel on our block, and went to the main square, which had been converted into a biergarten. Usually it's empty, even of pedestrians--they stay walking along the Rotzer side, or along the far side, by a few restaurants. The square is dominiated by Stockerau's second largest (after the catherdral) building--the Bank. In the square are a few big trees and a fountain (not in operation), overlooked by a particularly greusome depiction of the crucifixion. However, on Friday, the square was full of people, grilling wursts (and fish impaled on a stick over charcaol--'stickfish', it's called in German); and lo ahd behold, a delightfully absurd ABBA cover band, with a very rotund Benny. Great! I couldn't see the Agnete/Annafrid, as they were on wireless mics, and lost in a see of giddy little kids, pied-piper style. So fun!
Well, back to work for me. Last night was a marathon session, to finish up the recording--we/I played/sang on stuff til 5am. Today I will mix the acoustic songs, inchallah, and head back to Vienna. Well done!
Love
KS
Stockerau, AUSTRIA
