MILANO, 3/7
Once again, Gianluca made sure I was stuffed like a sausage at his family restaurant, and once again, I was desperate for a nap at the flat in Cantu. In the evening we headed into Milan. I’ve passed a lot of time in Milan, it’s the media HQ for Italy so a stop there for promo with REM was obligatory whenever they had a new album out. We’d spend a couple of days doing TV shows etc. When Americans think of Italy they think of Tuscan sunshine, the Colosseum and mafia, and guys pushing canoes along with sticks while they sing about how alone they are. When I think of Italy, having spent more time in Milano and Torino, I think of big, imposing, grey industrial cities, full of extremely industrious people, who occasionally take a pause for some excellent eats. And then get back to work. There is a stereotype that Latin people are work-averse, but spend 8 minutes in Milano and you will see that people are relaxation-averse. I have a feeling that the Anglo-Saxon prejudice against Latin ‘laziness’ is pure jealousy: strong unions in France, for example guaranteed a shorter work week, and a month’s worth of vacations...while we Yankees justify the plutocratic eradication of worker’s rights as the American ‘dream’. Just work harder...and it’ll be alright. Oh, except...most of the people laboring for American companies are stuffed into labor barns in Asia making less than 20 cents an hour, working 16-hour shifts. But really, if they just work harder, they can ‘make it’ too! Prosperity is up for grabs! And you know what, French people would rather go home to their families after a day’s work...you won’t find a Microserf culture here. Now, I don’t know Italian culture as well but I can say that if activity is equal to productivity than northern Italy has to be socking away piles of stuff...somewhere. Milano to me, perhaps because of my awareness of all this busy busy work I find Milano quite unromantic...it can be so cold, foggy and grey (which is romantic to some people) and industrial to boot.
However, it’s not without its charms. The Lux, the place where we play, is a very open, split level restaurant that has a bit of an art deco feel. Diners were dining, and, more importantly, a match was on the tele so we were not obligated to do a soundcheck. I was ready for some vittles so went to the upper level, which was mostly empty except for a guy and what appeared to be his mom but I would feel pretty shitty if I was wrong...anyway, they sat watching the match there and yelling a lot at the tele. Remember, this is not a sports bar, like one of those dreadful PMU bars in France, but a rather elegant place (um, except for the seatless unisex toilet with the door that doesn’t lock...my ultimate tour nightmare). I sat down and the server and discussed what I’d like...and in fact the perfect meals for me consist of antipasti. I love salumi, mozzarella, and the like so very much. It’s great light food before a show, and I had over done it on polenta and such at Gianluca’s restaurant for lunch. So, we thought that a nice plate of antipasti and salad would be just the ticket. And what the chef brought me was so wonderful, so beautiful to look at and so delicious...I wanted to cry. It was a massive round wooden slab covered in sliced charcuterie, cheese, tomatoes, pickles, salad...one thing that is popular in the north is thin slices of lard...wow, now, that’s indulgent, isn’t it?
My show was a very good one, I played rather far past the limit of when people needed to go to bed (remember, it was a Sunday) so the crowd dwindled over the course of the evening but I was enjoying myself a lot, being able to sing even more freely than the days before, as my voice came back from the previous week’s illness. After the show we headed back to Cantu and Flav installed me at the flat.
In the morning, Flav picked me up and we went to a big bakery--very modern, stylish, tho tucked away in an industrial park--for cafe and pain au chocolat, and then we went to the mall so I could buy a pair of socks, since I had packed one pair less than I should have for the trip. Then we started to head out to Lake Como. A massive, monster-inhabited watery playground of the rich...it’s truly one of the most scenic places in Europe....skinny and deep like a fjord, with dramatic mountains shooting straight up from the shores, and lovely villages and castles/hotels/mansions clinging to the sides. Tiny abbeys are glued to random mountains in such a way as to provoke the thought of what in the world made them choose that spot for their hideaway--not hidden, but sticking out like a swallow’s nest from a giant planetoid-like boulder. We drove around the like, around and around, passing the little village where George Clooney has set up his getaway, and came to the village where were to meet up with Julio, who lives up on the hillside a bit. His parents are civil engineers from nearby Valtellina (home of the famous Sforzato wine I was so eager to try--and he had plenty in the family cellar!)--this mountainous zone where Italy and Switzerland meet has an insatiable need for bridge and tunnel builders, and Julio’s parents learned the skills and took them to Australia, which has massive needs in the mining department for engineers, for example. They still work there now, commuting between their home in Como and Oz. Julio was born in Oz, speaks English with an Aussie accent and Italian with I assume no accent. At the moment, he has the big family house to himself, it’s a lovely villa, very homey. Down in the basement he a modest recording set up, and lots of instruments...about 35 years’ worth of Time, Newsweek and National Geographic mags...funny to see those 80s Apple Computer ads...anyway, the purpose of the day was to record a split single with a song from me and a song from Flav. We worked on both, but the fact is, I had to *write* mine...and so I did. I made a kind of jam on the super cool grandma-style console organ...you know, the kind that has a drum machine built in and all that. Added guitar, piano, percussion, synth bass...and then took a rough mix upstairs to work on lyrics. I gave Flav advice on what to do, which is somewhat less than producing, but hey. I helped with some lyrics, too, for his song. Since he lives in the area and I don’t, we had to finish my song more or less that day, and what I came up with was pretty cool....so cool I hope you hear it soon.
After the session we drove back to Cantu, I slept in the car, slept a couple of hours in the flat, slept in the car driving the hour or so to Malpensa, slept on the plane.
And then I was in Amsterdam, and JB was picking me up. I didn’t feel too bad, but it’s always a danger for me to be operating on so little sleep. We made our way to
Studio 150, one of the most deluxe recording environments in Amsterdam, and I spent the day recording with
the Girls for their album. Mostly we worked on bass parts as this was the first day their bass player, who just started a new day job, was available. When he had to go catch his train to Rotterdam we switched over to guitars. 150 has an amazing mic collection, so it was fun to dig around and choose from the cupboards full of vintage Neumann mics of various sizes, shapes, and sonic properties.
The next day we trucked out to Limmen to resume work at the studio there, which now had a fully functioning mixing console, and we finished up the drums for the album, worked on guitars, and also tracked a song that’s drumless, just a duet so far between acoustic and electric guitar. Rolf, the lead guitar player, who is all of 19 years old, had been asking since day one when he could get his parts going, he was more than excited, and he is a damn good player, really amazing. He had borrowed a badass
Gretsch Black Falcon for the session this week we made sure to use.
We worked hard and it went by fast. By now I’m handing off the sessions to JB who take it from here, and I’m absolutely sure it’s going to be an amazing record...songs are really strong. Wishing them the best, we had a great, productive time in our 6 days of studio time together.
And, like always, it was time to go...next episode.
LA ROCHELLE, 3/12
I was on the train at 8.15 Friday morning, The Girls had dropped me off in Amsterdam and I crashed at JBs...I sleep in their office/studio room when I stay there, and JB’s missus,
Wanda, an accomplished author, was still banging out a chapter in there when I arrived so JB put a plate of salumi and a healthy splash of red down and I forgot all about that goin’ to bed thing...in the morning (at 6.30...ugh) I was up, and still a bit buzzed, I got a lot sloppier as the day wore on and the all-too-recent vin rouge wore off. I shuttled to Brussels on one first class train, then to Paris on another (normally they go straight thru but they had some tech prob); then crossed Paris by taxi and got on another, for the three hour ride to La Rochelle. When I arrived, Steve, the promoter, was waiting for me. He parked me in a bar with wifi and I sort of caught up on the mountain of work that always follows me around.
Now, La Rochelle is a place with which I am well familiar, as it’s the gateway to Ile de Re, where I spend my summers. As you may not have heard--because of a far deadlier earthquake in Chile the same day--La Rochelle and Ile de Re were very close to the worst-affected regions of the storm Xynthia that killed some 50 people (at least--more are missing) in Europe. Our house was spared, but many on Ile de Re were destroyed--friends of ours who are neighbors in Paris and have a house on a different part of the island found it filled with mud and other debris when a 4 foot wave crashed thru their town. Imagine tho, that in one town in the department of Vendee, their 200-year-old sea wall was smashed by a 25 foot high wave...this is where most of the fatalities occurred. La Rochelle suffered a lot of damage, but it wasn’t visibly evident when I arrived, less than a week later. The boats that were dumped on land were back in the water, debris cleaned up, etc. The bar I was to play in, La Java des Paluches, had a flooded basement but no other damage.
Luis Francesco Arena arrived, and we put our stuff in the venue, dropped some stuff at Steve’s house, picked up the piano and other gear from here and there, dropped that back at the venue, and went to dinner next door. One of Steve’s friends was having his birthday party at the venue; the bar is already popular; the other show that was supposed to be happening that night was canceled, the venue too damaged by the storm to open. Our show was free to get in. So...with all that, the place was packed to the rafters. My phone credit ran out while I was in mid call to Dom, so after dinner I went over to the Tabac to buy a recharge, but found out the system was down from storm-related damage. But it seemed like they could still sell lotto tickets? Hmm.
Anyway, I went back to the venue, then...had the thought that it would be nice to use a clean toilet with a seat (why is that always the first thing to disappear from every venue?) so I went back to the restaurant next door, which was closing up, the last customers were putting on their coats. Jerome, the owner said no problem and as I got comfortable in the loo asked thru the door what kind of drink he should prepare? hahaha...I said vin rouge but he changed my mind for me and poured us a shot of vanilla-infused rum. And another. And another. Suddenly my French got pretty good. We blabbed away. About 7 shots later I was out the door, and it was showtime.
I set up my stuff and got into it. As you could imagine from what I described about the attendance, it was chaos there--but there was a wall of intent listeners, and lots of people sitting around enjoying the show, and the blah blah moved to the bar which was almost another room. Most of it, anyway...one guy was blathering away at some chick he was never gonna get anywhere with, right by me...so I poked him in the butt with my mic stand...I don’t usually get that confrontational, but...sometimes it’s fun! Now, the packed house, etc. meant that I was sweating soon. The cable for the sustain pedal on the piano was dodgy and we had to do a lot of jiggling to make it work...and of course after a few songs I yanked the piano up so I could play standing and of course fucked the any hope of getting that pedal to work. So, I played with a kind of player-piano feel. Totally weird, but funny. This was one of those manic shows--not musically pristine, perhaps, but definitely fun. Luis had worked up a guitar part for Death of A City which was a cool choice, even late in the set, with my funky piano. I am sure other stuff happened. It gets a bit blurry. Hahah.
ROUEN, 3/13
We were up in the morning--Steve, his g.f., Luis and I had gone back to Steve’s for a late glass of wine, and at one point I said: I am laying down now. Bye! Luis was supposed to stay with a friend nearby but when they went there that guy was still out on the town so he ended up crashing on the floor. I was out by then. Anyway, we got up, and Steve put out quite a spread--beautiful croissants and mandarins and all kinds of goodies. Then it was road time. We were traveling in Luis’ car, a rather handsome
Dacia Logan great little touring vehicle for a solo musician, or duo. Or more. It was about 5 hours to Rouen all told. I fell asleep. It’s been a busy week or two, you know? I’m still recovering from being sick, even. We pulled into town and via cell phone triangulation we met up with Matthias, our promoter. We went to his flat, where we were staying. Driving around in the city of 1,000 churches. There are a couple of enormous churches that would easily qualify as cathedrals anywhere else, but Rouen has a massive one--in fact, Notre Dame de Rouen was the world’s tallest building for a few years in the 19th century. Rouen has beam-and-plaster medieval buildings a-plenty...its quite scenic, although I have to admit I didn’t have time to see much. We soundchecked, we ate at the venue, I had a cafe and a tea, and played. Also, it was FREEZING in Rouen, so walking around was not an option for someone in my health. In fact, during this show, I could feel how my lungs had been scorched by the bronchitis that set in as the last stage of my illness the other week, which made singing difficult. I’m still not able to hold notes for as long as my theoretical maximum. I don’t think anyone else can tell tho. Well, the venue tonite was down in a classic ‘cave’ French style, a cellar. Cold, not exactly moist but giving the impression of moisture...somehow. I mean, a bottle of Bordeaux could live here for decades. But me...I was...chilly hahaha. Esp. since I had a kind of spring-y outfit on. But anyway, I did my best. And I think it was good, better than good. Kinda small crowd. Mederic from
Tahiti 80 did come and represent. I did my show, I sang well...people dug it. But towards the end this girl was started laughing during one of the songs, “Je Vous En Prie” I don’t know if she was laughing at me, but....it threw me off, since generally this was a very quiet audience. I mean, I wrote the song when I was first with Dom and didn’t know French very well. It’s not something you would really say in French in the way I use it, and I know French people can be total bitches about that kind of thing too. So, perhaps that’s the last time I will ever perform that song in France. Hey, other than that tho...good show. hahah.
I stayed up til 4 am watching
“Human Nature” which Matthias had on DVD. Now, that’s a fucking funny film. I love how Gondry uses cheap FX very boldly, and there’s a stream of suggetive consciousness, where something is implied in reference and then its visual analog comes along and completes the pun--this is something you see on the Simpsons quite often.
In the morning, Matthias drove me to Evreux--I needed to get back to Paris and due to work on the line, Rouen trains don’t run on Sunday mornings. This train was packed, but it’s only an hour to Paris. The problem is, you end up at St. Lazare, not the most convenient station for me. I exited and tried to find a taxi, but found only typical Parisian every-man-for-hisself combat and no clear order about who deserved what few taxis there were, so I manned up, and headed to the metro and eventually, got home. Perfect. It was great to be back with my home, family, good food, some nice wine (courtesy of Gianluca’s restaurant) and my daughter, back from a play date (in Versailles!). I was supposed to get mixing on the
Hannah Gillespie album today, but I had so much to do in terms of tour managing for upcoming Posies, Big Star and Disciplines shows, plus emails, plus unpacking and so on...well, I loaded in the audio and got my sessions organized, and started to pick away at one song, but really, I’ll have to dig into it tomorrow. Hopefully I can catch up on one of the days I do one of the really minimal songs. I mixed one of the songs in Australia from the tape, it took about 30 minutes. You can’t fuck with tape like you can with ProTools. Should remember that.
Love
KS
Paris
