A new blog for Yellowgold, and lessons in song writing

I'm finally putting my spare Squarespace 6 blog to some use by launching a brand new project. With production of the next Yellowgold album "Ever One" well underway, I made a realization that my approach to song writing has never been stronger. As I analyzed my process, I realized that it's reasonably linear, which makes it possible for me to spell it out in detail for other musicians who might be looking for a different perspective to apply to their own work.

Hit up my new blog at yellowgoldmusic.com as I detail my approach to writing music, from conception to release. I plan on throwing a little bit of everything in there, and I've already written a good amount of content for the site which I will release rather frequently over the next few months.

Don't worry, though. I'm not abandoning this site as my generic catch-all for everything I have going on. But Yellowgold deserves its own portal. So that's basically what I've decided to give it! Along with a whole lot more.

See you at yellowgoldmusic.com!

New Yellowgold in 2013

About midway last year, I realized that any hopes I had of completing another album sometime soon would mean I'd have to work extra hard to complete it by April 2013. That's the time when our second daughter will be saying hi to the world and, well, let's just say I'll be a little distracted once that happens.

I've been cranking away on new material for the past six months or so and I'm happy to see that I'm zeroing in on the final track list. I'm also very pleased at the direction of this project. With the purchase of a new acoustic guitar at the end of the summer, I found myself writing some folk-inspired tunes and surprised myself at how my playing techniques improved tremendously. A new guitar can do that, by the way. Want to get inspired to write new material? Buy a new instrument.

I've also been really happy with what I've been able to achieve vocally. I'm pushing my voice into registers that I've not tried before and pretty surprised that I can actually pull it off. I'm also employing some new techniques in layering the vocals to achieve some pretty cool results. Honestly, I never thought I could perform like this before. It's been a lot of fun.

On the production side of things, I'm getting much inspiration from the many autobiographies I've read over the past year including artists like Neil Young, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend and Bob Mould. I've integrated some of the approaches detailed in these books into my production process and it's really been nice to change my methods in different ways. I've also been knee deep in episodes of Pensados Place which is a goldmine of production techniques, delivered by industry professionals. Very inspirational. As a result, the album sounds different from most anything I've produced before, and I've learned a lot along the way.

I'm currently looking at a track count of 9, though I'm planning on writing at least one more song. Once that's all done, I plan on finalizing everything into one cohesive package for release on the Internet, in much the same way as my previous album, The Mellower. This album has become very personal for me. Most of the songs directly relate to the people I love and care about, and the lessons I've learned in time. Sounds sappy, I know. I promise it doesn't come across as too saccharine in the recordings.

I have a lot of work to do in the coming few months, no doubt about it. Stay tuned for more!

Freak in a Jar - "They Don't Call It Punk Anymore" RELEASED

After over one year of writing, tracking, mixing, and mastering, our punk rock release is FINALLY available in digital form for your downloading pleasure. Find the album on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify and of course you can always purchase a physical CD if that's your preference. Also, a limited edition version (digital download and physical CD for $10) of the album is available. (limited to 10 copies)

Honestly, this album was a labor of love for John, Brent and myself. We recorded our individual instruments and vocals in our own isolated studios both in Idaho and California. It was a somewhat complicated (but the execution was surprisingly easy) collaboration that involved recording pieces, sending them to the next band member via Dropbox, then adding more to it, then sending to Dropbox, then wash/rinse/repeat. The entire project was equally collaborative and in the end, we reproduced many of our favorite tracks from the mid-90's heyday of Freak in a Jar's run. Not to mention, a few new songs were written in the process.

I have nothing but mad respect for John and Brent and I'm giddy at the final outcome. Also, big time props to Ben Minter for always providing Freak in a Jar with top notch original artwork. I hope you enjoy the fruits of our labor as much as we have enjoyed the process.

My NosillaCast interview

Last week, Allison Sheridon of NosillaCast invited me onto her show to discuss a number of things about my career in podcasting. Specifically, we discuss what it means to be a Producer of shows, the gear involved in running TWiT shows at the Brick House, my passion for audio and music technology, the fusion of Android and other operating systems in my life, what it really means to be creative. It was a blast of an interview and I was honored to take part in Allison's excellent show. Check it out and look for other interviews in her catalogue with more names you'll probably recognize.

Freak in a Jar album nearing release! Reunion show booked!

It's been an amazing twelve months of production. John Kuehne, Brent Kelley and myself have spent a significant amount of time working on proper recordings of many of our favorite tracks from the heydey of Freak in a Jar. It's kind of impressive to me to see what we've done, all from the comforts of our own individual project studios. Brent layed down all drums tracks, sent those to John who then layed down his guitar tracks and vocal tracks. John sent those my way and I then added my bass tracks and backing vocals. From there, Brent worked on the mix and once we all approved, I spent my time mastering them to a point where we all feel they sound as good as can be.

Along the way, we even worked on a few new tracks to seal the deal. To say that the album sounds great is an understatement. We are so thrilled to get this in the hands of FIAJ fans. But to be honest, its been a labor of love for all three of us, and purely satisfying beginning to end based on the journey alone. It's really brought us back to how fun it was playing this punk rawk back in the day at the Crazy Horse with our friends and fans.

Brent just uploaded a few tracks from the new album to his Soundcloud. Check them out and stay tuned. The new album should see public release sometime in the next month or two. I will absolutely update this blog once I know more.

On top of that, if you are in the Boise, Idaho area on Saturday, August 11, block it off in your calendar. We are scheduled to play an official record release party at The Shredder. Should be a blast. You won't want to miss it, and we'd love to see your faces there too!

More info as I know it, but in the meantime, enjoy these two tracks off of the album. And if you get a hankering for the old tunes, check out my Freak in a Jar page.