Ambulance Chaser has cracked QBS Radio’s Alternative Top 40, up to #28.
Tag Archive: Ambulance Chaser
Lip Dub video stars Candace, Courteney, Steve, Tiffany (and Bob).
Post what you think!
Performed Chance & the Choir at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, CA.
(Watch Bob at 1:10.)
Fun show last night. Met people I’d never met before. The theatre we played was so very cool, too. I was impressed and hope we can play there again. Truth be told though, the PA system sucked. That would have to be improved. But all in all the people were nice and the crowd was, well, patient.
Got off to a slow start, and each act didn’t go on as planned. I’d heard the Monty Py-thong girls were going on early, so I asked fans to get there early. Ah well, such was no the case; they went on after us. So most either waited a very long time, of bolted early. Hell, we didn’t even go on til around 9 30, I think. (we were supposed to go on much earlier).
But it was a fun performance. Played acoustically, full band: Mike, Steve on acoustic guitars, Bob on a farty old bass practice amp, and Flanders on kit with rod sticks. I played piano on everything except for one song.
And that song was a new one called Ambulance Chaser, performed live for the first time. I borrowed Mike’s acoustic, and every single person played some kind of percussion: Adam & Steve: bongos; Bob the whirly toy and the scrape; Mike, tamborine. But that’s not all! We passed out shakers, cabasas, maracas, more tambourines and other eccentric bits o percussion to people in the audience. Tara from Monty-Pythong joined us on stage as she was wearing a male choir uniform for her set (she ripped us off, man). Hilarious is the only way to describe: The audience sang the choruses with us. I should have video, I’ll try to upload later today or tomorrow.
Monty Pythong didn’t get off the stage til late (because of everyone’s late start) so we were blisteringly tired. Mike had a long drive and Flanders goes to surf in Indonesia for 2 weeks.
Special thanks to everyone who made it, especially a couple of choir girls who drove from Apple Valley to be at this show. Kudos.
Friday night was Korean BBQ at Park’s.
Saturday was studio work, followed by an interestingly fun acoustic show at a private party for the online web series, Beverlywood. Two new songs, both to be on the new record, had their live debut: Ambulance Chaser, and Liftoff. Neighbors complained after our 4th song and we were shut down. But then, Steve, Bob, Mike and I went into the living room and played a few songs, including Come Fricking Sail Away, by Styx. When in Rome…
Shot some vid, and will try to post soon.
Sunday, took my dog Superchunk to the vet. He’s 13 now, and is just starting to have more and more issues. $500 later….sigh.
Grilled BBQ chicken, made bbq beans and had store bought coleslaw. Watched the game, and watch the lakers suck for 3.5 quarters and then come roaring back to almost win it. Ah well….
Yes, nothing like this feeling. This mix is out of control. So many pushes, so many pulls. I’m really excited about this song.
And what’s the difference between the completed and the almost finished you’re listening to now?
Well, not too much. I pushed guitars on the choruses a bit more. I’m pushing the kick drum a bit more. I cranked up a couple of percussion on the first verse (tambourine and the pot&pan), and I turned up the hihat on the 2nd verse.
Oh, and pushed the bass slides on the turnaround section (the, as I call it, “drum solo” right before the last chorus.)
The bass goes booom, as it slides off an E below middle C, on the one.
So excited.
On to making Life & Life Only a bit more lively based on some of my learning from Ambulance Chaser.
This weekend’s work is a song called Ambulance Chaser.
This song is actually a few years old, but i could never get the feel right. I knew I wanted to re-record it with the new batch of songs, and while I was laying down a temporary drum feel for the studio (so I could record the guitars and bass), I played something very simple and I went, “wow, that works!” so it’s a lot more groovy and machine like, kind of AC/DC drum feel.
I also recorded about 8 tracks of percussion: tambourines, a wrench, pots and pans (seriously), shakers (which I broke because I was hitting them against each other; sorry Bob!), and bongos. Plus this little whirly toy that RULES.
Finished editing those tracks and right now I’m writing/completing the drum part. I hope to at least have the mix set up by end of day today, because I won’t get much time to work on it tomorrow.
Fun fun!
PS: It’s been ridiculously hot here in the studio. the Santa Anas are back.
Practiced at 4/5s capacity
Practiced yesterday. My guitar player, Mike, was unable to make it due to car issues. (he lives far away)
Went well, as we started adding vocal parts to the new songs. Played through two songs primarily (Soft Bomb of Diplomacy, Liftoff) and went through a third towards the end (Happening).
Prepping for new mix
Today, I’m going to prep a new song for mix. Prepping can be a most time consuming and tedious process which is why I try to do it on Fridays. Anticipating the grueling feeling of a long hard week, I usually try to save the stuff which needs not too much brain activity for Fridays. Funny thing though: when I’m in writing mode, Fridays can be the best times, as they are a launch into the more wide open weekends (time wise).
Pots and Pans
So, the song is called Ambulance Chaser. I recently recorded a ton of percussion parts for it. I want it to sound like a loud drum circle, but with tambourines, shakers, pots and pans. Seriously: Pots and pans. So, I gotta lock the timing of the performances in. That… takes time. No other way to shake it.
But I’m excited: it’s a newer song. Well, actually: not really. It’s a super old song which I never finished because I couldn’t decide on how best to give the song its own vehicle. But I figured it out, and I think it’s going to be a fun one.
