It turns out, “not at work” does not necessarily mean “on vacation”, but even so, I have squeezed in some time in the last few weeks to finish writing, recording, and mixing the second Vacation album.
For this set of songs, I tried something different. It began in the fall when Steve lent me his Peavey amp and a giant cabinet. Once I set it all up in my basement, I had the loop pedal running guitar and bass through separate amps. I’d make up a simple guitar part, lay down a quick bass line, and then jump on the drums. It amazed me how much more fun it was playing along with a real bass amp than when running both instruments through the guitar amp.
Inspired, I began coming up with parts. I’d force myself to lay down A and B sections each time I played. After recording over 20 song ideas, I went through them and culled the less interesting ones. Below are three that didn’t make the cut to the final album.
After settling on eight that I liked, I began recording each as produced songs using Reaper. The idea recordings that became each track on the album are below.
The lyrics and melodies were, as usual, the hardest part. I decided to make the lyrics personal and heartfelt – something that I don’t often do. I didn’t scour Wikipedia for fun topics, but instead tried to find big important things and small moments that resonated with me. I ended up with songs about applying for new jobs, playing hide and seek, and simultaneously thinking about missing my dog when she passes away and my daughter when she grows up. For many of the songs, I ended up “stopping” working on them rather than truly finishing them. As often happens, I’m left hating some of the words and feeling indifferent about many of the melodies.
I started recording the album during my winter break at the end of 2019 and finished it during the COVID-19 lockdown of March and April 2020. I don’t know how the tone of the album fits across both of those “vacations” – but it is what it is…
Check out the album here.
-Mike
