production

I'm working on making a new record. This one will be categorically different than any others I've made before. I've enlisted the assistance of someone else to take the reigns and steer the creative process from unrecorded songs (or, more accurately, sloppy demos) to completed album. In the jargon of the industry, a producer.

Rob Kroehler, who some of you might know as the songwriter, frontman, and creative genius behind The Loveblisters, has graciously spent a couple evenings a week over the last month pouring his considerable talents through his vintage instruments into my songs. I've actually known Rob for my entire life. His older sister and I dated when we were 3. Our parents made us pose to document our young love. We broke up when I was 5. It was rough. I thought she was the one. Robby was her baby brother who I played with off and on throughout my childhood and saw every once in awhile through high school. I remember being intimidated by his freakish musical talents and his hardcore/skater style as we got older. He was unquestionably cooler than I in 1993 . . . and in 2009, but I'm over it.

So after knowing each other a long time ago, we both ended up in the local music scene writing songs and putting together bands to play them. We've gotten reaquainted over the last few years from playing shows together and have developed mutual respect for each other as songwriters, and, after I listened to the record that his band put out last year, The Nowhere West (go and do likewise), I was bold enough to ask him to produce my next record with me. He said yes.

I've often wondered about the experience of working with a producer. I haven't made any recordings of my own songs wherein someone else's creative input is primary. It's sort of a strange concept on one hand, but on the other, it really makes a lot of sense. The writing and performing of a song, either in a band or alone, is a very distinct task from that of fixing a song in recorded form. I wanted to see what would happen if I focused primarily on writing and performing an album instead of being in charge of it all. Rob happened to be looking to try his hand at producing a recording of someone else's songs, so that worked out nicely.

Be prepared to be a bit surprised by what you hear. It's most definitely not The Via Maris. We'll be in the studio tonight, working on vocals, trying to get these first three songs done before Rob goes on tour for 6 weeks as a hired hand with indie-pop darlings, Fun. Wish my voice well . . .