Take You Home.
The first memory I have of a specific song is from the day that my parents separated. My mother and I were driving to our new home and the Beatles song "Sun King" was on the radio...I was three years old. By the time I was seven "Don't Let Me Down" was my favorite song and Beatles albums were on my Christmas list.
In 1989, a year out of high school, I got a sampler and started to write songs. They were very 80's alternative songs and sometimes I'd do a rap. I dreamed of stardom but had no direction and really couldn't play an instrument. I had a guitar collecting dust and was fast becoming bored of myself. Then one night I was watching Mtv and "Let Love Rule" by Lenny Kravitz came on, I picked up my guitar.
Something became clear to me that night; here was this guy playing a song that sounded like the music I'd grown up on. He was making the music that he loved. And so would I. In 1990 I decided that this would be my life. Music became my focus and everything else was secondary. The thing was though, that I found I was different than other musicians I would meet. Whereas everyone else seemed to be concerned with being in a band, I just wanted to record.
The album as an art form is a beautiful thing to me. Producing the music, crafting the songs until they give the right mood, and then putting them in a sequence which alters their feel. Music is such a powerful art form. It can not be escaped when it's on. You can turn away from a movie, ignore a novel, look past the painting on the wall; but you can not turn away from sound.
Even if you don't appreciate the music you're listening to, you are still affected by the mood it gives.
For me, song writing is a diary. It is a way to express the feelings inside and revel in them in the open air. Ultimately the listener may either sympathize with me or find a parallel to their own experience. Over the years my lyrics have become important to me. When the words and music make sense to each other the sum is greater then the parts.
After the Northridge quake I moved to Santa Rosa, a small city an hour north of San Francisco. While there I was able to play and record when I wanted, due to the logistics of where I lived. In about ten months I wrote and/or recorded in excess of twenty songs, some my best work to date. Of the songs on Simple Pump Maintenance, only two were written in Los Angeles, "Damp is the Hourglass" and "The Shady Tree Song", the remainder being native to Santa Rosa.
Simple Pump Maintenance was recorded on an ADAT through a Mackie 16 Track board onto 8 tracks. It was then mixed down onto DAT and then to cassette. I used Stereo Tube Reverb and not much else as far as effects go, a delay or flanger here and there. I've tried to keep it as raw as possible using a drum machine and digital tape. Eventually, I'd like to use real drums and record through a vintage board onto analog, but for now the convenience of ADAT is too good to give up. My respect goes out to the production of Rick Rubin, Lenny Kravitz, Jellyfish, and Ric Ocasek
Five years have passed while I've learned to play whatever instrument I need, sing whatever I hear in my head, write whatever I'm feeling, and produce whatever genre I need. Simple Pump Maintenance is the culmination of these years, an end to the days of recording alone in my bedroom, and a start to whatever may come...
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