Music
Bring Us the Stars
Bring Us the Stars was born during the pandemic when Sheri and I started collaborating with our longtime friends Julia and Kevin Keuler on a remote songwriting and recording project. Over the course of several months, we sent demo recordings of instrumental snippets as well as lyrical and vocal ideas back and forth in a shared google drive folder. We eventually iterated and adapted these ideas into a handful of songs and I started working on final instrument takes. We got together in-person at my home studio for a long weekend to record final vocal takes and a few weeks of mixing and mastering later - we had five finished songs for our first EP - ‘Are We Falling?’
I of course immediately had a list of ‘things I would do differently next time’ for the recording and production side of the project, and we collectively as a group had several more song ideas brewing, so we kept collaborating and over the course of the next several months created a second EP - ‘Smoke and Mirrors’.
These EPs are entirely self-produced and recorded in my home studio. I use a Behringer XR-18 as well as an Apollo Twin interface from Universal Audio for input A/D conversion. Vocals were recorded using a Lewitt LCT 440 Pure microphone - either in our pantry, or in the front living room closet that I emptied out and lined with acoustic foam for diffusion. Stringed instruments were direct-lined through the Apollo Twin and custom amp and effect simulation chains built in Guitar Rig. I used Cakewalk by Bandlab as my DAW, and a ton of free (and a few paid) VSTs for mixing and mastering.
I also created a lyric video for each song and uploaded them all to YouTube. Click on the EP and song names below to load each in the embedded YouTube player.
Smoke and Mirrors
1. The Enemy 2. Sleepwalking 3. Hold On 4. Imagination 5. Meet Me at the Bottom 6. Burn It Down
The Twilight
I did some remote session guitar recording for two songs for Andy Wagner's project The Twilight. These were both projects where Andy sent me stem files of his song and some direction on where he wanted guitar and the general style/vibe he was looking for. You can listen to the finished songs on his Soundcloud - both linked below.
Greetings from the Imposter
I did some session drumming for a few live shows with Dale Block's project Greetings From The Imposter. Check out some videos I took during the gigs and at rehearsal.
Miss Demon Lips - Live at The Local
First person drumming video taken while playing Miss Demon Lips with Greetings From The Imposter live at The Local.
Ramblin' Rose - Live at Club Garibaldi
Video taken from the audience of Ramblin' Rose with Greetings From The Imposter live at Club Garibaldi. Featuring guest vocalist Tommy Shears from The Living Statues.
Lisa Strange - Live at Club Anything
Video assembled by Dale Block from footage taken during the song Lisa Strange with Greetings From The Imposter live at Club Garibaldi.
GFTI Rehearsals
Take a peek behind the scenes at a GFTI rehearsal. About 1 minute from each of three songs: Miss Demon Lips, Drive, and Pop Music:
GFTI Rehearsals - First Person Drumming Video
Testing out taking video of drumming from a 'first-person' view with a GoPro camera. About 1 minute from each of three songs: Glockenshpiel, You Scare Me, and Little Boy Ashamed:
Mercury Crossing
I played drums with Mercury Crossing for about 5 years. During that time we recorded 3 studio albums and played hundreds of shows around the midwest. You can download or stream the final studio album we recorded - The Takeover - for free on bandcamp. The earlier albums can be streamed on Spotify.
