MixedgreenZ - it "Grows" on you!)
- Cameron "The Rock" Alworth : Vocals & Acoustic guitar
- Jon Christie : Electric guitars & Vocal
- Dana "Thumper" Fitz-Simons : Drums et al -
- Patrick Fitz-Simons: Bass, Production
Honorary Special guests: - Rick "Noodles" Williston : Electric guitar, pasta machines
- Steve-O Slosser : Electric Guitar & vocals -
News Flash: MixedgreenZ are wonderful when served with Noodles!
Everyone was overjoyed when Rick Williston (from AAP & DRiPDiRT - see below) was finaly able to sit in with us. I have seen chemistry but this was absurd! Having never heard nor played any of the material, Rick was able to do his magic and add that something special we have been looking for. It was a Golden Day with most of the recording headaches worked out in well in advance. I just left the studio station recording all night with the monitor off.. no one was the wiser (including me).
I just whipped out some fast rough mixes... just basic trimming a bare level compensation. The first 4 tunes in the player are from this session. Enjoy!
We are experiencing strong chemistry and an ever evolving sound. This is really turning out to be a wondrous gestaltic entity.
A kind spirited Yankee transplant, Cameron wields a flavorful yet solid hand on finger picked acoustic guitar. His voice has soothing timbers and nice overtones but can growl and yell too. I have found that spacey textures and rockin' jams can exist in the same space...
We are working up some Cameron originals, spawning new ones already, and have an easily accessible repertoire of uncommon covers tunes if we need 'em. I don't have much recorded to offer in the player- just some tastes... nothing worth publishing (just some rehersal excerpts) but should satisfy the curiosity.. check back in a month or two... demo efforts are underway.
Dana and I are reaching out of our normal boxes and will be shooting for the the backing vocal box of tricks soon.
Hey! violin/fiddle playin' person.. Where are you? drop us a line!
The Adam Anderson Project (AAP)
Dana & I worked with The Adam Anderson Project for two years (2004- 2006). A Blast has been had by all! We are currently taking a hiatus from active advancement while some technical issues are resolved. Last I checked we are still be toed up to accompany The Project for any sizable gigs.
- Adam Anderson: Vocals, Guitars, Song writer (and keys)
- Rick "Noodles" Williston: Electric Guitar
- Dana on drums and percussion
- Patrick : Bass et al
I find Adam's music interesting, engaging and a challenge to play. Even if I am not driven to dance, I was often infected by the songs after practice. The themes tend to be familiar but often with some obtuse twists... Something about "old shoes" he says. During our trials of recording a demo, I discovered that while the structures seem to be fairly intuitive they are actually layers of complex rhythmic variance formed by simple strokes. I could easily compare his music to “Listening to Picasso”.With a repertoire spanning many years, Adam's writing and arrangement style is infused with a myriad of influences. You might hear a little Pete Townsend, but overall you will hear Adam, as his latest titles shine through his own unique lens.
About the Samples:
"City Life" is the closest to a finished work... although unofficial and not approved by Adam. Guitars and drums are from an early practice. All are poorly recorded with oodles of cross bleed. I had Adam overdub his vocals (2 takes) and I redid bass (countless takes). While I wrote my Bass part it became more “vocal”, playing off of the East Indian style Adam employs in the 2nd verse “Siren...” As the song gelled, Adam requested for the bass to take a stronger roll.. to be in front for much of the song... new to me! To finish out this exercise I could never give it the depth I wanted with the poorly recorded tracks, so I employed an age old trick.. obfuscation... break out the kitty box and cover that shit up!.. I utilized environmental sound to transport the listener into the city that the song's narrator is so done with.. recorded from our front porch right here in hillbillyburro, the city sang with one take. I found it amazing how the passing vehicle sounds coincided with the song, I only moved one sound near the end. The Sirens are completely contrived and manipulated and not from the city. For your treat or torture, I sing back up for the first time, some light harmony, and angelic whispers.
"Spice is Nice" This is my second favorite AAP tune... We never got it ready to play out or played it better than this first time in practice. The Bass is completely fabricated in the beginning... When Adam laid this new thing on us.. Dana was in the bathroom... and I was really screwin' around... messin' with tones and levels and really didn't start to play until She came back.. (Damn! i wish I wasn't zoning, this could have been REAL fun!).. When I listened to the recording of the practice later.. I found that Adam and Rick were cooking some really cool jams... I just had to polish it up.. To make the song listenable I took excerpts of my bass and arranged them... ( my first experiments with this type of digital audio manipulation) until Dana starts playing.. then it is all live.
Side "Projectletts"
DRiPDiRT
Dana and I spirited Rick over for a couple of evening jams when Adam couldn't make it. An accomplished player, Rick channels an interesting drought of Jerry Garcia and Allan Holdsworth dancing with Pat Metheny served in David Gilmore's mug . He has earned the band name "Noodles"... When He gets into a vein of jam he is a diligent miner... it just keeps coming out!
The project name is an acronym short for Dopamine Replacement Therapy... DRT (pronounced DiRT). Since it is DanaRick&Patrick DRP or DRiP... we call it DRiPDiRT.
Look in the player for 2 DRiPDiRT tunes... Gthang and BiteBaby (say: “bita baby”.. think German alla Blazing Saddles)..
As these are both excerpts from extended explorations... and early attempts at mastering you will find that BiteBaby sounds really strange.
In Bite Baby I allowed myself to experiment with Depth as a means of mix presentation rather than gain (volume) or panning (L - R). In this case I picture the 3 instruments in a large cave.. drums are stationary... the Bass and guitar take turns walking around the drums... some times one of us in in front... some times waaaay back in the back behind the drums... sometimes doing a back flip over everyone and bungee chord snapping you back. just fun.
"Johnson Family Trio" ...and then there is Steve Slosser... Wadda player! We are blessed he is still on this planet after the a Van ran a stop light and he T-Boned into it... auto collision from hell..broke his kneecaps, wreaked his body.. Both drivers were under insured.. you can still see the lump of a screw head protruding from his knee cap.Stevie is why I am recording... There have been moments when we play that defied belief.. they were just those unbelievable random moments of modass. They had to be captured. Unfortunately I don't have any good recordings of us as I was setting up & debugging the hardware and learning the software, when we played most and best.
Hey! violin/fiddle playin' person.. Where are you? drop us a line!
