dem suite

Over the 4th of July weekend we headed up to Mendocino, CA with Martin to do DRT YRT Record #2.  It was overcast, misty and actually rained once or twice (kinda weird for the summertime in Northern California).  This weather was perfect to hole ourselves up in the barn and record an album.  As with the last DRT YRT record we set out to record as many tunes as we could while we were up in Mendocino property.  After recording in Mendo, we mix the music back in San Francisco and then release the MP3s for free.  Usually this process takes only a couple weeks to finish a record, most of the music is improvised and then edited either during the recording process or back in The City during the mixing stage. We make more beats and music than we actually need in the end. It is highly satisfying to have an album finished so quickly.

Similar to the first DRT YRT album, the artwork is a collage of photographs from the sessions in Mendocino. Martin took all the pictures this time around with his Canon DSLR and fixed focus lens.  Currently we’re mixing the music…we are almost finished.  I’m going to try and post the link to download the album this weekend.

We’re kicking around the title Sounds From Unknown Animals. Saturday night there was a loud animal on the property that was making some very strange noises, kind of like a long cough but with a lot of force.  Its hard to explain.  Now we were a little scared, but it was nothing like this.  Martin was up on the property a few weeks prior and heard the same thing while sitting on the roof.  I was trying to turn off all the lights in the barn at the end of the night and kept hearing the noise and got a little freaked out when everyone ran back inside leaving me out there alone with the animal. So thats the inspiration for the title of the album.

Commitment-wise (see: unemployment) its looking like we will have some free time this Fall, so DRT YRT record #3 could be right around the corner.