July F***in’ First!?!

July F’in’ First!?! How did that happen? Either way, it finds me well in Hell’s Kitchen, crankin’ Coldplay, drinkin’ Brooklyn Pilsner, and snackin’ on Hungry Herbert’s Oat Bran Pretzels beneath the sliver moon. Either way, it finds me optimistsic.

I met Kevin over at Control One Studios last night to share a few beers and discuss my new recording. He’ll be engineering; I’ll be producing. We’ll be recording digitally using ProTools.

We’re shooting for a more intimate, more acoustic recording than ‘Crash Site.’ I’ll record tracks with the full band (Rosa Avilla on a light drum kit, Tony Macelli on bass), as well as solo acoustic. We discussed more organic sounds (ie: Hammond Organ, Rhodes piano, cello), percussion (ie: eggs, tamborines), as well as more electronic sounds (ie: drum loops, synth strings, blips n’ bleeps).

My reference sound is some of my favorite Fountains of Wayne songs: ‘Troubled Times’ (from ‘Utopia Parkway’), ‘All Kinds of Time’ (from ‘Welcome Interstate Managers’). Kevin suggested Richard Ashcroft’s solo work, which is a perfect aspiration. He manages to integrate familiar singer/songwriter sounds (acoustic guitar, clean vocals, percussion) with more modern sounds (drum loops, etc).

We’ll be getting started just as soon as I can get Rosa and Tony completely up to speed on all of the material. It’ll take longer than expected, cost more than expected, and be more difficult than expected, but in the end, you and I will both have a new Benjamin Wagner CD. Which is pretty exciting, for me, anyway.