All Squinty-Eyed And Gushing

It’s late. I’m bleary-eyed and squinting from another late night in Kevin’s studio (there in the shadow of the Empire State Building). This time, we had a video camera tracking our progress. What was our progress, you ask? Well, the record is done. Or, more succinctly, ‘Almost Home’ is almost done.

Jonathan Goldner was on hand to shoot some b-roll for a forthcoming EPK (electronic press kit), and cought Kevin and I in rare form. (An edit of the shoot should appear here within the next ten days or so.) We knocked out some vocal fixes on ‘California,’ and a guitar fix on ‘Annalia (Come Back Home)’. After a dinner break at Quiznos (the official sandwhich provider for Benjamin Wagner’s Almost Home), I knocked out lead and backing vocals on ‘Annalia’ and ‘Shiver.’

And that was that: we’re done. All basic tracks are done. Wohoo! We’re adding cellos, one more guitar, maybe a few drum loops, and SNAP! We’re onto mixing.

So we’re talking as I finish my (fifth) beer, I’m all squinty-eyed and gushing with gratitude. “Dude, this record is exactly how I imagined it would sound! Last one I made we were all like ‘Radio does this’ and ‘A&R likes that.’ Man, fuck radio! We made this record just exactly how we wanted to!” Which is all true, even if I was bombed and blathering. I mean, it’s not perfect, but that’s the beauty of it. It real. It’s honest. It’s well-intentioned. It’s lived-in. It’s a performance. And it’s totally uncool. And man, shit sounds good! But, you’ll see (er, hear) for yourself soon enough.

So how did I celebrate? After a stop at Duane Reade (Broadway & 57th) for a big ole’ bag of Twizzlers and some athlete’s foot spray (I’m a runner, gimme’ a break!), I headed home for a blueberry milkshake (mmmm, Breyers). Now if that ain’t rocknroll, I dunno’ what is. Touch the monkey head! Raaawk-n-roll! Fuckin’ A.