I see my job, when working as the producer, as the person who helps the musicians realize their artistic potential.  In the case of the latest Rags & Bones EP, this started with a conversation between Rags, Joe Garcia and myself. 

Rags called Joe and I over to his remote Joshua Tree compound to discuss the next three songs he wanted to record.  He explained to Joe and I that he wanted to complete this project before he was obligated to move from the compound; Rags and his wife, Catherine, were putting the compound up for sale.  The conversation revolved around how important a role his residence had played in the development of his songs.  He recorded all the demos in a small office type studio on the grounds.  The little office had wood floors and a warm sound.  There was a small window looking out onto the open desert.  Rags dog, Steinbeck, was always either sleeping on the floor, or the couch when Rags let him get up there.  Although the three songs slated for the EP all dealt with memories of Rag's father and Rag's own Southern California upbringing, the Joshua Tree compound and it's little studio was just as present in the music, even if that wasn't reflected in the lyrics of the songs.  Perhaps it was the solitude at Rag's compound that encouraged the reflective period in Rags life that produced these songs?

Rags told Joe and I about the three songs slated for the album.  He mentioned the sentimentality he was feeling about potentially moving from the compound.  Rags initial plan was to do all of the tracking at my Solar Powered Cabin.  But after hearing both the stories behind California Bound, Drive and Foothill Boulevard as well as Rag's feelings about putting the compound up for sale, Joe and I both had the same reaction.  We both said to Rags, "You should do the tracking right here, in your studio."  I told Rags that the room had a sound. And then I pointed out how nice it would be to hear that sound on these songs.  It would always remind him of the compound. 

Rags was surprised but he agreed that it was a great idea.  The initial plan was to try and track basics of acoustic guitar, vocal and upright bass live.  But that plan quickly morphed into the method Rags is more accustomed to working; we first tracked Rags acoustic guitar to a click, and then we added a lead vocal track over that.  Bass was sent out to Baba Elefante in Los Angeles.  He sent his tracks to me through the web.  Bobby Furgo and Lisa Mednick Powell came way out to my Solar Powered Cabin for violin and accordion overdubs. Tim Chinnock also came out to the cabin for some drums and percussion overdubs.  Tim, Faith Chinnock and Atermis all recorded backing vocals with Rags over at his studio.  And Gar Robertson recorded pedal steel down at his Morongo Valley studio, Red Barn Recorders.  I did the mixing at my Solar Powered Cabin and Dennis Moody handled the mastering.  This was the second project I got to work on with Dennis, The Resolectrics being the first. 

I'm very happy with the vibe we achieved on these three songs.  Rags voice sounds intimate and clear.  I can hear Rags place in these tracks.  I hear the desert and I hear a good friend expressing beautiful sentiments in these three songs. As a producer, this hit the bullseye for me.  Joe Garcia deserves a special mention too as he helped water the original seed. 

Take a listen.  Come visit the desert by giving yourself up to these songs.
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5S2RsR46c9eLtSyv3Bx2sW

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FQSGHG9

We moved in full time to our homestead cabin in the Mojave Desert in May of 2017.  I was up and running quickly and in June 2017, I mixed Feel Alright's album, In Bad Faith.  It was my first album length project with the new set up.  Working without a mixing console was taking some getting used to.  I figured out how to use my analog compressors in the mix live without the mixer and I was beginning to enjoy my latest setup, both it's limitations and it's new possibilities.  But there was a new factor in the set up that I was still getting used to: the fact that I was my own power station.  Our cabin made it's own electricity on an ancient solar set up.  It was both outdated and under powered.  It was a twelve volt system.

But there were positives. The inverter for the set up was old as well, but it did a pretty good job of mimicking a sine wave.  My equipment ran really quiet.  There was plentiful sun.  If I worked during the day, I had enough electricity to run... most of the time.

I have worked with Craig Fahner on at least four or five projects over the years starting with a Mandates album and some singles, and there was a country band in there somewhere to.  I can't recall the name, but that was a fun album to mix.  Craig is a talented recording engineer up in Calgary and I had mixed those projects for him in the past.  Feel Alright is his baby.  It was an honor to be asked to mix this album and I want to formally thank him here on my blog for his extra patience while I "mastered" my off the grid electric situation during the mixing for In Bad Faith.  In the end, we only suffered from a slower than expected work flow.  We figured it would take about four days to mix the record.  I believe we were at it for about a week.  This was because I expected to work the eight to ten hour days I was accustomed to before our move to the desert.  Due to our energy situation, the days were shortened to around 6 hours.  Those were good hours though!

Mixing is my favorite part of the recording process.  Feel Alright had excellent songs and recordings for me to dig my ears into. Craig's sessions were edited and ready to go and I could get through a first pass of a mix in less than three hours. I used real analog delays in the mix; a space echo and an Ibanez AD202.   A Distressor, 1176, two Chandler LTD2s and an AMEK/Neve 9098 were all used live in the mix as well.  I monitored on ADAM monitors through a 300 watt CROWN amplifier. Not bad for an under powered little twelve volt set up! 

Just a few months after mixing this album, we upgraded to a more robust, pure sine wave, 48 volt system.  But that's another story I hope to tell you sometime later.

Here's a review for In Bad Faith.  The album streams here too.
http://exclaim.ca/music/article/feel_alright-in_bad_faith_album_stream

Feel Alright on Bandcamp
https://feelalright.bandcamp.com/