Savage Distortion

JUMPING IN THE MIX

It’s all music. Tony Alva came up from Atlanta for a holiday visit, and he stopped by Smoke and Mirrors this weekend. On Friday night we had a session with K.I.D.D., and we threw Tony Alva into the mix. We had him doing some vocals on the hook for “All The People”, and then we had him playing a ‘familiar riff’ on guitar for a new song K.I.D.D. is working on, tentatively called “Spouses”. It was a great session, one of those nights where it’s all love, and the creativity flows like good freestyle. I love bending and blurring the lines between genres, and the give and take between the rock and rap camps at Smoke and Mirrors has always been satisfying, and successful. Tony and I spent Saturday working on an old folk tune called “Never Leave Harlon Alive”. Tony brought his Guild acoustic, a Neumann TLM 103, and his great voice; what else do you need? Sunday saw Rob Machold in for another drum session. The Smoke and Mirrors/Skyway team is working up some commercial material, pop if you like, for a project a friend of George’s is working on. Chris, George, and Rob gathered in the live room to bang out an arrangement, and it’s coming along nicely, very catchy. After that more drum tracks were laid down for George’s new original project about a future battle between robots and humans. This project is still in the writing/arranging stage, but its promise is vast, and we’re very excited to be working with George on such an ambitious project. Tonight Chris and I will be working with Geek Farm again. Their ‘little demo that could’ is turning into a full-blown album, and that’s very exciting as well. They have the songs, good songs, and working with them, pushing them to achieve their potential, is what I got into this crazy world of recording for in the first place.