Friday, August 5, 2011

update! Update!

What? You guys want updates from what’s going on in the studio as I record what is turning out to be a very strange, potentially divisive and offensive record? Well, sure. I got nothing better to do (except take care of my kids, but they’re practically raising themselves over there in that TV room. Thanks technology!)

Last night I was in the studio til about 230. Nick and I finished up the bass and we got to work on vocals. I sang three songs and then the inevitable doom that accompanies the knowledge that both myself and Matt Allison were gonna have to get up with tiny kids in just a couple of hours set in and we decided to call it a night. As of right now, of the 8 full band songs I’m doing in this studio (that’s not counting four others that I did elsewhere that are already fully done) bass, rhythm guitar and drums are done and vocals are over a third of the way there. Pretty exciting, folks. The fact that the record is turning out even weirder than I thought it was gonna be is a testament to something. Last night upon completing a vocal take, I looked into the control room, where Matt, Justin and Nick were sitting and said, ‘wow, this record is really the suicide letter of my musical career, eh?’ It’s quite possible that’s the case.

It’s funny, ambition is an interesting thing. It’s one of the more lauded character traits, but it can manifest as being disgusting, cruel, stupid, ugly, lame or laughable. In art, if you go for something that’s ambitious, you absolutely MUST pull it off or it’s just the dumbest, shittiest fucking thing of all time. Concept records are great examples of the two ways that ambition can play out. On one hand, you’ve got a concept record like, uh, I dunno, that thing that Fucked Up just did. People listen to that and it just blows their minds. That Good Life record, Album of the Year, it’s pretty dick/soul melting in its cohesiveness. On the other hand, you’ve got that Yellowcard album about the girl named Holly Wood who goes to (wait for it) Hollywood to seek her fortune a la Mama’s Fallen Angel. That one didn’t get quite as much acclaim as David Comes To Life. In fact, because Yellowcard was so ambitious, but (according to a lot of people) missed the mark, falling short of pulling off the lofty, very difficult task of putting together a cohesive and cool concept record, they actually felt the need to come out and apologize for it in a press release!!! And while it seems crazy to me that an artist would ever apologize for their art, in a case like this, I almost kind of get it (even though I’ve never listened to that record and don’t have an opinion on it one way or the other).

There’s nothing so brutally embarrassing as trying something and failing. The more preparation that’s involved, the more chances you take, the more you attempt to make something that really truly stands out, the more likely it is that the final product WILL stand out, BUT, if you don’t do an awesome job, there it all is, your shortcomings, your lack of true vision, your physical limitations, your foolhardiness, your hubris, and most crushingly, your big, stupid idea up there writ large for the world to scoff at and casually dismiss. That sucks. That’s why something is ‘ambitious.’ Because it’s gonna be embarrassing as shit if you fuck it up.

Now, I’m not making a concept album. I’m making a record that’s different from shit I’ve done before and as it stands, there’s gonna be people who are gonna say shit like “man, wow, this sucks, go back to the shit you actually know how to do.” There will be people who feel that they know my capabilities and limitations and if what I do, in their opinion, doesn’t rock like the shit I’ve done that they like, they’re gonna be angry and feel betrayed, or worse, they’re gonna be smug and dismissive and make comments about how I’m out of it, or irrelevant, or desperate or whatever.

But those are the exact people that I’m looking to alienate with this record. I’m done being ruled by other people’s opinions regarding how I should create things (not that I spent a lot of time worrying about that before). This record is a weird batch of songs, and I’m nervous about how it’s all gonna come together (though I’m cautiously stoked out of my mind so far) and how it’s all gonna end up working. I know that it’s gonna bum some people out, but I guess I hope it doesn’t bum EVERYONE out. Eh, actually, that’s not true. If it bums out absolutely everyone, that’s probably a job well done, right? If the visceral experience is universal, unequivocal hatred and disgust, I’ve completely succeeded, haven’t I? Okay, good talk. Let’s hit the showers.

I’m playing a show tonight at the Underground Lounge. Come say hi. Turns out my dad may be there. Weird.

24 comments:

Gregory said...

I love weird, alienating music. Maybe not all the time to listen to in my car or my house, but seeing weird music live is unbeatable. Some of the best shows I've seen are the Residents, Tom Waits, and the Tiger Lillies. Bring on the weird.

kant_hackit2001 said...
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Drunken Acorn said...

I just want to hear a didgeridoo in the record, if you pull that off then your record will blow mind as well as loads. If not, well I'm sure I'll like it anyways.

Robb said...

I'm not all that well versed in Fucked Up, but I do know they released their previous album on reel-to-reel audio tape, which is the opposite of not obnoxious

FranklinStein said...

Goddamnit, my boner will NOT go down!!! Perhaps your new record will be in the same vein as The Horrible Crowes so you guys can all go on tour. I know Brian Fallon would be stoked, seeing as he thinks you're the greatest lyricist of our generation. Personally, I'm hoping for something in the vein of the first half of "The Redness in the West"...

Sean said...

I hope this record is as weird as you're hyping it up to be.

.... in the back of my mind I'm secretly hope there's some sort of hip hop track on it


.... anyyyyyything but that whole "melodic, midwestern punk rock" that everyone seems to love these days...

.... not that there's anything wrong with anything you've ever done in the past.

Sean said...

hoping*

RobThePenguin said...

If "Dancing With Dudes" is on it, then it's amazing. If not, well then fuck.

Jesus said...

You should tease us with a teaser so we can decide how fucked up this lunacy is going to be.

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

When the fuck is the U.S. going to take cues from China and start enforcing child quotas? I think we've got about enough cranky, bloated Hispanic baby factories toodlin' around Wal Mart. If you feel you need more than two in this day and age you're just an asshole.

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

ahahahahahahahahahaha but seriously

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

Or just get, like, pragmatic as fuck with it and straight up constrain the privilege of more than 3 little nasties to the wealthiest 5-10% of the population, which at first glance seems barbaric/unfair but is actually extremely sensible, in that it at least somewhat insures those who pop out three or more lil' nasties have adequate means to give em good quality of life n shit, maybe. Plus any hurt feelings on behalf of those who dont qualify to drop maaAaaad looooadz of pups would hopefully be offset by the comforting knowledge that the "breeder babies" will more than likely grow up to be poorly-adjusted assholes with a comically inflated sense of their own worth/intelligence/etc. Whadaya think brendan? J/k I dont give a shit what you think dawg

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

aww no! I would want the wealthy breeder children to be very well adjusted, they're the only chance at rational future decision making after all, what like we can depend on lil' scuzzo mcnasty running around barefoot at Wal-Mart! "When 'kin I get maaaah furrrst gun, daddee??" pure faggotry.
No, the ideal solution to keep the non-qualifiers distracted from the saaaaaadness is an overall better quality of available tv programming and snacks.
Bredna, I jusss wanna rub up all agaaainst you, rub up with sexual friktion like on this documentary my cousin saw on nat'l geo or maybe discovery with sexually-repressed Indian boys (like indian,. not native american) excitedly rubbing up against one another amidst some sort of ritualistic dance festival thing and visibly receiving a sexual charge from it, I wanna rub up 'gainst you like that. Rub up 'gainst you like sexual bubbies, make black woman sassy pucker lipz while we do it, make it funny

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

Just rub with each other like little sexual energizer orgcore bunnies aaaaaaaall day hehe! Has Mr. cassettes in the mailbox penned a tune entitled "Got my whiskey and my woman" yet? Rhetorical

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

"Wull uuuvery year it get a lil' harder--a lil steeper, this here hill/but I ain't worried about that tonight, cuz I got mah Jack an' mah Jiiiiiiiiiiill" ohh it practically writes itself!! (figure of speeeeeeeee)

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

See, Andrew Hudson? That's how ya do it. It's gotta actually be somewhat funny.

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

Anyone know offhand the name of the fat fuck that sings 'Tell me whyyyyy-yyyy are we/so bliiiii-iiiiind to seeeee' in Gansta's Paradise? If it's 'Rafonso' or something really sophisticated-sounding I'll simply die. Dollars to donuts if he's still living he rocks one of those ubiquitous horse derby hats 24/7. Ol' chipmunk-cheeked Rafonso hehee

It's A-Me, Martucci said...
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When Young Optimists Chase The Sun said...

I'm really looking forward to listening to the new stuff you are working on. Have you got a label to release it yet? Is fat going to? Does being a band on fat result in fans with musical style expectations? You should write a post about being a band on fat. And what the reality really is. How does that label work? Do they sign bands? Do they just pay royalties, are more popular bands treated better, etc. I think it would be really interesting to read for an outsider.

forest said...

im really hoping theres some euro dudes rapping on the record.

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

Kanye West: 'People look at me like I'm Hitler' lul

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm/oOoo! rubbin up against you beex I'm gaaaaaaaaaaay!!??? nooooooooooooooooo, aaaaaaaaallll

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

how come none yall answered my question bout gangstas paradise? One of yall shoulda stepped up, timid penguins. Had to look that shit up myself, he's an r&b singer, LV, born Larry Sanders (!!lmfao) with two solo albums, who died...drum roll...about two weeks ago. Swear I didnt know yall...awwww like I care what you lil tenenbaum teddy grahams think

It's A-Me, Martucci said...

Anyone else secretly wish mr. pauper's penguinz wouldve been released back in '97, so it would've been guaranteed a Will Smith tie-in single? Miiiistah poppaz peeenguinz/miiiiis-taaaah po-pop-pop-pah's friiiiiiiiieeeends/pop n lock just pop n lock/kid friendly shit, so drop the glock/just pop n pop

I challenge thee to finder greater unintended comedic value than in pictures of lil' jada pinkett fronting her nu metal excursion at Ozzfest. Yeah, let's do this brendan