Back From Spain World....

So no update last week because i was away on vacation... just like last album when we went to Italy... remember? only this time it was Spain. Yeah, i'm an important world traveler.

Sandy (my wife) and i went to Madrid finally after years of wishing we could go... she used to live there and hasn't been back for 15 years... so it was wild to see all the changes that have occurred in that time; things like cathedrals in places where there were no cathedrals, the massive bounce-plex in front of the Royal Palace, the outdoor public foot-rub and pina-colada kiosks strewn about, and the city-wide no smoking policy that's been enacted. hahha... i'm totally joking about all that... i got you guys so bad. (except for the cathedral... that was real).

We met up with our good friend Justine who came down from Barcelona to spend the day with us... that was certainly a trip highlight... here she is with Sandy in front of a big iron horse.

Here's a shot of me in the Metro. Look how European i am sitting on that metal pole like Europeans so often do. I told you i'm important!

Anyway - the trip was great and we hope to get back there in a year or two with the pups... but in the meantime i need to finish this album so we can make millions to fund the next romp around the globe.

So last night Tim, myself, and Tom worked on guitars and vocals for Mighty Now to Save, Morning Guilds the Skies, and I'll Sing On. Tim just got a Roland RE-201 Space Echo and brought it along for the night, so it was used on a part for Mighty Now. oh, did i mention we are using a lot of tape echo on this recording?

We also worked on vocals. Now, usually (and i think ideally) a band has one lead singer, and that singer is a large (if not biggest) part of the

"identity" and sound of the band. The New Ancients does not have such a person. We have a bunch of different people who we shuffle in and out of the lead spot... and hopefully it works... so a big part of planning these albums is figuring out who is going to sing what part in what song. The leads are always the hardest to pick. We have to try and find who can sing and sound best on what song... and sometimes it takes a few tries. For example, for Jesus Master on Light For Dark Eyes, we had 2 other versions of the song; one with Michelle Andrews singing the lead, and one with Jeff Ulrich singing. Both sounded good, but Christian just sounded better (probably since he wrote the song) so he ended up on there. For this album, there may be no Christian at all at this rate! He's been pretty busy in meetings, phone calls, babies, wood chopping, and Settlers of Kataning. So as of now, looks like i'm in the hot seat to do vocals... Here's a shot of Tom looking on as Tim works the knobs for my vocal tracking:

Earlier in the day i tracked Sammy doing some bell kit for a tune. Mom shot the video while i sat by and directed. Sammy now gets the "Youngest Recorded New Ancient" award. As i listen to some of these mixes i realize that The New Ancients and The Ringout are starting to converge... this new album sounds pretty darn distant from Light For Dark Eyes and is closing in quickly on Wake, Wake Dear! from the Ringout. But it is what it is and this is where we are.

Hopefully next week we will get some of the girls' vocal parts done and put some more songs in the bag. At this point there are actually 3 songs pretty much wrapped up, which may mean it's time to press a little EP for a pre-buy so we can raise money to fund the pressing of the full length. Anyone interested? let me know if you are.