An LFM Christmas Krissingle

Back in the glory days of LFM we would have a grand Christmas party every year. One year we decided to have the party at Bernie’s and release a cassette known as the LFM Christmas Krissingle. I’ve still got a copy and we listen to it every year during the holidays. And it seems like every year someone is asking about how they can get a copy. I’ve been wanting to post it online and last night, out of the blue, I got a call from my awesome mind-reading webmaster, Allan Foster, to say that he was going to post the songs online. You should read Allan’s blog to see what he has to say about this cassette. http://allanfosterphotography.blogspot.com

The cassette has 4 songs.

Bigfoot - Silent Night
Earwig - Feed the World
Coronado - Mrs. Christmas
Preston Furman - A PF Holiday

We wanted a special one-off release for the Christmas party and about a week or so prior to the show we came up with the idea of a holiday cassette. We put the word out to the LFM family bands to see what they could come up with on such short notice and these 4 songs are the ones that made the deadline. Bigfoot kicks off the affair in rare 4-track form replete with cassette tape mayhem and vari-speed glory. David and Melanie Holm from Bigfoot now play in Total Foxx with Sam Brown. Bigfoot’s drummer, Brad Swiniarski, now runs Horny Records which just helped release the new (and great!) Bush League All Stars record.

I bought the Band Aid single when it was released and I still have the 7”. Earwig used to play this song every Christmas at shows. You may be interested to note that Brad Swiniarski was also the drummer for Earwig for a short time during this period. His stint behind the skins for Earwig included a handful of live shows and 2 recording sessions which yielded this holiday track as well as Anatomical Gift and Two Dragons from the album Perfect Past Tense.

Rich Cefalo, Earwig’s then bassist, during this same period started his string of side bands that would eventually give birth to the great Po-Po Volcano. Coronado also features David and Jason (now the drummer for Grafton) from Preston Furman. Listen closely and you’ll also hear our very own man-about-town Allan Foster playing the paper bag. Allan went on to drum for Po-Po Volcano.

Ahhh, what can be said about Preston Furman? As young musicians they seemed to be just finding their legs, yet making some incredible savant-vibe music in the thick of it all. This song shows off the comedic song-writing skills of the one and only Matt Wagner (Earwig’s now bassist!). If you by chance happened to know the guys in the band, it’s extra funny as they each sing their lines in character.

Enjoy these holiday tunes as a gift to you from the ghosts of Christmas past.

Catch up with Earwig on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earwigtheband

Bring on the dancing keyboards

As Kermit the Frog would say “Moving right along…”

All of the guitars are finished. That fact is sad and beautiful at the same time, if you understand where I’m coming from. Earwig is a guitar band and the guitars are like the potatoes. Now all we need is the gravy. More sounds! So for this most recent session Landy pulled out the cool keyboards and we made some noise. I added bitchin’ sawtooth-wave hoo-hah to a couple of songs. It worked out well. We passed off a couple of tracks to an “un-named party” to add some bleepity-bloopity and see if we like it. No results there yet. But yesterday we spent the day in the awesome presence of the one and only Thomas Boyer, the man with the magic fingers. Thom is actually the producer that introduced me to Mike Landolt and I’m still working with Thom to finish up recording/mixing the other Earwig EP ‘North High Alumni’. Did I mention Thom is great? He put some pound-along roughhouse piano on Trees, sad Hammond on Her Heart, dirty Rhoads on Lovesong Cockroach and a church organ on Star Cross’d. I’m pleased as punch and can’t wait to start mixing in January now that the tracking is 99% finished.

One song that you won’t hear any keyboards on is Wicked. It’s one of my favorite new songs and strictly a six string affair. You can download the acoustic here

http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/WickedMCHacoustic
To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop

I’m working hard these days to get all of my ducks in a row for the release of this record. I’d like to offer some sort of pre-sale, but have not figured out exactly how just yet. The new website, the digital release…all kinds of good stuff coming up soon. So stay tuned. Also, I’d like to mention that I’m still in need of a few investors to get this thing totally off the ground. I had a few Super Fans step forward (Thanks Jamie Clark! Thanks Foshy! Thanks Russells!) to kick-in some $$ goodness and help out the cause. They’ll get it back in spades. I’m still looking for a few more to contribute so we’ll have the dough to get this party started right. So if you, or someone you know, might be a candidate to help out, please get in touch with me at lizard@lizardfamily.com and I will fill you in on the small print and see if you too can be a part of Team Earwig! As always, thanks for reading the blog and pass along this song to everyone who’d like to hear it.

Let the waiting begin

Matt came in last week to sing some songs and slay his fuzz-wah bass solo on Lovesong Cockroach. It was a revelation. Up until now it’s just been a whole lot of “Me” getting spread all over this record. Getting Matt in there proper really helps make it sound like a “band” again. All of the best records have multiple elements contributing to the final mix, be it other band members, songwriters or producers. With Matt kicking in and Landy on board for the long haul, I think we’re heading in the right direction. We made a few rough mixes and upon first listen I was disappointed. I’ve had a bit of time to listen to them and investigate what’s actually there and my current diagnosis is that it all sounds great and this is going to be Earwig’s best record yet.

Live, Matt’s backing vocals are pushed towards the realm of punk-rock. In the studio I can really hear what he’s doing, why he’s doing it and what he’s adding. One song that this effect really stands out on is Glorious & Gloom. On the pre-chorus (‘You think everyone is poison…’), Matt sings a contrasting vocal line that makes this part seem like it’s in a minor key almost. It’s neat and it really works well for the song as a whole. Here’s the live solo acoustic version of Glorious & Gloom for you to memorize.

http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/GloriousandGloom_MCHacoustic
To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop

The sad part, for me, is that with the holidays upon us Mike and I only have 2-3 days to work before the end of the year! This seriously throws off my schedule as far as getting this record done in time for my original release plans. Oh well, anything good is worth waiting for. Or so I’ve heard.

I know what I want

Staying focused, that’s the key. This stage of working on the record is where darkness and self-doubt start to slyly creep in on me. It’s easy to get lost. We’ve completed a LOT of guitar work and it all sounds undeniably great. But I start to wonder, is it the ‘right kind of great’? This album has been alive in my head for a such long while now and there is some difficulty for me in it actually become animated. It means that I will have to let go of it. That can be a tough thing for me to realize and to accept. In my mind’s eye these songs are awash in greatness, no questions asked. Once I spit them out, that greatness is open to debate. Landy and I have been dealing with this by re-cutting some questionable guitar parts with a different purpose in mind. Approaching a few songs from alternate perspectives to see if there‘s a better fit. A different guitar, a different amp, a different vibe. Sometimes the results are fantastic. Other times it’s hard to tell. Add in the prospect of all of these new options and we’ve created some cold work to sift through. Since Mike (Mike Landolt is the producer and I sometimes call him Mike, sometimes Landy. But I’m talking about the same person.) is a bit newer to these songs he is not as attached to ‘the way they were’ as I am and it’s sometimes easier for him to hear if a new part is working or not. Often I might not be sold on it right away just because it is different from what I’m used to. But I want these songs to break away from what they were and bloom into something new. I know what I want this album to be. It’s how it has to happen.

On the song ‘Next Christmas’, I’ve added in some guitars and a solo that I’ve never played live or even considered for this song before. They’re still settling in. I do like the new solo though, it reminds me of the Cure...just a little bit. You won’t hear any of these new guitar parts on this acoustic demo. Too bad. You’ll just have to wait for the record to be finished like the rest of us (us?!). Regardless, I hope you’ll enjoy this new MP3 of ‘Next Christmas’. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new songs. I don’t know how many people actually read this blog, but if it’s 2 or 2000, thanks for listening. Yes, I mean you.

http://www.lizardfamily.com/mp3s/NextChristmas_MCHacoustic
To download the MP3 go to File -> Save as and store the file on yr desktop