Before/After: Darkest Spaces

Sometime early next year, Nate Miller's album will be done. I cannot tell you all how much effort everyone involved has put into these recording Nate's music--musicians, engineers, visual artists, and of course, Nate and I have devoted countless hours to it.

It's hard to see how far we've come from where we're standing. That's probably true of most creative projects, and is one of the great paradoxes of undertaking an album. But the other day, I got a chance to listen to some of Nate's original demos--the recordings that were the seed of this album (for some of you, they are the only recordings of Nate's music that you have). It was really fun to hear how ideas blossomed out of a simple garage band recording.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be putting up some BEFORE/after recordings of his demos and some rough mixes from his album.  I'd love to hear what you think of his music or my production work.

Here's the first of these: Darkest Spaces. Nate's demo is beautiful, and I hope the album version does it justice.

We had the privilege of having some amazing musicians on this one: a string trio, Kevin Milner on pedal steel, and Mike Lindsay on drums. Here's a rough mix that will give you an approximation of the album version.

Before

After

Stay tuned for more samples, let us know what you think, and be sure to check out Nate Miller's blog to learn more about him or to read his lyrics:

http://freerefills.wordpress.com/words/

In the mean time, enjoy the music!

Show Tonight/Bandnames

For my SHOW TONIGHT, I wanted to name my band Nate Vaughan and the <somethings>... Here's the list my friend Rob came up with:

Nate Vaughan and the stern looks

and the bottle breakers

and the staredowns

and the tumbleweeds

and 98degrees

and the deputees

and the do you rights

and the close shaves

and the rusty spurs

and the no good for nothins

and the rowdy dirtbags

and the true grits

and the wide strides

Thanks, Rob.  Finalists and winner will be announced tomorrow...

Speaking of which:
October 3rd
El Cid
4212 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90029
8pm
$5
(variety show to follow)

This Guy

Just thought you all might enjoy this pic:

Stay tuned.  His album is on the way.

Nate Miller Update

Many of you know that I have been working with Nate Miller for the past several months on a short album.  We have had many killer musicians contribute to the project, including great string players, guitarists, keyboardists, and drummers.  We are entering the final stages of recording, and are proud of the work coming forth.

If those of you who have contributed financially to the project were stars, our flags would be full.  I recently heard that 52 of you have given nearly $4000 to support Nate.  We are so excited by this show of support, and we hope to give you a recording that lives up to the standard set by your generosity.  Those of you who have not yet given, you can donate here.  Call it pre-ordering the album if you like.

I hope to share some sounds with you soon!

Anna Su - Untitled:Dance

In addition to working with Nate Miller, I have been working with Anna Su on a short dance EP over the last few weeks.  We are new to indie dance pop music, but have the fortune of working with Jack Zoephel, who engineered yOya's album.  I believe we are in good hands.

Anna and I spent an evening at Eargasm Studios in Santa Monica with some amazing musicians a few weeks ago.  We cut bass, drums, keys, and guitars for her new songs.  The space at Eargasm is really special; it combines a great acoustic space with a variety of vintage gear.

We had a our pick of classic microphones, preamps, and compressors, and a great group of musicians on the other side of the glass.  Honestly, it was the easiest session I have ever run; there were very few problems to address, and I just got to sit back and watch it all happen.

Anyway, more to come on this project, and more photos after the break.

How Far Does This Highway Go?

Here's a video I recorded last year with Anna Su and Rachel Vaughan.  Enjoy!


How Far Does this Highway Go? from Secret Moustache on Vimeo.