Hi, I'm Chad Weis. I own The Devil's Workshop Sound Studio in Minneapolis. I've been hanging out with Cory Mon and The Starlight Gospel for the past week. I'm using the term hanging out loosely. We've been working on a new record and locked ourselves in the studio with the expectation that we would not leave until we had a brand new full length cd in hand. After 3 Pizza'a, 2 cases of Dr. Pepper, two loaves of bread, a few cases of water and various other sundries I'm glad to say we have met our goal. It's been a blast hanging out with Cory, Eric, Devin, and Jacob. They are very talented and driven musicians. Not to mention all around nice guys. Tomorrow we load them out of the studio and they will begin their trek homeward. I'll miss these guys, but I'm sure we'll all cross paths again. I do hope they are able to round up all the barking spiders that they brought with them. Happy trails fella's!
Chad Weis
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Team Lefty vs. Team Righty
Ok so Team Lefty is slaughtering the team that shall not here be named when it comes to blog posting. In fact team lefty slaughters "they who must not be named" readily. Maybe its because the one team spends most of their time watching DVD's and binding their lives up with other forms of useless media like video games and IPhones. Yes team lefty seems to have a considerable edge when it comes to most things. It is actually for this reason that the teams were named Lefty and "the other" (righty). It all began in Telluride:
So one morning in Telluride Eric, Devin and Jacob are in the condo that we were staying at while I was out taking a stroll down the river. Eric says something to Jacob like, "Hey man are you uncomfortable here with us without Cory?" Jacob responds, "No, why do you ask?" "Well it just seems that you two do everything together and leave Devin and I to one another. Like how you always sit shotgun and Cory drives. Or how you and Cory passed out fliers together while Devin and I paired up to do the same." (obviously Eric and Devin are feeling a bit of the jealous bug) Jacob resonds, "No I feel fine around you guys". And then immediately looks out the window and spots me walking up the road toward the condo. He hastily opens the window and yells with much vigor, "Cory, hurry up I feel really weird being around these guys without you!". Later on that day we decide to play 2 on 2 football. Naturally we decide Jacob and Cory vs. Eric and Devin. Jacob and I are oh so aware that this will be of no contest at all thus we decide that we will play the whole game only passing with our left hands (we are both right handed but I should mention that we have done our share of lefty practicing since moving into our new place in April).
Oh the results of the game you ask? Well team lefty has a hefty (rhyme unintentional) advantage at 3 scores to 1 before the cockiness sets in and the left arms began to weaken. The end result: Tie at 3 thanks to an immaculate interception converted to a touchdown run by Devin. It was a beautiful play Devin and I must humbly tip my hat to such stark and ravening beauty in the form of superior athleticism.
Oh yeah Day 6 is moving along. 7 of the 10 tracks are mixed. Just 3 more to go. Looks like this could be a long night. Chad has been amazing this whole time either he likes us and is really enjoying this project or he is stealthily suppressing the feeling of "I want to punch them in the faces right now" to the point that we think he really does likes us. Serious though we owe this guy big time and we would jump at any opportunity to work with him again. I see why he has been so successful in the music biz. He's genuine, hardworking, a good soul and a fun guy to be around. He would be a perfect road companion. And to tell you the truth that is the biggest compliment that I can offer. We've all heard it said: when you are on the road, whether it be for music or for vacation etc. even your best of friends will drive you nuts. This has been a great test for us as a band as well. The band gets along perfect (well almost, there always has to be a bit of competition with me. I mean come on I come from a family of 6 highly competitive boys) and we get along with Chad perfectly. He's a good man.
Cory Out
So one morning in Telluride Eric, Devin and Jacob are in the condo that we were staying at while I was out taking a stroll down the river. Eric says something to Jacob like, "Hey man are you uncomfortable here with us without Cory?" Jacob responds, "No, why do you ask?" "Well it just seems that you two do everything together and leave Devin and I to one another. Like how you always sit shotgun and Cory drives. Or how you and Cory passed out fliers together while Devin and I paired up to do the same." (obviously Eric and Devin are feeling a bit of the jealous bug) Jacob resonds, "No I feel fine around you guys". And then immediately looks out the window and spots me walking up the road toward the condo. He hastily opens the window and yells with much vigor, "Cory, hurry up I feel really weird being around these guys without you!". Later on that day we decide to play 2 on 2 football. Naturally we decide Jacob and Cory vs. Eric and Devin. Jacob and I are oh so aware that this will be of no contest at all thus we decide that we will play the whole game only passing with our left hands (we are both right handed but I should mention that we have done our share of lefty practicing since moving into our new place in April).
Oh the results of the game you ask? Well team lefty has a hefty (rhyme unintentional) advantage at 3 scores to 1 before the cockiness sets in and the left arms began to weaken. The end result: Tie at 3 thanks to an immaculate interception converted to a touchdown run by Devin. It was a beautiful play Devin and I must humbly tip my hat to such stark and ravening beauty in the form of superior athleticism.
Oh yeah Day 6 is moving along. 7 of the 10 tracks are mixed. Just 3 more to go. Looks like this could be a long night. Chad has been amazing this whole time either he likes us and is really enjoying this project or he is stealthily suppressing the feeling of "I want to punch them in the faces right now" to the point that we think he really does likes us. Serious though we owe this guy big time and we would jump at any opportunity to work with him again. I see why he has been so successful in the music biz. He's genuine, hardworking, a good soul and a fun guy to be around. He would be a perfect road companion. And to tell you the truth that is the biggest compliment that I can offer. We've all heard it said: when you are on the road, whether it be for music or for vacation etc. even your best of friends will drive you nuts. This has been a great test for us as a band as well. The band gets along perfect (well almost, there always has to be a bit of competition with me. I mean come on I come from a family of 6 highly competitive boys) and we get along with Chad perfectly. He's a good man.
Cory Out
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Jacob is refreshed!/Down time deeds.
I took a long nap this afternoon and now I’m just chillin feeling pretty somber and relaxed. It was a good nap. The studio here has some nice couches in both the lounge and in the studio. As a band we are having a good amount of down time while Chad is hard at work mixing our recorded stuff. We stick around because every once in awhile we love to hear what his magic hands, ears and brain are doing. I spend lots of time on facebook and playing my drums. Chad is also a drummer so he has a number of cool vintage drum kits here and fun drum stuff that I can toy around with. He also has some cool Hammond Organs and pianos, a sweet Rickenbocker bass and some other sweet guitars and vintage things, so we all have a good time messing around with his stuff at the studio. Devin and Eric just went and got season 2 of Heroes, which I guess just came out yesterday. We stay busy while doing nothing if that makes sense. We eat pizza and burritos a lot also, and Devin has stayed busy growing and grooming the worlds raddest beard. Photos of which will be posted very soon. Men prepare to be jealous and women prepare to swoon. Peace!
Day 5
So the rest of the band has left and just Chad and I are currently in studio. It is amazing the attention to detail Chad hears. The tracks are sounding amazing. There is a definite dirty sound to this album and it thrills me. It's really rootsy and organic. We all took a drive through the city of Minneapolis in my brother Mike's car (thanks Mike) last night and listened the the tracks Chad has mixed thus far. Ah the goodness in the mix...
Chad also mentioned that we should pursue an opportunity to tour with Brett Dennen (brettdennen.com for those of you who are unaware of him check him out his music is currently one of my fav's) and that he thinks we would be a great fit with him. I would love to tour with Brett. His music is happy music and it sounds like he is a bit of a screw-off just like the Gospel. Ill have to harass Chad into passing on some contact info that that we can properly harass our way into touring with Brett. Ill have the other dudes update you later on tonight. Also Chad mentioned that he would like to write on the blog as well so that's something worth looking forward to.
off to listen to another possible final mix...
Chad also mentioned that we should pursue an opportunity to tour with Brett Dennen (brettdennen.com for those of you who are unaware of him check him out his music is currently one of my fav's) and that he thinks we would be a great fit with him. I would love to tour with Brett. His music is happy music and it sounds like he is a bit of a screw-off just like the Gospel. Ill have to harass Chad into passing on some contact info that that we can properly harass our way into touring with Brett. Ill have the other dudes update you later on tonight. Also Chad mentioned that he would like to write on the blog as well so that's something worth looking forward to.
off to listen to another possible final mix...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Jacob explains the edit.
Yeah, I did make some minor edits to the blog. To summarize what I edited out I will just tell you that Eric accused Devin of being gay because he likes river dance. Woop there it is!
Hey Kids Cory here,
So uh, yeah, hmmm.... So much to say. Chad has been working like a machine. We are into day 4 and Chad is currently mixing "40 Days". Its kind of a dark and creepy song (which is good, mind you). Im not gonna make fun of anyone. Im not gonna say much at the moment for I am currently not in a gabby mood. I love music. I love this band. I love, I love, I love. Im gonna post some pics. Theme song for the trip has been Jacobs version of Mason Jennnings classic song, Be Here Now (but Jacob sings it in an annoying Arnold Schwarzeneggadoger accent). What made me think of this you ask? Jacob just walked by singing it... again.
Oh and Jacob posted one of our new tracks on our myspace page www.myspace.com/corymon. Jacob entitled the new song Black Doggy. Jacob sings on this one so when you listen to the track you will hear the first reason why we are now considering having Jacob front the band. If you have ever had the chance of hearing me play my unorthodox drum style, you will then know reason number 2.
Pics:
Matt is a busy dude here in Minneapolis so we haven't been able to spend as much time with him as we would have liked but we did have the blessed opportunity of staying with him and his family. It was really great to spend some time with Matt, Xia, Mia and Max. You have a truly beautiful family Matt. Playing music is such a blessing and has enabled us to meet many amazing people. I can honestly say it has led me to many of my bestest friends. Im extremely grateful for Matt and his family. So last night Matt swung by the studio. We decided to jam out a mellow little tune the youth are calling 'You Don't Know Me'. Chad grabbed a mix of vintage mics and set them up... good times. Good song. So we were able to get Matt on the album as I had hoped. Cory Mon & the Starlight Gospel featuring MATT JENNINGS is the tag line that we are currently contemplating. Photos captured the moment yall. Also viewable are photos of the telephone and vintage pre-amp that I sang through for a Tom Waitsy effect on 40 Days.
Love you guys
Cory
ps last post was from Eric, yes I know big surprise Eric wrote on the blog. Problem is Jacob felt he had to edit a portion of the blog so that his parents didnt think he was hanging with the wrong crowd... or just possibly to spare the whole lot of you from hearing and experiencing the dirt that at times runs through our minds and escapes out of our mouths. Its good to have a good example like Jacob in the band. Dirty old dudes like Eric and I are in need of such clean and saintly influence.
So uh, yeah, hmmm.... So much to say. Chad has been working like a machine. We are into day 4 and Chad is currently mixing "40 Days". Its kind of a dark and creepy song (which is good, mind you). Im not gonna make fun of anyone. Im not gonna say much at the moment for I am currently not in a gabby mood. I love music. I love this band. I love, I love, I love. Im gonna post some pics. Theme song for the trip has been Jacobs version of Mason Jennnings classic song, Be Here Now (but Jacob sings it in an annoying Arnold Schwarzeneggadoger accent). What made me think of this you ask? Jacob just walked by singing it... again.
Oh and Jacob posted one of our new tracks on our myspace page www.myspace.com/corymon. Jacob entitled the new song Black Doggy. Jacob sings on this one so when you listen to the track you will hear the first reason why we are now considering having Jacob front the band. If you have ever had the chance of hearing me play my unorthodox drum style, you will then know reason number 2.
Pics:
Matt is a busy dude here in Minneapolis so we haven't been able to spend as much time with him as we would have liked but we did have the blessed opportunity of staying with him and his family. It was really great to spend some time with Matt, Xia, Mia and Max. You have a truly beautiful family Matt. Playing music is such a blessing and has enabled us to meet many amazing people. I can honestly say it has led me to many of my bestest friends. Im extremely grateful for Matt and his family. So last night Matt swung by the studio. We decided to jam out a mellow little tune the youth are calling 'You Don't Know Me'. Chad grabbed a mix of vintage mics and set them up... good times. Good song. So we were able to get Matt on the album as I had hoped. Cory Mon & the Starlight Gospel featuring MATT JENNINGS is the tag line that we are currently contemplating. Photos captured the moment yall. Also viewable are photos of the telephone and vintage pre-amp that I sang through for a Tom Waitsy effect on 40 Days.
Love you guys
Cory
ps last post was from Eric, yes I know big surprise Eric wrote on the blog. Problem is Jacob felt he had to edit a portion of the blog so that his parents didnt think he was hanging with the wrong crowd... or just possibly to spare the whole lot of you from hearing and experiencing the dirt that at times runs through our minds and escapes out of our mouths. Its good to have a good example like Jacob in the band. Dirty old dudes like Eric and I are in need of such clean and saintly influence.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Jacob again! Eric and Devin are in the lounge watching Heroes on DVD. They love that show and have been watching a lot of it on this trip. Meanwhile team Lefty (Cory and myself) is working hard. Cory is singing through a telephone. Wow! We are now in a 4 star hotel and we like it much better than the Hotel 6. I used a clarifying shampoo this morning and I really hope that it doesn’t make my hair clear because I think that would look really weird. I prefer brown over transparent. We were up recording until 4am last night and needless to say we were all super exhausted. We got a bit lost on our way back to the Hotel and all our different tired people personalities really emerged as we tried to team navigate our way through downtown Minneapolis. Here they are: Cory becomes extremely brutal and relentless with his teasing and joking; Eric becomes super quiet and reserved, possibly due to extreme amounts of very justified irritation; Devin becomes a total slurry mumbly drunk and tries to communicate with not much success at all; and I am just flat out loud and annoying. We all got through it really well and we have now concluded as a band that, if we can endure something like that at 4am after a super long day of recording and playing together we can endure anything. Good to know. These guys really are my best friends and I’m thankful for them and there patience. As a band we are also extremely thankful for Chad. He is such a mega, super hard worker and is moving things along the way we need and want them to move. We are now calling him coach. He is dedicated to our team and our success on this album. He really doesn’t have to stay up with us until 4am, or hook us up with a way nicer hotel for less money, or do a lot of things that he does for that matter. Thank you Chad! I dub you Champion of the Universe!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Jacob here! Bloggy blog blog. My hands are sore from playing the congas! Ouch! We are having tons of fun and trying our best to make these songs as great and organic as possible. We have recorded most of the basic tracks live and we are working on doing some overdubby stuff. My hands are sore! It hurts to type. Ouch! Cory keeps calling me a sissy but everyone knows that he is the real sissy of the group. He is not nearly man enough to play such intense conga parts for an entire 8 minute long song. I might use his face to play the congas on the next song. That will sound rad! I think I might put some shaker on the song 'Clocklight'. I feel like it might help the feel a bit. Any thoughts anyone? Shake shake shake...shake shake shake...shake your shaker! shake your shaker! and BOOTY!
Basic tracks done
So Cory has given me (Devin the bassist for those of who dont know who I am) the assignment of posting our first blog of our recording process. But first let me talk about our way up to this state called Minnesota. We left on Wednesday around 5:00 PM and stopped somewhere in Nebraska for the night. I wish I could tell you what town but it really was in the middle of nowhere. We found a dirt road and drove on it till we found a good plot of land, stopped the car, unloaded our sleeping bags, and then slept outside. It was quite nice except for the howling coyotes in the distance that were probably planning on some devious way to rip our faces off and the ants that decided to be our bed companions that we discovered in the morning. We drove the rest of the way to Minnesota where Eric and I discovered the amazingness known as "Heroes." Check it out, it will change your life.
Our first day in Minnesota (Friday) we had completely free to check out this new land and mysterious city. So what did four guys decide to do with their free day? Check out the largest mall in the United States of course! The Mall of America! I wish I could say it was amazing but it was just a mall that was larger than other malls meaning that there are even more useless stores than ever before! We then spent the night with Matt Jennings who is the brother of Mason Jennings, but I will let Cory talk more about that. Yesterday we went through 9 out of 10 of our songs and recorded all the basic tracks. We were quite impressed. Chad Weiss is an awesome engineer and an awesome guy in general who is really chill and relaxed. Its been a great experience so far.
I will end this blog with our hotel experience last night. We wanted a cheap place so we reserved a room from Motel 6 which was our first mistake. WE show up around midnight to find the lobby desk locked down with a metal gate with a bulletproof window on the side from which I am to talk to the hotel lobbyist. He gives us our room, we walk up it and discover a small tiny room with one bed inside. We have four people. This is not going to work. We go downstairs, ask for a new room since they screwed up on our reservation, and all they have is a smoking room for us. We take it, walk in, and the smell of nicotine and tobacco hits our nostrils instantly with brown spots and stains scattered on the walls to remind us what our room is. We discover the next morning as well that there is a blood stain on our shower curtain where some unlucky tenant probably met his demise or some person cut their legs shaving or something, we will never know, but it was enough for our new friend Chad to go on priceline.com and get us a 4 star hotel for $50 bucks a night. He is forever in our debt. Thats all for now. Pictures to come soon...
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Minnesota
BLOG BLOG BLOGGITY BLOG
So the beginning of our blog is influenced by our coming trip to Minnesota. We are recording our next album with Chad Weiss (http://www.myspace.com/weischad). Check out his Myspace page to see his many accomplishments. Our good friend Matt Jennings (http://www.myspace.com/mattjenningsmusica) is the main reason we have been blessed with such good fortune. We've decided to document our trip to Minnesota in blog form whether or not we really keep it up with current photos and stories or not remains to be seen...
In celebration of our departing for Minnesota we will be posting the song, The Minnesota, on our myspace page(www.myspace.com/corymon). We have recorded 4 songs with our best friend Clarke Jackman here in Orem, The Minnesota being one of them:
Jeff Stone and I were up late one night when i came up with the chord progression and the line "I float the Minnesota". We jammed on it for a while and were quite pleased. I remember Jeff asking "what are you saying about Minnesota" and i was like "I float the Minnesota". "What does that mean?" "I dont know man, but its pretty cool". "Yeah man." "Yeah man."
That night I had a dream that I was floating on a raft on a large body of water waiting... for something". The Minnesota is both about a dream I had and also about following ones dreams, in particular my following of the musical dream. I dont need alot. Im not asking for alot. I just want to keep playing. I want to keep writing. It keeps me alive. It keeps me me. I want to make a life of this and more importantly I want to not only continue to believe in but receive miracles... "I know you want, you want for me".
believe and receive.
hugs and tickles
cory
So the beginning of our blog is influenced by our coming trip to Minnesota. We are recording our next album with Chad Weiss (http://www.myspace.com/weischad). Check out his Myspace page to see his many accomplishments. Our good friend Matt Jennings (http://www.myspace.com/mattjenningsmusica) is the main reason we have been blessed with such good fortune. We've decided to document our trip to Minnesota in blog form whether or not we really keep it up with current photos and stories or not remains to be seen...
In celebration of our departing for Minnesota we will be posting the song, The Minnesota, on our myspace page(www.myspace.com/corymon). We have recorded 4 songs with our best friend Clarke Jackman here in Orem, The Minnesota being one of them:
Jeff Stone and I were up late one night when i came up with the chord progression and the line "I float the Minnesota". We jammed on it for a while and were quite pleased. I remember Jeff asking "what are you saying about Minnesota" and i was like "I float the Minnesota". "What does that mean?" "I dont know man, but its pretty cool". "Yeah man." "Yeah man."
That night I had a dream that I was floating on a raft on a large body of water waiting... for something". The Minnesota is both about a dream I had and also about following ones dreams, in particular my following of the musical dream. I dont need alot. Im not asking for alot. I just want to keep playing. I want to keep writing. It keeps me alive. It keeps me me. I want to make a life of this and more importantly I want to not only continue to believe in but receive miracles... "I know you want, you want for me".
believe and receive.
hugs and tickles
cory
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