Most of the tracking for the new album is complete and as I listen back to the work we have done so far I realize how rhythmically diverse the new songs are.  I think this is a result of how limiting the 12 tone musical scale can be when you are constantly trying to create something new within it.  Rhythm is easier to manipulate without much thought so it is always the rhythm that comes first to me because I can feel it.  Working with Mike and Rob in the studio was fun because it became obvious that we were working with rhythmic nuances that we are still unfamiliar with and have not yet mastered.

Tomorrow we start rehearsing the new material as a band for the first time. We have only really experienced these songs in the studio so it will be a very interesting process and the songs will probably be given new life.  Some of the songs like “Ear to Ear”, “Cuppa Joe” and “Peru” we have already played live, but we have not yet understood them.   This week is meant for really diving into those songs and the others that we haven’t even touched as a band yet.  I hope that on this tour we can really get familiar with them because it has been a while since we have toured with a new repertoire.

There are a lot of things that we will be uncomfortable with for a long time before they really sink in, but I think that challenging ourselves is the only thing we can do to become the band we want to be.  Unforeseen difficulties will most definitely arise and how we approach those problems will really test our abilities as a live band.  After working through all the parts for the album it is apparent that we are capable of creating great music, but now the real challenge begins as we delegate who will play what, sing what ect.

We are also working on a new way of approaching Ableton live on stage.  We tried once before to consolidate our entire repertoire into one Ableton set, much like a DJ set but it didn’t sound the same due to synthesizers we were using.  Now we have discovered the world of Massive, a Native Instruments synthesizer that has the ability to play up to 127 voices in one set utilizing MIDI program changes.  This means that we are rewriting all of our synth voices in Massive and undergoing a major tune-up under the hood so to speak.   With this new set we will be able to transition much easier and with more variety and also re work some of the older material and have more fun with all of it.