Returning to the roots of classic rock, I recorded this entirely live in the studio on my trusty old reel to reel tape recorder, layering each instrument on top of each other. The album was created on the fly, meaning that it is mostly improvisational, from a musical standpoint, and very little modern technology was used in it's creation (no metronome, etc). I chose a dark theme for the lyrics - celebrity self inflicted death - just to have lots of material to write about... «« click to show details
Returning to the roots of classic rock, I recorded this entirely live in the studio on my trusty old reel to reel tape recorder, layering each instrument on top of each other. The album was created on the fly, meaning that it is mostly improvisational, from a musical standpoint, and very little modern technology was used in it's creation (no metronome, etc). I chose a dark theme for the lyrics - celebrity self inflicted death - just to have lots of material to write about. Each track is the story of one of those celebrities...
Track List:
1
Boy Wonder
5:44
2
Rock And Roll Man
4:21
3
Bootleg Break One
2:30
4
The H In Hollywoodland
2:10
5
Electric Fire Child
6:07
6
Bootleg Break Two
1:52
7
Your Sisters In Trouble
3:30
8
News Brief
3:12
9
Bootleg Break Three
0:55
10
Russian Rapunzel
5:17
11
Searching Las Vegas
6:00
12
Heaven In Seattle
4:11
13
Bonzo Goes To The Moon
16:01
14
Celebrity Requiem
3:13
Notes: This album came about accidentally. I had the misfortune of having a series of equipment failures that pretty much shut down my digital recording studio temporarily. I started trying to piece together a make-shift version of my existing studio using parts and computers from various machines my friends donated to me, but after multiple tries, it became clear that it was time to upgrade my setup to something new. Unfortunately, my budget didn't quite allow it to happen immediately - I was going to have to wait a month or two before I'd have the financial ability to do it right.
Being a musician that spends a lot of time in the studio every week, this seemed like it was going to be a bit painful. I couldn't stand the thought of waiting a couple months or maybe more to get going again. So I decided to pull out my old analog gear and fool around with it while I waited for proper fundage.
I got my old analog tape deck hooked up and lucked out - everything still worked like a charm. I even had a good supply of blank reels of tape that I'd purchased shortly before going digital - thank goodness! I did a short audio recording, just to test it all out, and playing back the tape revealed an instant warmth I used to be fairly familiar with.
I started out by recording a couple minutes of drums - just improvisation. After a few takes, I listened back to the tape and added a bass guitar - making up a simple progression that I could follow. I was just messing around at first. Then I added a couple guitars and a piano track. Suddenly, I realized how much fun it would be to make a 4-track EP like this. It would be my first analog recording in nearly 7 or 8 years! I was off and running...
For the lyrics, I always wanted to do a biography record - telling stories of famous people's lives. So I embraced the concept and took it one step further. I decided to make each song inspired by a celebrity who had taken their own life - either accidentally or on purpose. A suicide record, which is ironic because I've never actually contemplated suicide or had suicidal thoughts. That became the catalyst for the songs. I researched a few stories and started recording - adlibbing most of the lyrics as I went along. Once I got the process started, it was hard to stop. Before I knew it, I had already completed more than double the number of tracks I had set out to. That's when I decided to just make it a whole album.
The title 'Organically Grown' seemed like a perfect way to represent how these tracks came to be. Almost all of the music is improvisational, in nature, and was recorded live in the studio. The natural compression of the analog tape is unique and quite noticeable now that I've been playing in the digital world for some time.
In mixing it down, I strived for the overall sound of some of my favorite classic rock records and old bootlegs. Since I was going analog, I might as well go classic rock. Mid-range heavy bass guitars, crunchy drums, dirty guitars... I purposely left the tails of the tape unedited - it seemed to give it that live bootleg quality. Plus some of the stuff before and after the actual music added a lot of depth to the sound of the record, in my opinion.
Lastly, I realized that there was one more interesting aspect to the record. I've revealed the inspiration for the lyrics, but I've intentionally not told you the names of the celebrities, whose suicides made them candidates for this album. That's for you to figure out - sort of like a book of riddles. So have fun! One quick clue: each vocal song is about one celebrity, with the exception of 'Bonzo Goes To The Moon', which covers two similar stories simultaneously. That one's pretty obvious anyway. Eleven celebrity self-inflicted deaths, in total. And the 'Bootleg Breaks' are merely instrumentals so don't waste any time trying to decode them for clues.
Oh yeah... And here's another clue for you all - The walrus was Paul...
Recording Info: Recorded in the flowerpot studio, seattle using a fostex 8-track analogue reel-to-reel, Behringer 32 channel 8 bus mixing console, Neumann Condensor Microphone, Shure Microphones and a variety of other microphones. Gretsch drums, Zildjan cymbals, Guild acoustic guitar, custom bass, Fender stratocaster, Bundy trumpet, Takamine 12 string, various percussion toys and instruments, Yamaha piano.
Musician Credits: all instruments, vocals and music performed, composed, arranged and engineered by dave flowers.
Genre: Vocal Pop, Funk and Rock Catalog Number: Phase 026
Organically Grown Dave Flowers
1
Boy Wonder
5:44
2
Rock And Roll Man
4:21
3
Bootleg Break One
2:30
4
The H In Hollywoodland
2:10
5
Electric Fire Child
6:07
6
Bootleg Break Two
1:52
7
Your Sisters In Trouble
3:30
8
News Brief
3:12
9
Bootleg Break Three
0:55
10
Russian Rapunzel
5:17
11
Searching Las Vegas
6:00
12
Heaven In Seattle
4:11
13
Bonzo Goes To The Moon
16:01
14
Celebrity Requiem
3:13
0 Tracks - Total Play Time: 65:02 Album
Returning to the roots of classic rock, I recorded this entirely live in the studio on my trusty old reel to reel tape recorder, layering each instrument on top of each other. The album was created on the fly, meaning that it is mostly improvisational, from a musical standpoint, and very little modern technology was used in it's creation (no metronome, etc)... «« click to show details
Returning to the roots of classic rock, I recorded this entirely live in the studio on my trusty old reel to reel tape recorder, layering each instrument on top of each other. The album was created on the fly, meaning that it is mostly improvisational, from a musical standpoint, and very little modern technology was used in it's creation (no metronome, etc). I chose a dark theme for the lyrics - celebrity self inflicted death - just to have lots of material to write about. Each track is the story of one of those celebrities...
Track List:
1
Boy Wonder
5:44
2
Rock And Roll Man
4:21
3
Bootleg Break One
2:30
4
The H In Hollywoodland
2:10
5
Electric Fire Child
6:07
6
Bootleg Break Two
1:52
7
Your Sisters In Trouble
3:30
8
News Brief
3:12
9
Bootleg Break Three
0:55
10
Russian Rapunzel
5:17
11
Searching Las Vegas
6:00
12
Heaven In Seattle
4:11
13
Bonzo Goes To The Moon
16:01
14
Celebrity Requiem
3:13
Notes: This album came about accidentally. I had the misfortune of having a series of equipment failures that pretty much shut down my digital recording studio temporarily. I started trying to piece together a make-shift version of my existing studio using parts and computers from various machines my friends donated to me, but after multiple tries, it became clear that it was time to upgrade my setup to something new. Unfortunately, my budget didn't quite allow it to happen immediately - I was going to have to wait a month or two before I'd have the financial ability to do it right.
Being a musician that spends a lot of time in the studio every week, this seemed like it was going to be a bit painful. I couldn't stand the thought of waiting a couple months or maybe more to get going again. So I decided to pull out my old analog gear and fool around with it while I waited for proper fundage.
I got my old analog tape deck hooked up and lucked out - everything still worked like a charm. I even had a good supply of blank reels of tape that I'd purchased shortly before going digital - thank goodness! I did a short audio recording, just to test it all out, and playing back the tape revealed an instant warmth I used to be fairly familiar with.
I started out by recording a couple minutes of drums - just improvisation. After a few takes, I listened back to the tape and added a bass guitar - making up a simple progression that I could follow. I was just messing around at first. Then I added a couple guitars and a piano track. Suddenly, I realized how much fun it would be to make a 4-track EP like this. It would be my first analog recording in nearly 7 or 8 years! I was off and running...
For the lyrics, I always wanted to do a biography record - telling stories of famous people's lives. So I embraced the concept and took it one step further. I decided to make each song inspired by a celebrity who had taken their own life - either accidentally or on purpose. A suicide record, which is ironic because I've never actually contemplated suicide or had suicidal thoughts. That became the catalyst for the songs. I researched a few stories and started recording - adlibbing most of the lyrics as I went along. Once I got the process started, it was hard to stop. Before I knew it, I had already completed more than double the number of tracks I had set out to. That's when I decided to just make it a whole album.
The title 'Organically Grown' seemed like a perfect way to represent how these tracks came to be. Almost all of the music is improvisational, in nature, and was recorded live in the studio. The natural compression of the analog tape is unique and quite noticeable now that I've been playing in the digital world for some time.
In mixing it down, I strived for the overall sound of some of my favorite classic rock records and old bootlegs. Since I was going analog, I might as well go classic rock. Mid-range heavy bass guitars, crunchy drums, dirty guitars... I purposely left the tails of the tape unedited - it seemed to give it that live bootleg quality. Plus some of the stuff before and after the actual music added a lot of depth to the sound of the record, in my opinion.
Lastly, I realized that there was one more interesting aspect to the record. I've revealed the inspiration for the lyrics, but I've intentionally not told you the names of the celebrities, whose suicides made them candidates for this album. That's for you to figure out - sort of like a book of riddles. So have fun! One quick clue: each vocal song is about one celebrity, with the exception of 'Bonzo Goes To The Moon', which covers two similar stories simultaneously. That one's pretty obvious anyway. Eleven celebrity self-inflicted deaths, in total. And the 'Bootleg Breaks' are merely instrumentals so don't waste any time trying to decode them for clues.
Oh yeah... And here's another clue for you all - The walrus was Paul...
Recording Info: Recorded in the flowerpot studio, seattle using a fostex 8-track analogue reel-to-reel, Behringer 32 channel 8 bus mixing console, Neumann Condensor Microphone, Shure Microphones and a variety of other microphones. Gretsch drums, Zildjan cymbals, Guild acoustic guitar, custom bass, Fender stratocaster, Bundy trumpet, Takamine 12 string, various percussion toys and instruments, Yamaha piano.
Musician Credits: all instruments, vocals and music performed, composed, arranged and engineered by dave flowers.
Genre: Vocal Pop, Funk and Rock Catalog Number: Phase 026