Friday, September 14, 2007
Reflection of 10 years ago (Somnambulist)
Eleven years ago in the Summer of 1997, Todd Carter and I were working on our first Somnambulist album after finally recording a Did album that was 3 years overdue after our band broke up in the Summer of 1994. We decided that Summer of 1997 that we would separately work on each writing tracks and then come together for a week of recording and mastering the album. 'Did' was a full band, but 'Somnambulist' was a duo. I would write lyrics, sing, play bass and keys, Todd would sing, write lyrics, guitar, and drums. We had everything covered. He was living in Chicago, and I was still in Bloomington. So sometime during an extremely hot week, with no air conditioning in his 4th FL flat, we worked 14 hour days working out the kinks and recording them. Our first track, "End of the 20th Century" was already recorded in Bloomington with Ned Baugh on drums. It was a completely joint track, and to this date my favorite on the album. The rest of the track ownership went as follows, "Smell the Flowers" (me),
"Deadly Orgone" (joint, with Miles Newcombe on environmental sounds), "Touch and Believe" (me), Incandescent (todd), "On Horsell Common" (me), "Again" (me, and already recorded on the 'Beyond Cryptic' Grasspig album), "Transgression" (todd), "She's Imagining Again" (todd), "Tuscaloosa" (todd), "On the Other Side of Seeing (Desiring Machine)" (joint). Most of what I brought to this album should have been recorded on a Grasspig album, but I decided at some point that I would keep them Somnambulist material. Overall the album was rushed, kind of disjointed, the mixing wasn't that great, and we overextended ourselves. Looking back now, it was worth it.
You can listen to the tracks here.
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