Notes from the Studio, Days 1-2

Hey hey, it’s Vivian Darkbloom reporting from an undisclosed location in Southeastern Massachusetts, where we’ve been hard at work recording material for our first full-length album. Scott Riebling’s new studio is pretty freaking sweet — it’s so new it doesn’t even have a name yet — and, incredibly, everything has worked right so far, with the exception of one speaker cable in the bass room which decided to sacrifice itself so everything else could stay perfect.

Come along with me, won’t you?

Most of the recording happens in the drum room:

Drum kit

Another angle on the drum room

The cheese stands alone.

Next is my favorite room in the studio, the bass/bathroom. Notice the Ampeg 8×10, which I risked my life helping Scott carry down from the garage.

We can also use these mics to record people when they pee.

Here’s Cristiano in the control room. Notice the stack of amplifier heads, working in concert to demolish you with bass tone.

Recording is pretty grueling, and  it’s hard to break momentum to go in search of nourishment. Luckily, we found a good sub shop down the road, and it’s named for my favorite state!

Clearly an auspicious beginning to the process.

We’ll spend a couple more days recording basic tracks, then get to work on overdubs, mixing, etc. etc., and then in a few months we’ll work on the next batch of songs. You should never, ever trust a rock band when it tells you when it expects its album to be finished, but let’s say it will be “spring”…ish.

Into the Studio

Hey there internet, good to see yaz.

Tour was a blast, and we want to thank everybody who came to see us, all the venues who hosted us, and especially all the bands who rocked out with us: Company of Thieves, Pioneer Ships, The Hard to Get (coming to P.A.’s on 8/19!), The Real. Yesssss.

Tomorrow we are going back into the studio for the first time in a year with our good friend Scott Riebling. You know him as the producer of groups like Low vs Diamond and Metro Station and the bass player from the great Letters to Cleo. Scott has set up an entirely new studio outside of Boston, and we get to help him break it in! Yessssssss.

I’ll try to snap some pictures and send some updates from the studio.

Yessssssssssssssssss!

L.A.: City of Smiles

L.A. is just crazy, man. Nowhere in the world promises so much: sun, sky, waves, fame, fortune. Eternal summer, eternal youth.

But at the same time, no place else pulls such a fast one: gangs, crime, clogged freeways, endless sprawl. What kind of cruel joke is this?

And yet — although I am a prototypical neorotic Northeasterner, although I am diametrically opposed to everything about L.A. in every way — I like this place. I like its contradictions. I think it’s neat.

You know what dawned on us today? People here are nice. We played at Silverlake Lounge tonight with Pioneer Ships and The Hard to Get, and everybody was just super nice. Bands, sound guy, bartenders, bouncers. Say what? No bouncers in Boston are nice. And the club has its own parking lot??

Great show, good times. See you again soon, L.A.

First Day of Tour: Boston to San Jose

[Written 8/5 at around 1 a.m. in the van on 101 south, posted a day later thanks to free motel wifi:]

We don’t know about other musicians, but one of the biggest attractions of the rock star lifestyle for us is the crazy, liberating hours you get to keep. While other people are tied into their conformist, button-down, nine-to-five cubicle lifestyles, rock musicians get to explore the freedom on the fringes of society, staying awake when other people sleep, dreaming sweetly while other people slave at their jobs.

So, obviously, we all relished waking up at 3 a.m. today so we could make our 5:30 flights out of Logan. Somehow this all went off without a hitch; personally I don’t remember most of it. When we got to San Francisco, we took a taxi to the van rental place (exclaimed our cab driver, “I don’t think this is good area”), solved last-minute insurance problems, loaded up our stuff, and we were on our way.

By the time we took the stage at the Blank Club in San Jose, we had been awake about 22 hours and were suffering from varying degrees of dehydration, dizziness, hallucinations, etc. The flashing reflections off the disco ball took on terrifying shapes in our sleep-deprived consciousnesses. It’s a wonder we got through the set. The crowd was great, at least when it didn’t look like an enormous purple coyote licking its monstrous chops.

It was great fun sharing the stage with Company of Thieves, who are all truly excellent musicians and lovely human beings. You should check them out!

We also sold some merch. One guy stood in front of the table, staring at our “I heart VD” buttons for more than a few moments. Finally he said, “I wonder if I could get away with wearing one of these at work?” Heh, right. Then his wife/gf added, “He’s a gynecologist.”

Soon: bed. Tomorrow: LA.

Another way to get VD; West Coast tour

Welcome to Vivian Darkblog, the official blog of Boston indy rock band Vivian Darkbloom!

We decided to start this to satisfy our fans who are, no doubt, already listening to us on myspace, following us on twitter, and checking us out on facebook, but still yearning for more avenues of virtual contact with the band. Come and get it, public!

The big news now is we are on the verge of our first tour outside the East Coast: to the Other Coast. Here are the dates:

Aug 4 2009 9:00P	The Blank Club	San Jose, California
Aug 6 2009 8:00P	Silverlake Lounge	Los Angeles, California
Aug 8 2009 8:00P	Rockit Room	San Francisco, California

It is absolutely essential that you, fan, attend these awesome shows Meanwhile, we will be posting updates and photos from the road to give you a peek into the mysterious life of the Darkblooms.

Tomorrow we fly out egregiously early. Updates will follow.

That is all. End transmission!