Mark Harvey is the owner/operator of Nobody Records, Pumpkinland Studios and 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio.
In my world it tends to be Halloween much of the time. Strange most of the time. Busy all of the time. Join in on the fun, leave a comment and enjoy your stay...
Wow...time sure moves quickly...my last post was on June 20th and it seems like I've been going non-stop since then. Speaking of June 20th, I spent most of the day (and evening) over at Jay's place...recorded some music and then jammed that night at a little get together he had. The song we recorded (here) is probably my favorite to date. So far the new Rain Station recordings have been good, but I'm not sure what to think about all the songs quite yet. We have mixing work to do and we need to record some backing vocals and maybe some more instruments. Jay and I don't get to record often enough so this project is taking longer than some of the others.
Jay has posted his list of favorite tracks thus far - check them out (and download them) HERE.
And as I said, jamming was a blast. Dave Mintim came over with his bass. Jay played drums and I played guitar. We ran through some Rain Station tunes, some of Jay's tunes and some of my tunes. Jay and I switched instruments and I got to play drums for a spell. Jay took off and Dave (bass) and I (drums) jammed with Liam Casement (guitar). I love playing drums....Jay calls me leadfoot...I tell him I am from the John Bonham school of drums.
Jay is now headed to Maine with his family for a little Summer vacation so the project is going to sit for a little bit. I'm going to try and focus on getting my recording studio up and running while he's gone so we can record some music at my place when he gets back.
I went camping over the 4th of July weekend...I'll write about that next time.
Greetings! I'm back with another music post (after the two "trip" blog entries) and today I'm going to write about Beth Eyre and Month of Sundays. Beth is my sister and she has a beautiful gift - both singing and songwriting. For years she lived in L.A. working primarily in cover bands around Orange County (although they did gig around the Southland). She managed to make a very nice living doing it and she was excellent at it. I recall as a teenager (as I was playing in bands) thinking that it was a shame she was singing other people's music and that true artists only work on their own music. How wrong I was. Playing (or singing) other people's music gives you the opportunity to craft your own skills - your own sound - and in the end makes for a better artist. During her time in L.A. she was working with a guitarist named Vinnie and recorded a large number of tracks (five that can be heard on this CD). We selected our favorites of these sessions to put onto this CD. After living in Southern California for well over a decade Beth decided to move back to NorCal and soon after she did we started playing music together. Three of the tracks on this CD we wrote together - Beth wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music. The first song we wrote together was "All This Time'. "One Man" and "Let It Go By" followed and we recorded a three song demo to shop our wares and to get gigs with. We wrote many other songs, but they were never recorded. Working with my sister was great and our band was INCREDIBLE. We had studio caliber jazz musicians backing us up and our gigs were nothing short of amazing. One of them (pictured with Beth and I) was Frank Buchanan whose Mother was in a singing group (The Diamond 'Lils) with our Mother - a sort of Andrew's Sisters act. We had (sort of) grown up together watching our Mothers so it was funny that all those years later we were playing music together. Frank brought our songs to a new level as he is an amazing guitar player and songwriter. This act was definitely the best I have ever been in. We opened for a number of national acts. We were becoming a sort of "Brand New Heavies" type of act. One day I received a cease and desist from a band out of Boston (I think it was Boston - can't find a trace of them now) so we just adjusted our name and added Beth's name. Eventually it became too difficult to corral the drummer and bass player as they had better paying gigs (Beth and I would give 100% of our pay from gigs to the backing band - they deserved it!) and we disbanded. The dream of the sister/brother duo died.
Beth can be heard on some Rain Station tracks as well as some of my solo work. I imagine at some point I'll ask her to come back into the studio with me and lay down more vocal tracks. Pay special attention to the tracks we recorded together...and I hope you enjoy them.
Thanks for listening,
Mark Harvey
(the pic to the left was taken prior to one of Beth's SoCal gigs)
So...a little time has passed since my last entry. The second leg of my business trip was very good. The storm last Thursday night was insane. The whole sky was lighting up, thunder shaking the hotel and sheets of rain coming down. Tornado advisories were in effect and I was thinking I might end up getting evacuated. Thank goodness I didn't. The CMA Music Festival concert that was going on at LP Field was evacuated due to the lightning storms that were coming through. We sure don't get weather like that at home.
Friday morning I headed up to Bowling Green, KY to do my "work related deal" and that went very well. Got to have lunch at Cracker Barrel (here). I love me some Cracker Barrel, yes I do. Many years ago I was first introduced to Cracker Barrel, a chain of "Old Country Stores". From Wikipedia, "As of May 2009, the company, founded and based in Lebanon, Tennessee, was operating 582 full service locations located in 41 states in the United States. In 2008, Cracker Barrel was ranked as the top "family dining" chain for the 18th consecutive year in Restaurants & Institutions magazine "Choice in Chains" annual consumer survey". Cracker Barrel serves traditional Southern comfort food. The retail store carries mainly nostalgic merchandise, collectibles, old time toys, classic candies, scented candles, and items used in making Cracker Barrel entrees. My favorite menu item (non-breakfast - although the breakfasts rock) is their Grilled Chicken Tenderloins dinner with Country Green Beans, Hashbrown Casserole and Corn Muffins. The closest Cracker Barrel is in Utah (not close) so when I am in a place that has one I got to get me some Cracker Barrel. On a family vacation two years ago I drove my family to the nearest Cracker Barrel (an hour one way) about four or five times. OK, I am obsessed!
When I completed my work related tasks I headed over to Gallatin, TN to visit my friend, Jeff Preston. Jeff is a phenomenal artist (see his work to the left or click here - he has been inducted into the Society of Illustrators, by the way) and an all around incredible guy. He was the owner/operator and visionary of Terror on the Square (here) a haunt that (in my opinion) should still be operating. We spent HOURS talking. He shared a special bottle of wine (Preston of Dry Creek here) which I initially thought was something he labelled for himself, turns out it is a wine from Healdsburg, CA - NORCAL, baby. We grabbed some dinner at Larriviere's On The Square (here) and talked some more. We covered quite a bit of ground - got caught up on what we've both been up to, art, Halloween, workout routines, art, Halloween, wine, art...OK, you get the picture. He showed me around his beautiful home (he's got a HUGE deck) and he also showed me some of his original pieces. I was in awe. Being in the presence of such an artist is amazing to me. His vision and artistry is just superb. I ended up leaving his place at 3:00 am - drove back to Nashville, slept for a little less than 3 hours and then got up to fly home.
The flight home was eventful, but quite frankly I am not interested in writing anymore about this trip. The trip was a good one on both a business and personal level. Folks like Jeff make me realize how years can pass, but a good friend is always a good friend. I wish I could collect all of my friends, the wonderful folks from all around the country, and put them somewhere close so I could see them all more often.
I'm travelling this week - flew from Oakland to Denver - Denver to Nashville - rented a car in Nashville and drove down to Huntsville, AL. Spent the night on Wednesday night in Huntsville, did my "thing" today and then drove back up to Nashville. Took a side trip...
Tonight I went into downtown Nashville and things were NUTS there. CMA Music Fest is going on tonight - Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Julianne Hough, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker. The streets of Nashville were packed. I just wanted to grab some dinner (and a beer) and get back to watch the NBA Finals. I would have liked to see some of the acts, but I had no idea that this was going on until it was a little too late. Plus, it just wouldn't seem right to go without my wife. I also wanted to check out a few places, but the sea of people just made me beeline back to the hotel.
Tomorrow I am heading up to Bowling Green, KY for another work related "deal" and tomorrow night I'm hoping to catch up with an old friend.
I've eaten VERY well - Gibson's BBQ last night (here), G's Country Kitchen (here) for lunch today and Blackstone Brewery (here) for dinner tonight. The folks in the South are so friendly it makes me want to move here...oh, wait...the weather...oh well...
Speaking of weather - there's some nutty weather pattern that's descending on Nashville - they keep cutting into the basketball game saying that we're about to see some serious weather...nice... I feel at home here in the South and enjoy the good food and kind people.
Many times I am at a loss for words (yeah, right Mark)...and for moments like that there is instrumental mopehead. Many of these songs have lyrics written - fully - partly - while others not at all. Some of this music was made for soundtracks, independent movies, video and film. You can find these tracks featured in the NYU grad film "Ozone", the Independent Video "The Anemic Butcher", the web sci-fi saga Super Spy Chick and The SOB Puppet Hour. Jay helped me select the tracks that made the final cut. I have what might amount to a TON of instrumental tracks that have not been released. I should make another pass through them and put out instrumental mopehead volume two...maybe that'd be a good Summer project.
The tracks:
1. sandbag - I envision the Sandman as he travels through the night gently sprinkling sand into our shut and dreaming eyes. Things pick up in the tune mid way through and I don't know what to say about it...in hindsight I probably should have kept it mellow. Somewhere this song has lyrics partly written.
2. If I were - fill in the blank - a song about longing.
3. revolution - This song features a sample of Jay saying "revolution" taken from "The Living Room Sessions". I really dig this track. One of my favorites on the disc.
4. Stanley Rockbottom - A track about not allowing yourself to hit rock bottom - you don't want to be Stanley Rockbottom, do you? This song has lyrics as well, but they've never been recorded.
5. untitled - so...a song named untitled...hmmm...here's what happens - when I start a new song on my E-Mu Darwin the song is called untitled until I title it. This time, I chose not to change it. This song takes me far away each time I hear it. Sometimes I wish I could stay there.
6. girl - This song was written for a man I know who was involved in a long distance relationship with a woman. Each day he would come to work bleary eyed as he spent his nights on the phone with his love. His phone bill was legendary. They are married now with two kids.
7. holloween - This song has some lyrics written for it, but I have yet to complete them which is surprising since it is a song about Halloween.
8. Crushed Black Velvet - I'll never tell what this song is about, but safe to say that I love it when women wear crushed black velvet.
9. blue bar - If I had a bar of my own this would the theme song. Lo-fi, seedy, good drinks and music. I've always wanted to own my own bar or brew pub. I enjoy bar tending and I like to home brew my own beer. Someday...
10. better suited for heaven - Sometimes in life you meet people that are just too good to be true. They seem to be better suited for heaven.
11. ...and he's waiting - The feeling of waiting and hoping she will return. Longing.
12. if - It is good to dream...good to ponder..."if".
And now without delay...instrumental mopehead...
I'll be a little out of pocket for the next few days. I'm going to travel to Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky. I may blog from the road, but if not I'll be back next week.
I've written about the Fleshrot disc before, but since it is up on Bandcamp I thought I would talk about it yet again (bear with me). I enjoy doing work for hire (or at least I did when my studio was operational). I like fusing ideas from other people together with my own. It is probably why I like recording with Jay so much - multiple minds on a project brings magic.
My buddy John Pearson (pictured on the left) and I had worked on a few soundtracks for video games he was making for Ra-Dev (a game development team) and he asked me to put together a CD for his graphic novel (Fleshrot:Tales from the Dead) so I accepted the challenge. I recorded a number of rockin' tracks, some ambient ones and used a couple of tracks that I had already composed. It was a very fun project.
My buddy Ed Cagnacci (All About Evil, Gary Floyd Band, Spokepoker, Charm School Dropouts - and many other bands - pictured on the left) helped me out with "Misty Graves" - and it was a little more than helping me out. He played guitar, bass and lent his vocals to the track - so the song is pretty much Ed with me on drums and backing vocals - THANKS ED, I love you, man...
Another buddy of mine, Erik Frykman (a multi-talented guitar player, a guitar "gun slinger" - pictured left) lent his guitar solo prowess to "Fleshrot Anthem", "Insatiable Hunger" and "Last Stand". His solos REALLY made the tracks POP and without them I don't know where I would have been. I love you too, Errrrrbang.
Then after the mixing was done I brought the whole project over to Lev Perrey at Title Studios to master the disc. Lev is AMAZING - ears of magic - plus he has an understanding of gear that would boggle your mind. I got a lot of luv for Lev.
The reviews came in, but here's the best (and most complete)... Fleshrot review: Any serious zombie fan or comic collector will now have a copy of the Fleshrot: Tales From The Dead graphic novel. The Fleshrot team don't just stop there, they like to take it up a notch by having a soundtrack as a companion piece to the comic.
The main man behind this is Mark Harvey. Mark Harvey has been writing and recording music for 17 years. He founded Nobody Records in 1987 at age 18 to promote and release his first LP. He opened Pumpkinland Studios to record various solo and band efforts. In 1999 he released his first Halloween 'HauntScape', Pumpkinland, for use in theme parks, haunted attractions and by home haunters. His work includes commercials, custom haunt tracks, soundscapes and sound effects. His work has been heard on radio, television and film. So now you know a bit more here are my notes on each track.
1) FLESHROT ANTHEM: The opening track starts of with dark instrumental and the sound of zombies, then explodes into a brilliant thrash metal experience clocking in at about just over 9 minutes!. Pure audio adrenaline.
2) THE FAMILY PLOT: The first of the ambient tracks on the album. (Originally titled "Caverns" from Mark's Pumpkinland 2 CD) Now sharing the same name as one of the darker tales in the book, this is the musical equivalent of that bad dream where you are trapped in a dark nasty place, trying to find a way out. Looking behind you the whole time.
3) THE DEAD HAVE RISEN: A short distorted guitar track with a drum n bass like feel to it. Playing over an eerie instrumental. Cool.
4) ETERNAL TORMENT: Inspired by the comic "Whatever" Written and Illustrated by YoungwooCho. With no actual lyrics, the tortured vocals are the zombie version of those chants wise men make when performing rituals. Set to a melancholy soundtrack.
5) DRINK TO THE DEAD: Plucking strings and rolling drums, makes for easier listening with this rock-lite celebration of the dead.
6) ZOMBIES: Exactly what it says on the tin. A dread filled musical score with an army of moaning flesh eaters. This is what the rise of the zombies would sound like.
7) INSATIABLE HUNGER: Inspired by the comic "The Collection" Written and Illustrated by John Pearson. A full on head banger with attitude and solid vocals from Nova Brown.
8) NIGHTMARE: Turn off your lights and listen to this at high volume, and enter goose bump city. (Song taken from Pumpkinland III)
9) DAY OF THE DEAD: A guitar fest with a deep bass line and gritty vocals.
10) RESTLESS SEASON: A twisted tune with spooky xylophone to boot!.
11) LAST STAND: Imagine you and a few friends are the last humans facing off an army of zombies, everything is in slow motion as you look around and it seems hopeless...Then BAM! you whip out the guns and start kicking ass big time. This song is the music version of that scenario. Awesome.
12) ZOMBIE YARD: This ambience is the sound you hear while hiding from Zombies, as they take over the earth.
13) MISTY GRAVES: If you have read the graphic novel you will know who Misty Graves is. For those who don't, she is Fleshrot's version of the Crypt keeper. The major difference being, she is a hot Goth chick and not some wise cracking bag of bones.This fast upbeat rock song is a tribute to her.
Mark Harvey and Co. have created a superb CD. Right up there with many horror sound tracks,and actually better than most of them.So if you are into rock and cool ambient tracks this will be right up your street.
Nice one.
KP
And without further rambling....here is that darn disc...
"The Living Room Sessions" is a relaxed recording of an acoustic "unplugged" Rain Station event. Well...actually Jay and I were just sitting around in our living room at the Rain Station in SF. Two guitars, two guys...heavy mellow. I had purchased a portable DAT recorder and had been playing around with the mic input. I took a pair of my high end Sennheiser headphones and took them off the headband and placed them in front of Jay and I. The recording quality was pretty remarkable. Jay brought out his book of tunes and we just ran through them (with little or no practice). Jay's songwriting skills are really highlighted on this disc and these tracks are some of my favorites. Jay was saying the other day that he'd really like to record these songs in a "real" studio. I am hoping to provide him with a "real studio" to record in by having a nice Pro Tools set up to get these tracks recorded with Jay. I'd like nothing more than to get these produced and released. So without further comment, click below for the Bandcampiness that is "The Living Room Sessions":
Please enjoy this release...comment if you would...click above...it don't cost nuthin'!
Wow...time sure moves quickly...my last post was on June 20th and it seems like I've been going non-stop since then. Speaking of June 20th, I spent most of the day (and evening) over at Jay's place...recorded some music and then jammed that night at a little get together he had. The song we recorded (here) is probably my favorite to date. So far the new Rain Station recordings have been good, but I'm not sure what to think about all the songs quite yet. We have mixing work to do and we need to record some backing vocals and maybe some more instruments. Jay and I don't get to record often enough so this project is taking longer than some of the others.
Jay has posted his list of favorite tracks thus far - check them out (and download them) HERE.
I went camping over the 4th of July weekend...I'll write about that next time.
