Summer Solstice (and Summer Home)

Greetings and happy Summer Solstice!


This is just a quick near re-post - a couple tracks - and then I'm out.


As the story goes..."Summer Home" is one of those rare tracks that has been recorded twice (I think three times actually). It is one of my favorite Rain Station tracks. In the summer of 1992, Hoagie Malone (Jay Moores) began coaxing musicians for his recording project "Equator". These sessions produced 33 tracks. Originally released as "Khaki Circus" by Equator, Hoagie felt that the recordings between he and mopehead (Mark Harvey) were going particularly well, so when mixing time came, the 33 tracks became two separate releases. Rain Station was born with the release "Criminal Goat" and Hoagie released the rest as "Equator". "Summer Home" was one of the tracks on "Criminal Goat". Jay recorded drum tracks in his large Mission Street house. I'd come over and record guitar tracks to his tracks and then he'd flesh out the rest. On the original "Criminal Goat" version of "Summer Home" the bass track was played by Jay's buddy Dave Mintim.


Here's the "Criminal Goat" version of "Summer Home"...

A year or so later I moved out to the Sunset (from the Peninsula) and after a few roommates came and left I convinced Jay to move out of the Mission and out towards the ocean. The place we lived in was fairly large and allowed for setting up and playing (as a band).

Tony Iuppa (my buddy who played bass in The Screaming Paisleys) joined us as did a friend from work, Brian Peet (on drums). Rain Station (the band) was formed and we recorded a three song demo to shop around for gigs. Jay and I also named our home in the Sunset The Rain Station.
"Summer Home" was one of the tracks we recorded for our three song demo - this time on my 4-track. "Summer Home" was added to "Fancy Fancy" as were the other two songs we recorded - "Widdershins" and "Quiet Morning".
Here's the "Fancy Fancy" version of "Summer Home"...

Jay and I have yet to record a version of "Summer Home" on something better than a 4-track. I'm sure someday we will as we both love the tune.

Remember, all of my CDs are available for purchase at Nobody Records.

Be sure and support independent music and purchasing CDs from us!

Mark Harvey

Brian Peet lives in Houston

Not that I'm going to give up his address (don't worry Brian), but I recently visited Houston on business and had a chance to see my friend Brian Peet.  I was amazed...once we did the math it appears that we had not seen each other for around 13 years.  A lot of ground has been covered in 13 or so years, but Brian and I clicked in as if no time had passed.  That's what happens when you have good friends - you just pick up where you left off.

I met Brian Peet sometime in the early 90's while working at the good guys! Van Ness store.  He was selling computers and I was the night manager.  Not only was Brian a cool guy, but a fantastic musician.  We instantly hit it off.  Brian helped me get set up with my recording rig, recorded drums tracks for some of the songs on Rain Station's "Fancy Fancy" disc as well as vocals on some other tracks.  Rain Station's only "live" line-up featured Brian Peet (drums), Tony Iuppa (bass), Jay Moores (vocals - acoustic guitar) and me (vocals - guitars). Brian and I produced some tracks here and there and had lots of fun doing it.  Brian is one of those musicians that comes along only once every so often - great ideas, great ears, great talent.  He continues to work on music with the same passion he had years ago. I received a couple CDs yesterday from Brian and true to form the music is fantastic. I wish him success and for the world to know his genius. He is one person that truly deserves it.

Have a listen to some of the tracks I've been fortunate to work on with Brian  - his credits listed (beware - this list is long):

"Summer Home" - drums


"It's A Good Day" - drums, percussion, backing vocals, production


"Slice A Piece Of Heaven" - vocals


"The Place I Once Came From" - vocals


"Quiet Morning" - drums


"Widdershins" - drums


"Pimp Rock Superstar" - vocals


"International Monkey" - vocals


"Feelin' Sci-Fi"  - keyboards, production

Check out some of the great and strange music Brian has been a part of.  Lemme know what you think!
It was great seeing Brian Peet and I am hopeful that we will once again work on music together.

Mark Harvey

mopehead - Bandcamp - what's good...

"It's Always Good" is another compilation of mopehead tracks some of which are REALLY old. This CD only has one guest appearance by Brian Peet (backing vocals on "Phate"). This grouping of songs is full of memories, pain, growth and a little happiness. When I hear these old songs I am always compelled to get of my rear and get back to doing what I love to do. Recording music is something that really fulfills me. It is a musical history lesson - my musical memory. OK, I'll get on with it...

"Somewhere Out" ...a song about wanting to escape the every day grind - a track written while working for the good guys.

"Get Happy" ...a song about what else, getting happy in spite of what might be going on in life. Let's face it, we all have hurdles in life, "Life's no major chore, get happy".

"He Goes To Parties" was written while I was living in SF (recorded at the Rain Station). After drinking a bottle of wine I recorded this track. My buddy Brian Peet liked the track so much we re-recorded it (I blogged about it here). Although the song is written about a specific woman from my past it is not really based in reality. Whenever I hear this song I think of her. She was very special to me. She changed my life.
"Flying East" is about going to visit Jay in New York. It was just after I had gotten married, my work life was REALLY getting me down and I was missing my good friend. I recall driving down Interstate 580 and thinking I could just let go of the wheel and let my car crash. I needed some creative time with my creative friend and I had to get away from work for awhile. Jay was living in a mansion on Staten Island and it sounded so magical to me. The years Jay spent in New York were great for him and probably good for me, but I am always happier when he's in California. What I really need is for him to be my next door neighbor so we can create whenever the feeling hits us.
"Phate" ...about living life, accepting fate and giving yourself a break every now and then. I am harder on myself than anyone could ever be. More boat references in this track as well.

"It Feels Like I'm Home" ...about a nightly journey to Oakland. I was working at the good guys store on Van Ness in San Francisco and my girlfriend was living in Oakland. Many nights I would commute across the Bay Bridge on my way to her place...driving my VW Bus, listening to Rain Station, burning a stick of nag champa incense.

"Little"...what would a mopehead CD be without a Halloween song on it? This song is about the haunting of a lover.

"Older & Wiser"...about growing up, learning and enjoying life. "We all grow old, some grow wise"...very true.

"It's Always Good"...the title track of the disc and at one minute fifteen seconds is quite the little ditty. I've always loved this one. Music as THE drug. Music can heal. Music!

"A Friend Of Yours"...another song written for/about Jay. Regardless of where we live...I will be a friend.

So there you have it. A song by song account - to the best of my recollection. Have a listen...

Thanks as always for reading...commenting...and hopefully listening.

My best,

Mark Harvey

songs for monkeys, puppets and strange fellows

After I moved to Oakland (and Jay to New York) I began recording and compiling quite a few mopehead songs. Some of the tracks I recorded with Brian Peet, but most of them I recorded on my own. I'm not sure why some of the tracks made it onto mopehead discs while others made it onto Rain Station discs. Both "Big Top Blues" and "It's Always Good" were put together after the songs were recorded. Jay provided the cover art for "Big Top Blues". He also helped me decide which tracks should be put on which disc. The tracks on "Big Top Blues" are all pretty strange - in a sort of novelty vibe sort of way. Most of them were written to give me some weirdness to send East to Jay.

Some of these tracks were recorded on the digital 8 while others were on my old 4-track.

"Pimp Rock Superstar" features vocals by Brian Peet and my ex. Bubo (the "person" referenced in the track) is a statue of an African drummer that we found in the Rain Station in SF. I've had him ever since.

"Mr. Moores In New York" is obviously about Jay in his NY habitat. The "chickie count count" backing vocal is My Monkey.

"Monkey Times" yet another song about My Monkey. More "chickie count count" goin' on.

"Big Top Blues" laments the existence of circus life. And, yes, more of My Monkey. Boat references as this is related to my other CD - SS-MOPEHEAD - which I have yet to get onto Bandcamp. Jay does have some Flash videos for that though...here...

"International Monkey" is yet another song about, what else, My Monkey - and more "chickie chickie count". Brian Peet sings backing vocals on this one as well.

OK, I think it is time to talk about My Monkey (and I do sing about it in my song called, "My Monkey" on SS-MOPEHEAD...another disc I'll try and get up onto Bandcamp). My Grandma made me a sock monkey and from I recall she gave it to me when I was around five. I really loved that monkey and named him "Funky Monkey". Well, my Mom didn't like that name since it sounded too much like the "F" word, so she forbade me from calling him that. I didn't understand (and at five who could blame me). So I called him my monkey, but I knew his name was "Funky Monkey". Anyhow, I've kept that sock monkey and still have him today. A few years after I got him I also got a Snoopy stuffed animal (the ones that you can buy clothes for). I got disco clothes for Snoopy and decided to put the pants on My Monkey (and he's still wearing those pants today).
Anyhow, that's a little monkey history lesson for you.

"Every Day, Every Year" is a Halloween tune pure and simple. I have quite a few Halloween tracks that have never been released. I supposed I should some day unleash them onto the public.

"Funky Monkey" is a lo-fi tune about, what else, My Monkey.

"Feelin' Sci-Fi" is another "Halloweenie" track. It sort of reminds me of the music I listened to when I was a kid - Steve Miller Band, Steely Dan, Wings and 70s/80s funk (I could go on and on since I am a music fiend and listened to nearly everything growing up).

"Chompo The Clown" is yet another Halloween track with the added bonus of the "chickie count count" going on.

"I Like The Breeze" finishes up the CD - a bit of a love song - another song about boats.

So what's with the boats, Mark. Well, I can try and explain it two ways. My father was in the Navy - he loved boats. I can remember spending time with him on all sorts of boats - from yachts to row boats to steam boats to destroyers. His naval years made a huge impact on him and he made a huge impact on me. It could also be due to my near drowning as a kid (I think I've nearly drown a few times). I've always had an iffinity to water, oceans, lakes and rivers.
So, now that you've learned more about the CD - me, My Monkey and boats...have a listen...

It don't cost nuthin'!

Mark Harvey

Stonedozer - Dr. Dre has it, do you?

Since I don't have a "good" version of "The Living Room Sessions" that I can put up on Bandcamp (yet) I figured I'd fast forward chronologically and talk a little about "Stonedozer". As I mentioned during my "Fancy Fancy" post Jay had moved to New York and Brian Peet and I were recording together. With Brian's help I upgraded my studio set up to an E-MU Darwin (a digital 8-track) and a PC that allowed me to use virtual MIDI tracks which expanded the possibilities of over 8 tracks. I recorded mopehead tracks and my first Pumpkinland hauntscape during that time.
In 1999 Jay returned with his wife to the Bay Area. I had recently become a stay-at-home Dad and since Jay moved nearby we decided it was time to start a new Rain Station project. My folks would watch my daughter at least once a week (sometimes more) and Jay would come over to record. With the new gear it was evident that we were going to end up with a pretty good recording. In some cases I recorded after hours - drum programming, bass, guitar and keyboard tracks. In the case of "It Doesn't Show" Jay laid down a guitar track and I recorded instruments around it. Jay and I also talked a lot about keyboard sounds and many of the keyboard tracks were done when we were together. I wrote lyrics for some of the songs and others Jay would come over and write lyrics to. Vocally we'd record once songs got closer to being completed. On some of the tracks we brought in other vocalists - his wife, my sister and a friend of mine named Idia Huntley who worked with me at the good guys. We also brought in Jay's friend Joe to play the guitar solo for "City Girl". We mixed the project down and scheduled a date to master it.
We mastered "Stonedozer" at Fantasy Studios with George Horn. George mastered The Screaming Paisleys "EXIT" LP so it had been some time since I had seen him. His ears are incredible and mastering with him is a joy. What was nice was that he kept asking about my equipment and process. He was amazed that we had done the whole project on a digital 8-track. We talked mics and such and he was generally impressed. It made me feel like the years of recording college (and recording) had paid off. We sent the master of for replication and waited.
On 4/20/2000 Rain Station released "Stonedozer". We sent out tons of press kits to radio (college, mainstream and alternative), websites (for review) and to print publications. The CD was received well and gained some airplay, but failed to conquer the world as we had intended it to.
A couple months later I heard a story from Jay about his brother and our CD. Jay's brother worked for a high end pro audio company in Indianapolis. During the Up In Smoke Tour (formerly called the Chronic 2000 Tour) Jay's brother was working on the stereo system on Dr. Dre's tour bus. To "test" the system his brother dropped "Stonedozer" into the CD player. As Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Ice Cube, Nate Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit and more (possibly) listened on, his brother continued to tweak the system. Dr. Dre asked him, "Who is this" and his brother answered, "My brother's band, Rain Station". Dr. Dre said he wanted the CD and said, "If this is your brother you can get another copy of it". So, on June 30th, 2000 Rain Station's "Stonedozer" became a part of the CD collection on Dr. Dre's tour bus.
Here's a chance to listen to the disc in its entirety via Bandcamp.

Jay likes to listen to the CD starting at track #3. "Rise" and "Stonedozer" are a bit of an abrupt way to start a CD so perhaps heed Jay's advice, start at track 3 and then come back for tracks 1 and 2.

I hope you enjoy the disc...as Charlie Harrelson from EvO:R says..."I have always been a big fan of Rain Station and their lo-fi recording roots but the recording of Stonedozer has elevated them to near major label sound quality"......"This is the BEST Rain Station CD to date"...

Mark Harvey

Fancy this!

Rain Station's "Fancy Fancy" is a combination of tracks written at different times and put together by Jay and I as a sort of compilation CD. The CD features tracks recorded by Jay and I, Brian Peet and I and by Jay, Tony Iuppa, Brian Peet and I. Soon after Jay's recording project gave us "Criminal Goat" I moved to San Francisco with Tony Iuppa and Yun Shin, but after a short while Tony and Yun decided that the commute to the Peninsula was just too tough so they wanted to move out. Jay was living in San Francisco's Mission District, I was in need of some roommates and since Jay's living situation was a bit..let's say, different, I convinced him to move into the house in the Sunset. For a time Jay and I tried to put together a "live" act with Jay on vocals (and sometimes acoustic guitar), Tony Iuppa (The Screaming Paisleys) on bass, Brian Peet on drums and me on guitar. We recorded a three song demo in our Sunset livingroom (re-recording "Summer Home", "Widdershins" and "Quiet Morning") with the hopes of getting some gigs and gaining some momentum, but it didn't pan out as it was really tough to get together and rehearse. Unless you're living together, as Jay and I were, it is nearly impossible.
So since Jay and I were living together we had the ability to create whatever whenever the feeling hit us. The "SOB Puppet Hour" was born out of this living arrangement. Jay and I recorded "Hold The Sky", "Solitude", "More Out Of Life", "Smile Like A Monster", "Empty Home" and "Fancy Fancy" in various rooms of what became The Rain Station.

I got engaged and decided to move in with my fiance, Jay got more roommates and eventually moved to New York (where he met his wife). During that time Brian Peet (here) and I recorded some tracks together - some on his gear - some on my gear (which I upgraded from a 4-track tape machine to a digital 8-track recorder with MIDI capabilities - the same gear I have today). To test out the gear, I recorded "The Place I Once Came From" and "Slice A Piece Of Heaven" with Brian lending vocals on the tracks. We recorded in his (much better studio) some tracks for his Syrinx project. Brian had access to a pro studio and he wanted to try out recording some of my old mopehead tunes so we did "It's A Good Day" there with Brian playing drums and lending backing vocals and me recording guitar, bass as well as singing. "It's A Good Day" is by far the best engineered and sounding track on the CD and it is one of the things that motivates me to get new gear.

Like "Criminal Goat" you may not like some of these tracks, but keep listening as you may find one that you do dig.

Thanks agan for reading,

Mark Harvey

He Goes To Parties - FREE MP3 - Version 2

Want more of my music for FREE. Sure, right, whatever? Well, like it or not, here's another dose of the "heavy mellow" lo-fi music I spent years recording. Download it, enjoy it or ignore it.
Here is a FREE MP3 download of the "Brian Peet" version (pictured left) of "He Goes To Parties" (download here) (link disabled) which is currently unreleased. As I said in the previous "He Goes To Parties" post, Brian was listening to a bunch of my old tracks and wanted to re-record a few of them - the ones that he particularly liked. So we laid this one down. This track was recorded at the Oakland Pumpkinland Studios location on my Darwin Digital 8. Brian played drums and percussion and I played guitar, bass and keys. After we recorded the music Brian wanted to take a stab at recording the vocals and I was happy to oblige. I had planned on going back at some point to record my own "mopehead" vocal track, but never got around to doing it.
Enjoy!
Mark Harvey(mopehead)
Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song. (link disabled)

He Goes To Parties - FREE MP3 - Version 1

As you all have noticed I've been offering up FREE downloads of my tracks for a while now. When I hung out with Jay the other day he got me thinking that the "give it away" approach of my blog was a really good thing. It is great to have supportive friends and Jay has always been very supportive of my music and supportive of me making music. I think if he had his way I'd be holed up in a studio somewhere making music 24/7. I couldn't/wouldn't argue with that, but you gotta pay the bills, right? I've been getting into the now and then sort of posts - two versions of the same track for your downloading enjoyment (hopefully you're enjoying it...that is). Must be the new Rain Station process that Jay has been promoting on the Rain Station site (here) that's got me doing this. He's been posting tracks in progress and giving the "fans" a chance to listen to the music as it evolves. I love the idea!

Here is a FREE MP3 download of the original version of "He Goes To Parties" (click here to download) (link disabled) taken from my It's Always Good CD. The song also made it onto Jay's compilation CD, This Can Free and on the Nobody Records Sampler Volume One CD. This song was recorded on my meager 4-track while doing my solo thing as mopehead and was recorded at the original Rain Station in San Francisco. After a bottle of wine and some serious reflecting I put this track together. I re-recorded this song with my buddy Brian Peet. This was a similar situation as "It's A Good Day" as Brian wanted to re-record a bunch of my mopehead tracks. I took that as a huge compliment coming from Brian. He's an incredible musician and songwriter. As usual I plan to add more early Rain Station and mopehead tracks in the coming months.
Look out for the re-recorded version of this tune with my buddy Brian Peet on drums and vocals. That'll be part two of this FREE MP3 extravaganza!

Enjoy!

Mark Harvey(mopehead)

Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song. (link disabled)

It's A Good Day - FREE MP3 - Version 2

Hey! I'm back again and I'm giving away more of my music for FREE. This is part 2 (or version 2) from the previous post. So get ready to scare the neighbors with this happiness!
Here is a FREE MP3 download of "It's A Good Day" (download here) (link disabled)taken from Rain Station's Fancy Fancy CD. It really is a mopehead track, but I recorded it with Brian Peet (drums and backing vocals - check his site here) and thought it made sense to put it on Fancy Fancy along with some of the other tracks that we recorded together - so...Rain Station. Brian had a gig working at a really nice recording studio and wanted to record a track there with me. We went through some of my old mopehead tunes and he was really psyched about recording this song (I also have a version of "He Goes To Parties" that Brian and I re-recorded). So we headed out to the studio and put this track down. Brian is a GREAT drummer (he also plays tons of other instruments - an incredible artist/talent) and we got this track done fairly quickly - with me playing the bass and guitar tracks, singing and adding hand claps - and Brian doin' his thing - drums, backing vocals and hand claps. I like this version much better than the original. Brian's production skills are top notch. I wish he was still living in the Bay Area.

This track is definitely not heavy or mellow, but actually cheery, bubbly and fun. This track more so than the first would make for a good intro song for a morning show. Today Show...I'll continue to wait...or maybe a kid's show? Anyone out there?
I hope you enjoyed PART TWO of this series.
Enjoy!
Mark Harvey(mopehead)
Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song. (link disabled)

It's A Good Day - FREE MP3 - Version 1

Hello...Mark Harvey here. I'm giving away more of my music for FREE. Why not, right? I wanted to toss out another dose of the "heavy mellow" lo-fi music I spent years recording. As I've mentioned before I got around to ripping a bunch of my old CDs and have been putting them onto my iPod. I like to give away these tracks (particularly the music I have never released) and maybe some of these songs might end up on YOUR iPod.

HEY...why not! Amuse your friends! Scare the neighbors!

Here is a FREE MP3 download of It's A Good Day (download here) (link disabled) which is an unreleased track. This track was recorded on my Tascam 4-track, but I'm not sure where I was living at the time. Could have been San Francisco and could have been Oakland. Whatever. This track is not very heavy or mellow, but actually happy, peppy and cheeful. I always thought this track would make for a good intro song for a morning show. Today Show...I'm waiting...

I re-recorded this tune with my buddy Brian Peet which will be part two of this FREE MP3 extravaganza! Look out for PART TWO...coming soon.

Enjoy!

Mark Harvey(mopehead)

Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song. (link disabled)

Widdershins - FREE MP3

Since Rain Station is back in the studio I thought I would post another Rain Station track from the past. Here is a FREE MP3 download of "Widdershins" (download here) (link disabled) taken from Rain Station's Fancy Fancy CD. "Widdershins" was one of the tracks Jay, Tony, Brian and I recorded on my 4-track for a three song demo we put together to get gigs. Tony Iuppa (my buddy from The Screaming Paisleys days) is on bass, Brian Peet on drums, Jay handles lead vocals and I am playing guitar and handle backing vocals. "Widdershins" was later added to "Fancy Fancy" as were the other two songs we recorded during this session - "Summer Home" and "Quiet Morning". Cover art by Jay Moores.

Check out the progress of the new Rain Station project here. Jay is working on tracks, sending some to Tony (to add his bass prowess) and I'm trying to make it over to Jay's house as often as I can so we can complete the next Rain Station project. I'm really excited about recording music with Jay again!

I plan to add more early Rain Station and mopehead tracks in the coming months. Be sure and check out the new tracks at RainStation.com!

Enjoy!

Mark Harvey

Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song.

(link disabled)

He Goes To Parties

From time to time I am going to make available a FREE download of one of my tracks. Here is a FREE MP3 download of He Goes To Parties taken from my It's Always Good CD . This song was recorded on my meager 4-track while doing my solo thing as mopehead. This track was recorded at the original Rain Station in San Francisco. After a bottle of wine and some serious reflecting I put this track together. I re-recorded this song with my buddy Brian Peet, but I've yet to mix it down - maybe some decade! As usual I plan to add more early Rain Station and mopehead tracks in the coming months.

Enjoy!

Mark Harvey

(mopehead)

Click here if you can't figure out where you're supposed to click to download the song.

(link disabled)