i bought some medicine today at the pharmacy called coldrex. coldrex? sounds organic. so far i still feel abominable. like a snowman. but it's cold out. and it gets dark at 4pm here. or 16.00 i guess. but that has nothing to do with snowmen. or germs. or anything...
another two weeks without a post. ok, let's see...we traveled to cesky krumlov for our anniversary...i saw a beastie boys documentary...i opened a bank account...i finished three new songs...i read notes from underground...i mailed a postcard...i watched ghost dog again...i recorded the subway...i cooked enchiladas...i missed the robocop kraus show because i'm stupid...i purchased two tickets to barcelona...i came a little closer to pronouncing r with an hacek correctly...i got a good night's sleep.
there's some other stuff in there somewhere...
on friday night after a party with some friends, we all went to a place north of town called the cross club. it consists of 3-4 floors of narrow, dimly-lit hallways that open up at times into larger rooms for bars, sitting areas, or dancefloors. i say 3-4 floors because even after spending a couple hours there, i'm still not sure how the place is laid out. it had a slight twinge of that scene near the beginning of the matrix where neo meets trinity. only cooler. sadly enough, here's the only picture i could manage from the evening.
it's a metal sculpture in front of the building. there were many more variations on this theme inside the club. and other than getting extremely lost on the way home, 'twas a very enjoyable evening.
Here are a handful of other photos as well.
HERE'S MY NEW STUDIO SETUP.
it's not very glamorous. i brought a guitar as well, but i couldn't fit that into the picture. hopefully soon i'll purchase a harmonium. i have to find one first though. i saw one near wenceslas square being carried around amidst a group of hare krishnas. maybe i'll follow them around and ask where they got it.
next is a photo of the menu at the local kfc.
i asked my friend svatka what "proklate dobre" means in czech. she said "damn good." i don't consider myself a kfc aficionado by any means. but i have to admit that's quite persuasive.
we went to see coffee and cigarettes at kino lucerna last night. as much as i enjoy a good jarmusch film, anything you watch here is definitely going to enhance your viewing experience. it is certainly the most romantically constructed movie theatre i've ever seen. plus, there's an outstanding David Cerny sculpture in the lobby. and a cafe downstairs with cheap beer. and a music bar just down the hall. and a guru who sits in the corner and explains all of life's mysteries. as you can see, it very well-rounded.
what should i be for halloween?
i know i could put an image of the actual album here, but that wouldn't be much of a surpirse, would it?
last night i went to the rudolfinum to see performances of shostakovich's moscow-cheryomushki, rachmaninov's piano concerto no. 4, and tchaikovsky's winter dreams by the czech radio symphony orchestra. here's a picture of the auditorium.
for the past two weeks, i've been walking around hearing the sounds of various classical instruments spilling out of windows preparing for the autumn music festival. the sound of a random oboe as you're walking along can definitely lift one's spirits.
this time to prague. the golden city. in the czech republic. in europe. on earth. and so on. since we arrived i haven't had time for much of anything but logistics. so my apologies for the lack of posts. but here's a photo.
we've been sleeping on the floor for the past week. but no worries. it's enough just to be here. so far it's pretty amazing. and cheap. i hope you are all doing well in your respective locations. i miss you all.
with love, dustin
i was in cincinnati for some reason at a local record store looking through some old vinyl. the proprietor and some of his friends were sitting around talking and listening to different records on the communal turntable. i began to recognize several of the songs being played as bands from louisville when i was growing up. soon, as one song came over the speakers, the guy sitting next to me said, 'oh, i hated this band.' then i realized the man had actually been the drummer and singer of that band. i said "hey, you're ___ ____!" and everyone began to laugh. as he tilted back in his chair, he reached a tipping point and began to fall backwards, still laughing, everyone laughing. he fell on the floor, hard it seemed, his friends quickly gathering over him. they all cackled uncontrollably. at this moment, overcome with excitement, i said "i went to so many of your shows!" they all let out a triumphant yell and began to applaud their fallen comrade, helping him to his feet. then i woke up. what the hell? i wonder if the musicians i admire from all those years in louisville would like or dislike the music i've written. my brain says probably not. i wonder what all those people are doing right now. wherever you are, thanks.
here are some photos from my recent trip to key west. i'm sure you would rather listen to a new song or something. but maybe this is entertaining too. and i needed a vacation.
i've spent the summer here, back where i grew up, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling things i haven't experienced for a long time. brooke and i have decided to move again, this time much farther away than kentucky. but more on that later. for the moment, i just want to enjoy these last few hours here. so i better get to it.
it's hard to listen to this album and not wonder if it somehow encapsulates the last two years of my life. i think back to when i wrote the songs and recall how i felt and what led me to write a particular melody, rhythm, phrase, etc. naturally, there have been many emotions i've encountered over the past two years that don't have a song to accompany them. but does it all boil down to these 28 minutes? i hope not. life is more than that, right? a friend reminded me recently that it's not the day a process is finished that is paramount, but the entire journey getting there. it seems every moment of our lives is important, not just the instant of losing a loved one or learning you passed the bar or having your first orgasm. but truly, how do we become the people that we are? how do we adopt our personalities? here i am with this music i've created. is this me? i suppose. it's not all of me, but it's something.
i had dinner tonight with two taiwanese professors. their names were dr. chen and dr. chen. they told many interesting stories and lauded the effects of democracy versus communism in mainland china. one of the good doctors even gave me a ballpoint pen with a small flashlight and a laser pointer. and the other doctor gave my family a beautiful blue vase. all in all, it was an exciting evening. perhaps i should go live in taiwan for awhile.
i arrived back in louisville on wednesday night. well, actually, it was monday morning around 3, at which point i slept for a few hours before catching a plane to new york. at one point i attempted to navigate the ny subway during rush hour and found myself in an awkward predicament. in order to catch the 6 downtown after the transfer at union station i had to proceed down a narrow but traversable part of the platform. i saw the sign where i was supposed to go. i was feeling good about going there. then suddenly, a train pulls up on the opposite track and a millisecond later, i'm surrounded. bodies are everywhere and i'm pinned to a steele beam near the escalators. i received several dirty looks and someone called me a 'stupid ass.' so that was me on that particular morning. stupid-ass. here's a terribly drawn diagram of the occurence.
and here are some photos from my last few days in atlanta
ok. now we're really finished. we mastered everything today with alex lowe at red tuxedo studio. first of all, the mastering studio was pretty amazing. and alex is a very talented individual. there are actually several studios in the same building. aside from red tuxedo, there is also the rodney mills mastering lab. rodney actually lives upstairs and works downstairs in the basement. the house itself is enormous, beautiful, and very welcoming. and even cooler, alex has an old mini-moog signed by bob himself.
so anyway, the sound portion is over. i feel slightly sad honestly. i've experienced a certain amount of separation anxiety with all the projects on which i've been involved, but never so deep and resounding as right now. this is by far the most personal endeavor i have ever undertaken. when i left the studio today i was even slightly afraid. i was excited and moved about being finished, but for some reason i felt as if something awful was going to happen on my way home. maybe that's the way anyone feels when they reach the end of a chosen process. but still, it was a bit unnerving.
anyway, now we just have to finish the artwork and manufacture everything. dom has put together some great images. we'll also be doing different layouts and imagery for both the cd and vinyl releases. and since there will only be a limited amount of vinyl available, they will all be numbered in order of their sequence off the press. so one day they'll all be super duper valuable.
but seriously, thanks to those who've made it this far.
after our mastering session on thursday everything will be off to the manufacturer as soon as the artwork is complete. some presale information should be coming along soon. the album will be available on both cd and vinyl. thank you for your patience. please stay tuned.
well, on friday my body finally said "ok, that's enough" and proceeded to shut down at several points throughout the weekend. my hours have been fairly random lately i guess. and to supplement my overall sense of discomfort, i was also stung by a bee yesterday.
anyway, we finished recording on friday. in the morning we edited the last of the string sections before moving on to some background vocals. and i added a final keyboard part for a short instrumental i had been putting off for awhile. now it's monday as i sit here listening to glenn mix the first of ten songs we hope to include on the finished product. and honestly, my brain is too tired to type anything else. we have an album to mix. have a nice day.
today we worked on 2 songs for 7 hours. in the morning we edited vocals for a song and then switched to good old-fashioned singing during the afternoon. i'm not sure if it was the egg and cheese sandwich i ate this morning or the eight cups of coffee i consumed before lunch, but i certainly sang better than my last endeavor. we doubled a lot of the main vocals then laid some harmonies over top of them. so whoopee i suppose.
i've returned to atlanta for the final stretch now. yesterday morning we edited for a couple hours before recording some guitars in the afternoon. tomorrow and thursday we'll try to finish the rest of the vocals. oh, and friday some friends are coming to town to lend their vocal skillz on a few songs. plus, we'll be editing string parts in there somewhere. and i've almost settled on a sequence as well. all in all, everything appears to be coming along according to plan.
i also have to apologize for the lack of photos here lately. my camera is currently somewhere between here and idaho.
oh, and happy birthday america.
