Thursday, January 25, 2024

REWORK - Here Comes the Love

I decided to head back to some earlier tracks this go around (who am I kidding they're all earlier tracks) and I took a stab at another tune off of A Lonely Mouth. Which if you haven't been following this blog/site, A Lonely Mouth was an EP I released back in 2009. 'Here Comes The Love' was the first track I wrote off that album and was originally going to be a song for my old band The Sugar Report, before we dissolved.


I liked the OG version but I think it was real shrill and treblely, so I tried to fix some of that. I tracked live drums which I thought the original desperately needed. I retracked the rhythm guitars and remixed the vocals.


I think it turned out alright, I don't know, who cares Im just having fun I guess.


The New





The Old


Sunday, January 21, 2024

REWORK - Game Genie

Game Genie was the last track on a digital EP I released back in 2012 called Twin Canals. I was really stoked on that release and generally still like all the songs from it. The only draw back to the whole thing (and everything before it) was I created it in Garageband, which severely compressed the .wav files and everything just felt flat and quiet compared to mastered music available at the time.


So with this rework I attempted to brighten the track and raise the volume. I added in live drums. I throttled the treble on the guitars and vocals. I added some new keys and retracked a few things.


I'm really happy with this track, it has a cool retro vibe that I dig. Hope you do too.


❤️ Curtis


The New



The Old

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

REWORK - Thunderdome

Sorry, been a hot minute (year) since I took a stab at a REWORK track. I've been dealing with a whole lot of life shit, and I also had to uproot my space for recording (wife needed a home office). I'm now in the garage. Pros: I now have a 24 track interface...so plenty of mics for the drums. The room is bigger and sounds better. I also got a few new condensor mics and a new set of monitors (so, two pairs to listen through). Cons: It's cold out there.


Thunderdome was one of the earlier track of 52 and one I had a clear vision for when I originally wrote it. I imagined a heavy stoner rock vibe, and what i came up with, I thought, fell real short. I always hear it and think I could fix it, so I tried my hand at it.


The main thing I hated on the original was the drum machine, just didn't give the track the true heaviness it needed. So I added them, I think it helps. I kept the bass. Retracked guitars with new amp settings. The other two things I disliked were the bridge and ending. So I killed the ending completely and redid the bridge. The new bridge is kind of more trippy and mellow, the original was a true mess in my opinion.


Anywho... enjoy.


The New.



The Old.



Wednesday, October 5, 2022

REWORK - Awful Holiday

I wrote this track for 52 closer towards the end of the project. I always really liked this one, and still do. I thought it could be a fun one to toy around with and try some guitars since the original barely has any.


When I started reworking this I noticed something seemed a little off when I went to add guitars... it almost caused me to scratch the whole thing until I figured it out.


Story time. When I was in Mexico years ago, I bought a wooden flute from a vendor outside of Chichén Itzá. The thing is super rustic and I thought it would be cool to mix it into a track for 52. I choose Awful Holiday as that track. It's the first thing you hear as the tune opens. It's just that repetitive loop playing under everything. The problem was, I was out of tune as shit when I played it.


So after I tracked drums, I tuned that sample into the correct key of the song. I then added some guitars and messed around with some of the vocal settings. I added some keys, deleted some keys, and a few other little tweaks. I think it's pretty cool sounding.


The New.



The Old.



BONUS: Scribbles

Monday, September 26, 2022

REWORK - Wild Horse

I originally thought this was one of my favorite of 52 when I first wrote it and posted it. I was a little over halfway done with the project and I was really pleased with the tracks I was putting out. When I listen back on it, I still like it, but I felt like I could rework it in a different way.

When I posted the original track I WROTE that it was bass, drums, and electronics... which was accurate, so I thought why not kill the electronics and do all guitars instead. So I did (I actually left some of the keys in the chorus). I added three guitar tracks and a baritone. I tracked live drums instead of the old dr-5 drum loop. I changed out some of the vocal effects. Hmmm what else... oh, I trimmed the final chorus.

I don't know. I kinda dig it. It's not perfect, but who is.


The New



The Old



BONUS: Scribbles

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

ROYAL HEADACHE

Alright, enough of all this old crap being reworked (at least for now), it's time for some new stuff. We've been sitting on this new single for a minute but it's time for the world (our small fanbase) to enjoy it.

Royal Headache is a fuzzing droney banger that doesn't overstay its welcome. Was kind of channeling The Ramones and Fu Manchu a bit, I hope you enjoy it.

Hopefully, we'll have a video out for it shortly. Until then, it's up on all streaming services.





Tuesday, September 6, 2022

REWORK - Another Kid

Thought I'd try my hand at a more recent track (and by recent I mean 2012 haha). I originally dropped this and other track called '12 Down at Batman' together in this post titled TWO NEW CUTS OF LOVE. I had not been writing music a lot during that time for RHOTS cause I was busy in NYC doing another band, and my creative juices were a little stagnant. I actually remember debating whether or not I was even going to put those tracks out.

I think the original is actually quite nice. It's mixed low and the drum machine isn't my favorite. I felt like it was missing some elements as well. So I added live drums, and I brought everything up overall. The guitars are the original takes but run through new amp settings. I added in some keys that I think sound spacey. With vocals, I didn't mess around too much, they were ok I thought. 

Do I like the new track any more or less? I don't know, I think they're both fine, I'm just trying to kill some time in this this life and make some art. Dig it.


The New



The Old



Bonus. OG scribble scabble, from yours truly. Love Curtis.