4/26/2011, 8:38am
From: Matt
To: Steve
Subject: An Idea for How to Start the Record
Because so much of my work is about connections between different generations - and some of the songs have a vaguely retro feel - it could be cool to begin in a different era, aurally....we could begin with some simple 1950's-ish "domestic sounds" - a cabinet opening, tea cups clanking together, being placed on the counter, water pouring into a tea kettle, a flame being lit, a woman humming...meanwhile, we could have a radio playing in the background, that we gradually get closer to, and I begin (crooning): "We were sooooo young." The whole intro sequence wouldn't have to take more than 10-12 seconds...then the intro section (w/ a cool effect)...then the walk-up would still be the transition point, with clear modern percussion, and we're into it.
4/26/2011, 8:40am
From: Steve
To: Matt
Subject: Re: An Idea for How to Start the Record
I like it. Should be pretty easy to run a few cables from the studio and get that going...
*
When I first pitched the idea of "songs as postcards" to the producer, Steve Schaller, I was (a) surprised that he accepted and then (b) realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
We didn’t even know each other that well, so I was nervous that first day, walking up to his home studio, guitar case in hand.
“Hey man.”
“Hey.”
The first thing he had me do was lay out my vision for the record. We were sitting on stools in the studio. “You know that feeling when you’re digging through an old trunk in your grandfather’s attic, and you dig way down the bottom, and pull out an old, creased, sepia-toned photograph with frayed edges…you run your finger over it, feel the texture…that feeling you get in your chest?”
“Yeah.”
“Something like that.”
I expected him to laugh, but he just said: “Yeah. We can do that.”
