Hey Everyone!

I walked into the studio last night (around 8) a little burned out from some other tunes I'm working on, so I decided to open it up a little and see what would come out if I let inspiration guide me. Next thing I know, it was Midnight and I had these two from out of the air..(in rough mix form, that is)



1. Damn...

Laid back soul, based on a true story.
(I think we've all experienced this at one time or another)
I think I might put something etherial over the top of this one, I dunno...



2. Yvonne

Pretty poppy in an avant garde sorta way....
I'm definitely gonna add some brass to this one in certain parts...

http://www.soundclick.com/jshua


Hope you enjoy last night's sessions!






Jshua (workin hard..)
[This message was edited Thu Feb 26 5:20:28 2004 by Styles]

Jshua, your rough stuff sound polished. I love your style. Kinda like Prince and Jesse Johnson but unique.Are u sure u ain't Prince's brother or cousin or even Miko? It is totally uncanny.

Hey Tal!

Thanx Bro! btw, I've got something for you!
Hit me back on PM so I can send it along, cool?

I was just taking a breather with these two--having a little fun

and no, I'm not related to the man (or, at least I don't think so--but I am born 5 days apart from him)


thanx again for your time and your ears my brother!






Jshua
[This message was edited Thu Feb 26 5:13:02 2004 by Styles]

Man, this is getting sick. I start getting all giddy and shit when I see you've put up new tracks. Damn is another one I really wished that I could have come up with.

psykosoul said:

Hey Psykosoul!

You know, you had a little bit of influence in me bringing that one out, right?

Last stuff I heard of yours, I was like: "let me get back to some funk roots for a minute"...

Thanx for the Props man!

Hey what do think about doing a collab on Hall and Oates?




Jshua

if anyone's still out there, I'd dig the input....

cool?






Jshua

Damn is pretty cool. What you do in one night usually takes me a few months. I would sing the vocal again though. Your falsetto doesn't sound as strong at first. I like the lyrics... I caught some nasty bits.

Thank you Vina and Adisa for your input!

Vina, I agree with you about the vox...
I'm still not quite sure of how I'm gonna attack it (hard and soulful vs. smooth) and I'm gonna re-work the harmony on the chorus (not satisfied yet)
and I think I'll add a womans voice on the phone (any takers? )

as for the nasty bits.....me? hee hee hee hee


I guess these two ain't bad for a night's work...







Jshua

Ill MAKE SURE 2 listen 2day

'Yvonne' sounds something halfway between Stevie Wonder and 'Easy' by the Commodores. But then the guitar comes in and it sounds all Princey.

I Love the way the song shifts from one mood to another. And like someone said earlier, it would take me months to do something like this, but u did it in just one night? wow.

phunkymunky said:

Thanx for the input Phunkymunky!

you know, its so hard to try to be original these days and youre right,
I was purposefully trying to shift moods and emotions as they pertained
to the lyrical content....I hope it worked

I record really fast these days and getting the emotion down in a song is more critical to me than concentrating on technique and stucture.

for me, its all about the flow....








Jshua

I know you're going to laugh at this - but Yvonne reminds me of Leo Sayer - 70's singer - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and "When I Need You". I don't know why.

Edit: Damn sounds a lot like Remy Shand. In a GREAT way.

The only thing that stands out as off from the rest is the vocals - they're awesome thruout, but there's some spots that are pitch-queasy. And I know what I'm talking about for sure - I can't hit a note from the side of a barn, or, something like that.

VERY nice stuff for a one night stand!

What are you using to record? Just curious - what are all your toys? Real drums? What kind of recorder? Pro Tools, tape deck?
[This message was edited Tue Mar 2 5:51:27 2004 by otan]

otan said:

You just gave me a very scary flashback. I remember fliping through my father's records and seeing this picture...































































I googled Leo Sayer under images and that was the first pic that came up.

And see!? He looks JUST LIKE YOU!

DEFINITELY was a freaky lookin dude. Wonder what he's up to now.

otan said:

My dad got a fro like that once. Well, not that big...

otan said:

Leo Sayer, a year in pictures, 2003:
http://www.leosayer.com/leoxmas03/


All you need is google, dum du-da-da da-dum, all you need is google...

VinaBlue said:

You need more interests in your life, Vina.

otan said:

Hey Otan!

First off, thanx for your thoughts!


Second, Leo Sayer.....LOL!!!!!

that's awesome! You know, when I listened to the playback for the first time, it really did strike me as to how much some of the piano chord progessions reminded me of stuff straight out of the 70's. Or even something along the lines of Todd Rundgren or Ben Folds....like I said, plucked out of the air--whammo! I don't even know if I can recall anything he did, but its worth a listen.
And I didn't know that Remy Shand sounded like that.....I've heard of him but I'll have to go back and check him out!

yeah, I really do need to re-track the vox--I'm hurtin' everytime I hear a couple of those blue notes...

And oh yeah, believe it or not, the stuff I'm using is all borrowed from friends of mine. I'm using a roland electronic kit for the more urban stuff like "Damn", and I'm using an acoustic kit for everything else (I can't remember the name of the set but it looks as beautiful as it sounds and it does have Pastie cymbals). I'm also playing a modified Telecaster that's been rewired , a Modified PRS, a six string acoustic with pickups, a tweleve string acoustic with pickups, a Kurtzweil 88 keyed keyboard controller, quite a few rack-mounted keyboard banks, various percs, a thin necked Yamaha bass (whose name I can't remember at the moment), an automated soundboard imported from England (can't remember that name either) and I think that's pretty much the meat of it, minus a few odds and ends....

I'm recording in real time with each instrument, which is miked up (save for the keys) and its digitally dumped down to a huge hard drive. So its more like a live recording, except its DDD instead of ADD.

Basicaly, the stuff you've heard are just scratch mixes from the end of each session. What I like to do is start a song, layer it all the way thru, then create a scratch mix. Then begin the process again. Typically in a weekend's time, I can complete about 5 (on the average) this way--so far anyway.

The idea is that, once I have the basic outline completed for both CD's, I'll go back and "polish" that which needs to be polished.....and in the meantime, while I'm cutting all of these songs, I'm working on horn charts and string arrangements that I'll do in the "polishing" phase of the project..

*phew*

Sorry to be so long winded but I hope that answered some quesitons...






Jshua
[This message was edited Tue Mar 2 11:39:48 2004 by Styles]

VinaBlue said:

OMG!!!!!


Mork Calling Orson, come in Orson!





Jshua

Leo's got a fro!









Jshua
[This message was edited Tue Mar 2 11:39:17 2004 by Styles]

otan said:

I'm just avoiding my work deadline.


I know you clicked on that link and enjoyed those pics...

Styles said:

And you wonder why people compare you to Prince.

Great songs, Wish I had 1/1000th the talent. These songs will stay in my iTunes rotation for sure...

VinaBlue said:

Vina,

You're a trip!
But that's why I dig you!







Jshua

Styles said:

Trip and a 1/2, all the way baby!

Styles said:

EXCELLENT information on song writing/composition/recording. I think a lot of us are married to the initial performance. If I went into songs KNOWING that all I'm doing is laying the blueprints, I bet I'd finish 90% of the songs I've walked away from in the past 2 months - which would be about 20. I get so frustrated when it starts out awesome, and 4 hours later I've stripped anything interesting out of the song.

So thanks for the input on your process. Maybe I'll actually do something tonight now, instead of getting frustrated and watching the tube instead.

otan said:

Its all good Bro!
and good luck!

You know, John Lennon once said that if you start a tune that you should try your best to finish it because if you go away from it, you might not ever want to pick it up again...
So, I try to live by that, y'know?







Jshua

got damn with all these reviews, man im sorry, i will listen as soon as a brutha could!

damn - Prince shouldve writtien this one! U sure he didnt write this 4 u? Damn boy! Who else other than us ogers listen 2 ur stuff? This is very very very nice! Ho shit. Ur vocals man, i wish wish wish i had em!

Hey PP4!

Thanx for the shout out Bro!

I was kinda in a neo-soul paisley mood when I made that one---->dimly lit studio, candle's going, incense happening, etc....just a chilled out vibe

I have had some people take an interest so far (a couple of which really surprised me) but I ain't finished with it yet.....so we'll see what happens

by the way, cool Avatar!




Jshua