Track by Track: Werewolf on my Nightstand • Recording

This was the first track we recorded. We worked at Rich’s apt in Hollywood. It was a while ago so details are a bit sketchy.

I had been overworking the song, playing it in a folky, Roger McGuinn-like, Byrdsy drawl. Every time I would try a home recording version I would run it by Amy Raasch, who loved the song. Very politely she would deem each version underwhelming. Back to the drawing board.

Rich Jacques suggested we take a different direction. He set up my guitar to almost feeding back level, and laid down a slamming, balls-to-the-wall drum track. In that setting fancy guitar work just murked things up. Rich said I should strip things down, playing the barest of chord outlines.

A slight diversion. I did a brief stint in Rich’s solo project, playing bass. We did a series of live gigs, and I recorded one song on his Right the Stars album, House by the Ocean. As well as a solid songwriter, Rich is quite the gunslinging live guitarist, when the mood is upon him. You should catch him.

Back to recording. With the new, simple-but-loud approach working on the backing track, it was time for lead vocals. I ended up having to shred the vocals a bit so that things matched. We were both really pleased with the result. I took an early mix to Amy. Thumbs up.

This laid the groundwork for the approach to the rest of the album. Endless thanks to Rich for his foresight, and pointing out what I couldn’t see; the obvious.

Next post: Another momentary diversion.