On a shoestring project part 21

  It’s ten to nine on Monday morning, Gaslight anthem playing on the background. Coffee wakes me up slowly even when I've been functioning already for few hours. New week, new tricks. Last weeks problems with the rehearsal room seem to be sorted. The Volt studios where we have been rehearsing found us another room that was just about in our non existent budget. This really is a great relief. I had this in the back of my mind constantly for the past few weeks. The thought of not being able to rehearse was just unthinkable. But this will be a nice room. Once again we will be sharing with two other bands, but it’s a big room so this shouldn't be any problem.
  I have also started recording some guitar parts. I know this is not very traditional format to start with, but we need the scrap tracks for recording anyway, so I thought to make them as good as possible. And if I end up redoing them, so be it. But for now I try to do them the best I can. I had this idea of recording electric guitar, and I decided to put it in practice. Basically as I live in city centre apartment, neighbours are a consideration every time I record something bit louder. So I put my guitar amp (Fender blues junior) in to closet, facing up. I had one microphone (Sure beta 57) right on the speaker cone, and then a condenser microphone (Akg perception 220) further up in the closet. On the mix I pan them left and right. It gives the guitar a bit of a stereo feel, more space.

Here is a small snippet of a take, just to give you an idea what it sounds like. Let me know what you think. Tele P90 sample by jpkallio
Oh yeah, and the other reason (part from the rehearsal room trouble) I did not start the recording with the drums, was that Sebastian (more on him and Tomek bit later;-)) just purchased him self a snazzy new drum kit, and it is only fare that he can set it up nice, new skins and tune it the way he wants before we start on the drums. But I thought to share you a picture the proud new owner sent me ;-)

I'll get you a picture of the full new set when we get to it.
So I think it would be only fare to let you know little more about my two partners in crime ;-) So as far as I can remember, roughly about 3 years ago while I was playing a gig in the Porterhouse a friend introduced me to their friend from Poland who played bass, it was a busy night in the Porterhouse, I was playing with Sliotar and he was with a big group of friends so we didn't talk too much. But over the following months we pumped in to each other more an more. And the more we talked (and shared beers, yes there were many of them) we realised our musical tastes were very similar, we both listened to same bands over the years, and it seemed it was the same things that musically got us exited. From the get go we wanted to do something. We wanted to play music together. But as so often, life just gets in the way. But about six months ago I felt the time was right for this project, and I knew Tomek Jastrzebski was the first man to talk to.

And as a daughter of a good friend of mines girlfriend said “If you don't have soul, you can't rock n' roll”. And soul was what I was looking for. Tomek had it, bags full of it. He's an old school punk rocker, and a mighty bass player. Also Tomek is what I call a get goer; with him around you nothing is impossible. Even though I am a very positive person, sometimes there are tasks or goals that just seems too far, but for Tomek it’s just another problem that we need to find a solution to. And as I mentioned in the past the importance of a good team, he is the kind of personality that you need around you. So then we had a problem together, we needed a drummer, who was mad enough to join a band with no guarantee of nothing else but early mornings and hard work. Tomek had met once long time back, in a party I think a fellow Polish musician, they had exchanged phone numbers and both told each other that they are looking a band to play in. So it was time to see if he was still around, interested, suitable and all that. So we had our first full band rehearsal in the beginning of October, and with in a half an hour the music just started flowing and by the end of our rehearsal we knew Sebastian Bachowski was going to be our drummer!

So what else can I tell you about these guys? Well I thought they could tell you more about them selves through these five questions:

Who is your biggest influence?

Tomek: “Les Cleypool, Pearl Jam, Polish punk rock from 80's and 90's”

Sebastian: “Music has been with me from very early on, I remember sitting with older friends on a hot summer night listening them play guitar. Around about that time I came across a Polish company "Defile" that manufactures guitars. And bands like AC/DC, METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER, LED ZEPPELIN, and many others whose music I consumed extensively:)
I would say the biggest influence on me was Miroslaw Musicant (Musician, composer and most of all, a great drummer). Under his guidance I learned to play the drums.
Then I discovered Progressive Rock and Jazz Music. Bands like GENESIS, TRANSATLANTIC, SPOCK'S BEARD and Drummers like GARY NOVAK, DENIS CHAMBERS, VINNIE COLAIUTA, DAVE WECKL, GREGG BISSONETTE, changed my life forever ;)”

What is your favorite food?


Tomek: “Ruskie pierogi (dumplings)”

Sebastian: Nothing can compare with my Mother's and my Girlfriend’s cooking. Enough said in this subject.”

What is your ideal day like?


Tomek: “Wake up beside my girlfriend, scrambled eggs and coffee, relax relax relax, Long walk with my girlfriend and after the walk, play bass.”

Sebastian: “Every day is perfect for me to do something good (except when I have migraine), and try the best to survive it :) “

What is your favorite drink?


Tomek: “Beer"

Sebastian: “Beer of course :-)”

What would you bring with you to Desert Island?


Tomek: “MacGyver tools, and a box of bees”

Sebastian: “I would bring good friends, nothing is possible with them beside me.”

So thats all for this week, thanks for stopping by. You can sign up to our mailing list here, and leave comments, we like them:-)