It's been six months since my last somewhat bizarro post. I'll try not to do that again and keep it straight and full of fun facts. To say a lot has happened since March would be true, depending on what your version of a lot is. I've spent most of that time (and still do) working at Russo Music in Asbury Park, NJ as a guitar tech. Not only is Russo's a fun place to work, but it really is one of the best music stores I've ever spent time in. All the gear there is just as good as any box store guitar shop (if not miles better), but you don't get that scripted & hounded, "I can I help you" robotic treatment from anyone. And I get to drool on Gibson Five Star Acoustics (the only ones in NJ) and Fano Guitars all day long. One of these days (when the Sienna is paid off) I'll bite the bullet on one of these guitars.
HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND! Hug and thank a Union worker this weekend. To celebrate this Labor Day weekend I am putting all merchandise up for sale at blowout prices/1990's punk rock prices. I'm talking $5 download of THE TAKING OR THE LEAVING, $10 Vinyl-download-cd bundle, and $7 t-shirts (only small and medium left). I'm going to run this sale until Tuesday morning. Visit www.brianmcgeemusic.com for shoppingpalooza! All of this is also going to help me pay for recording time to begin the making of RUIN CREEK, my next solo release.
So I'm sure as some of you know, Plow United had been working on writing a new record (via email) for the last year or so, even before we played our reunion show at Riot Fest East in Philly. All the demos and emailing over the course of a year finally saw the light of day in a basement in Wilmington, DE this past June. We had just come off of rehearsing for two days in Asbury Park's Hot Dog House, and played Insubordination Fest in Baltimore and a show at the First Unitarian Church in Philly.
The setting was perfect-a damp, dark basement with questionable extension chords, Christmas lights and one lamp. This was also just a mile or so from Salesianum School (our old high school and where Plow United began) and blocks away from Padua Academy and Ursuline Academy (the all girls schools where we met our high school girfriends, duh). We sorted out a track listing and named our new album Marching Band. And over the course of five days we hammered out sixteen songs. Twelve of these songs would make up the album and the others would be for b-sides and a split with the band Spraynard (rip), who now have sadly broke up and called it a day.
It was a pretty incredible experience to revisit this part of being Plow United again. The three of us were in agreement that non of the other bands we had been in since breaking up, worked with ease the way we work together. It's a once in a lifetime gift to have this kind of friendship and working relationship within a band. And we fully intend to ride it out as long as we can.
After rehearsing for our recording session, we played an unannounced set at the last show held at My Parents House in West Chester, PA. Where a really great bunch of people had been doing all ages shows for the last two years. They hosted hundreds of shows, kept them all ages-veg/vegan potluck-no drugs or booze and they had a skate ramp in the back yard. Naked slip-n-slide madness even ensued this last evening. What a blast!
All of this carried us into the first week of July which we spent at Gradwell House Recording Studio. The great Dave Downham was the engineer for Marching Band. Dave was super to work with and got all the sounds for the record in less than a day. The room was awesome (wait to you hear the drums) and he dialed in great tones for bass and guitar (dude set me up with a Vox AC30, Orange Rockerverb 2x12 combo, & a Marshall JCM 800). We hammered out the 16 rehearsed tracks in six days. We incorporated even added tambourine and used Joel's grandfather's 1926 Weymann Banjo-mandolin (from his Mummers string band days) on a track. One night we called upon Steve-O and Jeff from The Holy Mess and Josh from Paint It Black and The Glotones to come sing backup vocals. It was a punk rock harmony factory in motion.
The product of our two and half weeks of work has been sent to Jon Drew in Canada for mixing. Jon plays drums in All Eyes West and has recorded and worked with the band Fucked Up. We can't wait to hear how he handles the album! The album will also be coming out on Jumpstart Records. Jeremy Myers owns and operates Jumpstart Records, a screenprinting business, and is a partner in the newly found Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company. That's right-THE GUY PUTTING OUT THE NEW PLOW UNITED RECORD HAS A BREWERY!
Marching Band is set to come out early next year. Yay!
Square of Opposition Records is releasing Plow United's 1998 album Narcolepsy on vinyl for the first time. The tracks were remastered from the original 1998 release by Stephen Egerton (Descendents, All). It will be available in four different colors. Collector nerds you've been informed!
READING
This summer I started to pick back up on the Jon Dos Passos USA trilogy with book number two, 1919. I got pulled away from that to read guitar tech stuff. Then I found a cheap copy of Keith Richard's autobiography "Life." I got fifty pages into that when my pre-ordered copy of FIRST CAMERAMAN by Arun Chaudary showed up. Arun was the First White House videographer under the Obama administration. He also goes way back with Plow United via his old band I Farm. This book is pretty awesome.
LISTENING
On my 45 minute commutes up and down Route 18 this summer, I've been listening to:
Old Crow Medicine Show-Carry Me Back
The Gaslight Anthem-Handwritten
King Tuff-self titled
PJ Bond/Brian Bond-Brother Bones, Baby Bones split LP
Thanks again and see you at a show!
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 07:23AM | 