February 18 - Russian Recording

Corn and porn decorated the drive to Bloomington, Indiana. Today I met The Bitter Tears for a recording session at Russian Recording. It is owned and operated by the wonderful Mike Bridavsky.

The Bitter Tears have been my favorite Chicago band since 2004, when I first heard “Murdered At The Bar.” We soon became fast friends. At their shows I stood front and center, yelling and dancing. This is back when I danced. Alan, Mike and Greg recorded horns, accordion, bass clarinet, and theremin for my band, Let’s Get Out Of This Terrible Sandwich Shop, and we played many shows together.

In 2008 their drummer Foster Lee relocated to Baltimore to manage The Charm City Rollers, a roller derby team. Last February they invited me to play drums. I was thrilled, and remain thrilled to this day.

In 2009 we did two US tours in the East and Midwest, and a five week trek through Europe. I blogged all about it.

Today was my debut with The Bitter Tears in the studio.

It went really well. Russian has a huge sound. The drums sound like bombs. My new vintage cymbal sounds tough, man. Mr. Bridavsky is a great engineer.

Alan, Mike and I laid down basic tracks for six songs: “Fire Messiah,” “Boxcar,” “Sunday,” “Sailor,” “Black Skin,” and “Death-Filled World.”

We started around three in the afternoon and finished by nine. Afterward we enjoyed quality pub grub at a microbrewery, and talked about girls while watching Olympic figure skating. Back at the studio we listened to records and imbibed some more.

We’re making good time.

Verdict: Win

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