You may have seen some old pictures of the Haberdashery studio on youtube - they were used in some of the videos for the "Valence" singles. After recently moving into a larger space, I was able to set up the studio in one of the small bedrooms, which really lets me spread out! The first thing I recorded in this studio was episode 9 of the podcast, which was posted on June 2nd.

The newest addition to my closet. I just couldn't resist these - the spats are actually part of the shoe, and I love how they look! Hopefully they'll be making an appearance in a video or two later in the year :)

I recently finished a remix of a new track from Hyperbubble, called "Geometry". The song is from their new album, "Drastic Cinematic". It's such an interesting process to attempt remixing, and I have only done it a few times. The first was a remix of one of my own songs, "Slowly". Then I submitted a Haberdashery remix of Erasure's "When A Lover Leaves You". That was the first time I had worked with someone else's material. Now I've been given the chance to work with Hyperbubble, which has been really fun! "Geometry" is a really cool song, and it's also very different stylistically from my own work. Remixing really makes you think differently about how to approach music, so it's a great exercise to go through from time to time. There may be a few more Haberdashery remixes in the works this year, and I look forward to seeing how they turn out!

Today the principal photography was shot for the video that will accompany the release of "The Last One That You Love", which comes out next month. The very talented Stefan Klenk was the cameraman, and we shot in various locations in Chicago. The idea of the video revolves around the old book/typewriter theme that runs throughout all of "Tonight The Angles". Some of the scenes take place in an imaginary time and setting, and others occur in a very present reality. The contrast of the antiquated typewriter against the modern backdrop of 2011 is very intriguing to me and hopefully will be interesting in the video! It was a lot of fun to run around the city with Stefan and Mark, and I'm looking forawrd to see how it will all come together :)

Today I'm finishing up the vocals for a remake of an old Haberdashery song, "Lie To Me". The original is from "Admirer", which was the first Haberdashery album. It came out in 2004, and in retrospect I wish I would have worked on it a little more and put it out the following year. I think I could have tightened up a lot of the rough parts in many of the songs (and there were lots of them). I really dislike listening to it now, and part of me wants to remove it from the catalog altogether. But another part of me still thinks that some of the songs are pretty good - as songs. So every once in a while I'm tempted to re-record one of them, and that's just what I'm doing right now. The picture above shows a comparison of the versions of "Lie To Me", on the left the 2004 version, and on the right the one for 2011. I'm still using Logic, but I think I've come a long way in how I use it. I plan to release the track as a b-side with next month's single, "Stay". I can't wait to hear everyone's reaction! :)

Practicing for the recording of the acoustic version of "Fall Into My Arms" :)

I ended up keeping the extra vocals I recorded at the last minute for "Fall Into My Arms". After listening to it with the additions a few times, I decided they really needed to be there. Plus, all the remixers opted to include them, so I took that as a good sign!

Just finished recording the acoustic version of "Fall Into My Arms" - this month's single. The chord progression was a lot harder for me to play on the guitar than the piano, so I had to find some simpler chords and ended up changing a few slightly to make it easier. I also used a capo on the third fret to match the key of the original, which I think sweetens the sound a little. Tomorrow I'll listen to it with fresh ears and try to get a final mix together. The single comes out on March 22nd.

Putting the finishing touches on the next single... Some extra vocals in the last chorus. Not sure yet if they'll stay, but we shall see! It's another more upbeat track, and I'm excited to finish it up. The remixes are amazing - can't wait for everyone to hear them :)

I have been slowly typing out the lyrics to all the songs from "Tonight The Angels" for the liner notes that will accompany the CD release this June. The typewriter I'm using is an Italian Underwood Olivetti Lettera 22. It's just right for this project because the strikers are perfectly imperfect, and the overall look is really wonderful. It's something that just can't be replicated with a font - as cool as it may look, it always ends up looking like... a font. Using the typewriter has, however, made it painfully clear that I'm a really bad typer, and has made me even more thankful for my delete key and for spellcheck! I have a newfound respect for anyone who has or still does use a typewriter on a regular basis. It's not easy!

There's a really cool paper store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called Hollanders. I made this book from a kit they have that included the pages, book board and fabric to construct the book. It was so much fun! I may be making a few more of these in the near future... :)

The Great Blizzard of 2011! This was the view out the window this morning. It's the most beautiful frost I've ever seen :)

Just finished tracking the parts for the acoustic version of "Don't Break My Heart". It's the second single from "Tonight The Angels", and it will be out on February 14th. Tomorrow I'll mix and master, and then off it goes...

New Year's Resolution: Podcast once a month :)

My friend Aaron, who plays piano, helps me with my attempts to write notation for Haberdashery songs. He recently gave me feedback on the sheet music I'm working on for "Tonight The Angels", and in that conversation we talked about Jim Brickman and George Winston. It brought back memories of a song I haven't thought of for a long time - "Rain" by George Winston from his album called "Winter Into Spring". My mom had that record on vinyl, and I played it over and over when I was a kid. It's still one of my favorite songs.

To Do list for today:
work
work
work

"Tonight The Angels" was released today. It's the first single from the new Haberdashery album of the same name, and one of my favorite songs from it as well. The single has a 12" mix, a markymix, and an acoustic version, which features my very first attempt at playing one of my songs on the guitar! It took a little while to record (and a lot of editing out mistakes), but I think it turned out all right. I am going to keep practicing though, and hopefully each new acoustic version will be better than the last :) The last song on the single is a cover of one of my favorite Enya songs, called "Afer Ventus". The lyrics are in Latin, so it took some time to write them all out phonetically so I could pronounce them correctly. I'm pretty sure I got. The beautiful henna lettering and artwork were done by my friend Niki, and the book cover is from an 1894 edition of "The Count Of Monte Cristo", lent to me by another friend, Tiffany.

The first single from "Tonight The Angels" will be released next Tuesday! It will include a beautiful new markymix, an acoustic version of the title track, a 12" extended mix, and a cover of "Afer Ventus" by Enya. Mark's remix is wonderful as usual, but he also did some really cool things with the chord progression and the vocal harmonies that really surprised me! The acoustic track almost killed my fingers, and I was slightly hesitant to even release it at all... but there's no turning back now - lol! And the cover of Enya is something I've been wanting to do for years. The song is in Latin, which made recording somewhat difficult, but also a really fun. I hope Enya fans will like it :) The single comes out on January 18th.

The new image for the website in 2011. Several of the books are on loan from friends around the country, and I think they all work together to make a pretty cool library. They are all on my bookshelf right now, and I'm about to pack them back up to send back to their owners. I'm really going to miss them! The lettering was done by my friend, Niki Pham. She's also doing all the Henna designs for the "Tonight The Angels" release.