THICK OIL, day four - The Lawrence Arms

"As expected the LAWRENCE ARMS session was accompanied by a keg of beer, compliments of THE MATICS. At first, the beer was a bit tepid, but adding a bag of ice inside the filtration system gave it that icy feel I enjoy oh so much. We drank from 8 ounce plastic cups. It makes it kind of like "shooting" beer, which for some reason makes them go down all the easier. By 8PM, I have a certified buzz in the works. Luckily, the session was done by 10PM at which point I was declared an utter mess. Once at home, I ate 4 pieces of Falcos pizza left over from the previous night and some concoction made up of wagon wheel noodles, broccoli, and tempeh all mixed with A1 steak sauce!! Yummy."
Thus begins the fourth in a series of journal entries by THICK Records kingpin Billy Spunke documenting his label's newest compilation, "OIL". To read the full entry, click on READ MORE, and keep coming back here every day for the latest installment.

As expected the LAWRENCE ARMS session was accompanied by a keg of beer, compliments of THE MATICS. At first, the beer was a bit tepid, but adding a bag of ice inside the filtration system gave it that icy feel I enjoy oh so much. We drank from 8 ounce plastic cups. It makes it kind of like "shooting" beer, which for some reason makes them go down all the easier. By 8PM, I have a certified buzz in the works. Luckily, the session was done by 10PM at which point I was declared an utter mess. Once at home, I ate 4 pieces of Falcos pizza left over from the previous night and some concoction made up of wagon wheel noodles, broccoli, and tempeh all mixed with A1 steak sauce!! Yummy.

So anyway, LAWRENCE ARMS has decide to record one of Chris’ songs, that Neil or Brendan don’t really know it all. The recording session turns into a rehearsal with multiple beer breaks and ball busting. The space is crowded with all sorts of people milling about like we are just at a party with some band playing in the corner. It’s extremely relaxed and fun-just what a recording experience should be like. Who cares, if the kids are chatting while Lance is recording, or if the train shoots by, a cell phone rings, and so on. We are having a blast and the recording shows that. Call it "vibe" if you will. Half way through the party we have a keeper on tape, and Lance asks the band to "try another" just so we have two on tape. The band reluctantly obliges and clicks off take two, which is way loose and sounds like the band starting whipping guitars and drums at each other. IT’S AMAZING!! Still we decide to use take one. Brendan does a quick bass overdub, and Chris slides out an amazing vocal with the most poetic and visual lyrics we have heard yet. Stellar!! Chris puts a second guitar on the track. He decides on the Mesa Triple Rectifier with the MESA 2 x12 cabinet, which no one has tried yet. It sounds great. Crisp, sharp, a nice bite. 10PM rolls around and we are done, and so am I. In short, a great session with Larry’ Arms.

One last note, when we are done, our fearless engineer, Lance Reynolds tells me he is worried about high blood pressure. A result of eating fast food garbage, caffeine, and anxiety. He says, the night before he was at a point that was similar to a scare a few months earlier that landed him in the hospital. So it is obvious this project, recording one band a day, sometimes 2 bands, for 18 days almost straight will take its’ toll. If we can keep ourselves healthy and focused we just might pull off OIL. But make no mistake, this will not be easy.