THICK OIL, day eleven - The Ghost

"During Brains' vocal takes, Pat Kay takes myself and the rest of The Ghost down to the cellar of the factory. This is the first time Pat decides it is ok to extend the usual tour to the basement. He stops halfway down the stairs, as the light stops at darkness. He turns and tells us that in the 1920's, during prohibition, the mafia bottled beer in the basement of the factory. And that sometimes, late at night, if you listen very closely you can hear the sound of "dripping". He turns and leads us into the darkness. A light turns on revealing a vacant cellar with a conveyor belt leading down from the first floor. He explains that the belt is too small to hold 55 gallon oil drums, but just the right size for barrels of beer. We walk closer, stepping over a soaked floor, apparently water or oil or something. Pat says that the bootleggers were all gunned down one night by the Chicago Police. One of the members of The Ghost asks what the liquid is that we are stepping across. Pat says, "the blood of the bootleggers...." Drip....drip....drip....."
Thus begins the eleventh 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, to see pictures from the sessions click here, and keep coming back here every day for the latest installment.

During Brains’ vocal takes, Pat Kay takes myself and the rest of The Ghost down to the cellar of the factory. This is the first time Pat decides it is ok to extend the usual tour to the basement. He stops halfway down the stairs, as the light stops at darkness. He turns and tells us that in the 1920’s, during prohibition, the mafia bottled beer in the basement of the factory. And that sometimes, late at night, if you listen very closely you can hear the sound of "dripping". He turns and leads us into the darkness. A light turns on revealing a vacant cellar with a conveyor belt leading down from the first floor. He explains that the belt is too small to hold 55 gallon oil drums, but just the right size for barrels of beer. We walk closer, stepping over a soaked floor, apparently water or oil or something. Pat says that the bootleggers were all gunned down one night by the Chicago Police. One of the members of The Ghost asks what the liquid is that we are stepping across. Pat says, "the blood of the bootleggers…." Drip….drip….drip…..

Back in the safe haven of our recording space on the second floor of the factory, The Ghost is wrapping up vocals, and decide to attempt a percussion track using a 17 gallon oil drum and a drumstick. The result fails, but the attempt-valiant. The entire session went well with the band happy to use all of our gear. The only problem we had was a radio transmission that came through the Mesa Boogie head. This happened during the Rise Against session as well, but each time Lance was able to remedy the problem by moving the amps location in the room. The Ghost has a unique sound compared to the rest of the songs we have tracked thus far. Kind of hard to explain, but guitar driven, with the drummer laying down a soft and sort of shake your booty touch. The song moves through double time, dynamic drum rolls, and pull out your lighter rock beats. The bass playing is simple, sparse and compliments the groove well. After a few guitar overdubs mixing up Marshall and Mesa sounds, Brian gets set for vocals which would take the biggest chunk of time thus far. The song, which Brian has never sung, apparently is directed at an old friend referred to as a "fucking coward". The words bite at this person. Brian sings verses and screams the chorus with tons of EMOtion. We double the chorus at the end, and I am left impressed with Brains ability to work through the song from scratch.

Pat, Lance and I race out of the factory, we will finally have a couple days off from recording after tracking 14 bands in 12 days. Including; Local H, The Reputation, Plain White T’s, Lawrence Arms, Detachment Kit, The Dishes, Tom Daily, Haymarket Riot, The Tossers, The Arrivals, Rise Against, and The Ghost. We will wrap up beginning on Sunday with The Matics and Duvall, 4 more days and 6 more bands. See you on Sunday.