"Reputations are hard to shake, especially if you are The Tossers. Everyone has heard the stories; fights, sex, drugs, booze, backstabbing, so on and so on. Basically, just the fabric of rock and roll. Maybe The Tossers live up to these rumors and maybe they don't, but still, Lance and I brace ourselves for anything as the band drives on to the factory grounds."
Thus begins the eighth 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.
Reputations are hard to shake, especially if you are The Tossers. Everyone has heard the stories; fights, sex, drugs, booze, backstabbing, so on and so on. Basically, just the fabric of rock and roll. Maybe The Tossers live up to these rumors and maybe they donât, but still, Lance and I brace ourselves for anything as the band drives on to the factory grounds.
The first word from the band that leaves me uncertain is that The Tossers wrote the song the day before and Tony Duggins has not set words to it as of yet. I see disaster ahead of me. To my surprise though, drummer and good friend, Bones plops down and plays the song just about perfectly, with Dan Shaw fumbling a couple of bass takes. Still in record time, the rhythm section is complete. Then one by one, guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, whistle and vocals and the band is completed by 11PM. No puking, no passing out, no fights, no sex (maybe), and The Tossers prove that when the ship is called they respond like one of the greatest ships on the sea.
The most challenging aspect of this recording is The Tossers instrumentation which is almost completely acoustic. This means we will not mic up speakers, but the instruments themselves. Ambient noise becomes an issue and we have to keep the room clear when we are recording. The sound of walking, chatting, etcâ¦is drowned out when recording electric guitars, but not un-plugged acoustic instruments. So instead of hanging in the recording space, most people hang out on the loading dock for drinks, smokes and chit chat.
The song is an upbeat bouncy jam about the bands favorite pastime-boozing at one of the bands usual watering holes. What seems to quietly surface in the song is a good-bye to an old friend, and an invitation to have a drink again even if that person has already had their last night on earth. Who knows. Maybe I am reading into to it too much.
As we clean up for the night, Lance comments that we have settled into a system. We are just past the halfway mark, and have become an efficient, and fine tuned recording gizmo. Knock on wood that the gear doesnât blow up, or Lance doesnât blow up for that matter.