The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well it’s been an amazing month. The studio is up and running and the S.S.’s record is on track, for the most part. We have 14 new songs ready to be taken to phase 3 – final o.d.’s and mix – so I feel pretty buoyant about the whole thing.  Got a turntable. It was a bit of an impulse buy. I allowed myself to buy it. $150. I can still hear Josh Rouse telling me: “You spend too much money!” But I don’t know. I got the thing to the studio and set it up and it sounds fantastic. Plus there are so many records you can get for a dollar now. I would love to do a limited vinyl pressing for the S.S. Have to see if that’s even a possibility. But the gear thing, I don’t know. There’s nothing I need now. I have everything. I’m sure I will still want things, I just don’t think I will give myself the opportunity to buy anything else. One thing I do want is one of those Moog “Little Phatty” keyboards. That thing is awesome. So Stevie Wonder-ish sounding. I saw Chuck Prophet, and he was at Alex the Great. He told the story of seeing Springsteen on YouTube, doing his song “Always A Friend” – which I absolutely love – with Alejandro Escovedo. Did some work with Justin and Ian on Mindy Smith’s new record, and it sounds terrific. Those guys are so inspiring. Neal was there, he made me a latte. Been listening to Wes Montgomery: “California Dreaming” because I got it at Grimey’s for $3. Now here’s something that could potentially be a problem. It’s almost like I need a separate job that the income is totally devoted to all the records I want to buy! “What are you doing at Guitar Center?” said my brother. “I’m buying midi cables!” – I said. “Why are you buying more shit and not making music in your studio??” He can make you feel guilty if he wants to. Well he’s kind of right, but you have to get things wired up. Now I need to tidy up. CD’s are everywhere. Need to make sample archives. Empty coffee cups. I need to drink more water. We went to Rumours East, and Ricky Young and some of his buds have a night there. I told them I would DJ if they needed me to- L. and I went and drank some wine and had some pizza. It was good, we had a fun date.

Well we’ve been having some celebrity sightings lately, Lil and I. We were at the Mirror the other night and I turned and there was Robert Plant. He was alone so I introduced myself, said I had done a record with T-Bone. “Oh yes.” he said. “T-bone.” Then I remembered he was a fan of my dad’s band, the Remains, so I mentioned that he probably knew them – “The Remains!?” he said- “I Love the Remains!….That’s your father?” and so on, and then he sang me a little of his version of “Don’t Look Back” -It was quite surreal. Then he told me it was on itunes. I invited him to come with L. and I to the Family Wash to see Kevin Gordon, but he said “Enough is enough.” So we left him alone and hit the bricks. Then the next morning, we saw Jack White at the Monkey, but we didn’t say anything. I think the inauguration of Barack Obama is one of the more exciting things to happen in my lifetime. I feel no small amount of inner champagne bubbles at the thought of this intelligent person being the spokesman for America. It feels so….right. We watched more House of Elliot, and drank Bristol Creme and were becoming quite anglophillic around here. The only thing I worry is that I will start singing my songs in an English accent, which is silly. “What band was Robert Plant in?” said my dad. But I made him take a Remains CD down to the studio, for Robert. Actually, a song like “But I Ain’t Got You” would be great for he and Allison. Got a new Shure microphone, and it sounds fantastic. An SM7B – What we used for the other 2 S.S. records. Learned to comp in Logic. Been swimming, no smoking, drinking lots of water. My voice had started to sound…older…and it scared me. The vanity flared up, made me want to be a better person, healthier.

Well the piano tuner came, and Fed Ex brought L’s computer back at 8:23 a.m. I’m not sure, but I vaguely detected some snarkiness in the Fed Ex guy’s voice, the subtext was: “What the heck are YOU still asleep for! I’ve been up since 4!” Still have this blasted cold and I have no energy. Went to the studio and replaced the bass on “Somebody Said Your Name”, but then when I listened to it later, the old one was better. Downloaded some iphone applications, including RJDJ and Bloom. Bloom is lovely, I could play with it for hours. Went to a potluck dinner at Liz’s and still felt sniffly. Jonathan Trebing was funny: “You were supposed to help John move! But I guess you were too sick!” Me immediately going into an explanation of how I still felt sick, but then it was stupid that I was there, so we split. My brother brought some amazing c.c. cookies. David Mead was there, and I told him how much I was enjoying his elegant new album. Kristian was there, and I told him I felt intimidated by the idea of writing this film…he thinks I can do it. I guess that’s good. Surround yourself with people who believe that you can do things.. Got Eric Clapton’s book from the library and read it in one day…Couldn’t get enough rock biography, my favorite genre. Ran into Fred Koller at lunch at the Indian place, he saw the book under my arm: “Eric has a selective memory.” he said. Played some piano in the evening and now I suppose I want to do a project where I play piano and sing next. After this record. Dreamed about Kubrick, 2001. Had the revelation that HAL didn’t want to be alone. Also thought of Ralph Steadman. Could he design a wine label for us?

Well I couldn’t sleep. Miserable tickle in my throat. Think I’m coming down with something. Off to Nolensville to look at the piano. It’s a beauty. Paid $250 cash to the lady. Called the movers and they said they could get it today. It’s a Wurlitzer spinnet. Just what i’ve always wanted. Just as I was heading for the ATM to get the $ for the movers, somebody driving a Comcast truck smashed into my car from behind. I wasn’t hurt, but I was startled and got an instant headache. 3 hours later, we were all done with the police and everything, then the piano was delivered and I was playing it in the studio. Tuner comes Wednesday. The Honda is undrivable, so, maybe they will total it. Strange day. I guess I need to start thinking about what kind of car to get. Spoke to Lij, and i’m meeting with Kristian tomorrow about the King Arthur video. I need to get the Mark Twain book out of the library. Thinking about Josh Rouse. How good he is at songwriting. Also, I love the new McCartney/Youth effort:”The Fireman”. Excellent. Been listening to Tyler James on Myspace. Feist was on in the coffee shop. Wonderful. Watched another episoode of “House of Elliot”, H.T.H.

Well, I have said it before, but now it really feels like the holidays are behind us. Looking at a piano on craigslist. Looks pretty cool. Wurlitzer, spinnet. Haven’t been to the Y in a couple weeks for some reason and I feel fat as a house. We had a bit of a house-warming on Saturday, and lots of fun people came. Neal Dahlgren was there, and Ian Fitchuk. Also Tommy Keenum and Grimey and Mindy. I don’t know where Brad Jones was but maybe he went to Spain to work on Josh Rouse’s new record. Madi Diaz was there, and she said she would sing on the SS record, which would be awesome. Ian said that Mindy Smith was maybe going to record the song we wrote. That would be cool. I made Neal laugh with the “Most Durable Pant” scheme, that I heard about from Chris Jagger. I wonder if he has come back to Nashville. He was very charming and fun to hang out with. Jason White and Andrea came, and Roger Moutenot and Barbara. Lillie made punch and I drank copious amounts of it. Discussing the idea of a Silver Seas film with Kristian, and I’m getting excited, but I also feel trepidatious, remembering how it took almost a year to do my short film with Jody. I just don’t want to get spun into a huge fiasco, financially or otherwise, but the thing is, I also need to resist the temptation to try to foresee all the pitfalls ahead of time.

A.There’s no way I can

B. I need to forge ahead without thinking about it too much.

C. If anyone told me the pitfalls, I would never do it. Like what happened with my last movie.

More thoughts on the film: I want to play King Arthur. I want Ernest Chapman to be in it. I want Lillie to be in it. I want my brother Carl to help. I want Tommy Keenum to be a production designer. I want it to look good. Does this mean a real D.P.? Should I stick to songwriting and leave the film to somebody else? Nah. Fuck it. Why not try it. What’s the worst thing that can happen? I need to read Joseph Cambell and what’s her name; Mists of Avalon girl. Zimmer Bradley. Peter Bradley Adams would be good too. As a Knight, I mean. And why don’t my Vanity Fair magazines come?

Well Jason and I have been working on the new Silver Seas album. I feel alternating moments of confidence and doubt. “Is this good?” But I know in my heart that it is. Jason doing some lovely Wurlitzer on things. I want to accelerate the process, find myself impatient, pacing. Joe Ross is moving to Minneapolis today. Carl came by, brought the video camera. The idea is for me to collect some footage to go with the mixing. Mix to video. I like that idea.  But there’s no way for it to be interesting for long without people in it. That’s the thing. Are films interesting with no people in them? I don’t know. Who kept saying: “Maybe i’m wrong.” Oh..yeah it was Ferraby. He came by and we put an organ track on one of his songs. He thought the sounds from the Nord Lead were too synthetic: “I don’t know. Maybe i’m wrong.”  I love that expression. Been loving Femi Kuti lately. “Better ask yourself” and what not. Also, Mick Jagger’s vocals are very good. Astonishing amount of control. I find it so easy to veer into uncontrolled territory. Van Morrison is the same way. So out of control but in control at the same time. Finding myself wondering what makes something stylish. “Somebody Said Your Name” needs some modern elements. It feels too retro / JAckson Brown – ish. It needs to come into the 21st cent. somehow. I miss Marc Pisapia. He’s such a brilliant comedian. Can’t get too fragmented I realize. ADD wants to get me to veer off into making movies. I need to stay focussed…

Well guilty pleasures played last night. We had a good crowd, but they were a bit distracted. Thinking about the past year and what lies ahead, presumably. I know I was. But we had fun, and I enjoyed playing key bass. Especially on “Cherish”, the lovely Madonna number. Everybody did a great job, and L. and her mate Georgia had a good time. Went to have sushi and it made my stomach hurt. I drank 2 Red Bulls and was quite animated. This is ever since L. told me that I can occasionally look bored on stage, and that’s not good. So I was practicing reading music and dancing at the same time. Fun night all in all, then, woke up about 11 and made Banana pancakes. Then to Tommy’s party and discussed the idea of starting a shirt company with T. and David Mead. Men’s shirts. It’s a very romantic notion. Went to Robert Oermann’s house, and there were a lot of people there. Steve Fishell and Tracy Gershon, Barry Coburn and Nancy Griffith. She seemed taciturn. Who else did I see there? Robert showed me all of his cds, and he had all of mine. Then we went back to Tommy’s and sat by the outdoor fireplace and told stories. Randy Flowers was there and John Deaderick and Jonathan Trebing. Then we went and looked at a house John was thinking of renting and it was very nice. Then my dad called and was miffed that we hadn’t picked up Posh yet and he wanted to go to sleep, and I felt bad for forgetting her. Got Posh and went home and had some cheese and crackers and went to bed.