Author: jaymathes

  • Grapefruit Stitched Up

    In high school, when my grandmother lived with us, I used to eat a grapefruit for breakfast on my way to school. My grandma liked them, so I thought I’d give them a shot. I liked them. I thought it paired well with an extra-sweet, three-sugar coffee. No cream. I didn’t eat grapefruit again for nine years.

    Today I ate half of a grapefruit for breakfast. It was the best grapefruit I have ever had in my entire life.
    And while I was eating the best grapefruit I’ve ever had in my life, I listened to a song for the first time ever – a tune by John Mayer called “Stitched Up.” It was awesome. Probably one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. This man never stops amazing me. If you’ve never heard the song before, find it, and savor every note.
  • Pushing the Envelope

    I just received an email from a buddy of mine who owns a studio in Villa Park. He has the next two weeks available, and he’s willing to book me at a super-discounted price for mixing. The only problem is that I’m not finished tracking yet. (“Tracking” is the process of recording each instrument and “composing” the parts of a song.) 

    If my estimates are right, mixing should take no more than five days. And if my friend still has Monday, February 9-13th available, that means, if I want to mix with him on this, I have ten days to finish tracking everything. 
    It’s doable, but it will be tough. It means that I’m going full-throttle every day for the next ten. It means putting a few other things on hold. It probably means only performing one show that week. My only concern is that I confuse working efficiently with working sloppily – that I rush this process, and that I’m ultimately unhappy with the final mixes on February 14th.
    Wish me luck. Here we go…