I was up in the East Bay recently… recording mainly… but also got to spend time with a couple of my visual art mentors from CSU East Bay, Dickson Schneider and Grace Munakata, which wonderfully rounded out the trip. Thanks to my friends Alice and Chris, I also was graced with lots of space and time to finish up ideas and lyrics.
The recording session was with the illustrious Skot B. We were bandmates for a long time in the Phantom Limbs. He’s been recording bands for a long time.. in fact, he recorded the BoyScouts of Annihilation demo tape for us at our Van Nuys rehearsal studio circa 1991. I should put that demo online someday, if I can find it.
Naturally, Skot B recorded most of the Phantom Limbs stuff too, so… I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the back of his head. I’ve also grown to trust his judgement and creativity. He’s a great performance whisperer as well, as any good studio engineer is. He knows what to say to push the artist to go further.
On this album, I wanted Skot to do more than just record and facilitate, I wanted his creative input too… and he had lots of great ideas which helped give life and energy to all the tracks. I don’t think there’s one stinker on this collection.
The album, entitled “Trust & Will,” will be bookended by a looong instrumental track, “Final Song,” that was cut into two pieces. We then move to “They Were There.” This is not my first poem or song related to alienation mixed in with sexual commerce. This one was originally written on the electribe sequencer I used for the original solo Loto Ball material, but it never became a staple of the Loto Ball set.
Instead of sequencers and drum beats to keep time for this record, I’ve opted for arpeggiators pulled from the Logic software and altered them. There is one track with drums actually, which I’ll mention in another paragraph, as I’m going in order.
Following ‘They Were There,” we’ll have “Nothing Personal.” This surreal fairytale involving power and hierarchy has been a staple of both the Loto Ball Show and Loto Ball sets. I tried to record it as part of the Loto Ball CDMX EP session in Mexico City (2023), but wasn’t happy with it and was much happier with the newest recording done with Skot at the beginning of last year. You can see the end of an earlier version of “Nothing Personal” in the video below. Also, a recent painting with the same title is currently in an online exhibit from Not Shockboxx Gallery.
Next, also written back in Chicago, “Nothing is Good or Bad” was also built from a dream, this one related to fronting the Phantom Limbs. I recorded this one with Loto Ball Show guitarist Matt Schwarz as engineer back around 2012, but I never got around to tracking vocals that session. This new version is way different, of course.
Side A of the LP will end with Still in the World, a staple of the Loto Ball live set. In fact, this was probably on every Loto Ball set list ever. This recording was done by guitarist Jefferson Quiltee around 2015, with Phillip Haut on the drums. The song was also written with the electribe sequencer, a happy accident of sorts. It’s a very existential number… I had a friend in mind who was recovering and beginning to really live again, after being at his lowest point.
Then on to Side B, beginning with “The Dead Do all the Living.” These lyrics are brand new. I first wrote something in February this year, prompted by the myth of Clytemnestra, who had waited 10 years to kill Agamemnon. When looking at the poem during my spring residency at Jentel Arts, Wyoming, and fitting appropriate music to it, I couldn’t help but think about Gaza… as well as the 1980’s Bruce Cockburn song “If I had a Rocket Launcher,” which he wrote following a visit to a Guatemalan refugee camp that was regularly shelled by government helicopters. I wanted to capture the anger and helplessness I’ve been feeling, watching genocide happen, watching people let it happen, thinking of how it would feel to be in the middle of it all. I was able to put everything together adequately, by the end of the recording session last week.
The second song on Side B will be my rendition of Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird.” Many of you will know this powerful poem. I wrote the music for it 9 years ago on piano and didn’t get the studio recording done until last year.
I wrote the music for the third number, “Narcissus,” after my friend, playwright Robert Patrick passed in 2023. I found a video of Robert singing the lyrics acapella and describing it as such..”from an abandoned play about Oscar Wilde. The song is sung twice in the play. It explains his philosophy of life, which led to his renown, and then as you all know, to his ruin. This is sung the way he sings it for the first time when he gives a lecture at Eaton and meets the love of his life. This is sung by Oscar at the peak of his fame to Lord Alfred Douglas, at the peak of his beauty.”
The album finishes with the remainder of the long instrumental track, “Final Song,” which will have a special guest bringing in her violin.
So that’s it for the recording, we’ll be finishing up the final mixes over the next few weeks. I’ll be working on the artwork as well as video(s) this Fall. I’ll be ordering the single and album by the end of the year. The single will be released in March and the album comes out in May, followed by a summer tour up the coast.
I would be remiss if I didn’t include the donation / pre-order link and support tiers here. gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-karim-produce-a-record-album
DIGITAL pack – $25 donation
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ANALOG pack – $85 donation
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ANALOG + SHIRT pack – $125 donation
- Vinyl record with hand-screened cover art
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ART pack EXTRA LIMITED EDITION 100 only – $250 donation
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Thank you everyone for reading and having an interest
in what I’m doing, it means everything.
– Karim