The Boston Project

Tuesday, April 20th, we flew out our producer from LA (Robb Gilligan) for the recording of Drew's demo cd. Starting Friday night, we were apart of what is called a "lock out", where we put in 14 hours a day for recording. Through Drew's buddy Mitch the drummer, we had a piano (Jeff), electric bass (Marty), and electric guitar (Matt) come in at different times to record their parts. This went really well! Each guy was extremely creative. They fit their part with the others in a way that made every song unique, dynamic, and really just the way we have been imagining. First, were the drums. We could honestly not have been luckier to have Mitch on board-in fact I need to say something specifically about Mitch, without him The Boston Project would have never happened. He started out helping Drew with all of the aranging for his songs, and quickly became a co-writer/co-production manager/best friend. And he rocks at drumming! Second, was the bass. Thanks to Marti, the songs (especially "Into The Snow") were getting a beat we loved. Third, was the piano. With the lights turned down, Jeff's piano was sensational. The feeling we all got as he played away to the music brought a few of us to tears...it was exactly what was needed in the songs. Fourth, we recorded the electric guitar. This took the whole day on Sunday. It was tricky figuring out how dirty or clean it needed to be to fit each song. Matt has an amazing talent that created the rock sound that we wanted. Our last day in the studio was Monday, with acoustic guitar and vocals. Drew has a special talent of playing EXACTLY with the click, which not many can do. And when it came time to sing, he miraculously managed all three songs with out his voice dying! It was strong the entire time. The First few nights we got home sometime between 2 and 3, but the last night it was 4am! We needed to take Robb to the airport at 6 so we ended up just staying up, taking him, then going to sleep at 7am and waking up at 2pm. And yes our bodies were very angry with us, causing stomach and head aches and lack of energy. What role did I play in all this? I picked up/dropped off the instrumentalists that came in for a period of time. This actually turned out great because I got to know each one. My other role was making sure the guys were all fed and happy. So in the morning, before we left, I made breadfast and meals for later and got snacks together. I took lots of video and pictures! And made sure Drew was relaxed when he needed it (pep talks, massages, ect.). This experience has increased my knowledge of the creation process of music drastically! I have found that I hear music differently now too. Picking out each instrument in a song, and hearing how it is mixed (what instruments are in front/back so you notice them more/less). ANYWAY, what now? Well Robb is going to mix the songs. Making them all ready to be put onto a demo so we can shop it around. Until then, we will be gigging with the band around Boston and working on the other ten songs that are in pre-production. Needless to say, this experience was far more incredible and rewarding than we could've imagined! Thanks to everyone that helped make this possible. Keep your ears out for the upcoming demo!