Earlier this summer, a talented singer-songwriter by the name of Mitch Whitaker reached out to me about recording some of his demos. It was a no-brainer to quickly accept the opportunity. You can listen to those demos here.
From the moment I hit record, I was truly astonished at the depth of his lyricism, smooth voice, and captivating arrangements. It didn't take long for "client" to become "friend".
Around this time, I was also reconnecting with longtime pal and fellow recording engineer Erik Peterson. Mitch had shown me a video of this series on YouTube called "stories", where a group of studio musicians create compelling acoustic arrangements with a rotating cast of singers. I thought to myself, "what if I did a sort of 'TED X" DIY version of this?"
Well, the thought became a question to Mitch and Erik and we were off to the races.
Pre-production
Amidst busy schedules, we were able to coordinate precisely one rehearsal at my studio, which was fueled by home made chili and hard seltzer. (Thanks to my amazing wife AJ for being the best host.) I then asked my pal Jon Robinson to help film the 3 videos. Not only did he graciously agree to participate, but he truly went above and beyond to make it a reality.
From there, the idea got bigger and bigger. The list of thanks is extensive. I'll come back to that.
Recording and Production
We decided to record and film it at Framework PDX, which meant that I had to pack up a mobile studio. I loaded up the 2002 Dodge Caravan with all of my equipment and set up my desktop computer on an apple box.
On September 17th, 2022, the stars aligned. We recorded and filmed 3 covers live at Framework: Time to Pretend by MGMT, Come As You are by Nirvana, and Between the Bars by Elliott Smith.
Post-production | Audio Mixing and Video Editing
The post-production process was the exact opposite of the recording process. It was painful and took way too long. Why? You may ask. You see, I am quite the novice video editor. The mixes were pretty much done in a couple days while the videos took 3+ months. However, I had a lot of fun in the process and learned a TON that I would do differently next time from Kevin Michaluk, who was insanely generous with his time and expertise.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the CREW
I absolutely could NOT have done this without the following people:
- Director: Jon Robinson
- Director of Photography: Kevin Michaluk (co-owner of Framework)
- Jonny Long: Camera operator
- AJ Long: Catering (not kidding, people get pissed when they're hungry don't they?)
- Gaffer: Kevin Dyer (co-owner of Framework)
- Space: Framework PDX
Summary
The resulting videos are quite different from the "stories" channel, which is usually how I find inspiration works. You can be inspired by something without copying it. You can — and dare I say SHOULD — be willing to let it morph into something entirely different. Perhaps that will inspire someone else — and the cycle continues.
If you’re still with me, thank you for reading! I hope this blog has been a lovely paring to your morning coffee. Stay tuned for the next video release by subscribing to the Useless Before Coffee YouTube channel.
Deep Love,
Jeremy