MP Studio Diary for Portnoy/Sheehan/Kotzen Sessions

:) 

So, Richie has an awesome voice!  I wonder how much of the other two voices we'll hear?  For some reason I keep wondering about backing vocals/ harmonies with this one, especially how Billy and MP's voices might blend together.

I've only had a bass drum head break on me twice.  Once was in a Killswitch Engage cover band, where I had to finish the set off only playing with my left foot.  That sucked.
The other time was learning a really soft Pink Floydish type song when I first joined my band, and while exaggerating how soft I was hitting, the beater fell through the bass drum head like it was a pillow.  I still don't understand how that happened.
 
But yeah, broken bass drum heads are never fun, especially when you're not endorsed

lol I had the opposite ^ I was exaggerating and copying my brother stomping upstairs...busted my kick head. In my defense, it was like 20 years old. Then I bought and Evans EMAD and that broke within a year or two. When I bought my next head the bloke at the store said apparently the EMAD had durability issues.

Hey Mike...
What would you say is the main difference between the Portnoy/Sheehan/Kotzen Project and the Portnoy/Sheehan/Sykes Project? From a musical point of view I mean. Are the songs you are currently laying down similar in vibe to the demo's you did with Sykes? 
 
Do you think we will ever get a chance as fans to hear the demos with JS? I would be very curious to hear a sample, but also understand that this may never happen.
 
Either way, I have been on a RK kick for the past week and he is wicked cool.
Can't wait to hear this album!

I am kicking myself in the ass right now, because I was so close to going to the Baked Potato tonight. Had a gut feeling MP would drop in. I've seen Richie play so many times already, and it's a work night. Oh well....

Tues Aug 7th - Day #4:
 
Today was a half day because Richie already had a gig booked for this evening...
 
Basically, I spent the session sitting with our engineer Alex going through the 5 drum tracks with a magnifying glass and made a few minor changes to a few grooves, fills and edits...
 
Here was my view for several hours:
 

 
After signing off on the drum tracks I head out to meet my good friend Eddie Trunk for some dinner and then we head over to watch Richie and his solo band play at the Baked Potato.
 
For those of you who don't know, The Baked Potato is a legendary jazz club in LA that every great jazz, blues & rock player has jammed at...a great little club that is about the size of my living room holding no more than 100 people! It's the ultimate place to see your favorite musician play up close and personal.
 
Anyways, Richie just TORE IT UP!!!!
SO MUCH soul in his playing and singing...so many goose-bump moments...the man is the REAL DEAL!! I really am honored and so excited to be working with such an amazing talent.
 

 
After a short intermission, Richie invites me up to sit in for a song and we jam on his version of "All Along The Watchtower"...no rehearsal, no discussion, just a true JAM...it was a blast!
 

 
Eddie & I head out halfway through Richie's 2nd set and call it a night....
 
Back to work tomorrow...c-ya then!

 
MP

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Portnoy



BTW, are you all aware of what an UNBELIEVABLE singer Richie is???
He sings like Chris Cornell meets Glenn Hughes meets Stevie Wonder!!
And his guitar playing??? He plays like Stevie Ray Vaughan meets Paul Gilbert meets Jimi Hendrix!!


I don't think people realize the incredible talent he is...he was kind of stereo-typed into a certain genre because of his time with Poison & Mr. Big...but ladies & gentlemen, he is the REAL DEAL!!! A true musician with the ability to tackle everything from rock to jazz to blues...

I do believe this project will get him the recognition that his talents so deserve and are way overdue!!

OK, three songs in the can....

Until tomorrow,
MP

Yep, yep and yep!!!!   I posted this in another Kotzen thread a couple of weeks ago:  "Makes no sense that people this talented are walking around out there. I mean, how are you blessed with those looks, guitar chops AND that freakin' voice?? "

I wonder when this album will come out? 
Will it be a spring release? - March seem to be MP month!

Wonder if a name has been chosen or if, like a new pet, it will name itself by it's
actions and mannerisms.
 
Hell's Trio
 
Noah's Arc
 
 
 

That view looks very familiar, unfortunately it takes more then a few hours to go through my drum tracks.

Paul Sommer


Hey Mike...
What would you say is the main difference between the Portnoy/Sheehan/Kotzen Project and the Portnoy/Sheehan/Sykes Project? From a musical point of view I mean. Are the songs you are currently laying down similar in vibe to the demo's you did with Sykes? 

 
 
The biggest difference is: the stuff with Kotzen is a three-way collaboration with me, Richie & Billy writing, arranging and playing everything together as a band.
 
With Sykes, it was all HIS material and it never got to the "collaborative" stage (and I'm not sure if it ever would've seeing the way he worked)...in fact, he refused to pick up a guitar and play with me & Billy in the same room...me & Billy basically tracked to his existing scratch guitar and vocals...
 
Stylistically they are also VERY different...
 
The Sykes stuff was more in the vein of what you'd expect from him (a bit of the 80's Whitesnake/Blue Murder style...with a touch of 60's/70's Zeppelin & Purple)
The stuff with Kotzen has more of a bluesy, funky edge and a lot more loose jammy feel.
 
I think the lineup with Kotzen will also lend itself better to a lot of jamming live where me, Billy & Richie can stretch more...whereas Sykes' stuff would've probably been a little more straight-ahead hard rock songs..
 

Paul Sommer
 
Do you think we will ever get a chance as fans to hear the demos with JS? I would be very curious to hear a sample, but also understand that this may never happen.

 
 
I highly doubt it to be honest...
 
That being said, if John called me tomorrow and asked me to re-track these tunes for a solo album of his, I'd be happy to do the session as hired gun....I just don't think a "real band" will ever be in the cards for us together...the work ethics are just world's apart...
 
MP

Just saw the video of the baked potato gig ... this is PURE EPICNESS!!!

Richie is one of my fav guitar players out there (i am still wondering how he can be so fast and tight without a pick these days), Mike obviously my fav drummer and Sheehan one of my fav bass players. WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?!

I officially can't wait! For the record: Mike and Richie seem to have a great musical bond which you can see in the video!

Fan-filmed video of Me & Richie Kotzen jamming last night at the Baked Potato...no rehearsal, no discussion, just get up & GO!!! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKfoHEtXza8&feature=youtu.be

Wed Aug 8th - Day #5:
 
Start the day with diving into developing a new idea that Richie came up with on Sunday...within about an hour, we've assembled what is a KICK-ASS, BAD-ASS, GROOVIN, funky BMF of a song!!
It's (tentatively?) called "Desire" and has a very strong Chili Pepper vibe happenin...
I think this one would be the natural first single or lead-off track...
 
I jump straight into tracking the drums while we are in the zone and nail it after a few takes. Lovin this one!
 
Take a break to go fuel up on some Starbucks and then we dive into another one...
 
We start doing a little surgery on one of the tracks from the 2nd batch of writing in February...spend a while re-writing the pre-chorus and then call it a night so we can head over to the Rainbow to meet up with our good friend (and the mastermind behind this collaboration) Eddie Trunk who is celebrating his birthday!
(we joke that maybe we should name the band "Eddie Trunk" or "The Eddie Trunk Band" or "The Trunks")
 
Also joining us is Don Jamieson, Jim Florentine, Mike Piazza, Brain Slagel, Mike Faley, Billy's wife and a few other friends...good times!


(Damn redeye!!!!!)
 

 

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Beer & Wine!
Good luck! This project will be blast!
Mauro

I think that would be a good name for the band, Redeye.

Mike...something I always wanted to ask, but I always seem to miss those Twitter Q&A's...
 
Any Funk/Soul influences at all prior to this project? Has Richie turned you on to any of that?

Keep'em coming! It's been a really good read! :)
 
Yeah Garjaye, I already made that question on those twitter Q&A's too!
Mike I also always wanted to know that if any sort of Jazz/funk project appears, if you would like to "embrace" that kind of project! I'm not a Jazz fan at all but it would be awesome see you  doing such thing. (IMHO)

How did that little kit feel Mike?
Sick job on that thing
Same setup I always use you killed it!

I like kotzen more than I thought I would from that little jam. This has me interested.

This project seems like BBA of the 21st century...
 
Adding to how Mike described the sound, all three can sing very well, Billy looks up to Tim Bogert and Mike...well he looked like Carmine Appice back then when they filmed "Scenes from NY". 

I like Kotzen better than any other guitar player Mike has worked with.
 
Tele + fingerpicking + amazing technique + good taste = WIN

Thurs Aug 9th - Day #6:
 
Well...another day, another song!
 
Spend the day working on another great song RK had cooking up...the verses and choruses were pretty much already perfect, so we did a little arrangement tweaking and spend a while walking through some different bridge and solo ideas and VOILA...another song is up & running!
 
This one could be another strong candidate for a single...it's tentatively called "My Misfortune" and we have a hunch the ladies are gonna love this one!!  
 
I bang out 5 takes and then spend a while comping with Alex...and that makes 7 drum tracks in the can!
 
The three of us sit around for a while having the inevitable new band discussion:
A NAME!!!
 
I suggested "Ass Piss", "Rumpled Foreskin" and "Satan's Anus" but shockingly none of those names flew....???? 
 
Actually, we ended up stumbling on a few names that all 3 of us unanimously dug, but one in particular has a real "classic" ring to it...we're gonna do a little research and see if its ever been used by another band. (It's such a natural, classic name I am SHOCKED to see so far that in 50 years of rock music it has NOT been used by anybody so far as we can tell...but we'll see.....)
 
We spend the rest of the night listening to the remaining demos from earlier in the year we still have waiting in the wings to tackle as well as a few more new ideas that Richie wanted us to check out and consider developing....
There certainly seems to be no shortage of material!!!
 
Here's today's pic of Richie and Billy punching in a few riffs onto the scratch tracks...


C-ya tomorrow!
MP
 

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Ass piss didn't work? Haha

I'm going to be honest and say I haven't been this excited for a MP release since... Since the first time I heard of him.
Not to bring this subject again, but congratz for the man in finding true musical hapiness. It took a lot of balls to let go of a big band that kept him in a confort zone, but after listening to the music he made since, watching his videos, reading his posts, etc etc, i think it's obvious now that he made the right choice. Music should be about having fun and that's what Mike is up to right now. He's surrounded with happy, funny, positive people, making amazing music all over the place, and I reckon at the end of the day, that's what being a musician is(or should be) all about. He might not ever play in a band as big as Dream Theater again, but at this point, I don't think he cares.
now gimme those funky beats mike

"Satan's Anus"
 
C ould also have combined 'em....SatANus..


....Sure some death metal band 'll grab this now....

Larks Tongues in Asspiss ?

Hey MP , planning to go see  Iron Maiden while both of you are in town ?

Fri Aug 10th - Day #7:
 
I came into today's session with a total brainstorm...an epiphany if you will...
(I just wanted to use that word...)  
 
There were a few Richie songs/ideas laying around that we hadn't utilized yet, but in some cases we liked the verse but not the chorus, or we liked the chorus but wasn't crazy about the verse, etc.
 
I had the idea of matching up the main riff and verses of an idea called "White Dog" (mainly joking because it had a bit of a Zeppelin "Black Dog" vibe) and combining it with the original chorus from yesterday's song My Misfortune which was abandoned (the original chorus was completely different and is now the chorus to this song: "Elevate")
 
I know right now none of this makes sense to you...but one day it will!  
 
We also put in a shredding middle section where Billy & Richie will be doing some insane unison lines and soloing...
 
I'm totally pumped on the way this one came out!
And the OCD anal obsessive sequencing/setlist mind in my head is already leaning towards this being a great album/show opener...we'll see....
 
Anyways, I dig into tracking and go through the usual routine...lay down about 5 takes and then spend a while with our trusty (and patient) engineer Alex sitting with me a comping the drums...
 
Here's today's pics for y'all...some drum shots of me tracking the song:





That's 8 drum tracks done and at least 5 more songs still waiting in the wings!
We're cooking!!  
 
Until tomorrow,
MP

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Woooow Cant wait to hear it Uncle Mikey :)
 
Bear
 

loving the Queen shirt!!!

The kit is so tiny!

Portnoy


Thurs Aug 10th - Day #7:

I came into today's session with a total brainstorm...an epiphany if you will...
(I just wanted to use that word...)  

Epiphany, huh? Sounds like a killer band name to me too...

 EPIPHANY 

Wow, I am not a fan of the bands Richie played in but the man can really sing and play, such a talent!
 
I simply cannot wait to have this album on my hands... and ears! xD
 
GO GO MIKE!!!!!!!!!!!

I dig Epiphany Mike, go for it!!!

Portnoy


Thurs Aug 10th - Day #7:

I came into today's session with a total brainstorm...an epiphany if you will...
(I just wanted to use that word...)  

There were a few Richie songs/ideas laying around that we hadn't utilized yet, but in some cases we liked the verse but not the chorus, or we liked the chorus but wasn't crazy about the verse, etc.

I had the idea of matching up the main riff and verses of an idea called "White Dog" (mainly joking because it had a bit of a Zeppelin "Black Dog" vibe) and combining it with the original chorus from yesterday's song My Misfortune which was abandoned (the original chorus was completely different and is now the chorus to this song: "Elevate")

I know right now none of this makes sense to you...but one day it will!  

We also put in a shredding middle section where Billy & Richie will be doing some insane unison lines and soloing...

I'm totally pumped on the way this one came out!
And the OCD anal obsessive sequencing/setlist mind in my head is already leaning towards this being a great album/show opener...we'll see....

Anyways, I dig into tracking and go through the usual routine...lay down about 5 takes and then spend a while with our trusty (and patient) engineer Alex sitting with me a comping the drums...

That's 8 drum tracks done and at least 5 more songs still waiting in the wings!
We're cooking!!  

Until tomorrow,
MP

 
Just LOVE the pictures with that GREAT Queen shirt on, just keeps me wishing for a great QUEEN tribute band for you to put together with Gary Cherone on vocals! C'mon MP, MAKE IT HAPPEN!

I want a driver's seat photo of the new kit please :)

Sat Aug 11th - Day #8:
 
Wow...what a productive day!!!
 
Start off with revisiting "Elevate" from yesterday....Richie & Billy reworked the chord voicings between the guitar & bass on the choruses and I recut my drums to fit better with the changes.
 
I also spend a little time making some changes to the drum comp from yesterday...with just these few subtle changes, the song is "elevated" (pun intended) to a whole new level...
I am now certain this track has to be the album opener!!
 
We then move onto two more "new" ideas that Richie presented to us to work on...and to be honest, there wasn't much Billy & I could do to add to both songs as they were both really great already! (if it ain't broke, don't fix it!)
 
The first track is a beautiful ballad called "Damaged"...a really simple but really beautiful song.

This one called for my inner-most Ringo vibe, so I pull out one of my favorite tricks in the book (I've done it a lot on the Transatlantic and Neal Morse albums) and deaden up the snare and toms with paper towels...but also take it a step further than usual and drape a towel over the bass drum as well..

 
We finish up tonight's session with an incredible song that Richie wrote on piano called "Regret"...I can't tell you how cool this song is! It's got an almost "gospel" feel to it.
For starters, Richie's vocals on this are INCREDIBLE! SOOOOOO much soul...
Eddie Trunk pointed out to me that Richie occasionally channels a bit of a Prince vibe, and I think maybe there's a touch of that one in this tune...
 

 
This tune ABSOLUTELY has to close the album...It's very slow, sad and soulful..almost depressing...but it's REALLY moving! (for all you DT fans out there, I think it will have a similar feeling to when we closed the Awake & SDOIT CDs with "Space Dye Vest" and "Disappear")
 
Also, I must say this track turned out one of my favorite drum tracks in my entire career!!! The deadened heads and dry approach forced me to play with such unbelievably dynamic and subtle nuances that I really just locked with the vocals and created a drum performance unlike anything I've EVER done!!
This is one that when the MP nay-sayers say "ohhh...he's all just bombast or show" or "just a big kit", etc etc - this is the one I want them to hear!!! 
(another interesting side-note about this drum track as the entire song is made up of an entire single take - Take 2 - no comping...just one of those "one-take wonders!") 

Anyways, what a day!
Drum tracks 9 & 10 are in the books...
And we still have 3 "old" ones and 1 "new" one to dig into!
 
Until then,
MP

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