Well, we made it back from our secluded album making getaway in one piece, and with some awesome new rap songs to boot. We’re getting ready to take off for this little mini tour tomorrow, so I’ll try to give you a brief rundown of last week’s Wisconsin cabin voyage (and yes, for the record we are aware that Bon Iver also once wrote an album in a cabin in Wisconsin).
We got up to the cabin on Tuesday afternoon, armed with a ton of groceries, booze, and recording gear. That’s Stef setting up Studio Room A in the sun room.
And here is Cecil in the luxurious Studio Room B, located in a very spacious upstairs loft.
We would generally just pick a beat and crank it on repeat for a few hours while the rappers wrote their raps. Pretty awesome to watch five adults huddled around a kitchen table mumbling into their laptops for hours on end. It looked a little something like this:
During this portion of the process I would usually chill with Sims’ dogs, Superbowl Champion and Lola. This was generally my vantage point:
Then after a couple hours people would start to recite their parts out loud and we would start to piece the song together. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous of this cabin retreat idea working out because I know how hard it can be to write a song on the spot, but these guys are serious pros. They knocked out a ton of stuff up there. We would end most nights by laying down verses in the makeshift studio/sunroom. Here’s Sims going in as Stef engineers:
And now for a ton of random hanging out pictures from throughout the week. It certainly wasn’t all work up there.
I forgot how good of a cook Cecil is. French toast, homemade spaghetti sauce, you name it. He will make it for you. We ate (and drank) like kings all week.
So many brews were crushed. Look at those sweet 4th of July Budweiser cans! ‘Merica.
Dessa has been determined to help this little baby bell pepper plant grow, so she brought it up to the cabin to make sure it didn’t die while she was gone. So far so good.
Not really sure what’s going on here. Possibly a new rapper stretch that us producers are unfamiliar with.
Oh man, check out my big fat hand! I got bit by something on the second day up there and my right hand got so swollen that my knuckles disappeared for awhile. Not tight. I got a glimpse of what my hands may look like 20 years from now when I am a washed up rap producer who has let himself go.
I thought Cecil and Dessa were upstairs working on a hook idea, but it turns out there was nothing but crazy monster riffs being laid down. Shouts to Cecil for capturing these action shots.
The obligatory beautiful scenery shots. The photo doesn’t do it justice. That sunset was so awesome that we decided to all shotgun a Budweiser flag beer in it’s honor.
And there you have it, the cabin rundown. We’re gonna spend the rest of July finishing up these songs before taking everything to a real deal studio. Right now it’s time to head out on this mini tour though. Here is a reminder about the shows that are going on these next couple of weeks.
06.30.11 Doomtree in Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre (ALL AGES)
07.01.11 Doomtree in Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge (21+)
07.02.11 Doomtree in Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court (ALL AGES)
07.03.11 Doomtree in Helena, MT @ Tech N9ne’s Independents Day Festival
07.04.11 P.O.S, Dessa & Sims in Helena, MT @ Tech N9ne’s Independents Day Festival
07.05.11 Doomtree in Jackson, WY @ Q Roadhouse (ALL AGES)
07.06.11 Doomtree in Casper, Wyoming @ The Venue (ALL AGES)
07.07.11 Doomtree in Rapid City, SD @ Dublin Square (18+)
07.08.11 Cecil Otter in Minneapolis, MN @ Dowling Studio in the Guthrie Theatre (ALL AGES)
07.15.11 Sims in Minneapolis, MN @ University of Minnesota – Northrop Plaza
07.31.11 Mike Mictlan in Minneapolis, MN @ Red Stag Block Party (ALL AGES! FREE!)
08.06.11 Doomtree in Sioux Falls, SD @ 605 Summer Classic (ALL AGES – Tickets on sale July 1!)
08.13.11 P.O.S in Minneapolis, MN @ Pizza Luce Block Party (ALL AGES! FREE!)
08.19.11 Sims in Somerset, WI @ SoundTown Music & Camping Festival at Somerset Amphitheater
And here’s that cool video that Ander put together in case you’re more into visuals.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/25214350[/vimeo]Before I go, I wanted to mention a couple other cool things going on. First off, check out this sweet interview Sims did recently with Buzzine right HERE. Second, we’ve been getting into this site lately called turntable.fm. I’m not super familiar with it yet, but you can basically go in there and spin music and hang out with people (on a virtual level of course). We set up our own Doomtree room that you should pop in and check out if you get a second at turntable.fm/doomtree. We plan on debuting some new music in there from time to time, as well as bumping the old classics and some unreleased stuff that never sees the light of day. In order to sign in you need to have a Facebook friend who is already a member. Chances are you do, but if not just add Doomtree as a friend HERE. We’ve got an awesome surprise we’re gonna roll out tomorrow, so check back to doomtree.net and turntable.fm for more details.
OK, enough of that schpeel. I’ll leave you with one hilarious Video Bonus Jam. Cecil pulled this up during a lunch break at the cabin and I had completely forgotten that this song existed. It’s LL Cool J’s “I’m That Type Of Guy” video. Oh man, not only are these lyrics unbelievable (sample: “I’m the type of guy that says the pudding is delicious”), but this video entails LL Cool J breaking into a heavily guarded mansion armed only with a crossbow and a cigar! Seriously, you should watch this whole thing, it will be worth time I promise.
Haha, that is the best. Alright, time to get ready for mini tour. I hope to see a lot of you out there on the road this coming week. Have a great 4th of July. I’ll try to get a Tour Days With Lazerbeak post ready for next time.
— Beak