10/27-28/12‏

I love recording. Even when I'm not the one tracking I love being in the studio and around the process. Working with Joe Trevino at Blue Cat Studios in San Antonio makes it even better.

The Hickoids are rerecording the "Hairy Chafin' Ape Suit" EP we put out a couple of years ago. It will have a few more songs and already sounds a WORLD better than the last try. Joe has no small part in that. It isn't just his ears, the gear or the room. It's Joe who knows ALL of that stuff like the back of his hand to the point where he doesn't even think about it. He is solely concentrating on the performance and extracting the best one possible out of the people in the room. The ladies and I really need to get in there.

We cut most of the stuff live with a few overdubs and punches where a part wouldn't work. A lot of studios try to isolate things as much as possible. With us Joe kept saying "Bleed is good!" You will hear mistakes on this one, just like it should be. It's a record made by a band, not some artistic piece of glory perfected. There are still some backing vocals Davy and I need to lay down, but we are very close to having a new one in the can. It was a pretty easy couple of days considering how much work was involved.

We did an electronic (I am not kidding) version of Cool Arrow. When I finished laying down the bass line Smitty said "Hey this mechanical bear band just called, they need a new bass player." I quickly let the "fuck you" fly and then I heard the track... Apparently they do eighteen shows a day and they have dental after six months, so...

Recording

Hickoids at Blue Cat with Joe Trevino

Photography By Maurice

10/14/12

Day Four ACL

The last day of the fest at the Hole in the Wall and we are running on fumes. Hickoids went on at 4:30 and played for about an hour. 4:30 is way too early for a show, especially a Hickoids show.

There were around nine bands throughout the day and both stages were going front and back, one right after the other, until the back kick drum broke. The last few bands were all up front on the "classic" stage. It really only feels like the Hole up there. The back is cool, but the front is the HOLE!

Purple Stickpin, Billy Joe Winghead, Pocket Fishermen, De Los Muertos, and many others. After the Hickoids played I drove home and rode my bike back to enjoy the rest of the night. I had a hell of a time and I really enjoyed the new Pocket Fishermen song about Chips mutilating people. It's an instant classic.

Breakdown

The Hole was great all day. I had a bunch of Beers on the tab and even near the end of the night they were still buying them for me! Thanks

I need some rest...

10/13/12

Day Three ACL

Smitty busted out the duct tape pants with the added feature of corn lights (and a 30 foot power cord). The White Swan was aglow with corny goodness.

The neighborhood is VERY different from the Gypsy Lounge/White Horse neighborhood. East 6th is almost completely gentrified and about a year away from it becoming frat boy central.

On east 12th you can still buy crack from a few of the hookers that are trolling around. Good to know Austin still has some ghetto in it. A police helicopter flew over a dozen times right before we played. The crack and the hooking kept on going.

Both Chelsea Hotel and The Poor Dumb Bastards made it up from Houston to bring the rock. After an amp malfunction everything was golden. Lots of big loud and stupid. Beautiful.

Tom got some kind if food poisoning and warned me before we started to get out of the way if I see him take off his guitar. Fortunately it was a puke free set.

More tomorrow

Electric corn duct tape pants

10/12/12

Day Two ACL

It was supposed to be my last show with the Casters, but Bill was MIA and the Hickoids played instead. I guess my last Casters show was this one... I'm glad I wore the dress now.

Scorpio Rising started things off at the Gypsy Lounge, yet another east Austin bar I've never been too. Wonderbread finally has a wireless so he can literally run everywhere during the set, it was time. I'd been tripped up by his cord plenty of times. And there is something about their drummer, he kind of looks like lady...

Hickoids get up and right before we were going to play, it's corn tug time. Two people one ear of corn and some Wesson oil. The most exciting three seconds in rock and roll and history was written with the help of some nipple twisting. The oil stuck around for the rest of the night. On the floor. Right in front of the stage.

We had the Lolly Gaggers step in and "become" Corn Maidens for the night. There was lots of rubbin and bumpin goin on all over the place. The crowd was pretty randy for a Hickoids show. Fun

Breakdown

I like the Gypsy Lounge. I got three free Lone Stars which wasn't too bad and the folks working were pretty cool. I'll go back!

10/11/12

Day one ACL

What a night. I put in a full shift at the White Horse last night and I am paying for it today. Got there a little after 6 and left around 1:45. I wonder if they offer health insurance?

The Ladies and I started things off. We had a good set, but I'm starting to think my amp is too small to deal with the SPL of two drummers. I had that thing cranked and I wasn't getting much out of it. 22 watts through a 12" speaker may be a little on the wimpy side. We started things out early and played to a handful of people, but we had a lot of fun.

By the time the Hickoids came on the place was PACKED. It was hard getting to the stage. We did two of the new songs we've been working on. Including "If Drinkin Don't Kill Me" which has four different choruses. I think I sang most of the words right.

There were a total of seven or eight bands including The Beaumonts, Mike and the Moonpies, The Swindles and Cunto. Apparently the guys in Cunto count ACL for their anniversary because they started playing right before the first one. Beautiful.


Breakdown

The club was very generous to us. I had a bunch of Lone Star and I didn't pay for most of them! They took care of ALL the bands the same way.  My old friend Waldo was even working the bar. What a cool fucking place.

More tomorrow

Things Change/ACL

ACL weekend. It's a busy one. As I posted here, me and the ladies are opening the fest on Thursday (Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta of course). But now it's 7PM at the White Horse, NOT Hotel Vegas. Things change...

We were practicing last night at BC's and the cops came and shut us down. That hasn't happened to me in years, it almost felt nostalgic (if it weren't for it being a total pain in the ass). Shut down at 9PM on a Wednesday night. Live music capital of the what? We'd been practicing there for a few months so this seems a little out of the blue.

We were in a practice space with some other folks, but things got weird and we bailed. We've been doing it at BC's but something has to change there, we can't have the cops showing up all the time. We are gonna try little amps and go from there. Ideally we'll get in a new practice space at some point. Things change...

Friday night is my last show with the Casters. It's time to move on, so I am! Tom is taking over. He did the same thing about a year ago replacing me in the Ideals, now it's the Casters. Things change...

I was joking with the ladies last night (pre cops) that Tom should replace me for a couple of shows. It would still be called "Rice Moorehead and His Ladies", but Tom would fill in on guitar and vocals. Personally I think it would be hilarious.

Updates all weekend!

ACL Promo!