Rhythm & The Flavor in Seattle

The awesome people at Lhyme made a great episode on Seattle. Check it out here

http://lhyme.com/2012/04/29/local-color/

 

Rhythm & Flavor

On March 14th I met with AJ & Parker of Rhythm & the Flavor to talk about an upcoming episode featuring Seattle. We had a great meeting & I was a fan of their Portland episode before we met(http://lhyme.com/2012/02/27/the-rhythm-the-flavor/), so I know the Seattle episode is going to be great. Here is a teaser of what’s to come in the Seattle episode

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRH2qBezel4

Here is some info about the Rhythm & the Flavor courtesy of Parker

The Rhythm and The Flavor is a new age travel show highlighting not the tourist attractions, but the culturally significant underlying pieces of the puzzle that make the city what it is. “Spanning the globe for the best eats, beats, and feats” . Our goal is to be real and endearing to our audience, not acting, just living. We want to do what we love and let the rest fall into place while filming the whole process.

http://lhyme.com/category/rhythm-and-flavor/

I’ll post the full episode as soon as it is up.

Thanks for reading

www.wessp8.com

w8

LIE & WISH

 

artwork by Andrew Miller, Ryan Henry Ward, Dave Bloomfield.

Lie & Wish is the title to my first album, & will be released on 6/20/2011.  Gareth Vaid produced the album & did an excellent job.  Gareth & I recorded the album at The Toy Box in Fremont with the help of Justin Cronk(head engineer/producer) who quickly taught us how to run the studio.  Jenny Price added her beautiful vocals on SET SAIL & UNABATED CURIOSITY.  Doug Krebs, who runs the sound at the Tractor Tavern, mastered the album. It feels really good to have completed this album & I’m happy to get to share it with you.  Thanks so much to all my awesome friends who always keep me inspired & continue to encourage me to keep making music.  Now that I’ve completed my first full length I’ve quickly decided to start recording another album, which I am now in the studio with Charlie Deane.

Thanks for reading & love to all.

Here is the first track off the album titled

‘A Stupid thing called love’

http://soundcloud.com/wes-sp8/01-stupid-thing-called-love

get the spirit and I’m not talking about the holidays

On December 15th 2010 we release the SPIRIT EP.  6songs of Warm Gun goodness. Lewis Blackstone, Chelsea Williams, and Justin Wright have been kind enough to help me with the artwork above, THANKS!…

I will be playing a solo show at the 12th&Porter Lounge on December 15th to release the ep and Tyler Flowers will join www.myspace.com/tylerflowersmusic  , then on December 21st at the Basement with friends.  If you are in Nashville in December I would really love to see you. Here is the 1st track http://soundcloud.com/wes-sp8/01-spirit

I will release each song individually this week and then it will be up on itunes, amazon, bandcamp, etc where you can purchase the ep or the songs individually on December 15th.  Thank you for reading and you have a great day now. boobye.

www.wessp8.com

Ramble On Video

In the month of July and the year 2010, I traveled to Nashville TN and recorded a 6song EP titled ‘SPIRIT EP’ with Chad Erickson (Producer/Engineer) and Josh Hood (Percussion). Adam Stunkle recorded the song RAMBLE ON on video and has exported it to youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=647y5wYaxTA and vimeo http://vimeo.com/16931657

If you would like, you can simply click on the links and watch the video and hear the song RAMBLE ON.  The video was captured in the studio where we recorded as you can see. 

We have a show this Sunday November 21st at the High Dive with The Tap Handles and Sisters http://www.highdiveseattle.com/calendar.asp

I will be playing two(possibly three) shows in Nashville in December.

December 15th @12th&Porter Lounge with Tyler Flowers and O’don piano

December 21st @The Basement.

We will be releasing the Ep on December 15th.

You have a great day now, and thank you for reading these words.

interview with pazuzu

I have had the pleasure of knowing and playing/sharing music with Lola(formerly of AParade www.myspace.com/aparade ) now known as Pazuzu. After being inspired by her newest tunes, I decided I wanted to interview her so we all could get to know each other in words. You can view some videos on YouTube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOnIgQ4wp6o

1.What is the significance of the name Pazuzu? ”The Exorcist. No joke. I first heard that name from the Demon in the Exorcist, and it stuck with me ever since. But, for the record, if I had heard it somewhere else I would’ve thought it was a cool name nonetheless”

2.You are a former member of the band APARADE, do you remember the time I tried to play drums for that band and sucked? ”I have no memory of that. I don’t think you’ve ever sucked at anything in your life.”

 3.Will APARADE ever be resurrected?. ”I’d hope so! Though the drummer is in 2 active bands right now, the guitar player is in the Mountains being butch, and I still have a whole lot of bananas to peel.”
4.Where can I find and or buy the new Pazuzu album? Where can we listen? ”Buying is not necessary. I finished a CD a few months ago, and have utterly failed at mailing them to people (thanks to my bum CD Burner). So….maybe I’ll make them downloadable some how. If only we lived in a time where people could easily download things from a place for downloading.”

5.Your voice is so so good, what do you do for vocal warm ups? ”Well, thank you for asking, Wes. First, I like to jump up and down for 30 minutes. This is crucial. Next, I like to make a cucumber sandwich on Rye draw a picture of it, and eat the picture. Lastly, I slap my mother in the face with a big fish.
But, in real life, I try to stay away from things that would hurt my voice right before singing.Too much Dairy can close the throat a bit and cause too much mucus. Cold water closes the throat as well and makes it hard to keep a nice, clear tone. I recommend tea with honey before a performance. And of course a few scales or long notes.”

6.Where do you find your inspiration? ”Everywhere. Of course there is musical inspiration, but a lot of the time it’s visual. I’m fond of the imagery of jungles and forests, natural things. Which is why a lot of the time I sound like a Howler Monkey.”
7.Would you consider yourself a homosapien? ”Only on Wednesdays.”
8.What do you think about the earth? ”I think the Earth is the Mother of a bunch of spoiled brats who don’t want to take care of her while she’s sick. Recycle, kids!”
9.Are you happy with the numbers that you own? ”I don’t know what that means so I’m just gonna say what I say to things that confuse me: Your face”
10.Do you ever feel things? ”Every second of the day. But when I feel like I’m feeling too much I like to eat until they disappear.”
11.How did you find yourself in the world? ”Again, another question that is confusing and implies different things when read multiple times, so I’ll answer it the best I can. I don’t know how to find myself. I think I’m getting close, though. Little by little, I think I’m starting to see in what ways I, and other people, are living a conditioned life, with a conditioned way of thinking. But that’s a whole other conversation, my friend.”
12.If you could live inside of Facebook would you do it, and would you change your name to the book that face? ”I wouldn’t live inside of Facebook. When you think about it, Facebook could really make a creepy guy out of someone, it enables you to pry and peek into other people’s lives. And if you’re not careful, you could become obsessed with Wesley Ann Marie Suzanne Summers Speight, like I am. That’s your full name, right?”

Revamp of the website

www.wessp8.com was created sometime back in 2008, and needed some revamping. My wondeful friend Maria Aldana was kind enough to use her skills to whip something up quickly and efficiently. Chelsea Williams took the website photo on a whim, and I was so happy with the way it turned out, we went back to capture the setting again for my next release THE SPIRIT EP which was recorded and mixed by Chad Erickson of Warm Gun Records in Nashville TN. We are anticipating being able to release the 6song EP sometime in December. We have 3shows coming up and you can find the shows schedule on the new main page of the website! Since you are reading these words you probably have time to go check out the site www.wessp8.net or www.wessp8.com and let us know what you think.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my latest release you can check it out here http://store.radicalnotion.net/album/wes-sp8-three-song-thing

& the Please Ep http://store.radicalnotion.net/album/wes-sp8-please-ep

It’s also on itunes, amazon, etc. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

The picture above of The Mariomustachio Band includes

wes sp8, Josh Hood, JI Harms, Chad Erickson, Stinson (kneeling)

taken after a recording session.

Making ish happen

So….we just released the 3songthing on Radical Notion (independent media) and you can preview and then purchase it here for the low price of $3 http://store.radicalnotion.net/album/wes-sp8-three-song-thing

If you prefer to purchase your music elsewhere for instance itunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/three-song-thing/id386979450

or there are links to other avenues like amazon, cdbaby, and tunecore on my myspace www.myspace.com/wessp8

We have two shows booked this month, (one I just found out about today) at the Comet Tavern with M.Bison and Smile Brigade this Saturday Sept 4thhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144048718963663, and another on Sept 23rd  at the Mars Bar with the Tap Handles and another band soon to be announced.  I’m really excited about these up coming shows, as I just checked out a show at the Comet Tavern last weekend for the 1st time and I really dig that venue.  Thank you for reading these words, you have a great life now, boobye.

-wes sp8

3SongThing

This is a picture of Runion at Stinsons Barn. I took this while feeding Runion some fresh grass and having a brief conversation in between recording.  “Pffhuhumm….” – Runion

In 2008 when I was still living in Nashville I was signed with RadicalNotion(independent media)http://www.radicalnotion.net/. Stinson was and still is the CEO.  Stinson started RN soon after we recorded the Please Ep, in his studio(the Bark Pop Barn). Several months later after promoting the Please Ep, selling millions of 45s, and playing stadiums, we decided the next step would be to record an album. The concept was to first release a short 3song Ep, and then an LP to follow. Presently many things have deterred that from happening, and as I am no longer signed with Radical Notion officially, I still work with Stinson, unofficially, and hope to be working with him for a long time(the guy is brilliant). The THREESONGTHING is going to be released August 10th through Radical Notion(independent media)http://store.radicalnotion.net/. I have a show at the Bit Saloon on August 12th so that will act as the EP release show if you haven’t recieved the THREESONGTHING by then.

I sort of interviewed Stinson about the recording process of the 3songthing and LP(soon to be released). This is going to get technical, so if you don’t care about microphones, microphone placement, compression, EQ, et cetera you might want to stop reading right after this last word HERE!  Looks like you are still reading so since you are, sign up for my email list here http://eepurl.com/DM0, and I’ll send you the newest recordings and info about upcoming shows and snarky whiley seat beatitude salad. Here is the 1st track off the 3songthing MOMMA TOOK AWAY ALL THE FUN http://soundcloud.com/wes-sp8/01-mama-took-away-all-the-fun-mp3

  “well I like it when the bark pops hit the pavement right in sync with my mo mo mo she lo la um eh lumbatawah wah.”  – the and it

From Stinson

drums:

kick: shure beta 52 placed inside the drum, right up against the beater head. went through an api 3124+ pre

snare: shure sm57 pointed about 45º and placed underneath the hi-hat, so that i could maximize the isolation, and get a bit of a deeper tone, as opposed to the crack of the drum. went through a presonus firestation pre.

there was no rack tom

floor tom: not directly miced

oh: mono mic. used a shure ksm44 about 6 ft over the kit, and focused on balancing between the cymbals and picking up the kit overall (this is tricky to get right). went through an api 3124+ pre

behind the kit: mono mic. used a shure ksm44 angled about 4 or so ft behind the kit, and just over the top of the floor tom. objective was to pick up the whole kit, but with a bit more of the floor tom. used the drummer’s body to reject the hi-hat bleed. went through an api 3124+ pre

basically, this was the john bonham setup, but with the snare mic added in.

guitars:

used amp spitters on all the amps, to send the guitars to two amps at once. for wes’s guitar i sent to a fender deluxe, and wes’s peavy amp. for chad i sent to my crate blue voodoo half stack, and chad’s epiphone (don’t remember what this is called). mics on the amps were shure sm57′s, sennheiser e609′s, ksm 44′s (in overdubs), and an audix i5 in some cases (hate this mic, wasted my money on it).

on the main tracking day i ran the guitars through the pres on a mackie 1204 mixer, but in overdubs i ran all the guitars through api 3124+ pre’s

bass:

the bass amp was a peavy (i think, can’t remember). did not take a direct signal. the mic was an ev re20. sometimes ran the bass through pedals, such as the voodoo labs sparkle drive, and a big muff. mic pre was a presonus firestation.

vocals:

tried several different mics, such as a neumann u87, shure ksm44, shure sm7, but ultimately settled on a shure sm57. mic pre was an api 3124+

I remember us trying out some other mic during some overdubbing, but can’t remember exactly what we were doing… I do know that day I experimented with a u87, and some other audix large diaphragm condenser mic, which I borrowed from jacquire king. i think he also let me borrow a pair of akg 391′s, but i don’t remember what i used them on, or if i even used them at all.

nothing in any of these recordings was eq’d or compressed during recording, only during mixing”

Above Beyond Beside Below by wes sp8

Above Beyond Beside Below by wes sp8.