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

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

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.

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?”

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.

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

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”

It’s that unsayable feeling, the dwelling thats dealing. The favors and the supple circles sojourn in solitude and confide within, and it begins again. Let it end. Let it begin again. Let it move you, grove sooth tied tubes, rude dude, that wasn’t in my my my so… & then from there it goes like this (*&$@()()()(_+_+_*/*/*/+_!@#$%&^*()_+_*&^%#<><><><><>:”;’:';”;[][][]‘;][][]‘;’;][}{]{][]{;;–=. 

You can always contact me at wes@wessp8.com  if you have any comments, or would like to receive emails about upcoming shows and new recordings. 

Thanks for taking the time to read the words that I’ve written on your computer screen. 

-wes sp8

I fly into Nashville from Seattle early friday evening and when I found out I could make this trip a four day weekend, I decided I might as well take full advantage of the trip and book a show at my favorite and most loyal venue in Nashville, Cafe Coco (Sunday September 20th at 8:30pm). I will be playing an extended acoustic set with the accompanyment of the brilliant guitarist Chad Erickson. It’s hard to express how much I miss playing with Chad, he has an ear for music that makes me jealous and jubilant simultaneously. Now if you haven’t ever heard of Chad Erickson, I would advise you to come out and here this guy play(he can sing as well). Josh Hood may make an appearance as well. Josh played drums on the Please Ep, and played with us at most of the live shows. Josh has since put a band together from his once solo project titled “o’don piano,” and it is sounding good!

I’m going to be showcasing some of the new songs that I have written upon my move to Seattle. In my opinion these songs are branching off into a direction I have not yet experimented with in writing and singing, such as writing a western story song called “Gun and Run,” and exploring my vocal capability in tone and pitch with “You proved me right.”. I will also be playing songs from the EP as well as songs from the upcoming single(3songs) and album(8songs). In mentioning the single and album, it brings us up to date with CEO of Radical Notion and producer Jon Stinson. Stinson and I have had to reevaluate our working relationship and are currently hoping to finish up the recording of the album and release in 2010.

If your in Nashville, I would love to see you at Cafe Coco on Sunday night! We’ll get started about 8:30pm and the show is free(no cover). I plan on playing for at least an hour, and will play longer per request. If your in Seattle a couple of exciting things coming up. On September 22nd I’ll be opening for “the Tap Handles,” which are a great alt country rock band from Seattle, at the Central. If your not familiar with the venue the Central, its the place where, nirvana, soundgarden, janes addiction, alice in chains, all played and got there start. Also I’m opening for Johnny Mercury at the Shanty Tavern on October 3rd, along with Little Ray and the Uppercuts, and the Rainieros. If you haven’t heard of Johnny Mercury or the Tap Handles, I would recommend you check them out. Johnny Mercury has achieved a sound not influenced by any of today’s contemporary music, it’s truly hard to describe, but delves into genres, Country (not modern, think Old Hank Williams etc), Blues, Rockabilly, and 50-60′s pop. When i first listened to Johnny Mercury i could not believe the sound he had captured on recording and to think he is a guy not much older than me, is amazing! I’m really excited about these upcoming shows and hope to see you at one, or in the near future. Thanks for taking your time to read. Peace, Shalom. Que Dios le bendiga.

www.myspace.com/odonpiano

www.myspace.com/thetaphandles

www.myspace.com/johnnymercury

www.myspace.com/johnoverby

www.myspace.com/toofor7