Notes From the Studio With Geezer, Pt. 1
This session was originally supposed to happen two weeks ago, but Geezer’s recording plans were derailed by drummer Steve Markota contracting what was apparently a mild case of Covid-19. It turned him into a newt, but he got better. In any case, I was invited to come hang out — because it’s not weird unless I’m there to make it that way — and I wasn’t about to say no to watching the Kingston heavy jam/psych/blues trio lay down even just the basic tracks for their next full-length after mid-2020’s it’s-okay-that-it’s-a-miserable-year-we-can-still-dance-a-little-bit Groovy (review here) as their debut on Heavy Psych Sounds who, one assumes, will also be releasing this one sometime in 2022.
Fostering that supposition is the fact that Geezer are already booked to return to Europe — a second appearance at Freak Valley has been confirmed and I’ve heard murmurings of more shows besides — so I don’t know if there’s a hard deadline for the new record, since it’s not like they got to tour the last one, but in talking to Geezer guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington over the summer, he expressed some urgency to get it out. Can’t blame him or them. Gotta do something.
A rainy day did little to lessen my appreciation for the scenery on the way up here. Drive was about 90 minutes, a 60-mile shot up the NY Thruway to Exit 19, and by then the sleepy Catskills were lording over the sides of the road like forgotten gods, and the landscape was pockmarked alternately by lived-in-the-woods-forever, stare-long houses, escape-from-the-city money, ski facilities and, because it’s how it goes up here, plenty of artist studios and places like Applehead Recording, which is a beautiful, pro-shop with a 32-foot ceiling in the live room. Apparently Markota was the one who argued to record here, which, given the drum sound in that room, is easily understandable.
I’m here for two days. Here are some notes from the first.
12.18.21 – 12:39PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Mercury Rising”
Got here maybe an hour ago, had some coffee, settled in, took a couple pictures, gonna take some more. Bassist Richie Touseull was getting sounds when I came in, Harrington was next. It’s almost 1PM and engineer Chris Bittner — who co-owns Applehead with Michael “Mike Boom” Birnbaum and opened here in 2013 — has them sounding tight, full and killer through the board mix. Listening in the room now to a jam they did maybe 10 minutes ago, just shaking off the dust, and… well, it’s not a room sound I’d fuck with.
It is apparently the biggest, most studio-ish of the studios Geezer has recorded in, and I’ll agree: this couch I’m on is like a Neve console for my ass right now. I’ll be perfectly happy if I can stay here for the duration, and if the rest of my afternoon is hearing Touseull’s bass tones and the band jamming — if that’s what the process of “basic tracks” is — I’ll be perfectly happy to have spent the time. Shit sounds tight. Of course, nothing ever sounds so good as in the studio monitors, but still.
Best case is Geezer come out of the next two days with 10 songs done. “Mercury Rising” to loosen up, then I guess hit it for real.
A couple songs in, Bittner suggests Marokta lose the click in the midsection of whatever song this is. It is the right suggestion. Continuing through “Mercury Rising” with a couple quick punch-ins on drums and bass, then a doubled guitar solo. Also the right choice. Bassline is killer. Mellow opening, more driving verse, some killer drum jabs as moves between parts, a couple starts and stops.
Printing the song after it’s done, bouncing it down, makes it feel complete.
12.18.21 – 2:39PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Logan’s Run”
I think the cab in the isolation room next to the control room is humming. It’s a kind of relaxing backing drone. With “Mercury Rising,” the band are moving on to “Logan’s Run,” trying it first with the click track, then probably without again as they get together a take. Vibe in the studio is pretty chill. Sometimes you get into a place like this — especially a nice studio — with a band and it’s a gotta-go-gotta-go-time-is-money kind of thing. Sometimes you get in and everybody’s stoned and/or not there.
This is in between. The band loaded their gear in last night and clearly some sounds were gotten last night as well ahead of starting work properly this morning. Smart not to waste that time this morning. It’s real easy to lose four hours on some minor thing, and better that happens when you’re not trying to also make an album before the day is over.
But Appelhead is gorgeous. There’s a stream in back. I pulled in the wrong driveway the first time, but once I made it here, following the little ‘Studio’ signs on the trees of the long pull-in, it’s clearly designed as a getaway kind of spot. Stream in back, woods out front. Bittner’s house is next door.
Before they start playing, there’s some adjustment with the rack tom. It’s all good though. I’m so into this vibe. Everyone’s tone sounds right on. I hear Touseull with some fuzz on in there and Harrington noodling around while Markota’s drums are adjusted. It all sounds warm and killer and these guys know what they’re doing and they know the songs and they’re here to hit it and have a good time. They’ve got some Sabbath swing going now that I can only hope is actually part of this song and not just something they’re playing to get sounds.
2:48PM, rolling. Bittner takes notes while the band plays, Markota decides quick not to use the metronome. Indeed the swing is the core riff of “Logan’s Run.” Classic stoner janga-janga shuffle. Can’t argue. Evens out to a smooth hook and builds weight as it goes. Harrington crushed vocals for “Mercury Rising” on the quick. I wonder what he’ll do with the pulled-note sections here ahead of the solo, if anything. Song is somewhere in the neighborhood of five minutes long. Another banger.
They do another take the dampener off the snare. Kill it. Listen back to confirm. Yup, it’s dead. Or not. One more take to get the second verse, and then another to punch it in. A few more punch-ins. Pat wants to double the solo again — one doubts it’ll be the wrong choice this time either — and there was a wah-bass part, which, well, yes obviously that’s going to work. Riff is pure stoner rock in how it builds to a finish. “Hole in the Sky,” or Blues-era Kyuss even. Thicker though.
Some more dug-in work on this one, but everybody’s still pretty relaxed.
12.18.21 – 4:47PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Atomic Moronic”
Talk of dinner leads to pizza. I’ll get a salad and because I’m embarrassed at my own dietary preferences — low carb, no sugar, no pork, etc. — I offer to place the order. Seems the least I can do.
Another speedier boogie, “Atomic Moronic” comes together pretty easily, or at least seems to. Lead lines peppered in, a bit of sass toward the end. Scorched. Could hear on “Mercury Rising” Pat’s pushing himself vocally.
Steve nailed drum punch-ins while I was on the phone with the pizza place. Richie next with one or two bass fills. Pat next with a fix on the solo, then guide vocals I guess for later. Very much a pre-dinner affair, but a fun one. There was some discussion as to whether or not to do a more complicated song before eating. Arguments in favor of “pizza power” won out against implied hangry. I’m glad I could contribute there and bring my homemaker skills to bear in another context. The answer is eat first and do the hard thing after.
Lines “Ignorance is sacred/Crucify the truth/Gotta let it burn/Burn baby burn/Put your faith in stupid/Self-inflicted wound.” Clearly Geezer aren’t going into their first true release of the pandemic era with blinders on to the world around them, and fair enough. Most of these riffs apparently come from lockdown time, so maybe it makes some kind of sense that the three songs I’ve heard so far are all movers in terms of tempo. I’m not sure that makes more sense as a channel for energy than anything else — that is, if they were diving headfirst into jams, it would be easy enough to frame the narrative of pandemic-effected creativity the same way — but when Geezer write songs, they make it count.
This one apparently might start the record. There is some talk of adding a gong, but I don’t think it’s serious. You never know.
The gauntlet is thrown down at two more songs tonight. If they all go as smoothly as “Atomic Moronic,” or even “Logan’s Run,” that’s probably possible, unless the next one is a real burnout deal, I don’t know. I don’t get told these things.
Ate dinner to the soundtrack of a Metallica/Huey Lewis mashup. “It’s Hip to be the Sandman” or some such. When civilization collapses, I hope the mashups are the only piece of modern culture that survives so that future archeologists can be like, “Wow, these people sure liked screwing around with shit. Also they killed the planet.” Guess that’ll be a double-edged sword. Also the archeologists are hypersentient dolphins, or octopuses, or pigoons or some such. Definitely not people. Gotta figure by then humanity will have long since “burned it down.”
12.18.21 – ~7:05PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Eleven”
Everybody’s cruising post-dinner. Harrington warns that “Eleven” has a part where they might, probably will get hung up. So be it. I drink a bottle of water. Brought a whole gallon with me but it’s in the car. Saving for tomorrow. I’m a firm believer in hydration.
“Eleven” feels shorter, but I’m not sure that was the full song. Going through again. Boogie riff, still uptempo, but feels a little brighter in its turns, if that makes any sense and I’m not sure it does. Steve, Pat and Richie seem pretty locked in, and the bass in this room sounds amazing as Harrington takes a quick solo.
I know from experience that nothing that’s ever come out of a studio has ever sounded as good as on the studio monitors, but the work they apparently did put in last night (I asked) getting sounds and preparing for today is paying off in the fact that they’ll be able to do five tracks before everyone’s too tired.
They break for a solo section, then turn it back around to what I think will be the chorus. It’s got some strut to it with Steve on the ride cymbal but still rolls over fluidly. They run through it again. And again. Change something with a drum fill in the back half. The song is now a beast.
As a producer, Bittner’s very diplomatic in his suggestions — “tell me to go fuck myself, but…” — but I’ve yet to hear him put something out there that didn’t make a song better. Which is the ideal. They’re riding that last verse groove now. I assume the track is named for how loud they’ll be playing it in a live setting.
Listening back, the pace is relaxed in picking out parts to punch in or redo altogether. It’s easy-peasy. Feel like I’m stepping into a situation where the band has done their homework and the studio has been prepped for them. Unless a ceiling caves in right now, I feel like this has been one of the smoother sessions I’ve sat in on, and at this point I’ve done a few.
Steve goes back in for a fill. Fixed. Richie punched in a transition. Pat’s over guitars. Onto vocals for the guide track. Lyrics some bit of stoner escapism. “What is real? And where do we go from here? Nothing is real.” Done.
One more for tonight.
12.18.21 – ~8:30PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Stoned Blues Machine”
Maybe the title-track. Hell of a title to live up to. Thudding start into slower nod, drums crashing in a way a little more open, pulls up for what might be between-measure shifts, gives it a back and forth feel, but that center groove is a gut puncher and they know it because they keep going back to it. Trippy solo over a rolling bassline. I must be getting tired because I’m running out of ways to say something sounds cool.
Can hear the blues in “Stoned Blues Machine” as they progress. Geezer started out and to some extent has kept a heavy blues underpinning, but I can also hear the other stuff going on in their sound as it’s progressed over the last eight years or so. They hold out distortion at the end of “Stoned Blues Machine.” Noise and delay. First take is solid, but won’t be the last.
They do another take. Warmer. Closer. Pat floats an intro idea they’d apparently talked about. Tape, as it were, is rolling, so they feel it out and it sounds about as solid as something so purposefully molten could want to. Not sure if that’s a slide in there or just the delay making it sound like one, but I like not knowing so I’m not going to sit up and look. Oh, okay, I will. Yeah, it is.
This is the jammier side of the band coming out. Nothing to complain about. They bring it around on the quick to the rest of the song they played earlier and it seems to be a little slower this time, keeping some of that vibe going, though it’s been a long day at this point and that could completely be my imagination.
Harrington calls out “hits!” and some follow, shifting into what’s either another verse or bridge, hard to know until the vocals (or whatever) go over it, but pick up with more drive coming out of the solo and into the ending. They’ve put work in at this point — it’s after 9PM, I got here at 11:45 and they were already working getting sounds — but have a lot to show for it.
Come in to listen. There will be some parts to fix. Doesn’t matter. Everyone knows the day is wrapping up sooner than later and the mood remains as it was. Any fatigue I discern is probably just me projecting because if I was at home right now I’d have probably been in bed for the better part of an hour already.
Nah, everyone’s tired. Talking about doing one more instead of the fixes for this one, get the basics down.
12.18.21 – 9:30PM – Applehead Recording – Woodstock, NY
“Broken Glass”
Richie switches basses. Pat warms up on some chug and noodles. The song starts with snare hits, like death metal, only not at all. It’s a strutter, twisting around Hendrix leads, well punctuated by toms and kick drum. Fucking a. Easy to see why they thought they might be able to sneak this one in before the end of the night. It’ll probably work.
Two takes, in to listen. Second take is the one, but everybody wants a piece of the end again, so they decide to take it from somewhere in the solo ahead of the transition to the last run. They do. No drama.
Pat goes back in for vocals. “We gotta get up and dance/We gotta get up and go/But where are we going?”
This one’s a ripper. Pat fixes a guitar thing after. Quick. Steve has something quick at around 2:16, but he and Chris decide to leave it.
Uptempo kick in the ass. Way to end a long day.
Tags: Geezer, Geezer Stoned Blues Machine, Heavy Psych Sounds, Kingston, New York, Stoned Blues Machine, Woodstock
