Well, it’s not what you’re thinking. I had the band Theft at the studio this week. Great time with some old and new friends. They are hitting the road in a few days with Creed (you heard me), and needed to run through songs with their in-ear monitors. We managed to squeeze in some final productiony tweaks as well. They are sounding great, and will definitely win over some new fans. They will be cataloging things on their site, so tune in here: www.theftband.com.
I filmed some interview footage here, talking about my work with OneRepublic on their album. Part of a series that HP is presenting in conjunction with a new line of music-oriented computers they are coming out with. The guys will be featured in the first episode, which I was told will be broadcast in… Times Square? Oh.
They mixed the movie “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” here. Also, this studio room was leased by Dr. Dre for 5 years. And the reason I wanted to show all these speakers (which are of a design that is/was used in big movie theaters) is that I was informed that they weren’t enough for him. They had to bring in more subs to accommodate his preferences.
And so, thanks to ace live sound man Jason Bennett, who took this photo whilst the broadcast took place, I can enjoy yet another outrageously cool and extremely unlikely experience thanks to the OneRepublic fellows.
Probably not exactly how my mom wished I got on the NASDAQ, but I’m sure she’ll take it. Close enough, at this point.
Here’s the HP video:
Back home. Back to my normal life and work. Last year I worked on the OneRepublic record as a co-producer/engineer for 3 months in Denver. Then I attended Ryan’s birthday weekend blast back in Denver (which was awesome). Later in the year, I ran the tracks for them at some California shows while they opened for Rob Thomas. This year I spent a month with them on the road. Sure love these guys, they are great friends, and I thank them for letting me be a part of their world. It’s always an amazing experience.
Some final thoughts:
This was one of the best experiences of my life, no question.
Most of the brands we know are available everywhere. Like, everybody is global. Didn’t see much of anything that was ‘you can only get this in Europe’.
Everybody kinda looks the same as us and each other in all the countries we visited, even Russia. When I was in Europe in the 90′s, every stewardess/waitress/shop worker would automatically speak to me in English because it was clear by appearance that I was American. Now, they all spoke to me in whatever their native tongue was first.
Every city has a plethora of Italian restaurants, and it seemed like it was the ‘best place in town’ in way too many places we went.
This is tough to put well (however the other guys noticed it as well), but one of the most notable things I realized about 5 days into it: in all the European countries we visited, I saw almost zero signs of obesity. Didn’t see it until we got to Jolly ol’ England. There, everyone looked very notably way more ‘American’, in this particular sense. I’ve been told that they were probably American tourists.
The German/Austrian/Swiss countryside is gorgeous.
I was disappointed in the lack of broadband/phone reception in some places I thought it would be better.
Fun Fact: I made it through this whole trip with only a small, carry-on duffel bag of clothes, and never did laundry.
The wrong-side-of-the-road driving thing in England is manic.
All the batteries in all my devices seemed to perform way more poorly over there. My phone was always dead. This, and the lack of fast, always available internet made me more unhappy than I expected.
I will sorely miss the feeling of playing a song like “Marching On” and watching the crowd ignite by chorus 2.
Having a great crew makes all the difference in the world.
Touring with a band that actually gets along reasonably well makes all the difference in the world.
When a band has great fans, it makes all the difference in the world.
I am now wondering why I spent the last 15 years sitting in a studio trying to be a producer. Playing live is way more fun.
As the days go on, I will sort through more of the video footage I have, and add it to the posts.
Drive through London.
London Heathrow airport.
LAX.
Drive Home.
I left London at 10:55am, and arrived in LA at 2:10pm. 3 hours on a clock, yet 12 hours in the air. The only way to live more time than you’ve got, I guess. Well, actually a trip like this makes you feel that way, too. How many cities, countries and new faces in how many days? Wow. Awesome. Highly concentrated living. The drug everyone should try at least once.
Back to the studio again with Ryan. He worked with both artists again, before the show. Then off to the venue, where we got to meet Mr. Jon Bon Jovi himself in the dressing room, right before our set. He was nice, normal, and totally friendly and cool. After the show, there were some frumpy faces and sad goodbyes, as my time of rocking had come to an end. Then: hotel bar! Too much food, lots of wine, and great guys. They’ll never know how much my time with them means to me.
Teddertabulous.
Approaching the O2.
With Eddie before the show.
Walking offstage again. Last one.
Andy and Drew's sad goodbye. Complete with sweaty camera lense.
So, I handed my camera to Eden, and asked if she could just grab a little footage of us playing for posterity. She filmed the whole show. Because she’s one of the awesome people in the world. Thanks Eden!:
YouTube – OneRepublic live at the O2 Arena filmed by Eden.
Here’s some footage shot at the 3 O2 shows by members of the audience: YouTube – OneRepublic live at the O2 Arena, London, England.