Happy Studio Eve!!!

OK...I am going to try to get to sleep by 2:30 tonite! We enter the studio at noon to begin drum recording! Today was very busy. Mostly tying up loose ends and getting ready to leave here and enter Studio Hell!!!

I am recording this CD at Spin Studios here in Long Island City, New York. Very cool place. I feel right at home there. It will be my home until May!!!

That is my goal, to finish this CD by May first so I can go Turkey hunting for Mother's Day. Not much to ask for...well, it is if you knew what I was about to attempt. The gory details will unfold over the next 3 months.

Last night Jeff and I met up with Ken from "The Metal Circus". I have a link to them on my site. He interviewed us at McCann's!!! I figured it would be a good way to get out of the house and get dinner! We had a lot of fun. I eventually had one of my managers for TSO and our merchandise director meet up with us. Nice quiet business meeting! The storm before the Typhoon!!!!!

I woke up at 9AM today and began to install my office software into my Lap Top. Pretty scary, me the business manager! I finally opened up the printer that I had sent to Ripper's house. So...I am a fully disfunctional office here too!

After changing some guitar strings and setting up my main studio guitars...I like to do this myself!...I ran to the gym and to Radio Shack. They have some very cool lighted USB cables if you are interested!

I watched the 3rd Period of the NHL All Star Game on the treadmill...I then was thinking about what to eat during the Pro Bowl! Last night one of my friends had a Shepherd's Pie at McCann's. I had the urge to cook! So...the recipe should be up soon if it is not already! Photos too!

The Pro Bowl was a blast to watch! That is the way they should all be! Dinner was pretty tasty! Had some Haagen Daas new Three Milks Cake Ice Cream! All part of the ole "Fatkins" diet plan I am on. It is pretty simple. Eat whatever I want and get my fat ass to the gym! More people should try it! Knicks win again! Nets too!!!

OK...I want to thank everyone for your support. I would not have been able to be going into the studio tomorrow if it was not for you, the fans...my friends! Friends of old, friends of new...I thank you! You all have believed in me...even when I had my ups and way downs...very similar to the words of my best friend, who is in a far warmer place than me at the moment..."I told you so!" I think you all will be quite thankful for K's inspiration when you hear this CD in the end. Well, I hope so anyway! I am so nervous and anxious to get to work. I promise I will give you all 100% of my heart and soul on this CD. In the end...it is all I can do. I hope you will enjoy the finished product!

I also want to thank Jeff Plate...he has really and truly been an incredible force and friend in the creation of this mess!!!!

I want to thank the guys at Black Lotus for believing...I will not let you down!

In the words of our immortal English poet Ozzy..."Let the Madness Begin!"

The time is now my friends...Beware of my many "Faces"!

Goodnight!

Chris

	Interview with Ken Pierce, The Metal Circus

Hi!

Greetings from post studio bliss!!!!

We made it through day one! Which is not actually day one since day one was two weeks ago, but it is actually day one because this is the first day of...Ah fuck it...you know what I mean! My "Faces" have awakened....the road to "God Damn War" is now open for business!!!!!

Since I am too frickin’ tired to think I am going to just give you the outline I was typing in between takes.

""""Day one - Feb 9th

Studio Timeline

11:30 AM Load up to go... chase Haley around driveway after she sneaks out of house!
12 PM Load in guitars and junk, get set up...
1 PM Mic Drums
2 PM drum sounds
3 PM Go shop for munchies!
3:30 PM Headphone mixes
4 PM Recording "Bag O' Bones"
5 PM Take 3
5:05PM Listen
5:10 PM Take 4
5:15 PM Listen
5:20 PM One Done!
5:30 PM Set Click for "Music Man"
5:40 PM Begin!
6:05 PM My fingers are numb! Very odd chord on the acoustic..Jeff is on his own!
6:20 PM Two Done!
6:30 PM Order Dinner
6:45 PM Sounds for electric Guitar
7 PM Take One "Fright Knights"
7:30 PM EAT!
7:45 PM Belch!
8 PM Take 2
8:50 PM Take whatever the frig...up 1 bpm.
9:10 PM Listening...
9:30 PM Three Done
9:35 PM Tune to B!!!
9:40 PM Try "Fool, Fool!"
9:50 PM Listening
10:00 4 Done!
10:10 PM Tune back to C
10:20 PM Take one "Edge of Darkness"
10:41 PM Listening
10:57 PM 5 Done!
11:00 PM Backing up to my new hard drives!!!!""""

I am so happy that we managed to get 5 songs done in the first day! My engineer, Nick is a righteous dude! This Cd is going to be so much fun...so much work...but fun, nonetheless! The scratch guitar sound is insane, I can only imagine how huge it will sound when I spend time on it. I can’t wait to finally get a chance to play guitar 100% the way I want to in the studio. I have not been able to do that since the Butcher CD and that was 10 years ago. Jeff did an amazing job today. The drums sound so live. This is the first Cd that I have ever recorded start to finish in the computer. I must admit, I love it.

I seriously need sleep. Never fell asleep ‘til 5AM last night! I want to wake up and try to get my vocal workout and a quick trip to the gym in. Raymie is in town for the night. He leaves to tech on another Cyndi Lauper tour tomorrow.

Peace out!

Chris

Haley waves goodbye before we leave for the studio!	Pad Boy loses the electric drums...thank the Lord!!!	Kemp gave me a gift last week, I am keeping it on me wherever I am as a good luck charm!

My view of the control room during "Bag O' Bones"	All I need!	The evil rig!

Spin Studios	My home for the next 3 months!	Song One

Hi...

Just finished the work for today. WOW, I am exhausted. Had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. Too much coffee and too much on my mind!

Things went very well today. Six more drum tracks in the can...or Comp!

I have the timeline written out, but I kinda want to save those 'til the end. I don't want to give too much away right now!

Kemp made it back from Brasil today. She met up with me at the studio when we arrived. She managed to hang around for a couple of hours. She was the official photographer today! Unfortunately she had to leave to go into Manhattan for some runway work. The mood from that point on was a bit more serious...

Basic tracks are tedious! Kinda like doing a puzzle, but you have to do all of the bulk colors first. No details! I have a huge undertaking in front of me if I am going to finish this CD the way I have pictured. Sleep is going to be a luxury in the months to come.

Jeff was a trooper...some of the songs have some pretty crazy riffs! Lots to remember! We vacated the studio and went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. It was good to get some air. It is not too freezing here! We are right on schedule and should have the drums finished by Saturday.

I am trying to finalize lyrics and get my ideas for vocals to the next step. I have to test a few keys this weekend. Dave comes in to play bass on Monday and Tuesday. After he is done, it is going to be awfully lonely in the studio for a while! I figure I have about 6 solid weeks of vocals, overdubs and guitars before I mix in April.

I need to sleep! Talk to you tomorrow...or later today...or whatever the frick time I get here!

Chris

Kemp's Pictures...

Hello...

Back home, and about to attempt to sleep. I don't get it...I can't frickin sleep. Oh well!

Lots done today, another 6 I think.

The highlight was the song GodDamn War! I am so glad I decided to bring this one out into the fore front. War sings...very terminatoresque!!! We went straight from that to a ballad called "I miss you, Sometimes". Talk about 360! When I was asked what the ballad was about I said...it was about a urinal! Only kidding! "Piece Be With You" is really brutal! Really pleased with today's events! We are on schedule and should finish the drums by Friday night. I was screwing around with some keys of songs today to make the singing more powerful. It is really odd when I work now. I am thinking like a singer. I analyze bass drum beats by the way they will affect my vocal rhythm! I arrange rhythm guitars thinking about playing and singing live. The voice is getting very loud!

I just backed up my files and burned some Aiff's from my drives here for tomorrow's session. We will hit "Faces" and "Saddamize" tomorrow! Sounds like we are out to fight and !@#$#....but that is not the case!!!! It is the first two songs on the chopping block!

Haley is really traumatized by her time home alone. We walk in the house and she loses her frickin mind!

Rangers actually beat the Devils tonite!

I am going to try once again to sleep!

Good night y'all!

Chris

The Past! My Foot and The Future

OOPS!

Mine!

OK...Day 4 of drum hell finished. Only 4 songs left to do tomorrow. It was funny listening to the engineer tell Jeff that it must feel good being so close to the end. I just thought about the fact that I have around 2 1/2 months left and giggled!

The ironic thing is...my engineer is Greek, total coincidence. So, not only is my landlord Greek...one of my house mates is her brother...my record label is Greek...I live in the city (Astoria) with the largest Greek population out side of Greece (Next to Austrailia I believe)...I am recording in the same city, with a Greek Engineer! I guess just call me Christos!!!!!

This Cd is going to be pretty unique...it is like an emotional rollercoaster musically. It goes up and down...up and down ...then it beats the shit out of you for a long time and ends on a moody soft note.

Today we recorded the title track..."Faces"...we also hit "Abandoned", this tune is so intense. All 10 minutes of it, that includes a 2 minute guitar solo in the intro!

I must admit that the most fun so far was had when we got to "Saddamize". It was right around dinner time. I decided to leave the studio and go get some Indian food! This song has a really sexy Middle Eastern beat. Slow and moody. So, we ate some Chicken Tikka Masala, Vegetable Biryani, Chicken Tandori and got to work! On the demos I made a cool loop with percussion. I brought the audio file to the studio. It was this song's click track. The loop will be heard all the way through! The lyrics are quite amusing in this song, as you may imagine...First line..."Fucked in the assets, the fruits of the land..." Just a teaser!

I want each song to have its own special personality on this CD, sonically and musically. It is tough when you are recording as many songs as we are, but it is fun trying to rise up to the occasion!

The Rangers suck, I just wanted to add that!

I am going to sort through the pictures in my camera and see which ones I want to put up in the diary for this week. I am going to put up some of the ones that Kemp took. Then I will attempt to sleep for at least an hour or so! I actually fell asleep tonite in the studio when we were re-recording some drum parts for the song "The Mold". When you hear the song you will find out just how difficult it is to sleep during! I am on the oddest schedule in my body and the most regular one in the studio. It is not matching up. My cat is confused because we disappear every day. We get home and she goes nuclear nuts for about 2 hours!

Goodnight my friends!

Chris

P.S. Happy Friday The 13th...I already banged my frickin head into my bedroom door knob going after one of Haley's numerous toys! OUCH!

	I needed a little Middle Eastern inspiration from the local Bangladesh Restaurant!

Greetings from my post drum studio coma...

I hope you are all currently enjoying your Valentines Day, I for one have too much work to do at the moment.

Jeff is finished with his drums. Since I am going to be in the studio for the next few months, the studio is letting us keep them set up there in case we have an emergency! These guys at Spin are so cool.

It is almost time for me to let you all know what the plan is for my CD. I think you will be happy and excited to hear what I have decided to do. I know my label was! I just know for sure that I will not sleep much, not that I do anyway.

Jeff was a real trooper. I think we all entered a huge fog by the end of the week. It was a tremendously large amount of material.

Monday Dave Z gets his torture test. Although I feel it is almost impossible, he wants to try to get his bass done in one day. We shall see.

As soon as he is finished I will begin platooning my alter egos. I will get my final rhythm guitar sound. We are very close now. Then I will catagorize songs by tunings. I have a total of 11 different tunings on this CD. I am kinda organized, so it should not be a problem. Once I record the rhythms for a song, I will sing a scratch vocal and move to the next. The following day I will do the same except go back to the first song and sing for real after the scratch for the current rhythm. This process should go on for about 2 weeks. By then I should be finished with rhythms and very close to being finished with lead vocals. From there I will move onto background vocals. 80 percent of the songs have background vocals, some extremely involved. During all of this I am going to record solos at home and bring the files to the studio. We will run this through my studio rig and record the amp. This way, I can really be particular with my solo work.

If things go according to my schedule, I should be able to mix by April.

Yesterday in the studio I was being my normal sarcastic self when my engineer suggested something. He said I should write down some of my stupid sayings. Jeff said that I already do that here. SOOO...I decided to start a new book. "Not So Deep Thoughts By Chris Caffery". I will post a photo of the first bunch. I figured I would add another iron to my bonfire!

Today I am going to organize and type out some lyrics. Then I have to do my book work for the week. It is a lot of work being the boss! I am glad I decided to produce this CD myself, I don't think that anyone else would understand what I have in mind. Nick, my engineer, will be my partner throughout. In the end...well...lets just say you will hear a lot of what I have to say musically. lyrically and spiritually.

I am trying to develop some way to have a mirror on the back cover of the CD. I will not give away the setting...but I want your "Faces" to be there also. You helped make it all happen!

Enjoy your day, be safe...do not make it VD Day for real!!!! I will talk to you soon...

Your partner in hysteria!

Chris

I decided to start writing down the stupid things I say everyday and write another book! Here's the beginning!	Almost done	How I made it!
What Jeff? How many songs left?