The Ringing Bell (2007)
Word
Association: Revolver, because that
was the album we were basically trying to make.
Thoughts:
This was my rock ‘n’ roll record about peace. So the little tiny things I had
previously explored on songs like “My Enemies Are Men Like Me” and “Love Is Not
Against The Law” with peace and war topics… it wasn’t the primary thing on Mockingbird and it became the primary
thing on The Ringing Bell. There was
much more to say about that, separate from just the general political stuff. I
really wanted to talk specifically about peace and war. That record really focused on that.
Also, I
pulled a few really old songs in on this record. Like, “Can’t Be Without You”
was a song I had written for (Caedmon’s) Long Line of Leavers that we didn’t
have time to record. I literally wrote it the same week I wrote “Mistake of My
Life.” It was another song I wrote after I met Sandra, but before I moved to
Nashville, when I was smitten with her but thinking I probably wasn’t going to
get to be with her. I never really knew what to do with “Can’t Be With You”
back then. So, not until I was ready to remake Revolver did I know how to produce it. But then once we had that
sound going for The Ringing Bell, it
worked perfectly.
Inspirations/Influences:
That was the moment I had moved from The Beatles experimental records to their rock records and I binged on Revolver. When I’m making a record, if I’m trying
to emulate something, I’ll make myself listen only to that so that my instincts
are sharp. That way, when I hear something, the only thing I have to compare it
to is the thing that I have been binging on. We just really wanted to remake Revolver (laughs). I can show you so
many examples where we were literally emulating something specific… like all
the vocals and the feel on “Name” are “And Your Bird Can Sing” and the electric
guitar sound is obviously “Taxman.” It was an Epiphone plugged into a Vox AC30,
brilliant channel, no pedals, with the volume just turned all the way up. We
just ran it straight in and turned it all the way up. We were thinking, “what
would The Beatles have done?” They didn’t have any of these crap pedals. It would've just been an Epiphone straight into a Vox, so that's what we did.
Production
Notes: Again, this was more Cason and I, just the two of us focusing on it.
This is our third record in a row now. So we had a real report at that point.
We did it more like we did my second record. We got bass and drums done over at
Smoakstack. Matt Pierson came back on bass and he just murdered it. I mean, he
did Paul McCartney better than Paul McCartney. Listen to the bass part on
“Name.” It is so insanely good. Will Sayles came back on drums. He played on
all those records. After bass and drums, we brought it back to my house and did
all the guitars, vocals, and everything else.
I remember
with “A Love That's Stronger Than Our Fear,” I couldn’t get the right vocal take with my
headphones on. So I ended up taking the headphones off and just cranking it
through the studio speakers and recorded it in the room. So you can hear the
cranked up track coming through the vocal mic while I’m singing it. I needed to
feel like I had the band behind me to get the right energy. It needed to be
crazy loud. Much to Shane Wilson’s chagrin, I tracked it with no phones and
with the track cranked. I think you can hear it if you listen with headphones.
Right before I sing the first words, you can hear this atmospheric swell that
he then pulls back when I’m not singing, in between verses and stuff. You can
hear the room come back on every time I sing.
That record was a blast.
Lest you think Derek was all subdued and serious during this politically-charged season, here's some behind-the-scenes shenanigans surrounding the tour for The Ringing Bell courtesy of a few video blogs Derek posted from the road:
That record was a blast.
Lest you think Derek was all subdued and serious during this politically-charged season, here's some behind-the-scenes shenanigans surrounding the tour for The Ringing Bell courtesy of a few video blogs Derek posted from the road:
Mixtape: Maybe “A Love That's Stronger Than Our Fear” because that’s got that real Beatlesy rock ‘n’ roll thing but it’s also in line content-wise with the rest of the record.
A variety of cool pre-order packages for I Was Wrong, I’m Sorry & I Love You (including immediate digital download) are available HERE.
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