Recording

Well, we've finished up the drum and bass tracks for the premier album. We started on the vocals, but have quite a bit of work to do. The instrumental tracks are coming along great even before editing, and the sound is even better than I was hoping for.

The drums were recorded in one night, using your average kit micing, as well as strategically placed room mics; 2 in the room, 2 in the hallway. Mike used his usual Lidwig kit with most of the same cymbals he's been using live, but has added some replacements to the cracked ones. All cymbals being Zildjian A Customs.

The bass tracks (up to 4 in some songs) were recorded in a semi-similar fashion. The "bass" sound is my '95 American Standard Precision bass or my Fender Hoppus bass (used mainly because it had fresher sounding strings towards the end) running through my Ampeg SVTII, and SVT810E cab. I used my modded TS-9DX on a few tracks, and my vintage Rat pedal was used for "BFA". These were recorded with 2 mics on the SVT810E, 2 room mics, as well as the DI from my SVTII.

The next was the first "guitar" track, was the '95 Precission run into the Sovtek Mig 60 with my custome made 6x10 cab (with 6 Jensen C10Q's). This is the amp I used live until about 2 months ago. The last track(s) was (were) done with my '92 American Standard Fender Jazz Bass (with EMG J's) through my my Orange Tiny Terror and Orange PPC112 cab. This gave a great higher tone with a nasally chunch that holds the mix together.

One track on the album has my modded Gretsch G5120 running through the Orange in the chorus' rhythm, otherwise the album is all bass, drums, and vocals. We're running right on schedule with this project, and hope to have a CD release party before mid-June.

AND FINALLY...

So back in October we were talking about the possibility of recording. We wrote all sorts of new material, and at long last, we're heading into the studio on March 1st. Originally we were supposed to start a few weeks ago, but those plans fell through. After a BIGASS pro/con list, and weighing all of our options, we have decided to record at Howl Street Recordings. We've liked the quality of everything we heard come out of that studio.

We'll be doing drum tracks on the first, then I'll be going in to do my bass tracks. We'll be recording our originals that we've been playing for over a year now, like "Shiny Things For Jesus", "OWI", and "Panhandler", plus some new songs like "Beer Ain't Just For Breakfast Anymore", and "Never Gonna Give Up", and one about hunting (Mike writes the lyrics and names them, I can't remember the name of that one).

As stated earlier, I'll be recording the 2 bass sounds separately; the "bass" side, and the "guitar" side which is my bass run through a guitar amp. One major change to the original plan, is that I will be using my new amp for the "guitar" side, which is an Orange Tiny Terror that I just picked up. This is a great sounding class A amp that brings forth every nuance of playing. The bass side will still be done with my Ampeg SVTII and SVT810E. The trick part is to not make the 2 sounds sound so different that they make the live show lacking. Bottom line, we don't want to put out an album that sounds like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

The basses that I'll be using will definitely be my P-Basses on the bass side, and possibly my Jazz Bass on the "Guitar" side. I may even try the Jaguar for this. A lot of decisions will be made when the time comes for me to record the final tracks.

Our goal is to have the project buttoned up by the end of spring, by the time we play Steelbridge Song Fest 2012 for sure. More than likely, we'll have the recordings available online first, we're already looking into iTunes, Amazon Download, and LastFM. All-in-all, the recording will be made available on a large scale.

Some Chatter...

So it's been reported to me by 3 sources now that there was an article written about us, and we have no idea where it would have been. We're thinking it was in The Shepherd Express, but we're not too sure. The 3 people who have informed us are unrelated in any way shape or form. This is a big plus, as we have no known insiders there like we do in other media outlets.

Also, it's come to our attention that the audio from our Youtube video of us covering "The Pusher" at The Monkey Bar last year has made its way to a local podcast. It can be found in the June podcast of milwaukeerockposters.com under the "Radio" and then "2011" section. Milwaukee Rock Posters is apparently done through the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and thus we somehow have gotten some support over there. This is surprising in that all my contacts over there (mainly WMSE) have dried up years ago (American Radio Police had an in with "The Rudeboy" about a decade ago, but he's long gone).

This is all fascinating to us, and a good sign that we need to continue with the shows. The venues we've been playing have been spectacular, and with the exception of the trainwreck Bay View Brewhaus show, the shows have been going over great!

Our next show will be in the burbs. We'll be playing at KOCHANSKI'S CONCERTINA BEER HALL on November 19th with The Hullmen, and Floor Model.

The Recording

So in light of the upcoming recording sessions, we've been gearing up, writing new material, and getting down to the brass tacks of how we are going to accomplish getting the effect of the live sound into recording. We already have an EP's worth of material that we've been playing, and now we're all bringing all our ideas to the table for the first album.

On a personal note, I have been mapping out how I'm going to separate the 2 bass sounds on the recording. I will actually be recording the "bass" separate from the "guitar" sound (my bass through the guitar amp to simulate guitar sound). Live, I obviously can't do this, but the beauty of multi-track recording is I will be able to in the recording process. I plan on using most of the same gear I use live, except the 2 tracks will have 2 different basses. The "bass" side will be all Fender P-Bass, which I have been using for some of our shows, and all American Radio Police shows, and running that through my Ampeg SVTII and SVT810E cab. This has been my predominant sound for over a decade. For the "guitar" side, I'll be using my '92 Fender American Standard Jazz Bass, which I bought new in that year. This is from that oddball era where the American Fender guitars and basses had 22 frets (instead of the more traditional 20). Since I've owned it, I've swapped out the pickups for some EMG J's, and switched the bridge to a Leo Quan Badass II. This bass has a more nasaly sound than the others, and should hold the highs in the "guitar sound" application.

Also, to thicken the highs, I plan on doubling the bass that's going through the guitar amp with some guitar. The goal here is to not overpower that bass sound, as I would never be able to play both live. The guitar will be hardly noticeable, but add some girth to the sound. We've been talking about adding a song where I just play guitar, but this will be on one of the new songs. The weird part would be doing that song live, as I've only played guitar onstage twice in my life... with a different band... that was simple pop-punk... but this song will be more intricate. Fortunately, my guitar of choice (as can be read about in my other blogs) is my hot-rodded Gretsch G5120. This is hands down my favorite guitar, and is a rockabilly machine. I've been working on my rockabilly guitar playing as a result of this guitar. It's orange, looks like a G6120, but has my own little tweaks to it.

We aren't going to be recording any of the covers due to obvious reasons, so songs we've done like "The Pusher", and "You're No Good" will not be on the album, but rest assured, the "wall of noise" aspect of Wisconsin Beef Commission should still be represented quite well.

Word is, we'll be getting into the studio in the next couple months here, and I'll keep you all posted on what's going on. At this point, I foresee "OWI", "Shiny Things for Jesus", "Like I Do", and several others of our live setlist making their way onto the album.

Some Updates and Stuff...

So we've officially been at it for a year, and all's going well. This is by far one of the tightest bands I've ever been involved with. So far we have quite a few shows under our belt, and they've been going quite well. We have about 14 videos up on Youtube (just search Wisconsin Beef Commission on there, and you'll find them) from 5 different shows; Our first show at Beach Harbor in Sturgeon Bay WI, our second or third show at The Monkey Bar here in Milwaukee, BBC's here in Milwaukee, The Up & Under in Milwaukee, and Treats which is also in Milwaukee. Thanks again to our good buddy Clark Barton for the video recording and editing on them!!

The decision has been made to sideline the shows (hence not having any booked at this time) and concentrate our efforts on recording. This means writing some new material which is what we're doing now, and the hardest part, finding the right studio. The trick part to all this, is that we're a very different kind of band. If a band shows up with a guitar player or two, bass, drums, and a lead singer, any sound engineer worth their salt can just mix the band, and come up with something wonderful. With us, things are a bit different, and we're looking for a producer that can work WITH us. There are many great recording engineers and producers in the area, but we can't afford to let their art take over what we're trying to do. Even in show situations, I find myself having to explain to the sound engineers "Treat the guitar amp like a guitar, and the bass amp like a bass. Trust me".

We will be looking into a few different options for studios, and we have some ideas of who to work with. As soon as we have some more details, we will get them out their.

For the most current info on Wisconsin Beef Commission, got our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wisconsin-Beef-Commission/134203949931441

What it's All About

So, Wisconsin Beef Commission is a band that started out as a side project of the band American Radio Police. This is a band I play bass for, and last summer had to take some time off due to our lead singer having family issues. Mike Rowan, our drummer came up with the idea of doing a 2-piece band of just me and him, and I originally thought "Wow, this might be interesting, playing GUITAR for a band", which I had never done before, being a bass player. As we discussed it, Mike had informed me he meant that I was gonna be playing bass. Again I was interested in what the hell we could possibly do.

So we started as a 2-piece, and started compiling some originals and some covers. The idea started to come around to doing a country theme with the punk we were coming up with. As time went on, we decided to add Mike's partner in crime Dana Ellis as a back-up vocalist and occasional lead vocalist. Even after doing a handful of shows, Mike is still the lead singer.

So for this project came the issue of how the hell I was going to fill the space of our music with just bass. Now over the years I've been no stranger to using distortion on Bass. For this though, I knew that wouldn't be enough. From the start, I decided that to make this work I'd need to incorporate a guitar amp as well as the bass amp I had already been using.

Now for all the gear heads out there, here's how I go about accomplishing the sound. First off, I use P-Basses (a '95 American Standard Precission with Basslines SPB-3 Quarter Pound P pickup and Fender No-Load tone, and a Hoppus Bass, as it has the same pickup and no tone knob, but does have a Jazz Bass body), as they've been my predominant go-to basses for about 10 years or so now, and though I've tried others, I kept coming back to my P-Basses. Then I use Line 6 X2 XDS95 wireless systems (the reciever has been modded for better range and fewer dropouts). From there, the signal goes to my pedalboard where I have an Ibanez TS-9DX (modded to TS-808 specs), and my vintage RatII. Occassionally I'll have my old TS-9 (also modded to TS-808 specs)) as well. From there I run it to a Morley A-B box. This I use a lot to give dynamics, and try to mimic a guitar sound, and a seperate bass sound. The "A" side of this then goes to my Ampeg SVTII (ca 1989, NOT the SVTII Pro), and this usually goes into an Ampeg SVT410HLF (SVT810E at larger venues), this is the bass end of my sound. Then on the "B" side, I send the signal to an E-H Bass Balls (which I use sparingly, as this pedal can be a bit much), and finally to top off the guitar sound, I use an old Sovtek Mig 60, and a cab that I built for a different amp, a 6x10 with Jensen c10q's. I find the Sovtek with it's EL34's, is a great amp for this application, as it gives a nice highend crunch that is kind of Marshall-esque. For a short time I ran through a Marshall JCM800 100 watt, but the sovtek reacts better to what I'm trying to do. I use the overdrive channel on this amp and leave it on fulltime (this amp is not switchable). I had used a Fender Blues DeVille (4x10 combo) for a show, and that worked as well.

So far, this band has taken off more than I've expected, and things are looking up. Ironically, what started out as a supplementary side project has had more success than the other 2 bands I've been involved with in the last 3 years.