"Are you doing anything with 'Pixies?'"

----No, but we'd like to have Kim Deal as our bassist/singer!

"Who plays bass for The Tonics, anyway?" ----Mark has played bass on about 1/5 of the Tonics recordings, leaving Steven on the rest. The switch-off happens, on average, 80% of the way through any given song.

"What's the most interesting thing about this album?" ----Portions were recorded in the same house where Beverly Cleary once lived.

"Is this an album for children?" ----No, it's definitely anti-children. "The cruelest thing is to let a child into this world so cruel..." but to those unluckily born, we express our condolences through this album.

Greatest moments in rock and roll, part 4

Notable switches between lo-fi and hi-fi sound on recordings

Blonde Redhead - "I Still Get Rocks Off" (0:38)
Blonde Redhead - "Mother" (0:25)
Blonde Redhead - "Equus" (3:18)
Rilo Kiley - "The Good That Won't Come Out" (3:40)
Rilo Kiley - "A Better Son/Daughter" (1:40)
Belle & Sebastian - "Beautiful" (4:53) (lo-fi excerpt from alternate take, bleeds in after the song ends)
Brian Wilson - "Our Prayer/Gee" (1:33) (hi-fi sound fades in)
Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here" (0:59) (hi-fi acoustic guitar over lo-fi electric)

This is an effect that can only be done in a studio. So, if done meaninglessly, it could sound contrived and stupid. Blonde Redhead uses it to remind their listener of the live concert experience (lo-fi sounds like the live "bootleg" tape). The belle & Sebastian example follows a similar philosophy as Blonde Redhead. Rilo Kiley do not apply the technique well, making it an artificial jolt of a climax to their songs that becomes too predictable upon repeated listening. Brian Wilson recently used the technique on the Smile album. The effect bridges the gap between the "doo-wop" of the jukebox 50s to the "barbershop quartet on acid" of the hi-fi 60s. And finally, the most well-known example is the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", which works well to sound like someone playing the guitar along with the radio.

Sculpted Static used the technique on "Opium."

The Tonics go mono?

Steven experiments with mixing in mono, following the method of Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. Sir George Martin once said that he wouldn't even think about mixing into stereo until the very end of the mixing process. Mono mixing forces proper EQ distribution and ensures a rich sound on AM radio.

Greatest moments in rock and roll, part 3

("Will this web site ever change?"----It changes everyday.)

The Greatest Descending Melodies Of All Time

The Shins - "Saint Simon" (0:00-0:10)
The Shins - "Weird Divide" (0:03-0:07)

Yeah, I know it's indie rock, but it's hard to find a melody that tops the first ten seconds of "Saint Simon." It literally takes your breath away because it's one continuous melody with hardly a pause. The Shins' own "Weird Divide" comes close, but that melody clocks in at only 4 seconds.

Massive Attack - Teardrop (1:03-1:13)

Elizabeth Fraser's voice twists and turns in a mind-fucking way as it goes down the scale (and up the scale for a few moments). You'll have to hear it to believe it.

The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains (0:00-0:08)

It's just, note-for-note, a descending D major scale. But it works.

An exclusive interview with Mark Williams

NP: I AM NEON PHOSPHOR

MW: though currently on a short hiatus, i'm still the greatest songwriter ever

NP: TO YOU, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LATEST MIXDOWNS?

MW: the experimental injections of ian's drumming. the shocking clarity and apparent aural sophistication of each component song track, especially the vocals. and, finally, the inexplicable experiential cohesiveness evocative of a live performance

NP: HOW WILL THIS ALBUM "SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION", AS ARTA PUT IT?

MW: well, we're reinventing the pop song, in the fashion of the beatles and the beach boys, so the common culture will have to thank us for that. as for shaking the foundations, there won't be any foundations. as to how, how does a song like "i'm so tired" blow your mind? the same way we're going to shake some shit up

NP: WHAT'S IN YOUR CD PLAYER RIGHT NOW?

MW: i wish i could be an honest fan of the art and tell you that it's a specific album, but in truth it's a mix of songs i've had stuck in my head. the kinks, lots of lou reed, television, one beach boys song, some van morrison and a pavement song that sounds like it's gotten lost at a church picnic.

Re-recording of "Crowds"

Steven recorded keyboard tracks for a new version of "Crowds of Nervous People," this time with a metronome. It might still be possible to use Arta's old guitar take.

"Are you still looking at a June release date?" ----No, I'm looking at a computer screen and inching closer to complete blindness with each moment I spend fielding your stupid (answerless) questions.

"You really need to chill out." ----If only i had another outlet in my room to plug my electric fan into.

"Are you really going to record some vocal tracks outside?" ----If you mean outside of your nosy earshot, then yeah.

"Will the voice of Lothar be on the album?" ----Ah, Neon Phosphor's second cousin. how's he doing these days?

Greatest moments in rock and roll, part 2

The Smiths - "The Queen Is Dead" (0:00 to 0:46)

"Take me back to dear old Blighty,
Put me on the train for London Town,
Take me anywhere,
Drop me anywhere,
Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
But I don't care,
I should like to see my ..."

I don't bless them
Farewell to this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches...

Quite possibly the most exciting, certainly the most wickedly creative, introduction to a rock song, ever. The real innovation is the processed "I don't bless them" spilling into the airy, sustained fade in of "farewell", which overlaps onto the rest of the line: "to this land's cheerless marshes...", which is finally in clear, unprocessed vocals.

The Tonics might try something like that to spice up the beginning of "Hamlet."

"What is the biggest challenge regarding this album?"

----I'd have to say the piano, which takes up about 30,000 cubic inches and weighs over 400 pounds, although it's not really a challenge since we don't have to move it anythere. Our second biggest piece of equipment is the keyboard, which takes up half a dorm room and is probably a fire hazard.

"So, seriously. what's this album about?" ----It's about 45 minutes long, probably. maybe more.

"What are some of your inspirations as a musician/songwriter?" ----Usually, something like 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, among others. Sometimes, mixed with tobacco and other shit.

"I heard that 'Filler' sounds like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs." ----Hmm, I guess it does sound like The Beatles... although it's more like "Octopus's Garden" and "A Day in the Life" than "She Loves You..."

Summit scheduled

Steven and Mark schedule another infamous musical summit for February 19-21. In the past, such meetings have resulted in landmark achievements like the recordings of "Apart" and "Curb Crawling," and the composition of hits like "Distance." What can we expect this time????

Greatest moments in rock and roll, part 1

On the album, The Tonics will be experimenting with single- and double-tracked vocals, and combinations thereof. So here's a Neon Phosphor spotlight on the band that made double-tracking great:

The Beatles - "I Should Have Known Better" (2:01-2:21) off A Hard Day's Night.

The real innovation of this song is the last half of the last verse. Not that The Beatles needed any gimmick to make the song more interesting, but this one really adds magic to the song. For the first 2 minutes of the song, we hear John Lennon double-tracked (he liked the effect because he hated his voice). Pretty standard stuff. And then...

"that when I tell you that I love you, oh/ you're going to say you love me too, oh/ and when I ask you to be mine"

Holy shit, John's now single-tracked. To put it in more distasteful terms, this is the equivalent of a solo singer stepping out from his boy band/ a capella group near the end of the song. But this is a full-blown rock song, he doesn't need a cheesy chorus behind him going "ooh" and "aah". It's all in the production, but it makes the world of a difference. Why is this technique particularly effective at that point? Well, single-tracking exposes all the subtleties of the singer's voice. It makes the singer sound more honest, especially when done in conjunction with the most heartfelt part of the song.

The second best part of the song is when the double-tracked vocals rejoin the song, IN THE MIDDLE OF A WORD. It happens on the second half of the word "mine."

Look for The Tonics to use this technique on songs like "Lucy," "Blank Page," and "Distance."

"Are you worried that college might be holding back your budding musical career?"

----The oldest Tonic is only 21. At age 21, here's what the legends were doing:

Brian Wilson (in 1964) composed "Dance Dance Dance," "Help Me Rhonda," and was still a year away from Pet Sounds.

John Lennon (in 1961) played the Cavern club and Hamburg with The Beatles, a year before they even signed to EMI.

Paul McCartney (in 1963) recorded songs like "All My Loving" and "Hold Me Tight." Rubber Soul came two years later.

Roger Waters (in 1964) had just formed Pink Floyd. At this point, they were three years from their debut album and 9 years from Dark Side of the Moon.

Morrissey (in 1980) was still two years away from forming The Smiths with Johnny Marr.

Thom Yorke (in 1989) was still playing with On a Friday.

Kurt Cobain (in 1988) had just formed Nirvana and was a year away from recording Bleach.

So, considering the quality of our new album, I'd say we're right on schedule.

Anti-prog

Steven re-recorded lead vocals for "Tonight."

"I think I'm going to double-track all of my lead vocals." He also recorded more keyboard parts on various songs, including a new piano part for "The Clapping Song."

"What's the album like?" ----Like a boxer. Hit after hit after hit. Hook after hook after hook.

"What are you doing with the last half of 'Apart?'" ----I have some ideas. None of them are guitar solos. This will be a solo-free album. Part of our anti-prog statement.

An exclusive interview with Steven Chow

NP: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON THE ALBUM?

SC: right now i'd have to say the clapping song. tonight is sounding good, too. and don't forget hamlet, surely the dark horse of this album. when we get past all the problems with it, it'll be amazing. ultimately, they will all be my favorite songs.

NP: WHICH SONGS ARE YOU MOST WORRIED ABOUT?

SC: hamlet and crowds need work on the arrangement. and the songs we haven't started: spanish song, alpha/omega and mean song.

NP: HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PERFORM THIS ALBUM LIVE?

SC: i think we'd look for about 5 musicians on craigslist to do the extra harmonies and keyboard/guitar parts. these songs are too good to be compromised on stage. listen to the beach boys doing good vibrations live and you'll see what i mean. also, i don't think we'll be performing until the record has made us somewhat famous, anyway.

NP: WHAT'S THE PRODUCTION PHILOSOPHY ON THIS ALBUM?

SC: it can't ever be boring. it can't sound sparse or sound like it's missing something. but anything we put in there must be clean and melodic. lots of vocal harmonies, oohs and ahhs, all over the place. and anything else that bothers us, even a little bit, we'll fix before we release it. the more we re-record something, the more time we spend on the recording, the better.

A quiet day of production

Steven recorded the bass for "Filler" and "Apart," and additional keyboard tracks for "Apart" and "Save the Day." He made a mix of "Save the Day" with vocals from the old version.

Many of you probably know that our drummer Ian Asbjornsen is also the drummer for a classic rock jam band called Triple Threat. Did you know that he's also an accomplished remix artist? Ian, who works under the pseudonym "dj polar bear", is a featured artist on this site: http://ccmixter.org/, so go and support him.

Sculpted Static unreleased song of the day

"Did anything happen today?" ----not that I know of. Time for a spotlight on "Cube":

In some ways, "Cube" is the missing link between Sculpted Static and The Tonics. It was Steven and Arta's last attempt to write an instrumental together----the collaboration that had served them well during the old days, but was getting increasingly impractical. Steven's lyrics, on the other hand, were getting more and more bitter, and hinted at the themes of disappointment and disillusionment that would characterize his lyrics for The Tonics:

Vultures and canisters
You think you're so magical
You killed the answers
So expirational
But E. I feel no way could I destroy like you I say
In pain your vanity has sucked up half your brain

"Cube" was recorded in June 2004, at the same time as "Opium" and "You're Only Human." Alas, the multi-movement effort proved too difficult, and the project was canceled before the drums and final vocal takes were completed.

News is going to be a little slow from now until June

"Will you post audio files for us to preview?" ----I don't understand audiophiles who bitch about EQ spectra, argue that vinyl sounds better than digital, and spend thousands on hi-fi equipment. You can normally get by with a 3-piece speaker set from Rite Aid, although I'm very curious to hear what the Bose wave radio sounds like. In conclusion, audiophiles are a bunch of...

"No, I mean, will you post mp3s for us to preview?" ----No.

Top ten reasons why you want to listen to the new Tonics album

10. Acoustic guitar played throughout!
9. Distorted guitar played tastefully, i.e. there is none
8. It's not prog, metal, or the combination of both
7. They've got two main vocalists, like The Beatles. And everybody loves The Beatles
6. If you're reading this, you're probably one of their friends, and you can probably get a copy for free
5. In five years, you want to be able to brag to your friends, "I heard The Tonics before they were famous!"
4. To hear them before they sell out to a record label, even if it's an indie one
3. Poor Mark. Poor Steven. The least you could do is to listen as they pour out their hearts.
2. You're sick of the shit they play on the radio
1. They're not the Monotonics

NEON PHOSPHOR didn't have access to the internet today, but that doesn't stop him from updating this page for later upload.

Sculpted Static flashback of the day

Steven somehow tuned "Lucy," "Agoraphobia" and "The Clapping Song" to standard tuning. This begs the question: what kind of black magic did he perform on them? "I didn't. All I did was speed up the flat tracks to the right tuning, then slow them down to their original lengths (using the similarity function to avoid any distortion)."

Studio wizardry like this could get you burned at the stake in the 17th century. Which brings us to our Sculpted Static flashback of the day featuring "Goodwife Drew."

Written by Steven in 2002 as the "heavy" song for a demo CD, the final recorded take included Arta on rhythm and lead guitar, Mark on the two lead guitars in the bridge, and Steven on vocals, intro guitar and keyboard. The result sounded something like Black Sabbath.

Who could forget the wonderful lyrics like:

cows have died
we know why
yours didn't die
you didn't cry
we know very well that you're a witch

The track appeared on mp3.com until fall 2002. The band considers it one of the worst songs they have ever recorded, but it sure was entertaining...

Tonic now in Berkeley

Steven's mobile recording studio has been successfully relocated to Berkeley. We anticipate Mark will visit Berkeley sometime this semester to record. Steven: "I'm so bored at Berkeley, my pet project this semester is to convert all of our songs into standard tuning if they aren't already." To that I say... good luck.

Anytime you delay a monumental album like this, the danger (or advantage, depending on how you see it) is that the band members may write new songs that will seem better than the old ones, necessitating lots of extra recording. While that will drive up the quality of the album, it can also delay an album indefinitely and reduce the motivation for the band to do promotional work for the stuff that's already done. Hopefully, this band will stick to the goal of a summer 2005 release and then take a much-deserved break from writing.

What do you think, Mark?

Mark hears some of the mixes for the first time in a few weeks. A decision is made to re-record the piano part on "The Clapping Song" and some vocal tracks. Also, the album release has been postponed to summer 2005.

Mark on "The Clapping Song": "be prepared for some mind altering vocal tracks tonight... the clap will give the clap because it's so deep. it'll blow your mind. the lyrics will bowl you over"

"Why the delay??" ----Great art is not to be rushed. We have to get every second of the album perfect, at the same time working at a more natural, leisurely pace. So... we need more time.

"Will there be an EP?" ----Maybe. We're talking about it. The Distance EP part deux? Stay tuned.