The Avatar Experience!

Once again on the Bolt Bus, which by the way has officially become my favorite place to blog, this ride back to Boston feels very different. I don't know what it could be...but I can give it a wild guess. Maybe it's because...oh, I don't know...could it be because I've just recorded a CD and a DVD at Avatar Studios with my dream band??

Yeah, I guess that would be why!

Well, I can definitely say that it does feel like I've accomplished a dream. And especially because I think the music we made is SOOOO great!! I am sure you guys will like it as well...we were listening to some of it today and it sounds amazing, Avatar was really the right choice, as was to have Fernando Lodeiro as our engineer. Thanks, Fer!

The whole crew was about 20 people, counting the photo and the video crew. Here is a picture of everyone at the end of that very long Saturday (started at 10AM and went until Midnight!):

Also, since the day of the recording was the birthday of Laurent's girlfriend, Sandrine, we made a little "Happy Birthday Video Present" to her and posted it online right then, check it out:

We will also be posting videos on Youtube and Facebook starting tonight for the contest. And you will have until noon of the following day to re-tweet or re-post the videos in order to be eligible to win the FREE CD.

More news to come very soon...

Al

In the Studio...

Four guys are sitting in a studio. They are ready.

After so many projects, so many sessions, so many songs, concerts, performances, countless hours of practice, he still feels like he could have been more prepared for this. And that is good. That is a good feeling. To feel unsure of yourself, to feel that nervous pinch on your gut, that thing that makes you want to show them, and yourself, that you can do it. He believes that is what drives him to perform his best, to open the gates to his ideas, which he knows sometimes can achieve greatness. He lays his fingers on the keyboard, but he still doesn't choose to play. He is just feeling, with his right hand, the cold white piano keys on the Yamaha Concert Grand Piano perfectly tuned and ready, thirsty for his touch. His left hand, however, is laying over the keys of the Hammond B-3 Organ, slightly warmer than the piano keys, and maybe packed with more emotion. He always thought the organ is where keyboard players get to really have control of their expression, like a guitar player does. He still doesn't play, his hands waiting for the right moment.

After all the traveling, he is surprised with how much energy he has right now, feeling he could play for hours with no break. It is also surprising to him how much he feels at home when he is playing with the other three, even though home is thousands of miles away. All his traveling, North America, Europe, Africa, all with one constant goal in mind, to perfect his music. To further connect him the four strings in his bass. Every time he grabs the smooth mahogany neck, he is more close to it and the connection is more profound. Suddenly, he feels that old feeling slowly taking control of his hands, that feeling of certainty. It feels like it's time to start, to play that first note, and give birth to a brand new piece of music, a brand new version of their ultimate artistic expression. But he holds it. Patience. Patience is important now, because that first note is of the utmost importance.

He can't decide weather to grab his regular drum sticks, or the brushes, or the mallets. His first impulse is to grab the sticks and start fiddling with the cymbals, maybe create a spark he knows his three companions would follow. And then he remembers his countless Jazz encounters, when one of the most valuable lessons learned was to only play notes you are sure of, notes you no longer can fight, that take over and demand that you play them. He suddenly sees with the corner of his eye that Josh has turned sideways and positioned himself to play the Rhodes. That changes everything. The smallest detail will affect his whole decision of what to play. He then decides to not grab any sticks. with one hand, he slowly reaches out to a set of goat toe-nails attached to a string, one of his many percussion toys. A flashback pops in his brain, of the times when he used to play music from his home country, Chile, with Álvaro, using mostly percussion and such. He likes that. He knows it is what the music calls for now. That's it, the notes have summoned him.

So much preparing, so much planning, so much effort, time, countless hours of discussions and meetings with Chris, his partner/manager/friend, decisions made, roads taken and paths trailed. Now, this is it. This will mark the realization of this life-long dream of his, to get in a great studio, with great musicians, great friends, and make great music. The guitar he holds in his hands is a reminder of all the legacy that came before him of such phenomenal players and musicians. It is a 1958 Fender Telecaster, beaten up and scarred from countless battles. It carries the marks of decades of music making. And it found its way into his hands in this very moment, to contribute to yet another musical endeavor. Like his companions, he is hesitant to hit the first note, he knows it has to be perfect, the whole day depends on that very first note. It has to be perfect. But then he suddenly realizes that as long as it is the four of them, playing together like always, nothing can go wrong. No matter what. Every note is perfect. And so he confidently, but gently strikes the string with his pick. The sound is out there.

Immediately, within a second after that note is played, they all know what to do...

The Session is Approaching...

Hey, everyone!

WE ARE ONLY 3 DAYS AWAY FROM OUR RECORDING DAY AT AVATAR!!

We have been jamming and talking about possibilities for the past couple of weeks...and I gotta tell you, it is looking very exciting! Last friday, we played a small show at Chris's apartment and got great feedback from the friends who attended. We filmed a little bit, so click HERE (coming soon) to see how it went. Here is what it looked like:

Cosy, right? ;-)

Also, in one of our practice Jams, we took some very nice videos that will be released in Youtube daily, starting the week after the recording. There is an opportunity for you to win a FREE CD by forwarding/re-tweeting/posting the videos! To find out more, check out the rules in this Facebook event. 57 People are already doing it, make sure to get yours too! Here is a picture of us jamming:

Finally, I want to tell you all about the DELUXE Combo Package we made available in our website, in a LIMITED EDITION of only 2 copies! It includes the CD, the DVD, a T-shirt and a Poster, all signed by the band, and also the unique opportunity to COME IN THE STUDIO with us for an hour and be PART OF THE DVD! You'll be interviewed and will get to hang around with us while we record, and who knows, if you play an instrument, maybe you'll be invited to jam with us on the record! Check it out on our website, under the tab "Support Us".

Well, next time we talk I will have news to tell you about how the session went....YEAH!

Keep on groovin'!

Al

Photo Of The Week 4

This is a picture I took of the Rose Hall, while visiting the Jazz At Lincoln Center facilities with the Berklee Music Business Club, during our NY Trip. What an amazing venue!!

A lot of news...

Hi, everyone!

Sorry I've been away, but there has been a lot to deal with in the past couple of weeks. So I'll divide into several posts...first, the studio saga!!

In the last 3 weeks, we lost our date at Avatar, then lost Avatar all together, got a date at Legacy Studios, lost that date as well, then lost our engineer, Fernando Lodeiro, were a whole week without a studio and without an engineer...and finally got another date back at Avatar, with Fernando at the wheel! So, to sum it all up, we are back at Avatar Studios, on April 18th, one week after the original planed date.

The whole thing happened because a very big and popular band, which we are not allowed to name, booked the whole studio on the week we wanted it. But it turned out they are nice guys and let us have Studio C on that Saturday, which ended up being better then Studio B and also better than the room at Legacy we were going to get.

We just went to visit the studio again this weekend, this time with the whole team: me, Chris, Jon, Fernando and a new addition to the team, Juan, our Director of Photography. We discussed the need of lighting and other equipment, and started to plan out how everything is going to be positioned in the room, in order to have the best mix between sound quality and a video-friendly environment, without interfering to much on the vibe of our jams. It went pretty well, and everyone was pleased.

Now, the next time we are in New York will be to record!!

Peace!

Photo Of The Week 3

This is a shot I took a while ago of John Mayer while he was doing a clinic at Berklee College of Music...right after I jammed with him. :-)

Getting close...

Hey, everyone!

Sooo...we are getting close to the big recording! 3 more weeks and we'll be in Avatar Studios, recording our CD and DVD...I don't know about you all, but I'm very excited! Everything is moving according to plan, and we are almost ready. Jon Hsu, our video producer and director, is in charge of the whole pre-production and it's details.

This coming week he is going to hire our camera operators, and get all the equipment ready for pickup on the weekend of April 10th. We've got all our details sorted out and are already doing a lot of preparation jams, me, Pablo, Josh and guest bass players. So far we've jammed with Matias Alvear (you can check out that Jam HERE) and Brock Pollock. It's been nice to get our vibe more in tune, but it's still not the whole crew...our French pal is missing! Laurent is coming to the US on Friday, April 3rd, and from then on, it's going to be at least one jam a day!

Now, something I'd like to ask of you readers...in order to get you the music you want to listen to. Go to our website and listen to the music we have there. There are three parts of the same tune, "Floyd Mood". I want you to come back here and write a comment telling us what are your favorite parts, what you would like to hear more of, mood-wise, so we can develop our jams in that direction. Our music will be free and completely improvised, but we want to make sure we are aware of the direction you guys want us to take...suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Peace!

Photo Of The Week 2

...for sale, this MusicMan Stingray 5 String Bass:

I LOVE Boston!

Hey, folks!

Today is Sunday, beginning of Spring Break, it is currently 10 degrees outside (50 Fahrenheit, for the US readers), and I just came back from a lovely lunch at PhoBasil, on Mass. Ave. I have decided I really love Boston. I love living here.

This is the first time I've ever lived outside of my country, and my city of origin, São Paulo, Brazil. I've been living here for the past 2 years and 4 months, and this city has become a second home for me. The main big thing here, especially in comparison to Brazil, is the weather. A lot of people can't take it and would not like to live in a place that gets so cold for so many months out of the year. But I actually don't mind the cold. Of course, some times it really gets to be TOO MUCH, but most of the time it's just nice to be able to drink hot chocolate, stay under the blankets, light up the fireplace and watch a movie. Of course, the fact I have a working fireplace in my apartment may help me accept the cold, lol.

Another very different thing is how the Seasons are very unique and defined. Summer, Spring, Winter and Fall, with their very specific temperatures and characteristics, making you feel like you live in 4 different cities, since Boston becomes a completely new place with every passing season. By the end of winter, you can't remember how it is when it's summer, and vice-versa, which is very nice...if you like change. And I love change!

The fact you can walk everywhere here is a big change for me too, back in São Paulo we need to have a car, it's kind of like LA, everything is very spread out and far away. Also, living so close to Berklee and to all my friends, everything and everyone is so close, a couple of blocks away at the most, and we're always going to different parties and visiting friends and being visited by them, which is something I personally like very much. The food aspect, however, is hard to ignore...compared to back home, the food here really sucks, lol. Unless you cook yourself, the restaurants are usually either "ok" or very overpriced for what they offer. If you go to places like the North End or some restaurants in Somerville or Allston, you can find very good food, but usually expensive, so out of reach for normal student budgets.

But the truth is, after showing the city to so many visitors, family and friends that have come to spend some time with us here in Boston, after going so many times to the North End for dinner, Mike's Pastry for deserts, walks in the Commons and the Public Garden, the South End, Beacon Hill, shows in Allston and Cambridge, visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Aquarium, clubs in the Theater district, soccer at MIT every Saturday, trips to the New England Six Flags, I've come to love it as home. Plus, being here in 2008 and seeing the Celtics and the Red Sox be champions, and the Patriots get to Super Bowl, was AWESOME!

I just wanted to share that with everyone...for those who also live here, do you share this passion for the Hub? For those who don't but have been here, have you been properly introduced? If you've never been, consider this a formal invitation, this city has a LOT to offer to anyone with a good pair of legs and willingness to explore!

Until next time...

Al

Spring Break!!

Hey, everyone!

First of all, let me congratulate our dear Amy Mantis, the winner of the competition! As promised, she will be getting her own free and signed copies of both the CD and DVD of Project K-Paz once they are released! Also, Lucas, the second to answer, will get a free copy of the CD! Thanks to both for reading and for making the comments! Keep it up!

Now, the news!

Last week, we had Jon Hsu come and make videos of our jams here at Berklee! It's me on guitar and Pablo on Drums. Laurent is still in France, so we had a Matias Alvear, a friend, play the bass. Josh was recording in Pittsburg, so he couldn't make it either. Here is a little piece of the jam, fresh for the BLOG readers:

MOCKUP JAM SESSION!

Let us know what you think of the footage, it is just a mockup, but a little taste of what's to come!

Now, this following week is our Spring Break, so we are out of town for a while, but the project is still moving. We have made progress in the DVD front after some great meetings with Jon while he was in Boston, and we're also just waiting to hear from Avatar to confirm our session booking.  But don't worry, we'll keep you posted.

Rock on!

Al