June 12 , 2005

Overdubs begin in earnest on the 8 tracks recordwd so far, beginning with "Oh My Felicia". A parade of the who's who of Toronto's music scene joins in on several of the tracks that are being recorded. First to volunteer their chops is Ray Harrison, formerly of Crowbar fame (renown int'l 70's rock band from Canada). He played a Yamaha Grand Piano on "Oh My Felicia" and Hammond Organ on "Jayna's Song" and "Go Figure?", an ode to (tongue firmly planted in cheek) Paris Hilton.

June 15 , 2005

Due to prior comitments (on tour with Ronnie Hawkins), Crash couldn't make a session date. Jumping in on his behalf was Troy Feener, the drummer for Tom Cochrane ("Life Is A Highway", "Big League"). Man, was I impressed. Not to mention in awe, if not a little nervous...

He ended up playing on "Jayna's Song", "Mainstream Is Learning", and "A Father's Advice".

Oh, and we've added another dimension to the Wank Punter sound. Rui joins us on Vocals and has taken the lead on "Mainstream Is learning" and Good Porn Rising". He'll probably be called in to do one more tune for the lead spot. He also laid back up's for the other tunes that will appear on our debut CD.

 

June 17 , 2005

Richard Underhill from the Shuffle Demons (anyone remember "Spadina Bus"?) was added to our ever-growing list of local luminaries guesting on our debut CD. He arrived to lay a bitching Baritone Sax on "Jayna's Song" and "Oh My Felicia".

He was joined by renown solo guitarist Johannes Linstead (currently riding Billboard World Beat charts in top 100) as he peels back the paint for a cool solo on "Go Figure?" as well "Mainstream Is Burning".

Johannes made a guest appearance on the "South Pole Boogie" track as well (March/2005).

Rui continues to impress and blow me away with his Sybil-like vocalizations. The dude is scary! You'd never know it was the same singer from track to track had you not been privy to the fact.

We tracked the vocals for Glory-Hole Gloria tonight and I wanted a redneck feel to the vocal performance. To merely say he did a wonderful job would be a gross understatement! I thought I was in the foothills of Kentucky the second he opened his mouth. Bring on the tumble weed dude! You rock!

June 28/2005

We finally finished the tracking and overdubs for the Punter CD. It's been an arduous 6 week whirlwind production that has left us rather spent but we all had an absolute riot producing this thing! Kind'a sad to see that phase coming to a close. All that remains is the final mix and we hope to conclude that before the month's end.

The parade of special guest talent that have graciously appeared on some of the tracks was an experience to be cherrished for many years to come. I was in awe watching these guys work!

A neat surprise came out of the sessions. We ended up recording one song that we actually passed on the first time around while we were selecting tracks for the CD.

In its pre-production form, it was hard to see the potential diamond glistening beneath the rock and rubble. But how we came about recording the song is just as interesting.

We had requested a license to reproduce Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival. At first, they seemed somewhat receptive. But then I sent a copy of the reworked lyrics we wanted to record. Not surprisingly, we were flatly turned down and were left wondering what to do next.

Going back into the Punter tune vault, I dug up a number called "A Girl Like You". I figured we had nothing to lose by trying it out and much to everyone's surprise, the end result literally blew our socks off. It may very well end up being one of the strongest if not THE strongest track on the CD. Go figure, eh?