Dream Chords

     Well, to update y'all on yesterday's progress, aside from a lot of mixing.  Scobra and I went over and visited with Russ Meltzer of the Black Cat Orchestra, who has agreed to lay down some guitar tracks on our undercover hit that we are working on (the last song on the album).  When I heard some of his basic sketches, and just the sound of his guitar alone; I damn near melted.  It was beautiful.  And I also feel confident in saying that I watched and listened to Russ play his guitar, it was like no one else I have ever witnessed.  Such complete control and grasp of his instrument!
     So now the anticipation to be able to share this track when it is finished is even higher!

     Today, we will be doing A TON more mixing, and then this evening I am going to do a little solo performance of Dirty Trick at a friend's coffee shop.  Hopefully it will be a duo though, and I can convince Scobra to play along on bass.  He wrote an absolutely smokin' base line to that song!

Over and out,
-Dion Vox

Bang Bang

     Yesterday during the rather explosive holiday of July the 4th, instead of any BBQ, we sunk our teeth even deeper into the album.  I am happy to report that after a long and lovely evening, we have finalized the track order of our upcoming album.  It was an amazing experience when it was finished, to just hit 'play' and to listen to the whole thing from beginning to end.  Up until that point, I had been having a rather difficult time really visualizing or understanding the collection as a whole.  To get the flavor not only from course to course, but of the meal as well.  So the experience that I had when I was finally able to just close my eyes, and hear it from top to bottom had a profound effect on me.  I felt that in the beginning, the first track was like tumbling down Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole, tumbling into a different world.  Then the second track was Wonderland in all it's high-energy craziness and glory.  From there the music found it's fingers around my heart, and lead me to quiet my mind and sink even deeper into the experience.  Once fully immersed in this world, I felt my soul being stretched, strained, played with, and soothed by the songs as they lead me through their beautiful maze.  I felt joy and fun in the contrast between the energies and the sounds, as one track felt like it would take me deep into the underground, and the next would have me feel that I was dancing on the rooftop of a high-rise.  Back and forth, from the moles to the sparrows it took me until there came a point where the contrast was sharp.  It almost caught me for a moment as I sat there listening.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this.  But as I listened further, I had my heart drawn in so fiercely, that I felt that this song was like a salve upon my heart and soul, and that I had needed it very much.  Then, as that song had ended, it felt as though the sun were setting at the end of a warm summer's day, and suddenly there was revelry and mayhem was being build and stoked like a great bonfire.  A party in my imagination erupted that would have made Bacchus proud.  From such fierce longing, soothing, and then ultimate release, the next song lead me to feel waltzed from such an intense catharsis, and to be deposited into a sort of surreal bliss.  Delicate, vulnerable, just a drop of melancholy, and then for a moment - a plea.  From the tenderest parts of my heart and soul - this song finally lead me to the final chapter.  Our last song, I can say with some confidence, is GOLD.  It is a song that has never been played, or released to the public.  It is our little hidden jackpot that I can't wait to break out of captivity!!  But truly, nothing could have finished off the album, or the journey that I experienced while listening to it, as completely, elegantly, and undeniably as that last song did.
     So there you have it:  all in one paragraph, and in all of it's abstract glory.  I can't wait to be able to share this whole album with everyone!  But first, I must finish it... So you can guess what I will CONTINUE to do all day today, and probably tomorrow as well :)

Happily exhausted, and yours truly,

-Dion Vox

The Beauty of Doing

     So, since I feel like I opened up a whole new can of worms in my last post: I feel inspired to follow it up with further explanations and explorations. For instance, at this very moment, Scobra is in the home studio laying down AMAZING live bass tracks on our song Dirty Trick. See, that's one of the really exciting things about finishing the album right now! You may think that you know what certain songs sound like (at least, that's what I thought). But once you open them up, and start playing with the fabric, laying down or adding to it, cutting some away, seeing what sort of form it takes... Well, some of our songs that I thought already had their classic sound to them - are now even more superlative.

     For the record {not the one we are finishing, but for documentation ;) }, I never thought that I would make music of my own in this life. Even though I did it during all of my childhood. And then studied the craft of doing other people's work, I stopped doing my own, and didn't even care that I had lost that ability. To be perfectly frank, I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by several musical geniuses, professionals, icons, and utter failures ( all different categories of people, not necessarily all the same person... although whose to say a few aren't in a few as well...) and so to put myself out there in that arena was something that I never figured myself to be even creatively capable of. So in embarking upon music once again since then, I have had an amazingly fun and free time getting to be a part of so many more musical aspects of it than just the vocals. Everyone is having fun at trying out any and/or everything! Some of what has come from it is pure GOLD! And it's a blast!

     Perhaps I am blissful, but delirious. I cannot deceive you that this has been or is a simple or painless process. And we have been regularly pulling 16-18 hour days at this for the last 5 weeks now. It's been pretty non-stop. But sometimes I find, in any art form, that when you quit thinking about what you're trying to do, and just jump in and do it - the end product is much less pretentious, and much more beautiful.  

-Dion Vox

The End and Explanation of our Journey

 These last few months have been a time of serious incubation.  We have been working on our album, and have come across many... shall we say pleasantly difficult surprises along the road.  Ramona The Band suffers from having too many songs to choose from.  Every time we get around to saying, 'we should just pick the songs, finish them, and release the album' we start picking the songs.  Then we start finding several songs in "the vault" that we had completely forgotten about.  We wrote, and recorded them on the spot, and then saved a copy somewhere strange, and subsequently we would never have listened to them since recording them.  So then we get all excited about this great new material, and so of course it should be on the album.  But often our songs start out as a scratch track with a very skeletal instrumental track of sometimes nothing more than a drum beat, and perhaps a base line and a few piano notes here and there.  That is what I will write words to, and then melodies, harmonies, etc. and record on.  So when we find these hidden gems, it is truly only a potential diamond in the rough; and A LOT of work then has to go into flushing out the basics of what we have into a nice, plump, full-fledged song.  Well, that process alone on a song or two can suck us in for a months at a time.  And also, during that time, we may just write and record a few more gems that will creep up to the surface in another six months.  So it's quite the lovely, but crazy-creative cycle that we exist in. 
      

     Thus, I hope that you can understand why it has taken us a good while to get this album "finished".  But because of all of the wonderful time that we have had, every one of the 14 tracks that we have chosen are the true cream of the crop.  In a really wonderful way, they each remind me of some monumental moment in our 2 and a half years as a band, and also, in my rather wild journey through life.  We have starved for these tracks, we have lost blood for these tracks, lost sleep, money, freedom, tears...  But we have also gained so much by committing ourselves fearlessly in the pursuit of creative truth to humanity. 
    

      Therefore, and am very excited to see how my creative truth resonates with those that it comes in contact with.  Because for me, in all of the art forms that I have studied, the ideal goal is to translate the truth of a character, feeling, or idea, to everyone that comes in contact with it.   I can't claim to know yet how my shot at musical truth will go over yet.  But I look forward to finding out, regardless of the outcome.  So thanks to all of you that have listened, seen, and even shared with us.  Because, at risk of sounding cliche, without everyone of you guys that are reading this right now, and even a good number that aren't; absolutely none of this would be possible.
 
My warmest, and happiest regards,
 
-Dion Vox

ALBUM

     Okay, okay, I know that I went on a righteous rant about how I was going to be posting more regularly.  And clearly I've have an idealistic streak in me that won't quiet down.  But the truth of the matter is that I don't really have a computer of my own with internet access at the moment... So  the whole 'regular post' thing has turned out to be more difficult than I thought.
     But as a quick update - we are in the final stages of finishing our first full-length album!!!!!!  This Thursday will be the final day of mixing, and then this puppy will be mastered!!!!  No exact date for the release yet... but stay tuned as we have several surprises coming your way.  I'm talkin' songs you've never heard, sounds you've never heard, voices... and an even bigger mind-blower of an announcement comin' your way.  We have so many amazing artists collaborating with us on this project, and as soon as the album is wrapped up, I will be able to give you a proper list, so that you can check out their other awesome work.  But to the as-of-yet-unnamed:  THANK YOU!
     All in all, June has been a wild month.  I have had family celebrations, gatherings, deaths, and an album to finish throughout all of it.  Mostly though, it has made me to feel grateful for everyone that I know, and everything that I have, as well as everything that I hope to do.  I swear, if you guys could get in my mind, and know everything that I hope to be able to give you... Well then I suppose it wouldn't be much of a surprise, but you would know of the extent of my love that I have for the art of creation, in all of the forms that it takes.

Much love to all,
-Dion Vox

keepin' on

     Well, the road to hell may be paved with good intentions... but I would like to think that so is the road to heaven.  The Blog and I... an unlikely pair, and yet meant for each other.  I actually think that once I get into the habit of blogging, there will be no stopping me.  But habits take some acquiring, and that has been my modus  operandi  as of late:  trying to acquire new habits.
     I have lived my whole life pushing myself to my limits.  Lovely growth has occurred in such an environment, but also some monumental crashes and failures.  It all goes hand in hand I suppose.  However, for the first time in my tender young life, I can feel myself aging.  Rather, I'm not sure that I could do some of the things that I used to.  Where the hell did I get that energy?  I still pride myself in my current work ethic... until I look at my old work ethics that I have had in the past.  There was A LOT more energy wasted, or misplaced, or exhausted.  But it was still there.  Now I would like to think that I am a little more discerning with my energy, but it is starting to appear more finite to me (or perhaps time really is just speeding up, as I also suspect!).
     So in recognition this limitation that I have discovered, I am trying to get my behind back in gear.  New habits, new health, and then hopefully - new energy.  In short:  forgive my while I stumble and bumble about a bit as I try to get this train rolling at top speed.  I have never done it on purpose before.  And things are always harder when they are meant to be.

-Dion Vox

WOW

Well, life has changed, and my ability to have unfettered computer and/or internet access was on the fritz for a good... almost year??? So some 'splainin' is due:

Scobra and I moved from LA up to Seattle in order to finish our LP and have the space and time to build up the live show to new levels of WOW. To move to a new city is never particularly easy, but thus far, it has been an enlivening and enriching move. I am also happy to report that we now have two new members of RTB for our live shows. Erin Boyt is dancing, or should I say, moving so beautifully and creatively that she is breathing art unto herself. And then we have Andrew McInnis, who is our drummer, and general savant of all things creative and cool. So the new blood is of good stock, and is enriching the whole band and vision.

For myself, this has been a pretty crazy transition mostly due to the fact that I myself grew up in Seattle. This is where much of my family is, as well as much of my history. There are the obvious pros and cons that I have discovered about returning to such things. But all in all, I actually believe that it is strengthening me, forging me in some pretty hot coals, but i'm growing sharper by the day.

I've got to be honest, on one hand, I feel like I am gaining great clarity in what I value. But by the same token, I am also realizing that I have no idea where I am going. I know where I would like to go, but I have started to realize that living in the future or the past is a waste of the present. And so I try to be tactical and concise with my current actions, so that they may feed what I hope to be future actions. But like I said, I don't know where I'll be in 6 months, let alone a year. And when I think about how crazy and sped up the past has been, I'm not sure that I could rightly say where I'll be two weeks from now. But I'm also getting better at not worrying...

I am also working on becoming more disciplined with myself again. I am a rather cyclical creature, this I know, and this I must respect. But I think that it is time for me to become a hard-ass with myself again, and I suppose that one of the tests of this will be if I can actually maintain regular posts on this blog for once... Which I have threatened to do before... But now will be a second or third round of reckoning as far as that goes.

All in all, if I write any more, I will be rambling - so in theory you will hear more soon.

x0 - Dion