12/04/2024: Outronaut at Narwhal Studios!
It's been a while, but I once again had the extreme good fortune to hang out with Chicago's favorite prog-surf-noir band Outronaut, this time at one of the finest recording spaces in the city, Narwhal Studios! These sessions were presided over by legendary record producer Brian Deck (Red Red Meat, Modest Mouse, Califone), and it was great seeing him do his thing again. Brian produced the debut album of my old band Unicycle Loves You in the same exact building way back in 2007. Talk about a blast from the past!
My role for this session was that of videographer and photographer, so stay tuned for an upcoming music video to be released sometime in 2025.
Photos by Yours Truly.
My role for this session was that of videographer and photographer, so stay tuned for an upcoming music video to be released sometime in 2025.
Photos by Yours Truly.
11/11/2023: The Art of Ezra Tucker!
One of my favorite recurring projects at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is preparing and installing traveling art exhibitions, and it was a real career highlight working with the amazingly talented Ezra Tucker, hanging 42 of his incredible paintings in our newly designed Special Exhibitions Gallery last week!
Ezra’s work has been displayed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Texas Rangers Historical Museum in Austin, the Canton Museum of Art, the Bruce Watkins Center in Kansas City, and the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach. His corporate clients have included Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, the Brookfield Zoo, Universal Studios, Bank of America, the Field Museum, the National Park Service, Levi Strauss, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Lucas Films. He painted the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales that were featured on billboards all over the country, and he created the theatrical poster art for one of my favorite films as a kid, The NeverEnding Story!
In addition to the Ezra Tucker exhibition, I also installed a smaller exhibition of artwork on loan from the International Crane Foundation, in celebration of their 50th year conserving cranes and their ecosystems. The ICF happens to be one of my and Amelia's favorite places to visit when we’re in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Enjoy this walk-through video of both exhibitions, scored in a jiff by Yours Truly!
Ezra’s work has been displayed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Texas Rangers Historical Museum in Austin, the Canton Museum of Art, the Bruce Watkins Center in Kansas City, and the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach. His corporate clients have included Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, the Brookfield Zoo, Universal Studios, Bank of America, the Field Museum, the National Park Service, Levi Strauss, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Lucas Films. He painted the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales that were featured on billboards all over the country, and he created the theatrical poster art for one of my favorite films as a kid, The NeverEnding Story!
In addition to the Ezra Tucker exhibition, I also installed a smaller exhibition of artwork on loan from the International Crane Foundation, in celebration of their 50th year conserving cranes and their ecosystems. The ICF happens to be one of my and Amelia's favorite places to visit when we’re in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Enjoy this walk-through video of both exhibitions, scored in a jiff by Yours Truly!
6/01/2023: MY JOURNEY INTO THE WILDS OF CHICAGO!
In early spring, I was asked by the Chicago Academy of Sciences to compose a piece of music to accompany an immersive art exhibition featuring the stunning nature photography of Chicago-based photographer and author Mike MacDonald.
My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago is a joint creative effort between the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Mike MacDonald, and the experiential media company Visual Feeder.
On display at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum through the end of summer, My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago uses expansive floor-to-ceiling projected photographs to take you on a virtual journey through the prairies, savannas, and other natural areas of the Chicago region. It tells a story about biodiversity and celebrates urban nature in a striking, mesmerizing way.
In terms of compositional guidelines, I had carte blanche - which in many ways made the project more challenging. Adding to that challenge, I also wouldn’t have access to a rough cut of the video while composing the soundtrack.
Using only MacDonald’s beautiful book of photography for inspiration, and without any further input from the team, I came up with (and tried to adhere to) three basic guidelines: 1) the music should evoke the feeling of being on a journey, 2) the chords should be tonally ambiguous (so they are flexible and adaptable, and can accompany various styles of photographs), but the progression should have a sense of harmonic inevitability, and 3) the piece should be smooth and continuous, so it can be repeated indefinitely without becoming irritating or distracting.
I think I accomplished my goals, but you can judge for yourself by checking the exhibition out in person at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum before September 1st, or by checking out this unauthorized sneak-peek!
My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago is a joint creative effort between the Chicago Academy of Sciences, Mike MacDonald, and the experiential media company Visual Feeder.
On display at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum through the end of summer, My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago uses expansive floor-to-ceiling projected photographs to take you on a virtual journey through the prairies, savannas, and other natural areas of the Chicago region. It tells a story about biodiversity and celebrates urban nature in a striking, mesmerizing way.
In terms of compositional guidelines, I had carte blanche - which in many ways made the project more challenging. Adding to that challenge, I also wouldn’t have access to a rough cut of the video while composing the soundtrack.
Using only MacDonald’s beautiful book of photography for inspiration, and without any further input from the team, I came up with (and tried to adhere to) three basic guidelines: 1) the music should evoke the feeling of being on a journey, 2) the chords should be tonally ambiguous (so they are flexible and adaptable, and can accompany various styles of photographs), but the progression should have a sense of harmonic inevitability, and 3) the piece should be smooth and continuous, so it can be repeated indefinitely without becoming irritating or distracting.
I think I accomplished my goals, but you can judge for yourself by checking the exhibition out in person at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum before September 1st, or by checking out this unauthorized sneak-peek!
9/01/2022: NEW Products Now Available At Amelia's DragonGoddess Boutique!
Amelia's DragonGoddess Boutique’s featured item of the fall is our Abramelin Consecrating Solid Perfume & Anointing Balm. It’s our take on “Abramelin Oil,” but with a base of organic beeswax.
Abramelin Oil (or Oil of Abramelin), is a ceremonial magic oil blended from myrrh tears, cinnamon, galangal root, and olive oil. Its name comes from The Book of Abramelin, a medieval grimoire attributed to Abraham of Worms (c. 1362 - c. 1458). The recipe is adapted from the Holy Anointing Oil of the Tanakh, which is described in the Book of Exodus (30:22-25), and is similar to both the Egyptian Madjet unguent (which is carved in hieroglyphs in the temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt) and Dioscorides’ recipe for an Egyptian scented oil he called The Mendesian.
Kaneh-bosm, an ingredient listed in the original Book of Exodus version of the recipe, has until recently been mistranslated as “calamus” or “galangal.” Biblical scholars now generally agree that Kaneh-bosm is actually cannabis, so we included cannabis essential oil in our recipe. Galangal is still included, however, because it imparts a spicy, floral-woody note that blends well with the warm, earthy, resinous, and herbaceous elements of the other essential oils. Our Abramelin Consecrating Solid Perfume & Anointing Balm has a beautifully complex and penetrating fragrance, with a slightly balsamic, honeyed dry-down.
Ingredients: Organic beeswax, organic olive oil, myrrh essential oil, galangal essential oil, cannabis essential oil, and cinnamon bark essential oil.
Abramelin Oil (or Oil of Abramelin), is a ceremonial magic oil blended from myrrh tears, cinnamon, galangal root, and olive oil. Its name comes from The Book of Abramelin, a medieval grimoire attributed to Abraham of Worms (c. 1362 - c. 1458). The recipe is adapted from the Holy Anointing Oil of the Tanakh, which is described in the Book of Exodus (30:22-25), and is similar to both the Egyptian Madjet unguent (which is carved in hieroglyphs in the temple of Horus at Edfu, Egypt) and Dioscorides’ recipe for an Egyptian scented oil he called The Mendesian.
Kaneh-bosm, an ingredient listed in the original Book of Exodus version of the recipe, has until recently been mistranslated as “calamus” or “galangal.” Biblical scholars now generally agree that Kaneh-bosm is actually cannabis, so we included cannabis essential oil in our recipe. Galangal is still included, however, because it imparts a spicy, floral-woody note that blends well with the warm, earthy, resinous, and herbaceous elements of the other essential oils. Our Abramelin Consecrating Solid Perfume & Anointing Balm has a beautifully complex and penetrating fragrance, with a slightly balsamic, honeyed dry-down.
Ingredients: Organic beeswax, organic olive oil, myrrh essential oil, galangal essential oil, cannabis essential oil, and cinnamon bark essential oil.
8/02/2022: THE Godfinger EP - NOW ON BANDCAMP!
Chicago's favorite Prog-Surf-Noir band Outronaut have unleashed a politically-charged, incendiary-yet-nuanced six-song masterpiece through Bandcamp today, and this album really showcases the deft interplay between "co-lead" guitarists Steve Gerlach (John Cale, Tommy Keene, The Bad Examples) and Peter Muschong (The Bree Gordon Band, The Fluffers, The Tossers). John Carpender (drums) and Ryan Nelson (bass) give especially stellar performances, holding everything together like gravity holds the gases in the sun. This EP was truly a JOY to record, and I really hope you give it a spin (or a click)! Engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records. Mixed and mastered by Danny Shaffer.
7/01/2022: "HALO" BY THE JAMES DEAN JOINT - NEW LYRICS VIDEO!
I am very excited to share this new(ish) James Dean Joint track that I had the pleasure of co-writing and mixing at Waterdog Records last summer, and I even contributed a few guitar parts! Please enjoy, and check out their newest EP, CabinBuzz (mixed by Sean O'Keefe and mastered by Brian Lucey) on Bandcamp! Band photos by Yours Truly.
5/15/2022: APPARITIONS BOOK RELEASE PARTY AT CUDDLE BUNNY!
The apparitions book release party at Cuddle Bunny was nothing short of magical, and we would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who attended and participated: not only did you make this event a rousing success...you made it a truly beautiful, inspirational, and uplifting occasion that will never be forgotten. Amelia read excerpts while attendees lounged and played with bunnies, and though the event was sold out, there was still a warm, comfortable, intimate vibe. Guest readers Ruari Blake, Angelica Davila, Chris Kelle, and Jenene Ravesloot were all fantastic, and the staff of Cuddle Bunny were all very nice, very accommodating, and just overall great. We are very thankful to you all, and please click on the photo thumbnails below to see the full-sized images!
5/14/2022: HIGHLAND PARK POETRY AT MADAME ZUZU's!
We had an amazing time (with an amazing turnout) at Highland Park Poetry's “Salute to Haiku” event at Madame Zuzu's Teahouse in Highland Park. It was Amelia’s debut reading from apparitions, her newest book and first book of poetry! Many thanks to Jennifer Dotson and Charlotte Digregorio, and the wonderful team at Madame ZuZu’s for engendering such a warm and welcoming setting for live poetry. Click on the photo thumbnails below to see the full-sized images! (apparitions cover photo and design by Yours Truly)
5/2/2022: NEW OUTRONAUT MUSIC VIDEOS!
Steve Gerlach of the Chicago prog-surf-noir outfit Outronaut assembled these cool music videos using iPhone footage taken at the Immersive Frida Kahlo exhibition at the beautiful, historic Germania Club Building in Chicago. The exhibition runs through September 2022, and it’s really excellent. The music was originally released on the albums Kill The Light and Ad Astra Per Aspera, and all tracks were engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records.
1/28/2022: THE JAMES DEAN JOINT - LIVE AT THE GREEN MILL & SCHUBAS!
Dean Goldstein III and I have been making music together for over a decade, so I'm just a little jealous (or is it envious?) of his new band The James Dean Joint, who knocked it out of the park at two back-to-back shows at the Green Mill and Schubas Tavern in late January! The James Dean Joint are: James Porter on vocals and harmonica, Dean Goldstein III on bass and vocals, Brian Sumida on drums, Kevin Lee on keys, and featuring Jon McDonald on lead guitar! Photos by Yours Truly, and you can jump to a specific slide by clicking on the thumbnail below the full-sized image.
2/15/2021: "The Hermit" - Now Up ON Bandcamp!
David Andrew Moore and the rest of the Arcanauts (Evan Waaramaa, Tom Dowd, Greg Toro, and Joe Albano) are becoming masters of remote music production - composing, arranging, performing, and recording all of their parts themselves from home! I had the joy of assembling and mixing this killer EP, and I am proud to say that these tracks were mixed and mastered at Waterdog Studios using only analog processing (except for a generic limiter plugin on the mix bus). Please check out their Bandcamp page, and consider supporting this wonderful group of musicians! Artwork by Mitchell Pluto.
11/15/2020: Thank You For Attending Our TED Talk!
Ralph Covert and several members of The Bad Examples (Steve Gerlach, Tommy O’Brien, and Bean Weng) had the distinctive honor of hosting a TEDx Talk live from Waterdog Studios! In contrast to the traditional lecture format, the folks at TEDx tasked us with presenting a 1-hour collaborative online songwriting class via Zoom. Ralph did a tremendous job of guiding the audience to write a complete song, start-to-finish, themselves. The Zoom participants collaborated in real time to co-write what has become the first official TEDx Naperville theme song, “The Unexpected Now!” The band came up with the arrangement on the spot, which I recorded and mixed live in the studio by the end of the TEDx Talk. We pulled it off, all within an hour! Whew. You can listen to the studio mix of the song “The Unexpected Now” by visiting Ralph Covert's Patreon Page, and below is a link to Ralph's TEDx Talk from 2017, which is currently approaching 1.5 million views!
11/05/2020: The Godfinger EP - Coming Soon!
Chicago’s favorite Surf-Noir group Outronaut (Steve Gerlach, John Carpender, Ryan Nelson, and Peter Muschong) have returned to Waterdog Studios to begin work on their next digital offering, The Godfinger EP. So far, this is shaping up to be the group’s most bombastic album to date! Because of the strict social-distancing measures we are employing at Waterdog, (limiting our capacity to one musician in the studio at a time), this project will be an amalgamation of numerous overdub sessions – and it already feels like we’re building a monster. Photos by Yours Truly.
10/30/2020: "Ghosts On The River" - Out Now ON SPOTIFY!
In the spirit of the Spooky Season, here is a haunting gothic ballad by Ralph Covert! This is one of those rare mixes where no digital plugins were needed, thanks to the beautiful arrangement and musical direction of Michael Hartigan, and the outstanding analog gear at Waterdog Studios. I shot the cover photo from a window in Studio A, and very little digital processing was needed for that, too. Please enjoy! Cover design by Fiona Grey. Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Yours Truly.
10/15/2020: "THe Magic (Look Inside)" - Out Now On Bandcamp!
The Arcanauts and friends (David Andrew Moore, Robbie Pate, Wali Ali, Chris Tedesco, Evan Waaramaa, Tom Dowd, Greg Toro, and Joe Albano) have been busy creating some top-notch home recordings these days! It was great to collaborate remotely with these excellent musicians, and it was a joy to assemble and mix this socially-distanced celebration of classic Philly Soul! And Yes, those are real strings. Album art by Mitchell Pluto. Recorded at home during quarantine of 2020.
9/28/2020: Ralph's World TV Treehouse Concert Series - Season One COMPLETE!
We just wrapped the season finale of the Ralph's World TV Treehouse Concert Series, and all twelve episodes are currently available to view on the Elk Grove Public Library's website! Producing this socially-distanced virtual concert series was an incredibly rewarding experience, and we had a lot of fun doing it. All episodes were written and directed by Ralph Covert. Rani the squirrel is played by Jude Covert. Malcolm and Beauregard are played by Yours Truly. Videography, video editing, color grading, visual effects, audio recording, audio editing, and sound design also by Yours Truly. Illustration (top) by Scott Kubelka. Stay tuned for Season Two!
8/27/2020: "Ad Astra Per Aspera" and "Six String MAssacre" by OUTRONAUT (Throwback Thursday)
If you dig apocalyptic surf-noir crime-jazz soundtracks and psychotomimetic music videos, you are in for a treat! "Ad Astra Per Aspera" (2015) is the title track of Outronaut's first full-length studio album, engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records and mixed by Danny Shaffer at Velvet Shirt Studio. Video by Steve Gerlach.
"Six String Massacre" (2017) is from the album El Producto, engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records and mixed by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Band footage shot by Yours Truly at Liars Club (thanks, Gary!). Video edited by Steve Gerlach.
"Six String Massacre" (2017) is from the album El Producto, engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records and mixed by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Band footage shot by Yours Truly at Liars Club (thanks, Gary!). Video edited by Steve Gerlach.
8/20/2020: "West Virginia" by Dean III & The Wagers (ThrowBack Thursday)
I present to you my 2014 music video debut as the shirt-morphing lead guitarist of Dean III & The Wagers! Starring Dean Goldstein, Scott Gillis, Kirk Beck, and featuring Vas Agnostos as “Papa Legba.” Mixed by multi-platinum selling and multi-Grammy nominated producer and mixer Sean O’Keefe. Brilliant harmonica work by the great James Porter. Engineered and lead guitar work by Yours Truly.
7/28/2020: BALTHAZAR CABARET 13 COMBO AMPLIFIER!
I have recently partnered with the Chicago-based guitar amplifier company Balthazar Audio Systems to produce promotional material for their 2020 product line. Here are two short videos that demonstrate the amazing Cabaret 13 Combo Amplifier. 13 Watts, tube rectified, bias tremolo, tube spring reverb with Accutronics reverb tank, and a 10" Celestion Alnico Gold speaker. Holy smokes! These videos feature the inimitable guitar stylings of twang-master Steve Gerlach of the band Outronaut, with audio and video production by Yours Truly. Please enjoy!
5/6/2020: "KIll THE LIGHT" OFFICIAL Music Video Premiere!
It is with great delight and personal satisfaction that I can announce the release of Outronaut's official music video for the title track of their new album, Kill The Light. Please enjoy my first foray into music video production. Starring Sheri Will, Steve Gerlach, John Carpender, Ryan Nelson, Peter Muschong, and Yours Truly. Mixed and mastered by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Engineered, filmed, and assembled by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records. Much thanks to Ralph Covert for the use of his studio, Balthazar De Ley for the use of his beautifully designed Film Noir amplifier, and a very special thanks to all of our friends, family, and fans for their continued support!
5/2/2020: Meet Malcolm McGillikitty, My New ALter Ego
Ralph Covert and I have been very busy producing a new Ralph's World virtual concert series at Waterdog Studios, and I am thrilled to announce that my childhood dream of becoming a professional puppeteer is finally being realized. Yes, another hat to add to my collection indeed! Tune in to the Ridgedale Center's Facebook Page every Thursday evening at 5PM CST, starting May 7th! Learning how to create video content while adhering to strict social distancing guidelines is a challenge, but we are adjusting well to this new mode of working. Photo by Ralph Covert.
5/1/2020: Kill The Light - Out Now on Bandcamp!
After months of rigorous recording sessions at Waterdog Studios, and with to the support of our friends and fans, the magnanimity of Balthazar De Ley for providing an early prototype of his Balthazar Film Noir 18 Combo amplifier, and the expertise of the brilliant Doug McBride who hunkered down at Gravity Studios to mix and polish this gem of a collection of proggy Surf-Noir-Crime-Jazz (during a global pandemic, might I add!), we are proud to announce that Kill The Light is now available for download on Bandcamp! Many thanks to Ralph Covert for running and maintaining such a fine studio. Photo by Yours Truly.
2/8/2020: Tracking THE "Basics" for A new Ralph Covert Album
Gee but it's great to spend a full day in the studio tracking a live band! Saturday's session proved to be what Abraham Maslow classified as a "peak experience." Ralph, Brian Sheridan, Tom O'Brien, Chris Weng, Ryan Carney, and Michael Hartigan all brought their A-games to Waterdog Studios and laid the foundation for seven new or previously unrecorded Ralph Covert tunes. There was a great vibe in the studio, and their musical togetherness made my job as engineer exceptionally easy. Click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized image! Photos by Yours Truly.
2/2/2020: Ralph Covert & Michael HArtigan - Behind the scenes of "Here and gone and Back Again"
Here is a short behind-the-scenes video of a "musical experiment" we conducted in 2018 at Waterdog Records. Michael Hartigan scored a lovely arpeggiated accompaniment to Ralph Covert's song "Here And Gone And Back Again," but what began as a simple song demo turned into an exercise in instrumental counterpoint. Though we adhered to the written arrangement, we ventured to be spontaneous (and unorthodox) with the instrumentation. Please enjoy our creative process, from the initial brainstorming session to composing the musical arrangement to creating the final recording. Engineered and filmed by Yours Truly.
Instruments used: Martin T-18 Tiple; Wurlitzer Butterfly Baby Grand electric piano; Cable-Nelson baby grand piano; Gretsch Sho-Bro resonator guitar; Music Man StingRay 4 electric bass guitar; Ghanaian marimba with PVC resonators; Baldwin Fun Machine polyphonic synthesizer; Wurlitzer 4100 tube organ; Carmella De Luxe accordion.
Instruments used: Martin T-18 Tiple; Wurlitzer Butterfly Baby Grand electric piano; Cable-Nelson baby grand piano; Gretsch Sho-Bro resonator guitar; Music Man StingRay 4 electric bass guitar; Ghanaian marimba with PVC resonators; Baldwin Fun Machine polyphonic synthesizer; Wurlitzer 4100 tube organ; Carmella De Luxe accordion.
1/16/2020: Outronaut - "Go Meekly"
Here, have a spritz of playful effervescence! "Go Meekly" is Outronaut's cheeky homage to our favorite space-age pop pioneer and high-functioning paranoid schizophrenic, Joe Meek. Mixed and mastered by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Slideshow by Steve Gerlach. Engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records.
12/14/2019: DEpravos De La Mour - "Radiance"
Here is one of my favorite Depravos De La Mour tracks, "Radiance." A bleak jazz-noir lament, featuring the wistful vocal stylings of Louie Herscoe. Mixed and mastered by Danny Shaffer. Slideshow by Steve Gerlach. Engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records.
12/2/2019: OMG! You Guys! We're on tV, you guys!
My wife Amelia and I were on The Travel Channel's Hometown Horror, in Episode 5: "Three Ring Terror!" The show explores small towns across the U.S. with dark, haunted, and otherwise weird history, and our episode was about beautiful and fascinating Baraboo, Wisconsin. We filmed there this spring, where Amelia spoke on the topic of Native American burial mounds, and we shared a strange experience of our own at the Man Mound Park in Sauk County. The episode includes several interesting locations and people, including our friends Shelly Wells and B.C. Farr of the Old Baraboo Inn. We attended the watch party at the Inn, and it was a lot of fun seeing ourselves on-screen with the Travel Channel logo next to our big heads.
11/14/2019: Professor Pollock Will See You Now
Portrait by my amazing wife Amelia Cotter.
10/24/2019: Outronaut - "Dark, Dark, Darkness"
In the spirit of the Spoopy Season, here's another one of my favorite Outronaut tracks, "Dark, Dark, Darkness." Mixed and mastered by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Video by Molly Kate Lane. Engineered by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records.
10/23/2019: Outronaut - "EL Producto"
Here's one of my favorite Outronaut tracks, "El Producto." Mixed and mastered by Doug McBride at Gravity Studios. Video by Steve Gerlach. Engineered (and "harppeggios") by Yours Truly at Waterdog Records.
10/22/2019: Crêpe & Penn - Spooky Edition
The Crepe & Penn Literary Magazine's Spooky Edition will be out on October 30, just in time for Halloween! Six of my photographs have been chosen for inclusion, and I hope I'm not violating any terms by sharing five of them here:
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