And while I'm givin' love to other blogs, check out Cindy Chaffin's post. on tonight's an upcoming Deep Ellum town hall with the mayor. All the important info is there. It also looks as though Cindy has pulled her son into the blogging world; he offers some all-ages weekend picks here.
Here's a li'l bonus: After our coffee talk, I made Eric spill the beans (I hate myself right now) about Midlake's new album, which it's been recording in its studio near the Square in Denton.
Q: What does you guys' daily recording schedule look like?
A: People are there all day. We'll have shifts of a few of us working on something in the morning, and then [lead singer] Tim [Smith] will will do his vocals in the afternoon. And sometimes we're all in there if we're doing live tracking. It varies. But when we track something live, we have to do it at night because there aren't as many car sounds from outside.
Q: How does recording as a band compare to playing on stage for you?
A: The recording process can be a beating for us. Trying to create something better than the last time, and get these sounds we're going for. We're engineering it ourselves, so it's pressure to try and capture the magic sometimes.
Q: And what can we expect, musically, from the new one?
A: I think it's closer to the last album than that one was to the first. We've taken on a more British folk influence, whjch is a bit darker sometimes than maybe the American influences on Trials. Seeing that we're not done, though, it's hard to say how it will turn out. But Tim is still influenced by people like Jimmy Spheeris and Jethro Tull.
Q: What made you guys decide to stop recording in the old Midlake house and build a new studio?
A: We've always done it in one of our homes, and it became more difficult as we got older, because we'd moved to different places and some of us had started families. So we thought we needed a neutral location. The Panhandle House owns a complex in Denton, and they had an open space available there that they weren't using. So we offered up the idea of making the space our studio, and letting them have it as a B room whenever we were done. And they were into it.
Q: Do you feel you guys have settled into the new space?
A: It's a good vibe there. It's so much better than just walking into a living room. That got so old, to make two albums there and then have to live there too. [Laughs.]
Q: Has having the studio so close to the Square helped you become a bigger part of the Denton music community?
A: I think we're all cognizant of what's going on in Denton, and feeling more a part of Denton as we get older. There's definitely a sense of pride and an organic musical family that exists within the community. The people that are part of it have grown their bands together, and play on each other's stuff. You look at it and think, "This is a really cool thing, and I'm glad to be part of it."
Just heard via MySpace that National Sports Lounge will open up soon next door to Kinki, near the Granada. Plan is for 50 TVs, a full patio and bar.
This place has been in the works for years (ever since the Red Jacket closed), so it's great that they're finally making some headway. Look for it in July.
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