Yesterday morning we wrapped up with the final edits and overdubs, then off took in search of food and hipsters riding fixies in the beautiful city of Portland.
First stop: Waffle Window
Goodbye Oregon!
- G
Rise and shine sleepy heads! Last morning in Oregon and the only ones that have come to greet me have been the dogs, Hollywood and Cinderella. Yesterday morning we wrapped up with the final edits and overdubs, then off took in search of food and hipsters riding fixies in the beautiful city of Portland. First stop: Waffle Window Never have waffles been so delicious. We had sweet. We had savory, and we topped it all of with a glass of mint, ginger, green tea lemonade at a picnic table in the sunshine. We wandered the streets noted the aromas evolving from each food cart we passed in the streets. We visited Artichoke Music and played some matchstick guitars. i also had my first experience with a banjolele. Pretty sweet, but too much ukulele and not quite enough banjo twang for me. Later we visited a couple music stores and Andrew got a new loop pedal and I (Gina) got myself a pretty sweet guitar. There is more music to come. Get ready!
Goodbye Oregon! - G While we identify as a Vancouver band, The Ruffled Feathers are actually a mix of Canadians and Americans. Gina grew up in big city Arizona. Matty grew up where we are now, in small town Oregon. Charley and I grew up in suburbia Toronto and Vancouver, respectively. Sam hails from the bustling metropolis of Nelson, BC. During this trip, we embraced our American roots. Nothing embodies our Canadian-American mash-up quite like this picture of Charley. First, note the Canadian tuxedo he’s wearing – Denim on denim. A plaid shirt for that rustic lumberjack look. Add a black cowboy hat, B.B. gun, and a wily squint and there you have it: an American in a Canadian tuxedo. There was some slight inter-species miscommunication at first, but Charley got the hang of riding Lorica.
Also, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Waffle Window. That is all. Love, Andrew We’ve approached our final day of recording! The whole crew woke up an hour early to get started so we can have a full day tomorrow to hang out in Portland. We poured the coffee, and let the sound of Sam’s drums march through the hallways by 8 AM . One more song, then an afternoon of edits ahead of us. We’re excited, and exhausted, and hearing phantom click tracks even after the day is done. This week has been amazing!
Over the past two days we’ve been tackling our newest songs that haven’t yet become a part of our live show. It has been particularly exciting watching these songs unfold. For example, I (Gina) have had the luxury this week of getting to play and experiment with a gallery of different guitars and sounds, which is extra exciting for a modest nylon string kinda girl like myself. During one of Charley’s new songs not only did I get to wail on the strat, but I also got to fine tune my whammy skillz. Not bad if I do say so myself. Yesterday, Andrew insisted Matty pull out the wha pedal and Sam and I pretty much fell over laughing as Matty’s telecaster sexed it up. Thursday as we got into one of Andrew’s new songs and Sam broke out the pots and pans in the living room. It’s going to be sweet. After two very busy days, last night we got a chance to wind down as Matty’s mom prepared a full on Mexican feast equipped with tacos, beans, guacamole, and homemade margaritas. As an inexperienced margarita maker myself, I didn’t blink at the mug full of tequila Jenny poured into the blender. Two margaritas and my tongue was happily numb. We capped the night off with a jam on Rosin and Horsehair in which Matty got to break out his new baritone guitar. Let’s just say, Matty and the rest of the band would make excellent cowboys. - G As we realize that we’ve spent a solid week with each other, we start to get our feathers ruffled (we don’t usually make bad puns, but when we do it includes our band name). Tensions between band members have actually been civil, and we all easily laugh off arguments after a minute or two. I’ll be honest, I sometimes enjoy pushing buttons, but it’s pretty easy to stay positive when there’s an adorable, freshly groomed, ladylike poodle winking at you (her name’s Cinderella). …except when you catch her licking her genitals with shameless vigour. As we progress through the day listening to the same song over and over and over, it gets harder to take life srsly. One ongoing joke that I will not miss when it is gone is our cover band Nickelfeathers. We pretty much just sing our songs with a Chad Kroeger feel, and replace the last word of every lyric with an obnoxious “yeeeahhh”. I wonder why the camera isn’t always his bff. Here’s a good gif of him though. Now don’t say we never get you nice things. - Andrew
Yesterday, Matty (our bass player) declared that we would not work past 6PM, on account of his birthday party. Just as we finished up the vocals on Charley’s song “Lead me to Destruction”, Matty’s relatives arrived one by one, smothering him in grandma lipstick kisses. It had been a while since any of us had been at a family party where kids make so much raucous. Alex, a sassy middle child, had something brazen to say about everything. Her younger sister Kylie (see below) was the facepaint artist of the night. When I asked if she was still in business she replied “Yes, I’m still in business.” I never got a chance to take a picture of Gina’s octopus painting, but here are some of Kylie’s other works: With everyone watching him, Matty opened his presents and last but not least he unveiled a new guitar from his parents: a Dan Electro baritone guitar! The best thing about this guitar is the sticker on the body. If our moms are reading this, any photo or info requests? Let me know if you want to know more about what The Ruffled Feathers are doing while we record in Oregon!
- Andrew At the Jeronimo family ranch, it’s not all work. When Gina and I weren’t needed in the studio, we took the opportunity to ride in the trails behind the farm. There are hundreds of acres of trails beside the farm. The fact that a neighbour lets Jenny Jeronimo (owner/trainer of Baypony farms) ride her horses on their private land highlights a sense of community here in Wilsonville. (Jenny giving me a riding lesson, below) Jenny mentioned how most horse owners have to transport their horses in trailers to state parks. Lucky for us, miles and miles of trails are just in the back yard. It’s so refreshing to ride on a horse on natural trails. Such powerful strides from this creature – and they are vegetarian!
Almost time to record vocals for our song “Lead me to Destruction!” - Andrew Band love is abundant here in Wilsonville. This morning, we made hashbrowns and poached eggs. Charley’s perfect poached egg certainly crushed my “abomination” egg. It’s beautiful food porn (SFW). Last night, as our recording day came to a close, we were graced by the presence of one Wilsonville local poodle named Cinderella. Her quizzical expressions seem to say “so what if I’m wearing a diaper? Jealous?” This is what the real Cinderella would be like in her decrepit old age. No control of her bladder and desperate for attention. The band is on fire here. Charley doesn’t play the piano. He pounces. Gina is frustratingly cute as usual. …and Matty just stays in one spot and delivers perfect takes over and over. Like a boss. There aren’t many pictures of me (Andrew) because being a trumpet player, I tend to just play two or three takes in the period of 10-20 minutes, then go cook food for the other perfectionists.
The next song for today is All My Cities. I can’t wait to record backup vocals for it. It’s the one song where I get to sing down low like the manly man I am. -Andrew It’s day two for us in the recording studio at the Jeronimo family farm, and I’m still culture-shocked by America. Driving down the I5 was an experience in itself. 5-lanes of traffic both ways? Where are all these cars going? In circles? Highways in BC are made of a slow lane, passing lane, and a carpool lane closer to the big cities. When I tried to explain my awe to our bass player Matty, who is from Oregon, I described it as such: imagine that one day instead of humans having two legs, they have five! That’s what it felt like on the road- so many cars changing lanes. I ended up just staying in one lane, despite the signs describing how against the law it is to stay in passing lanes. Oops. America, y u so big?! Last night, we played an impromptu show for a neighbour’s garden party. It was the most American thing I’ve ever seen. You know how in True Blood, they have these lavish southern celebrations? I mean c’mon, I sampled not one or two, but FOUR different kinds of potato salads. At the end of the night, the local men gathered on stage for a blues-style jam session that was so beautiful and gritty and raw. The light that bounced off a man’s harmonica was a perfect setting as the wind picked up farm smells from the surrounding fields. We also made some new friends. Portland’s sweetest blues-rock band The Gemtones played a stellar cover of Grace Potter’s “Paris” as well as some rockin originals. We haz an impressed. Check them out! We thought Charley was the only asian person there until one showed up. Dang. So much for being unique. I tried to convince Charley to start up a conversation with him and only talk about stereotypical asian things. Maybe next time.
Well, as for our recording schedule, we are full-steam ahead. We’ve recorded every part of our song “Dark Shorelines”. As I write this, Gina’s voice is filling up this house. Check back tomorrow for some updates! Love, Andrew Starting the beginning of August, The Ruffled Feathers will be heading on the road. We’ll be recording our full-length album in a small town called Wilsonville, near Portland, Oregon. Picture this: we’ll all be living on a farm, complete with horses and barn cats. We’ll be immersing ourselves into our music while surrounding ourselves with a rustic life away from the city. Our daily adventures have already started developing. We’ll wake up with the sun, do yoga with Gina (who is now an accredited to be a yoga instructor), eat fresh and healthy food, and start our day with a batch of recording. Then, a quick break to ride horses on the surrounding trails (no big deal). Back for more recording, then finish off the evening with a backyard BBQ feast. It’s a tragedy that we’ll be missing the Vancouver Gay Pride parade, but I mentioned last practice that instead I’ll be dragging them all out to a gay club in Portland. The boys responded with grumbles and mumbled protests, but I’ll soon have them dancing with all the boys. I have no doubt that Gina will be right at home front and center on the dance floor.
Stay tuned for some upcoming photos and videos from our retreat (maybe even some song previews, too!) Love, Andrew To our feathered friends,
Months ago, me and my friend Geoffrey Vincent began work on the most ambitious project I’ve ever set out to complete. The goal was to make a music video for the song Blueprints for our Failed Revolution. The song itself was inspired by stories my Grandparents have told me about the Chinese Revolution, as well as similar tragedies from around the world, such as The Reign of Terror, The Spartacus Revolution, and the Storming of the Winter Palace, among others. Common among these intertwined histories is the struggle for human freedom, though somewhere along the way the original values and good intentions got lost. The revolution ends up betraying the people who fought for it in the first place, and sometimes, it even transforms into the oppressor they fought against originally. Yet, isn’t this how progress happens? No one movement is going to be the end of change. Human freedom is something that must be continually fought for, with each new generation. I’m reminded of a quote from Samuel Beckett’s work Worstward Ho (1983), All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better The real message of this song is one of optimism and perseverance in the face of defeat. This is the sentiment the video seeks to capture. During the months we spent on pre-production, we gathered our resources and made plans. Money was in short order, but we were rich in enthusiasm and hard work. My friend Mike Ellis was in town for a week and illustrated the blueprint that was burned in the video. I began work on props, such as the telegraph I assembled from various hinges and parts I got at Home Hardware. Maps were borrowed from friends. Drafting tools. A desk. We got a free piano on craigslist from a nice family (though we obliged not to inform them we would be burning it off of old logging roads in the middle of nowhere). I got strips of fabric to make leg-wraps for the boys in the band–a pseudo-historic but interesting aspect of our costumes. I Hiked up Mt. Seymour in costume on snowshoes with a desk strapped to my back, much to the amusement of the skiers and snowboarders. We shot scenes in a burned down Juvenile hall, and even brought back garbage bags full of rubble for an indoor shoot. My friend Molly made a necklace out of an antique birdcage/wind-up clock I got in Shanghai, which Gina wears around her neck in the video. The fire department was called because of our enthusiastic use of a smoke machine. In the end, we are pleased to present to you a little music video. We hope it inspires you to keep trying in the face of misfortune and defeat. - Charley Wu |