Tag Archives: Studio

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Good Times to Outweigh the Bad – 2017 edition

My site has been a little neglected what with everything that happened in 2017 so here’s a little listicle of highlights and pics that made it a little better.

June 4 – We played The Brewtown Rumble in the shadow of the lovely Pabst brewery in Downtown Milwaukee. It was HOT!  We did a second set without the suits and I put my hair up haha

June 10: I love the swirly stage at Company Brewing
(Thanks Luke for the backline drums which allowed me to fly in and just jump onstage and play)

 

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Repost @sheaavril ・・・ Devil Met Contention absolutely killed it at Summerfest, yesterday! Thank you so much to everybody who came out and rocked out with us! 😍 I was too busy at the merch stand to run back up to the stage and get any pictures of the guys performing, so here's a picture of pre-show Ehson. If you got any cool shots of the guys, last night, please share away! We would love to see them! . . . . . #MKEDMC #americana #rock #folk #wisconsin #milwaukee #local #midwest #DevilMetContention #Yamaha #drums #Acoustic #Drummers #Taye #Ludwig #Impression #Alvarez #Telecaster #Fender #Guitar #Menswear #Suit #Suits #Beard #Beards #summerfest #summerfest2017 #summerfest17 #festival

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June 30: We played Summerfest AKA The World’s largest Muic Festival as part of their Emerging Artists series (Ehson lounging backstage)
http://milwaukeerecord.com/music/a-guide-to-milwaukee-acts-playing-summerfest/

July 26: We played Chill on the Hill – it was a perfect night albeit a little buggy.  Ignore my love handles and just enjoy this photo for it’s epicness.

 

August ?: Speaking of epic! I hate photos of myself but someone shared this online and I think I’m ok with it  😉

 

September 9: We played Rock the Green on a 100% pedal powered stage!
http://www.rockthegreen.com/single-post/2017/08/07/Get-to-Know-Devil-Met-Contention
http://www.rockthegreen.com/single-post/2017/09/12/Rock-the-Green-2017-Recap
“Milwaukee’s Devil Met Contention, was the sharpest dressed band of the festival, with each of the members donning a matching dark suit.  They brought their southwestern tinged tunes to the Pedal Power Stage, riding into their set with a unique sound and soulful energy.  Lead singer/songwriter Ehson Rad’s deep vocals and storytelling helped lead almost the entire crowd at the festival at the time over to the Pedal Power Stage for their late afternoon set.  Equal parts musically rocking and lyrically poignant, Devil Met Contention are a band on the rise who held the audience in the palms of their hands during their forty-five minute set.”

October 12: National Tastemaker 88NINE Radio Milwaukee included us on their Pledge Drive CD gift called “Live From Studioo Milwaukee, Vol.7”. Had we known at the time that we would end up rubbing shoulder with Old 97s, Aimee Mann, Robyn Hitchcock, The Magnetic Zeroes, Brett Dennen and Mike Doughty we would have played better haha!

November and December: we carved out a little bit of time to demo, track and produce two new songs for release in 2018. They’re definitely a move into new territory for us and I hope people will be into them as much as we are.  I can honestly say this is the first time that I never once got tired of hearing the songs throughout the entire process which is rare I think.

Also, Daniel Holter is our new champ behind the board and its been such a pleasure to watch him work.

SEE YOU IN 2018!

 

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SoFar Sounds Indy style!

We did one of these last year in Milwaukee and it was fun but not nearly as epic as the Indianapolis version.  A flash flood rolled through Broadripple about 2 hours before the show. Power was out and it seemed like we’d have to cancel but thankfully everything sorted itself out in time for a great show.   Plus, I got to see some family which was a bonus. I’m that Uncle who is also a rock star, haha!

(Edit: 23-10-16.  The video is up!  https://youtu.be/zmtSG4c6SPQ)

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Music For Time Travel!

time-travel-cd

After about a year of various sessions and a single release last year of “Summertime”, this release is ready for the world.  It was an honor to join Victor DeLorenzo, Janet Schiff, Rob Wasserman, Monia and more special guests by contributing drum set and percussion to this release.  If time and venues permit, I may even get to join V & J onstage in the future to play some of these tunes live!.

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Dickie on Iowa Public Radio’s Java Blend

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Found out recently that Host Ben Keefer and the good people at IPR posted audio of our November visit to the Java Blend program.  They record the show live in the back room of a very small coffee house on a very small stage (as you can see by the pic.)

I played the whole show using VF Tala Wands but my Yamaha Tour Series drums and Impression cymbals sounded pretty darn good.  It was tough to get a feel for how loud the loops were since the show goes direct to hard disk but I balanced it the best I could.  That’s showbiz!

Listen Here: Dickie combines dark content with light pop

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Closing out 2015

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Working all three acts this fall plus the annual Coldwaves festival and then closing out the year with some recording in Dec/Jan with our friend Shane at Howl Street Studios.  Can’t wait!

With Nineteen Thirteen:
October 9, 2015 @ 8PM – Anodyne (Walker’s Point) – Milwaukee, WI

With Devil Met Contention :
September 5, 2015 @ 5PM – WMSE Backyard BBQ (Cathedral Square Park) – Milwaukee, WI
October 3, 2015 @ 7PM – Riverwest Public House – Milwaukee, WI
October 22, 2015 @ 8PM – Club Garibaldi – Milwaukee WI
November 6, 2015 @ Private Show – Details TBA
November 14, 2015 @ 8PM – Kneel to Neil Tribute show – Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Milwaukee, WI
November 14, 2015 @ 11PM – Private Event – Boone and Crockett – Milwaukee, WI
December 18, 2015 @ 7PM – Benefit Show – Anodyne (Walker’s Point) – Milwaukee, WI

With Dickie:
September 10, 2015 @ 8PM – Rozz Tox – Rock Island, IL
September 11, 2015  @ 8PM – Two Brothers Roundhouse – Aurora, IL
September 12, 2015 @ 8PM – Schuba’s – Chicago, IL
October 16, 2015 @ 12PM – Java Blend on Iowa Public Radio – Iowa City, IA
October 16, 2015 @ 9PM – Lefty’s Live – Des Moines, IA
October 17, 2015 @ 7:30PM – National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library – Cedar Rapids, I

*With Acumen Nation:
September 24-27, 2015 – Coldwaves IV Festival – Double Door/Metro – Chicago, IL

 

 

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Summertime!

nineteen-thirteen-summertime

OUT NOW – the new Nineteen Thirteen single “Summertime.” The track centers around an organ recording of Janet’s grandma from back in the 1960’s, augmented with our normal Cello/Drums/Percussion plus some special contributors. On bass, we have the Grammy award winning bassist Rob Wasserman and on vocal the lovely Monia. A full length release is scheduled for Fall  2015.

Also, here are dates for my Summer (so far):

With Nineteen Thirteen
June 4, 2015 @ 8:30PM – The Bay – Whitefish Bay, WI
June 13, 2015 @ 1PM – Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) – West Bend, WI
June 20, 2015 @ 4PM – Lakefront Festival of The Arts – Milwaukee, WI
July 12, 2015 @ 5PM – Bastille Days: Cathedral Square Stage – Milwaukee, WI
August 7-8, 2015 Mile of Music Festival – Appleton, WI

With Devil Met Contention
July 11, 2015 @ 7PM, w/ New Red Moons & Tree Party – Club Garibaldi – Milwaukee, WI
July 14, 2015 @ 9PM – Vintage – Milwaukee, WI
July 23, 2015 @ 5:30PM – 414 Music Live at 88.9 Radio Milwaukee
July 24, 2015 @ 8PM, w/ Zach Pietrini –Shank Hall – Milwaukee, WI
August 8, 2015 @5pm Newaukee Urban Beach Party, Lakefront State Park, WI
August 13, 2015 @ 8PM, w/Brett Newski – Boone & Crockett – Milwaukee, WI
August 14, 2015 @ 7pm – Lunar Rooftop Series (Milwaukee Athletic Club)  – Milwaukee, WI
August 15, 2015 @ 8pm – VAR Gallery – Milwaukee, WI
September 5, 2015 @ 5PM – WMSE Backyard BBQ (Cathedral Square Park) – Milwaukee WI

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In the studio with Devil Met Contention

2014-10-12 15.07.06-1

More intimate details to come but the short story is we gathered together to cut as many tracks as we could on Sunday, October 12 at the fantastic Howl Street Recordings with Milwaukee legend Shane Hochstetler at the helm.  And we are very tired today but also very happy with the marathon tracking session.

 

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Daytrotter!

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At the end of our touring cycle last year, we had the opportunity to visit Daytrotter and record a few tracks, including three from our upcoming cd “Red-Winged Blackbird Man”. The Daytrotter experience was amazing and it really felt like a milestone event for our band.

Please visit our little Daytrotter artist page and have a listen for yourself:
MMTU on Daytrotter

(Oh and for gear heads – I used a Taye 14×7 maple/walnut snare, the house kit which was a C&C Maple/Mahogany kit and some of main touring cymbal set up: 14″ HHX Groove hats, 18 AAX Ozone crash, 21″ Signature ride and 18″ HHX Stage Crash.)

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Day 3 recap

We took a listen to the 8 (yes 8!) tracks that we had recorded, we averaged about 3 takes a song and then picked the best performance, and then had time to record a non album track, spot check some details and then the rhythm section was done.

Mike had two more songs to do, no drums no bass but strings on one. And on the other Bo decided to lay down some slide work on acoustic that was just too cool. That man is an amazing guitar player as well as producer. We’re so lucky to be working with him.

We had a late night listening session and then I got about 4 hours of sleep before heading back home.

Incidentally, if you have a long, flat, Midwestern drive to do, put on some early Genesis like “Selling England By The Pound.” It will make even the most boring drive seem epic. Haha

(Kitwise, I stuck with the last drum and cymbal setup for the “bonus track”. Why mess with a good thing?)

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Day 2 recap

More cymbal and drum combos – on Friday I used that same kit for all songs:

22 and 16 Taye StudioBirch
12 Spaun wood hoop tom
And then either the Spaun wood hoop snare or the Black Beauty

For cymbal I flipped the mixed hats with the SABIAN HHX groove top and the Mastersound bottom
20 HH French hasn’t left the set up once (love that cymbal! Thanks Jackie and Kevin Laskey at SABIAN for picking me a winner!)
Kept the Ciccerelli up all day too and then rotated between two of the following based on the songs:
18″ HHX Stage, 18″ HH Thin, 18″ AAX Ozone

Progress? Made it through the bulk of 8 tracks and might do a few quick retakes. Our producer Bo Ramsey likes to keep us moving quickly and we’ve have some great takes to show for it!