Valentiger could finally afford the chance, making the traditional trip to Hess Lake, Newaygo. It’s inside this lakeside cottage where we’re able to drop everything and work exclusively on music. After submitting 20+ demos to Rider and Kehoe, we all found ourselves “in over our heads” with new material. There were songs I couldn’t remember how to play and lyrics that just didn’t seem to make any sense, but we waded through them for three days. I consider this to be the hardest part of the writing process; polishing and working together civilly. Saying what needs to be said, doing what needs to be done and getting on with it – all while trapped together with no television or Internet. To me, that’s what makes a band, well, a band.

Friday was mostly dedicated to the intense set up of moving furniture and connecting recording equipment. Even if these songs come out in a mess of pieces, they will definitely be the band’s best sounding demos to date. Perhaps you’ll hear them in some future box set (pffft…). Despite a slew of computer problems, we got things up and running in good time. Time enough even to record a few drafts that night before dipping into booze. But we are also smart enough to realize one of these nights is going to REQUIRE a good time to get through the weekend alive. So, Friday was “fun night,” consisting of light writing and recording, pizza and the endurance test of crossing the frozen lake somewhere near 1AM. This was one of seven “team building exercises” (most of which were made up on the spot) which also included making breakfast strata and tacos.

Saturday morning found us burning our mouths on strata. Kehoe was gracious enough to get up and shove them in the oven, referring to some rickety instructions I had written out before we finally went to bed somewhere after 5AM. Following the feast and dishes, we played back some of the recorded material from Friday night and found a song called “Sun Shines Through” to be the best. However, this was not what we thought was best last night. It’s always interesting how a little bit of time can change one’s mind. But what we were really impressed with was a session where we all sang around one microphone to my guitar while Rider kept rhythm on tambourine. These takes of “Strangely Arranged,” “Into the Sun” and the tentatively titled “I Hope You” could be the best and most interesting gems mined from the weekend.

For most of the day we were in a very stripped down, acoustic set up simply straightening out the details of the various demos we had been listening to. An oddly appealing track, “Oh, to Know,” was giving us the most trouble, given it’s sheer complexity. And from there on out, it was a matter of remember what happened in any number of these 20+ songs. Before I knew it, the guys were telling me it was 10PM and we knew it was time to give all the numbers a final run before calling it a night. We then celebrated with a few beers while struggling to keep the fireplace lit – a task that had plagued us since Friday afternoon. We were realizing this particular cottage session was different than any before. It had always previously been about making great recordings of songs we already knew fairly well. If we happened to write something in the midst of this activity, it was a bonus. However, now that we’ve built a personal studio, this weekend had almost the opposite intent. We wanted to make passable recordings of songs we really didn’t know yet. Around midnight or so, Kehoe turned in while Rider and I stuck it out through more therapy over a few more beers.

It was now “no holds barred Sunday.” Throughout the weekend we had officially worked on and gotten through 16 songs – and we were dead-set on getting them all to tape. After isolating the amps in separate rooms and sound checking all inputs, we began the debacle. There were no second takes and we still barely got through all the songs before 5PM. Kehoe’s tubes were burning out, Rider’s brain was malfunctioning and my voice was wearing thin. Not to mention, this place now smelled like three days’ worth of dudes, beer and trash. We were proud of all it. And even after hearing these songs countless times all weekend, we listened to the final takes while cleaning up an impressive mess of cords, dishes, blankets and boxes.

We accomplished a lot for a Sunday, and even did it before twilight hit. We finished loading the van and trekked out onto the frozen lake one more time before the sun sank beneath it. It was a peaceful and sunny way to end a weekend of laborious events.

Kehoe took video throughout the majority of the sessions and hopes to have an edited product soon, featuring a few clips from the demoed material. I wouldn’t be surprised to find one of the late-night a Capella sessions posted on this website either. Stay tuned as to the progress of new songs and the record. Look and listen for any of these tentatively titled songs from the sessions at upcoming shows:

Oh, to Know
All I
Strangely Arranged
Sun Shines Through
If It Was On Film/Here It Comes
Into The Sun
Oh My God this Weekend
Hard Earned Gold
You’ve Been Hungry
Another Cool Move
Goodday Goodnight
I Hope You
Parts
Love To Forgive
Days Are Not Wasted
Why I’m Not Great