Well friends, it's crazy to say, but we've made it to the final month of this silly project. This week, I'm doing a classic from Death Cab for Cutie; "A Lack of Color"

What can I say about this band? Well, they tend to hit all my heartstrings, have made some of my favorite songs of all time, two members are (arguably) my favorite drummer, and a wish-list producer, respectively, and above all else, they changed my life and the way I write songs.

When I first heard of DCFC, they were in a batch of bands that were "too cool" or "too smart" for me. I was an emo-rock-pop-punk kid, and bands like them, and Bright Eyes, and even Cursive, were for kids who were more mature and hip than me. I slept on Transatlanticism when it first came out, but when I finally gave it time, it floored me. As I've gotten older, and listened to the album for 15+ years, different songs have become favorites, but it was "We Look Like Giants" that completely changed how I approach songs. I realized that I could call myself out on my own bullshit, and not just be angry at other people's perceived moral inferiority, which I had never really been 100% into anyway. I don't know how to properly thank a band that has done so much for me, in such a compact package, but I chose to do another one of my favorites, and the album's closer, because maybe me singing it back to them will show part of my gratitude.

This is a first for the project, which is kind of hilarious; It's the first time I've done a primarily acoustic song. I've done these kinds of things in the past for demos and random "content" in bands, but never like this, and definitely not with the knowledge I've gained this year. I started off with using my Martin D-18, and mic'd it close with my Aston Stealth on the Guitar voice. I then ran a direct line, and positioned my C414 on the halfway point between omni and cardiod, to be my room mic. I am pretty happy with the outcome, especially after adding a little space with a cool little reverb from Softube.

The rest of this song came fairly easily; it's honestly one of the easiest vocals I've done for this, and came out real naturally. The ambience that i added through synth pads was quick too, and worked out better than I could have expected. The real challenge, however, was the piano part. It drifts softly throughout the whole song, and Chris Walla is a fucking genius and plays stuff that I wouldn't ever think of, but it's perfect. I tried a number of ways to figure out the part 100%, but man it's impossible to find a video of them playing the song live, where you have a good view of his hands. What I managed was my best approximation, but hell, probably the most proficient I've felt at piano, maybe ever.

Also, speaking of Chris Walla, the guy is one of my heroes. His ear for texture and dynamic is so incredible, and the things he's made, whether with DCFC or Tegan and Sara, or solo, have touched me and made me cry. Probably the biggest disappointment of this song (if you could even call it that) is I couldn't nail his breathy harmonies. I feel like he was born to sing beautiful ethereal harmonies, and we forced him to have to worry about phone bills and oil changes and shit.

While I've had this one planned, in one way or another, the entire time I've been doing this, I have to say this song was done incredibly fast. Life threw some loops over the last week, and I've been dealing with a bunch of random insanity (plus the election, JEEZE) so I didn't have a lot of opportunities to track. I did everything last night, and finished the mix this morning, because it kind of fell together pretty naturally. As the pieces started coming together, I liked how some of them were a little lurchy or had minor tempo changes. It made me feel like I was watching an old VHS that had been recorded over too many times, but that worked so well to me. This song is about loss and thinking about past mistakes, so why not capture it as an old home movie? Outside of collaboration, the happy accidents are my favorite part of any of this.

Since this is the final month, it means we have reached the final charity of our project: Tiny Changes (www.tinychanges.com). For those who don't know, Tiny Changes is a mental health support organization that focuses on children and young adults, and was founded by the Hutchison family, after the passing of Scott Hutchison, lead singer and songwriter for Frightened Rabbit. I'm a big fan of FR, and when I learned of Scott's suicide, it really shook me, because I had very recently started on my path to better understanding my mental health, and it broke my heart that this wonderful creative force was lost.

I feel like having Tiny Changes finish this out is a nice little bow on the project. Over the last few months, we've tackled social injustice, mental health, voting rights and music venues. More than anything, we've tackled a bunch of my favorite songs, so combining all of those things I naturally end up with a mental health organization founded in memory of someone who wrote some of my favorite songs, and played in a bunch of these independent halls. Please take a look at what they're up to, and please help them out if you can.

Thanks to your help, we were able to donate $100 to NIVA to help independent venues, and my goal is to make this month's fundraising better than all the others. As I'm typing this, most major news outlets have confirmed Joe Biden as our next president. I don't feel super excited, because it's just the tip of the insanity iceberg, but knowing that we might just have a tiny bit of hope coming makes me a little excited about doing some good.

Thank you all for your support, and I'll see you next week!