Happy Halloween friends! This week we're doing "Heaven" by The Fire Theft.

I randomly found The Fire Theft because they toured with Saves the Day back in 2004, and I went to see the show with my bass player. I had no idea who they were, and considering they followed Hey Mercedes, who I was and am a big fan of, I wasn't necessarily expecting much. However, about 5 minutes into their set I was hooked. Immediately after, I ran to the merch table and bought their CD, which I have still and is beat up like all good records are, and that's when I discovered that Nate Mendel from Foo Fighters was in the band. Upon a little further inspection, I found out that The Fire Theft is Sunny Day Real Estate without guitarist Dan Hoerner, but I hadn't gotten into SDRE yet, so I had no clue what I was seeing when I was at the show. I think that's one of the reasons why I loved this record so much: I found it on my own (so to speak) without the preconceived opinions most people would have had. The other reason is because this record is phenomenal and it's still a go-to for me almost half my life later.

This one was fairly straightforward in the recording process, but I mainly needed help with some of the performing that was a bit outside my ability. I started off with switching out cymbals to use my biggest and crashiest stuff to get that grandiosity that comes in this song. I will say this, William Goldsmith is an awesome drummer, and has such a specific style of playing, so finding the sweet spot while doing the drums was at first frustrating, but ultimately very gratifying. I also switched around some of the compression and EQ plugins I was using on the drum buss, and the snare specifically. I definitely like the results.

Now, while I've definitely improved on the keyboard during these last few months, capturing the dynamics and subtlety of the piano proved beyond my capability, so I was lucky enough to have my good friend Greg Scalera record it for me. Greg and I have been pals for 15+ years, and basically kept each other sane when I tour managed his band many moons ago. He's one of the most talented people i know; he plays multiple instruments amazingly, has acted, directed, and written and recorded his own concept record. The guy is a pro, and this song took him about 20 minutes to nail, after hearing it for the first time.

This song also sees the return of my PIC Allison Smith, who helped hit some of those crazy Jeremy Enigk high notes. I got to scream at the top of my lungs for part of it, but the rest was not good (whoops!). She also came in never hearing the song and got her stuff done in about 15 minutes. This project is made so much better by the incorporation of other folks, and I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with every guest.

This is the last day of October, and thus the final day that we're raising funds for independent venues. The NIVA now has over 2000 venues in all 50 states brought together to fight to survive. I see what some of our favorite venues have had to do just to keep going in this time, and it breaks my heart, especially considering we just watched the bill to help them collect dust on senatorial desks, while Republicans forced through an illegitimate Supreme Court Justice and then went on holiday. If they wont protect our society's culture and art, we must. So please, throw a couple bucks their way, and help all of us enjoy shows when it's safe to do so.

That's it for now. We are officially in the final stretch of the project, with some of my most anticipated songs coming next.

Cheers!