"The final day of the OIL recording sees Bitchy close out the sessions. In fact, Bitchy was supposed to record after Bob Nanna on Wednesday, so this session is really an extension of the schedule."
Thus begins the sixteenth and last in a series of journal entries by THICK Records kingpin Billy Spunke [note: today's entry written by THICK president Zak Einstein] documenting his label's newest compilation, "OIL". To read the full entry, click on READ MORE, and to see pictures from the sessions click here.
What's that, you say? You missed one of the previous entries? Well, just click here to get a list of all of them, and you can read at will.
The final day of the OIL recording sees Bitchy close out the sessions. In fact, Bitchy was supposed to record after Bob Nanna on Wednesday, so this session is really an extension of the schedule.
I arrive around 5pm with one of our interns in tow. Just so happens the owner of the factory is still there, so I put on my professional face and go to say hello. I hadnât met him before and was surprised to find a little old man with a heavy European accent - not the hard, blue collar Chicago industrialist I was expecting. I thank him profusely for letting us invade his factory for the last 3 weeks, to which he replies, "please make sure that the name of the company is not used [in any of the packaging or marketing materials]". "I have competitors yâknow." Yeah - I know.
Bitchy started as a side project for Chaz and Dave of the Blue Meanies with Lance (who has toured with the Meanies for years running sound) on drums. itâs fitting that Lanceâs own band close things out. Chaz arrives a few minutes after I settle in and we preview a few of the other songs that Lance had downloaded to hard drive. Iâm really impressed by the big studio sound quality that weâve got from this make shift space, and the songs themselves are awesome. Both Chaz and Mark (the Intern) comment on how impressive the OIL set-up is. Iâm sad to see it end.
Lance goes in and gets the drum sounds he wants and before I know it, heâs tracked several takes (without anyone else playing) and drums are done!? Dave still hasnât arrived at the factory so Chaz decides to record guitar and ta-da, the basics are there. Dave pulls up just in time to learn his parts and there you have it. A 90 second song in typical Bitchy fashion. I take off before Chaz screams his vocal parts, but I have a good idea of how it will end up. Bitchy, #19 of 19, and part one of "OIL - Chicago Punk Refined" is in the can. Weâll take a break and start mixing OIL in a week or two.