Finding a producer is like finding a wife.  You can ask all the right questions but how do you really know if they are the one?  And making music is making love.  It bears all the same healthy and unhealthy emotional vulnerabilities with in it’s process.  This is why you see bands break up while making a record.  Everything gets crazy in a room full of over tired creative types all hopped up on caffeine and afraid of being misrepresented.  But once you find the magic, all the relationships somehow find this beautiful harmony!  The hard part is getting through, together, alive!

Now that we made it through (our last breakup) together and alive we’re looking for that special someone again!

Our update is that we’ve narrowed it down to two.  We’ve talked to the first and I have to be honest, he said all the right things according to me.  I’ve learned over the past few years that you have to hold your cards close to your chest when talking to a new prospect for producer.  I feel like when I’ve said too much it has only supplied them with the right things to say and names to drop when I’m wary of the way things are being produced.  My own words are then used at me to regain my confidence.  It compromises really knowing what they’re envisioning.  And I want to know how they honestly hear it sounding.

So in our talk we let Mike Daly from LA speak.  Mike is currently writing and producing many artists, some with whom he has worked include Whiskeytown (Ryan Adams), Stephen Kellogg, the Pernice Brothers, Ambulance LTD, Patrick Park, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Marie Digby, Georgia, The Plain White T’s, Jessie Baylin and Donavon Frankenreiter.  We asked epic questions of grand proportions and his responses genuinely intrigued me.  There were some amazing things said on the call and it show signs of being an incredible match up.  He could most definitely be the one.  It’s happening so quick though and on one hand it feels like fate but on the other it almost seems to easy.  It feels so fast.  We had hopes for a fast recovery but this is happening very fast.  We have the songs and we’re ready but LA, in two weeks with someone we’ve never met in person!  If all goes well we will be in LA recording by the middle of March!  Can you believe that?

We’ll keep you posted on further updates…

I was talking to my mom last night and she asks me, “so how did you cut yourself at that show?” Then I read back over my blog today and realized that I didn’t actually tell you how I cut my hand at Workplay.

Well here’s how I think it happened, although I still have no idea when it happened or how I didn’t feel it! If you reference the picture below you will see an arrow pointing at what I think caused the bleeding.  It’s a flat head bolt that keeps the guitar bridge in place.  And it is sharp!  Add that to the fact that I strum my guitar pretty vigorously, especially when I’m dealing with a lot of good energy and you have guitar player with a bleeding hand.  And I don’t really care what they say about how a professional should attack a guitar.  I play like I play, with no reservations!  I’m all in baby!  Now I just have to figure out how to customize the top of that bolt before I lose too much blood.  Any ideas?

If you’re just now coming in on this blog role read the first part of this story here >> While my guitar gently bleeds.

So now you know.

So the show at Workplay (Birmingham AL) was absolutely amazing!  The energy of the place this past Wednesday night was engaging.  If it had to end, “Love You Live” was the best way to end something that was becoming so great.  Live 100.5 played our music when most other stations stuck in the bureaucracy of the industry would never even listen to it because they have no control over what they play on air.  Like it or not!  And when the fans started responding to our song ‘Coming Down’ in Birmingham Alabama, Live 100.5 played it even more!  We were honored to have been a part of this show.  And thank the people at Live 100.5 for everything they did and were trying to do.  It’s sad to see it go.

Now I must have lost myself in the energy of the night because half way through our set I looked down and most of my hand was covered in blood!  I noticed it because I saw splatters on the Workplay stage and I freaked out for a second in my head when I looked at my bloody hand and blood splattered on my guitar.  We started our set with ‘Feel It’.  It was feeling good, no pun intended.  Then we went into ‘Circles’ one of my personal favorite songs to play live.  People were singing the oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohs with us and I may have already started bleeding by this point but I hadn’t noticed yet.  Then after Circles we went into a Johnny Cash cover of ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’.  That just pushed everything over the top.  The band was tearing this song up!!!  After we finished I notice the blood spots on the stage, then my guitar then I look at my hand and I’m like holy S@%$!  I’m bleeding!  A pretty good bit too.  I had done this once before while we were filming the music video last month so I didn’t completely lose it but I was (as un-rock and roll as it is) a little concerned!  The show must go on and I didn’t feel light headed so I took the band into ‘Enemies’.  A very appropriate song to bleed to, I think.  The whole song I’m thinking about my finger though so I end up not getting into it at all.  But between ‘Enemies’ and our new song ‘Light Up Pt. 1′ I bring up to the crowd the fact that I cut my finger on my guitar somehow and then I suddenly I felt better.  Now I’m feeling like some cool punk historical moment type thing with blood everywhere.  It’s like Sid Vicious stuff!  Then we started into our new song ‘Light Up Pt. 1′ on a completely different plane then we ever had before, bleeding and singing!  We ended our set with ‘Coming Down’ which I reminded the crowd they used to play on 100.5 last year but then stopped for some reason not by any fault of them!  They all laughed with us and then sang the song that they used to sing with the radio right there with us live at Workplay Theatre.  Love You Live and bleeding.  To everyone that was there thank you for supporting the music!

Check out this interview with Tim >>

HOOPLA MUSIC MAGAZINE | Buzz Artist The Enemy Lovers Interview

So today I downloaded the high res version of our new music video for ‘Coming Down’.  It took almost 2 hrs!  When you see it you’ll understand why.  It’s beautiful and clear.  It looks ridiculous!  Steven and I plugged the laptop into my stereo, cranked the volume, and watched it 3-4 times in a row.  We’re all very happy with how it came out and are exceedingly impressed with the two guys and their team who organized the whole thing.  The video shoot was led by Robert Hill and Taylor Hide, two extremely talented dudes from Birmingham AL.  We’ll be posting more detailed credits as we make the finishing touches on the release.  The majority of the video was shot right here in Asheville NC.  Pictures of the day were taken by C.W. Newel and you can look through all of them here.  I posted my favorites below.

I would tell you more in depth details about the video (because I’ve probably watched it 10 times today!) but I don’t want to ruin the surprise for everyone that was not at the video shoot.  And for those of you crazy fans that came to the video shoot and jumped around with us in the live performance scenes, we want to Thank you.  As you will soon see you brought the energy to the camera and to The Enemy Lovers!

**UPCOMING EVENT>> We are planning a ticketed Music Video Premier where you can join us to preview the video before we release it.  We’re throwing a party in honor of everyone that was involved on the project.  We’ll have drinks, behind the scenes footage, stories of the day etc.  And you can be a part of this…MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!

Tim

I really had no idea who was playing in the super bowl this year!  My question was actually intended to find out what football teams were playing and when she answered with “The Who” I busted out laughing and told her that was the best answer I’ve ever heard.  And I already knew The Who was playing the super bowl!  That stuff I know, but I still don’t know what teams played or who won…

Anyways, Super Bowl Sunday is always a good excuse to drink beer and eat buffalo wings with good friends…and that’s enough for me.

The commercials probably weren’t great, again.

We have now completed all 5 days and have no recordings to show for it!  Who would have guessed that the first time we heavily advertise our recording experience and invited you all to join us it would end in complete disarray.  Even the first and only song we worked on while in the studio for a day and a half became the theme song for the whole experience.  (You can hear a preview of that rough demo in a video on our home page called “Falling Skies – The Drive DAY 1 of 5″.  We filmed this on the way to Atlanta with no idea of what was about to happen!)  Nothing went as planned this week but something has begun.  We saw the end of some things but also feel something just beginning.  It feels like The Enemy Lovers (as in just Steven and I) is no more and The Enemy Lovers (as in the whole band) has emerged out of this disaster.  We went into the studio in Atlanta as Tim and Steven recording music with Dan Hannon for The Enemy Lovers to us coming home to a band made up of more than just two brothers.  Although we have been playing live as The Enemy Lovers for almost a year now it has always been vague as to who we were.  A band or just two brothers?  We’ve not known what plans to make or not make trying to find our way through a music industry of mines.  We have tried to stay “flexible” in hopes of I don’t know what.  But a band had developed over this past year and now we see that we didn’t see it until the abrupt end in our professional relationship with our producer.  When we lost that safety net we began to see what had been developing here the whole time.  It’s our house now.  The Enemy Lovers house!  This is the band.  We make music.  We are now recording new demos and meeting with new producers.  Much is to come of this dreadfully beautiful week!

Thanks for coming with us.  Welcome to our house.

*FULL BAND BIO COMING SOON. Also look for blogs from every member of The Enemy Lovers.  Follow each of us on twitter.

**We have a NEW MUSIC VIDEO coming out very soon for ‘Coming Down’!  (I just saw the first edit and it is shocking how cool it looks.)  Look for more info on that premier.

Today was Day 4 in our “5 Days. 5 Songs.” venture and we have been recording new music as planned, kind of…

As you have probably read in our blog we are no longer in Atlanta recording with Dan Hannon.  We came home late Tuesday night after a bittersweet symphony of events.  It’s hard to explain what really happened, and a different story could probably be told from each perspective.  After a day reflecting on the situation all I can conclude is that everything got to a point where it could not be resolved.  A decision was made and things changed.  We are now home in Asheville, NC recording new music in The Enemy Lovers house.  This week is very different than you or I had imagined.  It’s been a revolutionary four days.

Steven and I spent this morning setting up our rehearsal space to record.  Being in the studio in Atlanta and then having it end so abruptly misplaced all of these creative juices that got stirred up in us.  We were having all of these ideas that needed a place to go.  So at around 12:30 we started tracking ‘Falling Skies’, again.  Ironically we still spent the day recording but in a completely different space and it’s actually turning out amazing.  We are very excited about how it is feeling and for me, how it is singing.  And fyi, Steven played some ridiculous guitar parts that I cannot wait for you to hear!

Sometimes I wonder if I knew exactly how an event would turn out would I even chose to still go through it.  Maybe it’s our not knowing that keeps us hoping.  These unavoidable personal/business conflicts make us decide who we are or who we want to be.  We make decisions and change things but things ultimately work out.  We’re all humans in between.  Despite all that has happened this week Steven and I are feeling good about where we are now as compared to where we were last week at this time.  Very good.  But still a little sad.

What a way to start out the new year.  For our first show in 2010 we played for over 350 of our most incredible following at The Grey Eagle in Asheville NC.  It was over the top and put me into the rafters, literally!

I didn’t think it all the way through but before I knew it I was already hanging from the rafters.  I can’t believe I didn’t hit something on the way down.  The energy there was uncontainable.  Everybody was there in the moment at the same time.  That’s the beauty of music, it brings us all into the same time together and when it’s right it unites us into a single moment where we all can let go and be crazy.  It was right!  Believe me, we didn’t play flawless but it was right!  Check out some great shots of the night from David Childers (our photographer) CLICK HERE

Justin Miles opened up for us with 3 brand new songs.  He quite successfully warmed up the crowd.  I was truly impressed and would have him open for me anywhere anytime.  He looked so natural although I know he was freaking out!

We also had the help of several guest drummers that joined us in the end of The Edge of the World.  These boys did an amazing job!  They lifted the mood (and volume!) higher than I could have ever done alone.  Their names are Jon Scroggs (my little brother), Johnny Becker, Kevin Uncapher, and Michael Lyda.  I hold them personally responsible for making me jump up into the rafters!

Thanks to everybody that came out.  You brought the energy, we just utilized it in our music!

Leave a comment about your experience at the show.

It was really exciting to be on the set of my first music video. It was like living 5 very active days in one 24 hr period. Next time I’m going to write a slow ballad so that the video doesn’t feel like a P-90 work out routine. My body was sore not to mention my vocal cords. Your supposed to mouth the words for the camera while the song plays on a speaker but I couldn’t find my groove so I yelled my own song into a mic that wasn’t plugged in in sync with myself on a cd playing very loudly on a PA until I had no voice. And then I had smoke bombs unleashed in my face until I literally almost died. No seriously, the thought I had while coughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath was, “I should have checked the side effects of directly inhaling sulfur smoke to see if dying was one of them”.

By the end of shooting I had I played my guitar through burning fireworks, outside in the rain on top of a hill, running in the steet, and on a set in front of a crowd. At one point I was laying on the ground on my back on the pavement with guitar in hand. The part of the video that was shot in an old factory was shot with the help of our extras, our most loyal fans. We asked them to come and act like we were playing the show of a lifetime and they came and were very convincing! Their showing up was pure energy that can’t be created any other way and for that we are extremely proud and thankful.

Then the next day Steven and I find ourselves in the middle of a dead corn field with mud up to our ankles turning my black converse into a crackled brown. We walked then ran through the mud and broken corn stalks. At one point my legs almost gave out while at the same time I was tripping over the cornstalks and how I kept myself from falling face first I’ll never know, but it does look awesome on the video! Running Running Running. I guess that’s what we get when writing a song that’s 160 beats per minute like “Coming Down”.

We had a great time as painful and intense as it was. We saw a lot of the clips and they look amazing. It should be a real treat to watch us in pain! If you have any comments about this momentous occasion please leave them below and I will respond. The video will be released soon!