MPS (MIXTAPE PRESERVATION SOCIETY HOUR 34)
For Easter this year I headed out back west. I had booked the flight back in December of last year when my son and I couldn't get affordable tickets to Los Angeles. It pays to book early, so we decided to come out for the Spring.
In addition to seeing my family, I also got to see my girl, the lovely Wendy. She is moving out to join me in Indianapolis in a few months but we've been doing the long-distance-relationship thing... and it's going great. I think it mostly has to do with being friends for a long time before we ever entertained the idea of getting closer: she and I have known each other for over 25 years.
Another person I've known for quite some time-- although not as long --is Coolhouse vocalist Dolly Ramirez. Our bond is closer to 14 years, but in that time I've seen her go through a few marriages and many different bands. Now, she has joined up with a longtime friend of hers, the other half of Coolhouse: JJ Schoch, a multi-instrumentalist and composer with a knack for punchy tunes and sultry melodies. Even if they weren't in a romantic relationship, it is very clear that the musical relationship is very strong and extremely fruitful. With some lyrical assistance from Dolly's sister Laura, JJ's compositions come to life in a way even he could not envision.
Wendy and I met up with Coolhouse for lunch in Sherman Oaks. We were almost done with our meal when I realized that I had my digital handheld recorder in the car, and that I could record a podcast right then and there! Unfortunately, the musical duo had other plans to attend to, but they promised us we could come over the next day and sit down with them. What transpired is probably one of the best podcasts I have posted so far. It sits up there with my podcasts featuring DJ Greenhouse and Nicholas Culp: intimate, casual, and free-flowing. But this time I had the privilege to witness a band perform original songs right in front of me, and that made it doubly special.
This is a return to the two-part podcasts I was doing in the beginning. This month marks the one year anniversary of the podcast as well, so I hope everyone enjoys this installment then tunes in again for the second part. In this episode, there's more music and talk, while in the second episode you get more of a behind-the-scenes vibe as JJ sneak previews some recordings from Coolhouse's upcoming debut album.
I also drop a few surprises: Dolly's karaoke demos that she recorded at my home studio in Burbank back in the day; songs by The Rolling Stones, Syd Barrett, and Coolhouse backing band (on the album anyway) The Mojo Monkeys; and of course, my son delivering the blog tag at the end of the episode.
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