Being Bad at Guitar in Dallas

I have been working on this damned album for almost 2 years now. And you are absolutely right, the quality can’t possibly reflect the amount of time invested.

I feel like there are tons of weird cliches people use when talking about a record.
”This is my most honest album”
”It’s a snapshot of the last year in my life”
”I’m bearing my soul in these lyrics”
Or whatever.

And as trite as it may feel, that’s all true. I’m super freaking proud of this album. It was WORTH it to record four different revisions. It was worth it to rework drums in the final hour and it was absolutely one of my favorite experiences in music being able to spend time in a Dallas studio with my best friend, Nick, laying down guitar and vocals for an entire day.

This is Nick. He’s much much cooler than me.

I drove down on Monday and stayed the night in the coolest bachelor pad you can imagine. I’m not exaggerating here, it’s a beautiful home occupied by two music producers and two retired dudes. It was a dream and just so fun hanging out, playing Call of Duty, and talking trash with a bunch of friends. The next day we woke up early and headed to Fifty50 Studios about an hour away because Dallas people all enjoy getting onto the same roads at the exact same time to honk at each other and just hang out. It’s cool from a community aspect I guess but honestly, not a fan.

The studio was immaculate and over the hours we worked there, I desperately attempted to look as though I was better at guitar than I really am in front of Nick and the other engineer, named Aaron. Nick buzzed into my monitor at one point and said, “Hey, if you spend three years on your next record maybe you’ll be able to learn all of your guitar parts.”

So yea, they knew.

After eight hours we had nailed the parts and the vocals and I felt amazing. You know, that first mowed lawn of the season as a new dad kind of amazing. Kicked back in a lawn chair with a cold beer and freshly green dyed New Balance 479s. I was done with my part for the album. This thing is actually gonna come out soon. No really. For real this time.

The drive back to Nick’s Bachelor Heaven was an hour long and, as is generally the case with Schmitto, filled with incredibly rich conversation. We talked about God, and economics and girls. We discussed fear and death and so many things I just don’t get to work through all that often. None of us, it seems, are able to discuss much of consequence without the aid of memes and a keyboard to hide behind. It was refreshing and more so even than the album, lifted my heart and my head. He’s a very good friend and an even better human.

We ate Chick-Fil-A as it is both fast and delicious. Policies against the gays be damned, they make a wonderful sandwich. I may have insinuated that Dan Cathy could shoot me in the chest and I’d pick up some nuggets on the way to the hospital. I try to balance it out with angry political posts on twitter.

I drove back to rillo with a lemonade and chocolate chip cookie and the company of several serial killer podcasts that kept my heavy eyes open for the boring 6 hour drive.

This trip was important and served as a reset of sorts for me. If you’re reading this I assume you care about the record in some small way and I genuinely hope you dig it. It’s more authentic than I have ever felt comfortable being and I believe a great deal of that comfort comes from working with a friend like Nick. I wrote this at a very strange time in my life and it was cathartic to explore the new fears I’ve been able to unearth as a teenager trapped in the body of someone rapidly approaching middle age. I hope you dig it, and it resonates, but for me, the important piece is that I finished this damn thing. And I did. Look for a release in March as we finish up final mixes in the next week or two. And if you are in need of a talented producer with an ear for hits, please hit up NUERA BEATS. Thanks for hanging around this long, and for listening to my songs. You all are amazing.