Time to reconcile with my ex…

It’s been 2 weeks in the LA area so far, and though I haven’t been too close to the action, I can feel the vibe from here. What is it about this place? I spent 4 years writing songs about it and I’m still confused. Oh well.

Anyway, status report: I’ve spent the past week or so with KC, writing bits of songs, making some beats, thinking about what kind of record he wants to make. Nothing too serious yet… You definitely want to create some breathing space in the early stages of a new album, and let it tell you what it wants to be.

In fact, my one encounter with the ‘real’ LA was when KC and I took a drive down to Echo Park, my old stomping ground and my favorite part of town by far, looking for some outside stimulation, and the experience was great. We had coffee at Cafe Tropical, cruised around the back streets a bit and then went to Amoeba Records in Hollywood. Not a bad day in all… and I think it did a lot more for our spirits and for the project than to sit inside banging our heads in the studio. There’s more where that came from, KC…

As for my own stuff, it’s back to Jon Rezin’s place on Saturday for more mixing and one step closer to the finish line (or at least the ‘finished’ line).

Onward!

I just spent the week in LA mixing the album with Jon Rezin… sounds pretty great so far. I’m back in Portland right now, and he’s probably glad to finish his work without me looking over his shoulder. Jon and I have been building up a rapport for the last year and a half, working on several projects together, and this mix will be the result of the kind of communication we’ve developed in the process… as well as his ears, of course.

Now, the strange news part:

We’re heading down to LA for the next few months… just as the weather gets nice in the Northwest! But it seems like the right time for me to rekindle the connections I built there for 10 years, some of which are like family to me.

I’ll be co-producing KC Porter’s album this summer – his first as an artist, and his gazillionth as a producer. Should be interesting… part English, part Spanish, lots of interesting guest artists, and as much rhythm as we can squeeze onto a CD. I look forward to the as-yet-unborn songs: KC and I wrote some good ones together in the past, including Santana’s ‘Primavera’ and ‘One of These Days’, and we co-wrote on Ozomatli’s ‘Love and Hope’ and ‘America’ as well. My favorite song of ours is probably ‘Canto,’ which he sings on the Embrace the World album.

So that’s what’s up at the moment. I have mixed feelings about Southern California, but if I listen to lots of reggae in the car it should be fine.

Next weekend: finishing my mix!

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