mermaid in a manhole

So here are some pictures from the recording sessions for the new Airiel album. I hear mixing is going well and we're all really excited about the new album and upcoming shows we're booking.......and dare I say summer west coast tour??

chris and arturo before playing the empty bottle, january 07

chris at the studio

jeremy gets a snack at engine studios

ahh pedals, glorious pedals

my camera phone has a long shutter speed

zapatogaze

I should really update this more often. It's Superbowl Sunday today and about a month after the new album was recorded. The title of this blog comes from the genre of music created by me and Julis (Highwheel Records label man and Walking Bicycles guitarist). Zapatogaze will be the Mexican shoegaze band I'm going to start after I run away to Mexico. It's going to be awesome. For now, here's what's been going on.....

The album sounds badass. I was there for a whole day and stopped by after work another day to hear the progress. Everybody seems to have given each other a cold, ate some good food, played a lot of Halo, and apparently there was an incident with a fish that plays lap steel guitar. I miss all the good stuff. There's some special guests on the album from some very cool Chicago bands who David and Balthazar did a great job with. I can't wait for everybody to hear this!

We played the Empty Bottle for a Highwheel Records showcase gig on January 22nd. It was nice playing a gig with bands we know and we're all friends with. Walking Bicycles and Arks were great and so different from last I saw both bands. We got a lot of press from Spin magazine, Timeout, Chicagoist.com, The Reader, and a ton of support from myspace and friends and hopefully a lot of new fans. There were 350 people on a cold Monday night who stayed till the end. Airiel sold some CD's and a few records too. We all really wanted to win over that fanbase and get in well with the Bottle. I think we did. Mission accomplished. Mat (Arks), Julius (Walking Bicycles) and I DJ'd the after party at The Continental and got to hang out with everybody and the people that came out after the show.

Next up are some local shows in the works, hopefully some travel, and I'll post pictures from the studio very soon...