New Videos!

Check them out below, or at Vimeo and YouTube and stay tuned. We'll be updating regularly from now on!

Core Tracks Done!!

*Check out a video tour of the recording studio on Vimeo or YouTube. Your preference!*

This past weekend Model Stranger concluded the recording of the 'core-tracks.' This consisted of Drums, Bass and Rhythm Guitar being recorded LIVE to 2 inch tape. This was especially exciting to us for many reasons. This meant we had to have great takes across the board with no room for error. More importantly we feel this will help convey a similar feeling to seeing us live. We originally planned on recording 5 tracks on Saturday and 5 tracks on Sunday, however, in Model Stranger nature, we blazed through all of the core tracks on Saturday and even prepped another tune. This allotted us the time to record 2 extra songs and start lead guitar tracks on Sunday!

We definitely ran into our fair-share of trials, tribulations and hurdles that had to be cleared; from 'dead tracks' to forgetting a reel of virgin tape and everything in between. However, we kept each other in a positive energy that surpassed any negative issues that arose (having a Moog synthesizer, PlayStation 3 and crash-pad did not hurt either).

The Chrome Attic Studio was the perfect place for us to capture this album. Our engineer Dave Martorana suggested it to us and we dove in with open minds. Turns out it was a great decision. Chrome Attic allowed us to escape the busy, bustling city and instead focus on our music in a secluded haven with all of the modern amenities that a rock n' roll trio could ask for. One of the most influential parts of our performances came from the lighting. Each room had separate (remote) transformers so that the microphones would not pick up the buzzing of the lights. More importantly, each room had amibiant lighting that could be adjusted to a certain color, brightness, change-rate, etc. This really allowed us to set the mood for each and every track. It especially helped when we were recording a waltz version of Eyes Half Open at 2 o'clock in the morning :) (We'll post pictures to our Flickr account later on).

We plan on having everything for the new album done by the end of February, but we are really cookin' now and ahead of schedule, so who knows...

Model Stranger will be taking Nashville by storm this weekend as part of the Moustache Bar Crawl (with the help of 55 other Moustached-Men), so if you are in the Nashville area be sure to let us know! After that it is back to the grind; with vocals, keys and lots-and-lots of percussion to record (there is going to be hand-claps that make your head spin-round!).

We will be posting even more video clips, pictures and other random things-o-fun from our weekend away for you to see next week.

Studio Timeline

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

3:30pm: Model Stranger and Engineer Dave Martorana (of Fat Recording) arrive at The Chrome Attic Studios for unload & set-up
8:00pm: Vincent, Kevin and Stephen get tones & levels
1:00am: Complete prep for recording

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
8:00am:   Rise 'n' Shine Model Stranger
9:30am:   Track mapping and tests commenced
10:00am: Where Do We Go From Here? (tracking commenced)
10:45am: She Don't
12:00pm: Turn Of The Century
12:45pm: Lunch break
2:30pm:   Eyes Half Open
4:30pm:   Dreams & Bones 
6:30pm:   Break/Need for Speed/Nap/Acquiring more Virgin Tape
9:00pm:   Monster
9:30pm:   Fire! Fire!
11:00pm: Disease
11:50pm: Carousel
12:45am: Gone Too Long
1:30am:   Break and libations
2:00am:   Waltz version of Eyes Half Open
2:30am:   Wrap
3:00am:   Lights out for Stephen & Kevin 
4:30am:   Vincent allows the slumber fairy to capture him

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

9:30am:   Wakey-Wakey-eggs-n-bakey
9:45am:   Play Back and Review
11:00am: Review Discussion and plan of attack
11:30am: Eyes Half Open Waltz version 2.0
12:00pm: Monster - redo
12:10pm: Drums Wrap, tear down
1:30pm:   Lead guitar tones/tests
2:00pm:   Dreams & Bones (lead guitar tracking commenced)
2:50pm:   Technical difficulties and packing-up
4:30pm:   Acoustic tones
5:00pm:   Carousel (acoustic tracking commenced)
5:45pm:   Disease
6:30pm:   Wrapped!
8:30pm:   Sleepy time :)

Lady Gaga Sets Billboard Record!!!

Lady Gaga was played 10,859 times in one week setting a new Billboard record... Check that out HERE

Just an FYI that is: 1551 times a day, 64 times an hour, simultaneously overlapping somewhere in the country every 1.07 minutes for one week straight.

Some amazing numbers. Truly an unreal feat.

Before you read this next section, please understand that no one in the Model Stranger camp is diminishing Lady Gaga's achievements or raining on her parade.

On the same token no one was diminishing Sammy  Sosa and Mark McGwire's achievements either, until they started putting up unreal numbers.

Do Billboard charts put asterisks next to statistics when a music company is on steroids?

*(Clear Channel owns roughly 1,200 radio stations and about seventy percent of all live events that are promoted in the United States).

"Before the Music Dies" was a 2006 documentary that describes the commercialization of music and the involvement of Clear Channel and other key public figures in monopolizing on our airwaves/radio stations. In the end we are left with less and less capability to find new music on the radio. Believe or not, it gets worse (watch the movie, there's a trailer HERE).

When a fan of music only has 20 songs to choose from, the numbers will get stacked.

HOPE 

There's still hope. Believe it or not there are some great places to discover great and fresh music. And no, not "MySpace".

College Radio 

This still exists believe it or not. Radio 1190 out in Boulder, Colorado are as advanced and involved as any radio station. They even have a cool iPhone app! Model Stranger will be visiting them on paying them a visit during their forthcoming spring tour. Most college radio stations stream online, and you can listen to a handful of them straight out of your iTunes. Just click the radio icon in the sidebar (not the iTunes Store) to reveal the College Radio section. You can find College Radio stations in Chicago via this nifty list.

Online Radio

There's a massive database of online radio stations out there and it can be difficult to navigate.Google "online radio stations" or "free internet radio" and your eyes will fall out looking through all the options. For example, locally, Model Stranger have found airplay on Fearless Radio and are also paying close attention to the recently launched Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP). Branding themselves as "Chicago's Newest Community Radio Station".

Super Cool Awesome Streaming Sites

The Sixty One - A music adventure community where good music gets boosted up, and bad music disappears. Model Stranger is part of this one and are big fans of it. It's unreal the amount of unknown talent on this site.

Last.fm - Last.fm is a music service that learns what you love. Every track you play will tell your Last.fm profile something about what you like. It can connect you to other people who like what you like - and recommend songs from their music collections and yours too.

Pandora – The online streaming radio giant continues to grow, gaining new users in all genres and allowing any indie musician with a physical CD available on Amazon to be in their rotation. Not to mention their iPhone app that is still the most popular music app. The mainstream attention they've gotten recently is well deserved.

Activism

So if ClearChannel makes you want to punch something you might want to check out The Future of Music Coalition or Stop Big Media. More locally, Chicago Independent Media Center and Chicago Media Action act as watchdogs for "the little guy".

Where do you get YOUR new music? What sites or "under-discovered" artists are you into now?

Tell us at http://www.modelstranger.com !