'Marche' Animated Video

Very excited to finally share this!

This video took a long, long time to make.

As I was wrapping up production on the entire Nutcracker EP (think I finished around June 2019), the idea came up that we needed videos to help promote. At first, I tried some more typical Johnny things… using old footage and messing around with it. Some of those videos are posted on our IGTV. But they never felt like anything special. We talked about some sort of animated video, but I was always hesitant… mostly because I knew anything like that would take a super long time.

Now, I’ve done some animation in the past. My old roomate and I animated a music video for an old project of mine back in the early days of Johnny. And these type of things take MONTHS of 16-hour days, all super zeroed in.

Funny enough, the solution that finally got me to decide to do it was Maddie’s. She suggested just having a white backdrop, rather than designed a background for every scene. I knew that would cut down on my workload substantially and I also liked the idea of how it would look. So I started to dream up the sequence and figure out how to best go about production.

I took the album cover by my old friend Stephanie Macleod and cut out the primary figures of the Nutcracker and Claire. I then created digital ‘puppies’ that I could keyframe animate in Adobe Premiere. The sequences that were more complicated I created frame by frame in Photoshop. For example, the shot where the nutcracker breakdances was something like 96 frames. Some of the other puppets I had to create myself, but I used elements of Stephanie’s album art to give them a similar texture.

I essentially disappeared into my computer for a few months, taking it one shot at a time. I have two monitors set up on my desk and I had The Office running most all the time. Definitely ran through the entire 9-season run and then some.

But thank God it’s finally out and everyone can see it.

One final thought… working on this video was really eye-opening in the way that I saw that animation can continue to be a big focus for JS, albeit in different ways. So, you can expect more. I already have plans for the first single off the next album and an idea for the follow record as well. So yeah. Lots more deep dives en route.

Concerning 'The Nutcracker'

Releasing music is one of my favorite feelings. ‘The Nutcracker EP’ was a serious labor of love and has been a very intense experience... but this EP (as well as an accompanying animated video to be released in December) was worth every second of work. 

A bit about how this came about...  I started recording songs when I was 13 or 14 years old. My dad had some pieces of home recording equipment (ADAT and outboard FX processors) and I started to teach myself how to use it. At that age, I started recording albums of works... teaching myself the equipment and developing my songwriting. In those early days, I at some point had an idea to record a version of ‘Coffee (Arabian Dance)’ and ‘Sugar Plum Fairies’.  I tracked them on my dad’s ADAT and shared them with family and friends. Everyone around me was supportive of what little 14-y.o. me was doing, so I felt encouraged to record a couple more. ‘Marche’ and a guitar-only version of ‘Russian Dance’. 

If you were to hear those recordings, you’d likely wince and grit your teeth to get through it. But hey, I was 14. The recordings are poor, but the idea was there. 

The original artwork from when I was a kid

Flash forward to January 2019. I had just finished mixing our next album “Valkyrie” and team Johnny was feeling good about the responses we were getting. I mentioned that i was toying around with the idea of revisiting that ‘heavy metal nutcracker’ idea... and the exuberant response I got really surprised me. It was all I really need to decide to do it. They gave me the deadline of June to have it completed... and so I had to work fast to get it together. 

I had to make a decision at that point if I wanted to strictly follow Tchaikovsky’s arrangements or embellish them (like I did when I was a kid recording them from memory).  I settled on following the classic arrangements to the note. I ordered the score and started to pour into it. 

The score.

I also decided that I wanted to go past the 4 songs I had tracked before. Specifically, I thought I had a good idea for the arrangement of ‘Mirlitons’. I liked the bursts and dynamics. I decided to tackle ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ after hearing it again in an episode of “It’s Always Sunny” where Cricket falls in love with a Golden Retriever. If it’s good enough for the gang, it’s good enough for me. Haha. 

Recording started with MIDI drum mockups of what I wanted. I’ve been told I’m a very rhythmically-minded songwriter (probably cause one of my first instruments was drums haha) so I always have a lot of specific drum patterns I’m looking for. Once I have those, I’ll tackle the guitar arrangements. ‘The Nutcracker’ was particularly challenging because I’m taking a full orchestra and trying to play everything on just the guitar. It’s hard to find a blend that creates the same depth. French horns have a particular tone and texture that I had to find the ‘guitar equivalent’ of. It wasn’t hard, but it was fun and time-consuming. Trying to create dimension to the mix. To aid this effort, I used a lot of synths via Arturia. Elements like a classic Farfisa became essential to create a wider palate and add a bit of humor. 

Once I had the tracks mocked up, I visited my good friend Kiel Feher for drums. Kiel and I have been recording together since 2013 and he has an amazing little drum-recording studio in his house. He knocked out the drum parts in an afternoon and added a lot of great moments that brought the songs new life. 

The next month or so was tracking additional guitars and keys to bring the work up to par.  I have a little studio in my apartment, where I use a combination of Axe Fx, GuitarRig, and other plug-ins available right in Logic. Since I mix all the JS stuff, I was able to mix as I go.  I leave my stereo bus clean till it’s time to master, which I did at the very end (rather than mixing into a master bus of any sort). 

Ultimately, the experience of making something like ‘The Nutcracker’ is a bit like self-induced cabin fever. You’re sitting in a chair all day (oftentimes with dogs sitting behind you), drinking non-stop coffee, focused on learning each of those pesky Tchaikovsky runs. To keep myself up, I would do long dog walks. Or go out to shows with friends. It’s something I’d have to force myself to do because - although I’m bummed out from the work - I’m a workaholic and am always pushing forward.  It’s not a luxurious life.  Not that rock n roll lifestyle everyone talks about.  But it’s satisfying in the long run and I’m more interested in making works that stretch me than I am in partying. 

Screenshot of the ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ Session

After finishing the EP, Maddie started sharing it around and looking for opportunities. She has built an incredible team around this release and I owe her countless back massages for it haha. 

The ONLY misgiving I have is that she added another project for me. When it came time to collaborate on video/social media ideas, we stumbled across the idea of doing an animated video for one of the songs. So, lo and behold, I found myself back in that chair... spending months animating a video we’ll be releasing in early December. It’s done already and I think people will like it. 

So that’s a bit about making ‘The Nutcracker’.  There are a lot of other things going on in life too. Polaris Rose has just finished another album... 12 songs that are sort of our “greatest hits in sync”. It’s a departure for us - musically - but that’s sorta what makes it fun.  I’m proud of the production work I did on those. 

We are focused now on 2020, where we’ll be playing more shows and releasing even more music. So keep an eye out. 🤭

Interview with Stereo Stickman

Had the recent pleasure of chatting with Stereo Stickman. Click here to read the full interview.

A lil excerpt:

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, which would you choose, and why?

Baby Shark. Because it’s about a baby shark. Haha. Seriously though, I wouldn’t be able to choose one song or even one album.

What are the main values you want to represent in the music world right now?

Real creativity. Not just impersonating the rock music that has come before, but trying to take it somewhere. I try to inject my love of sci-fi/fantasty, Jungian psychology, and storytelling into JS… to hopefully tell stories through our music. The future JS records (which I already have written) will illustrate this even more clearly than Valkyrie.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received on your journey as a musician?

“There’s a market for everything.” Which I took as permission to be your most unabashed self.

In other news, our next show is October 15th! More details coming soon. Also, we have another single coming out September 23rd. So - as you can imagine - we’re super busy getting everything together.

Finally, I wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone for listening and sharing “Follow in my Footsteps”. My experience here in the driver’s seat is amazing, as I keep getting hit up by new listeners from around the world. All amazing. :) Can’t wait to share more music with you all.

Tonight, we’re having a band-date and seeing 'IT (Chapter 2)’. read the book back in 8th grade, and I loved it. The first movie was amazing and I’ve been hearing even more incredible praise for the second movie… so very excited for that.

I Will Raise Your Banner Across The Sky...

Blog time. Writing this from the couch, laid up with a sprained ankle, with Maddie and the puppies, binge-watching the 2nd season of Mindhunter. A relaxing Sunday. 

Our 2nd single off ‘Valkyrie’ is out!  “Follow in my Footsteps” is a song I wrote from the POV of a young boy watching his father leaving to war and the boy’s vow to continue his father’s crusade.  I talked a bit about the song in the last blog. But now you can actually listen...

Releasing this song feels great. We have another single coming out next month too. It’s amazing to finally be releasing this music after 10 years. Sharing music is one of the greatest feelings I know. 

Echo Park Rising was this weekend. For anyone outside of Los Angeles, it’s an awesome local music festival that features a lot of great local musicians. Sadly - due to my sprained ankle - I wasn’t able to spend much time there.  But I was able to play an awesome (albeit seated) show with my good friends from Beers for Fears. 

I’ve been playing bass and helping out Beers for Fears for over a year now. I love those guys a ton - Derek, Vicky, and Leon - and they’re a ton of fun to hang and rock with. We’ve been recording a 6-song EP for a long while now, where I get to wear that happy Producer hat. I’m excited to finish the EP this year.

Beers for Fears.

Aside from that... looking forward to the Wheel or Time tv series (love those books), been working furiously with Maddie on Shark Attack projects (our music label services company), and still recording that new Polaris Rose record.

Finally, thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who has been turned onto JS recently. We’ve been inundated with amazing compliments. We are super excited to share more and more music with you this fall/winter. 🧟‍♂️

'Follow in my Footsteps' is coming soon...

The next single off of “Valkyrie” is coming August 12th. It’s called “Follow in my Footsteps” and - like “P is for Pompeii” - it’s another oldie. But a goodie.

I wrote “Follow in my Footsteps” in Washington, back in 2007. We had just wrapped up production on our 2nd record - “Lucid” - and I had started writing for the next album. I still have all those demos, which I titled “The Glumdumb Demos”. The acoustic demo was sort of a band favorite that we thought we could do a lot with. 

A little homemade cover for a collection of JS demos tracked 2007-2008.

When I moved to Boston in 2008, it was one of the first songs we tried to work on. That and a song called “Annie, Please” (Galacticus 9). The songs were so different that we had a hard time reconciling the heavier style of “Follow in my Footsteps” with the pop bounce of “Annie, Please”. Ultimately, Annie found a home when I dreamt up the idea for “Galacticus 9”, but “Follow” just stood apart...

... until years down the road, when the thematic root of Follow was joined by new songs like “Cleopatra” and “Pharaoh”, all of which will appear on “Valkyrie” when it’s finally released.  With a lot of these songs, there’s a weird kind of path that they go on before finding an album to call home.  Over the course of releasing all the Johnny records, I’m excited for a lot of these older songs to be fleshed out and finally be heard.

In other news, life is perpetually busy.  For the last month, I’ve been tracking another Polaris Rose album. It’s a bit more melancholy than our last record. Very genuinely us, with a bit more of a ‘b-side’ mood. My goal is to track the songs we have (approx 12) by October. At that point, two things happen. 1) I start retracking guitars for the next Johnny Record (album 6) and 2) Polaris Rose starts writing more songs as we flesh out that new album. We have a title, a theme, and an overall sound mapped out. We might just say “we need a song that does this” or “we need a song that does that”. 

Johnny Stranger has some shows coming up that we’re preparing for. The last couple shows (Redwood and Rockers Ball) we performed as a 3-piece and intentionally stripped down (meaning no lights or video production), but we’re planning more elaborate shows in order to better express what the songs are about and the visual side of the band. So there will be announcements soon in the live arena. 

At the same time, I’m excited to be collaborating with my best friend David Walk (or DWalk, as we all call him) on some really exciting new video content for the socials.  If you live in the LA area and are interested in joining in on the depravity, hit us up!

Aside from that, I’m just doing the usual over here. Listening to interviews of George R.R. Martin, listening to politics podcasts, working on a million other little projects… oh, and I’m playing Echo Park Rising here in LA with my best buds in Beers for Fears. So that’s all exciting.

Finally we have a very special release coming this holiday season.  So keep an eye out.  :)