Dan's Mixes - #2

It’s Christmas in July once more! I received three mixes from Minnesota from Discount Romance’s second trip into Mystery Mammal Studios.

Daniel K. has done it again. Although, these are very rough mixes, because more instruments are going to be added, there’s an uptick in quality that brings a smile to a songwriter’s lips.

And not a moment too soon. Discount Romance will be back in the studio for final vocals on two songs. (Though, this time it will be Barry Fasman’s wonderful Sanctuary Sound. Don’t Tell Betsy has recorded all of their vocals with Mr. Fasman and he hasn’t let us down yet.)

And now the songs.

I Know It’s Only Love – The album opener. Keep in mind, these are all scratch vocals from an ailing singer. Carissa is getting much better and I’m really looking forward to getting to the next stage with these tunes. This was recorded on during out Saturday session.



The Road To Hannah – Because of the acoustic guitar, this was recorded on Sunday. Carissa sang this on a stool in the control room while Kent hogged the iso-booth with his delicate strumming. People seem to really like this song. Could it be our first hit???



Sweet Leaf – Our ode to pot the its habitués. We’ll be doing vocals for this come Sunday. The flip side to our first single. (Though, there are no flip sides anymore are there? Shame.)



Carrie’s Got A Lover – This is a mix with extra keys added by Death of the Author Brigade’s very own, Aaron T. We’re very thankful for his contribution to the song. This will be the first song finished and available for sale by Discount Romance. We’re recording the vocals on Sunday, so get your wallet’s ready!



And Now…..More Captioned Pictures!!!!

Because of Dong’s pain meds, he will occasionally drift off mid-song and dream he is in the Alps, wearing alfalfa underwear, trying to get Tyrolean goats to nibble at his testicles.

It’s sometimes very hard to be the only person in a band who’s a girl. It’s also very hard to be the only person in a band who’s wearing clothes.

Kent tells his favorite joke about a guy behind a Chinese restaurant having dumpster sex with a pig carcass.

Jason and Dan wait patiently for Carissa to drop something.

Kent looks down and notices he has drifter entrails stuck to the bottom of his shoe again.

It is a sad fact: The further you are back in the band, the harder it is to see down Carissa’s top when she bends over.

Dong hopes to, one day, have his severed knee bits in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next to Michael Jackson’s nose parts and most of Eddie Van Halen’s tongue.

Dan holds his guitar like he holds a woman. That’s why most of his girlfriends need serious chiropractic therapy.

“Ewww! Somebody has written “Marry Me,” on my lyric sheet in licked-barbecue-chicken bits.”

Kent leaves rehearsal for an undisclosed Central American country that has some pesky democracy lovers.

Carissa helps copy out sections of Kent’s manifesto. Right now she’s working on a chapter called “When to Pull Out the Anus Blender.”

Jason tries to decide whether to have another beer first or throw up all over his drums right away.

Dan’s first experiment with a Thai Stick suppository was not a happy one.

“Dear guys: Having a lot of fun here in the States but if I do end up dead, it’s because I got Dong to drive me home.”

Our First Promo!

This was put together by Dong during our stay at Mysterious Mammal Studios in July. The album is coming along nicely. Enjoy this in the interum.

Rehearsal (6-29-11)

Well, tonight was a trial. Juan had a job interview (good luck by the way) and Carissa was off enjoying herself at a Neil Gammon reading, while the rest of us were left to soldier on. Through shear iron-willed determination and the strength of demi-gods, we were able to pull this rehearsal whole thing off.

Dan was the sport of the year and volunteered to step in for the enjoying-herself Carissa on vocals as well as manning the bass.  He went through pure hell, I can tell you.

Kent was beside himself all evening.

Maria’s Pizza was once again consumed. The barbecued chicken has taken their taste buds by storm. The band highly recommends this product and would not be averse to a lucrative sponsorship deal or being featured in highly paid television commercials for the restaurant.

Many thanks to Dong for bringing along his super deluxe camera, which I shot most of the video with.

Trampoline Song – Kent pointed out last night that about 4 of our next recordable songs have the word “Song” in them. A Discount Romance theme or eccentricity? Perhaps I’ll have to look into title tweaking. Excuse Dan from just repeating the first verse in the second verse. Also, notice how deftly Jason handles a dropped drumstick, midsong.



The Trampoline Song as heard on the night. (one of now the famous “Song” titled songs)

Even though she wasn’t there tonight, we still have this picture of how we remember her best….at Mystery Mammal Studios, licking a guitar.

Carissa’s Song – We have a new high-kickin’ ending which is very much on display. The sound ain’t great, but hey, it’s being recorded by a fucking camera.



Here is our one-mic wonder of Carissa’s Song. This “Song” titling thing isn’t an obsession. I can’t stop any time I want. Honest.



I Know It’s Only Love – This is the song that keeps getting pushed back in the schedule. No more!!! It will meet its musical maker on Saturday.



You will have to pardon us for the paucity of pulchritude, in these pictures. Rock and roll isn’t always pretty. Tonight, we proved it.

Luckily, Kent still had alcohol to fall back on.  Literally.

Kent’s new nickname in the band is El Presidente.  Well, that’s what he has demanded we start calling him...or else.

Dong shows off his “Don’t Fuck With Me, Motherfuckers” look. He’s been working on it for quite some time.

Dan is still trying to figure out which is his most photogenic side.

We discovered last night, quite by accident that Jason is, in reality, a demonic drum playing robot from a distant galaxy.

Dan’s forearm-curing meds are just fucking wonderful. Thank you for asking.

It’s harder than you’d think, to resist puncturing someone’s ear drum with the tuning head of your bass guitar.

There’s nothing that puts Dong to sleep quicker than hitting an F# minor. It’s really hampered his career as a musician.

Kent peruses the 75 page, trickily worded, Discount Romance contract.

Shabby Road (6-22-11)

Well, the curse of Discount Romance continues. I was coming out of the gym today and a prick in a Porsche Targa pulled a U-turn and miss smashing into me by inches. A spine-tingling brush with death and insurance companies. Luckily, no trip to the hospital was needed…just one to the liquor store.

The band was almost at full force tonight though, and sounding pretty damn good. (Come home Juan!) Dan is making a dramatic recovery from his Popeye-like forearms and Carissa is in a rental car.

Everyone seemed to be in good spirits (mostly Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Bass) tonight and the pizza from Maria’s went down a treat. (a sponsorship deal would be more than welcome, if you are out their Maria!)

I had my Father’s Day present (a digital camera) clicking away most of the night. The band pretended to be only slightly annoyed. Perhaps on Sunday, I’ll try the video function and really get up their noses.

Tonight we got to four songs.

They Have Laid Me Down – We tried this two ways. At a speed I thought was about right and then at a faster pace. In our unflinching effort to show a band’s birth, we are giving you, the listener both versions. (Did the Beatles ever do this? Well, maybe once with Revolution) You will be able to judge for yourself, since I’m putting both of them up. Your votes and money contributions will be taken into account when we decide which one makes it to the album. This is the slow version.



They Have Laid Me Down – The quicker version. Remember, your dollars could make the difference. If you have a preference, send as much money as you can afford or we would like.
Kent is also responsible for the little fade out bit on the end. I haven’t really faded it out here, but it will be on the album.

I Know It’s Only Love – This is the song we didn’t get to in our last recording session. It is coming along though and there is some nice 12 string work by Kent on this

Trampoline Song – Carissa does some nice vocals pieces on this silly song. We had some trouble capturing the feeling of the song. (especially the chorus) I think we made major progress on it.

Sweet Leaf – This is turning into one of the band’s favorite tunes. They really seem to like the rockers. It does move along nicely. I just hope we can capture this energy in the studio.

“Man, if this was a big, spicy Slim Jim, I’d eat it right now!”