Conspirators II Writing/Recording Sessions

[Timotheus]

Thought I'd create a thread where we can discuss the ongoing writing/recording sessions of the new Slash record. I'll try to update the first page as often as possible.

A few notes (about the updates):

-I think this page would crash in a few months if I'd start embedding all videos and pictures, so if one of those gets shared, I'll just post the url in here.
-Most of these posts will come from Slash, so if somebody else posts an update I'll put it in a slightly different color so you won't be confused. Since this is and Alter Bridge fansite I'll give Myles his own color (BLUE) so his posts will stand out. I'll do the rest (Todd, Fitzy, Elvis...) in a subtle GREEN-ISH color.
-I'll put the the name of the person in question in the title of every quote (together with the date).
-I'll try to put titles every few weeks/months to keep this post a bit organized.

Here are the titles so far (use ctrl + F if you're too lazy to search):

• -Early stage and pre-production without Myles (October - November 2013)
  -Pre-production Phase II with Myles (December 2013)
  -Pre-production Phase III (January 2014)
  -Recording Phase I: Drums (First half of February)
  -Recording Phase II: Bass (Second half of February)
  -Recording Phase III: Guitars Slash (March)

Video updates:

• SLASH - Real To Reel, Part 1
  SLASH - Real To Reel, Part 2

EARLY STAGE AND PRE-PRODUCTION WITHOUT MYLES (October - November 2013):

Start jamming with @toddkerns & @brentfitz next week for next record. VERY stoked. iiii]; )'

Working on tunes. Its going to be a cool fucking record, this next one. iiii]; )'

Pre production on next record officially starts today! iiii]; )'

Great 1st day today. We're off & running now. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: The work space for the rest of the year. iiii]; )'

Really good 1st week of pre pro. Very productive. iiii]; )'

Yet here I am back in the city of Guns N Roses’ birth in the earliest stages of the birth of the new Conspirators album. So bizarrely familiar that I have to ask myself what day, week, month or year it is. 2 years ago at this time we were doing this very thing. Slash, Fitzy and I locked in a room without sunlight or even the hint of a window volleying music back and forth to one another until it begins to form a solid arrangement. I think we’ve gotten quite skilled at this. I think we had a knack for it the first time we attempted this 2 years ago. It’s something we’ve all been doing all of our lives. Now we do this together.

The riffs are strong and unrelenting. For my part I find myself referencing John Paul Jones and Bob Daisley. For the uninitiated that would be mean there are hints of Zeppelin and early Ozzy in there but that’s only by my subjective placement within this machine. It always starts as a living, breathing foundation for Myles Kennedy to do what he does so very well on top. He turns riffs and grooves into songs. He is a magician, an artisan at this as shown on the new Alter Bridge album which is stellar.

I can’t be sure when Myles will actually be in the same room as us. December perhaps? He is on the road. It would seem he is always on the road. Perpetually so. He should be commended for his intense resilience. He has gone from recording studio to the road to recording studio to the road to recording studio to the road ad nauseam for the past almost 4 years. A schedule like this could crush a lesser man. It has crushed me, to be honest. I am still putting myself back together from 3 1/2 years of intense work. This past few months has been the closest to a holiday I’ve ever had.

Day 7 today of pre pro. Got a lot of really great work done thus far. iiii]; )'

Great pre pro session today. This next few months leading up to recording is going to be a gas. iiii]; )'

Back at the studio. Going to run through 10 or 11 new ideas we've accumulated so far. iiii]; )'

Managed to get 10 out of 11 songs in yesterday. Its sounding pretty damn good. The last jam we forgot to play. Time to make a list. iiii]; )'

Back in pre pro after KOC rehearsal. Got a couple cool new riffs to dig into. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: Marshall 100W fridge in the studio lounge. Quite literally the coolest piece of equipment in the place. iiii]; )'

Getting some serious work done with the Conspirators today; putting in the hours. Sounds really fucking cool though. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: Dug out my Studer. To those who don't know, it's a tape machine. The likes of which doesn't get used too much on records today. iiii]; ('

Good solid week of pre pro. Jams are getting tighter & tighter. This is going to be a cool record. iiii]; )'

We’ve been hard at it rehearsing new songs for the upcoming Conspirators record. The skeleton crew of us have been holed up at our studio in North Hollywood plugging away. We have as many songs as days we’ve been rehearsing. Somewhere in the area of 16-17 songs. By Wednesday there could be as many as 20. It’s fierce and strong and I think it’s going to be even better than Apocalyptic Love and that’s saying a lot. Myles will join us in December between Alter Bridge dates and start Myles-ifying them up. No one does it better than him.

...So from there I’ll be back in LA with my co-Conspirators writing and rehearsing, then to Vancouver for Xmas then back to Vegas to sit in with my brothers in Sin, The Sin City Sinners for New Years Eve.

PICTURE: Just picked up a limited edition Gibson SG 12 string. Excellent condition. Going to use it on this record for something. iiii]; )'

This past week of pre pro was sick. It's fucking rockin'. Start up with Myles in Dec. iiii]; )

Starting phase 2 of pre pro tomorrow with the boys. Really looking forward to it. iiii]; )'

PRE-PRODUCTION PHASE II WITH MYLES (December 2013):

Alright, we're a band. Down the rabbit hole we go. iiii]; p

Awesome session yesterday! Things couldn't be off to a better start. iiii]; )'

Great session yesterday! Songs are really coming together. Going to be a heavy record. iiii]; )'

Day one with our producer, the amazing Michael 'Elvis' Baskette. Very exciting!

Fucking killer session today. This is going to be rad. iiii]; )'

VIDEO: Short rehearsal video on Vine

PICTURE: Yesterday at Prepro with Slash, Myles, Todd, & Brent. This is going to be a stellar album.

PICTURE: Shot from day 3 of Prepro for the new album with Slash, Myles, Todd, & Brent Have had a blast working with these guys! Songs are turning out incredible. Looking forward to getting back to it next week after a quick trip back to Orlando:) Super excited:)

PICTURE: Prepro day#3 #workstuff

Amazing work w @Slash @MylesKennedy @brentfitz and @ELVISLIBERACE This album is going to be flat out monstrous! I am excited

We have just completed several days of preproduction here in LA with producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette and I have to say that I am beyond excited for the new album. Apparently I was a bit premature in announcing to the world that Elvis was gonna be producing what I affectionately refer to as Apocalyptic Love 2. I suppose that should have been saved for some official type press release but I blabbed and it’s out there now. I didn’t know what to expect but I’ve already geeked out with Elvis over some deep KISS cuts that only the true fan can appreciate. As it turns out-he’s my kinda guy.

We have an arsenal of giant, monolithic powerhouses with working titles like ‘It Puts The Lotion On It’s Skynrd’ that Myles has turned into truly great songs. It’s no secret that he happens to be very good at that. He never ceases to impress. He’s also one of my favorite humans (that should be read ‘Hu-Mons)

We have expedited the entire schedule. It looks like we will be tracking as early as January which puts us about a month ahead of when we thought we were going to be able to do so. As you can imagine we are working around the busy schedule of the mega successful Alter Bridge which is no simple task. Basically Myles has zero rest whatsoever. He bounces from one world to the next seemingly seamlessly (seem…seam…).

(Full blog post: http://toddkerns.com/blog/)

Back in the studio for the last pre pro sessions before Xmas. Looks like we will be recording sooner than anticipated. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: 12 songs in, a couple more to go. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: On my way back to LA with @1f_jef for some more Prepro

16 trx worked up & completed. + an instrumental? Hard 2 decide what goes on the record, what will b bonus trx. It's all cool. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: @slash @myleskennedyofficial @todddammitkerns @brentfitz @1f_jef on our last day of Prepro till January:) coming together beautifully ! Killer album on the way!! Can't wait to get back to it!

Killer day in the studio with Mike "Elvis" Baskette & Jeff Moll. Shit is sounding badass. Reconvening in Jan

Great prepro sessions w/ Slash, Brent,Todd & Elvis for the next record. On a plane heading home for R&R w/ family & friends:)

PRE-PRODUCTION PHASE III (January 2014)

Back to pre pro tomorrow to recap everything. + 1 new song. Will be doing basics end of the month. Itching to jam after the break. iiii]; )'

Hello 2014! Back to work!

1/ How is pre-production going so far ?
Pre pro has been great. Very collaborative & creative & spontaneous. Very Rock n Roll. We're recapping the next couple of weeks.

2/ Do you have any idea of a tittle and Artwork for the new album ?
No, we haven't got a title yet. Or artwork. But it will come soon.

3/ How does it feel to work with Michael Elvis Baskette ?
Mike has been simply awesome. He gets it. He has had some great ideas. He likes to work with tape and he is super cool individual.

6/ New album release is still planned for late summer or things changed ?
Yes, late summer.

(Full post on page 8)

Back in the saddle, so to speak. Jams sound good. Not too rusty after a couple weeks off. Great to be back in the studio though. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: Sounding great:) almost there!!

PICTURE: Mike Basquette's engineer, the ever pensive Jef Moll, hard at work recording the band practicing the new material in pre pro. iiii]; )''

1st day of the last week of pre pro today. Went great. Really excited about how it's coming together. U guys are going to dig it. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: Another day of Prepro w/ @Slash @MylesKennedy Todd, Brent & jef! This record is gonna be so good!

I have to admit that conceptually I felt that Apocalyptic Love would be a tough act to follow but I can say with all the confidence in the world that we are more than armed and ready. Not only do I feel that the material surpasses Apocalyptic Love I think we are ten times the band we were when that album was recorded.
The material on this album is more serious and more fun at the same time which is a tough balance indeed. The songs are sleazier, tougher and more dangerous. Exactly where I feel most comfortable. We are all very excited to unleash the monster upon you as soon as we can.

We enter the studio early February and will work through the next few months. No plans as to when anything will be finished. It’ll be done when it’s done. I know we all hope to be back out on the road sooner than later but we’ll see.
A lot of things are bizarrely familiar. Frankie, the camera guy, is there filming and snapping away at everything as of this past week just like 2 years ago during the making of Apocalyptic Love. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was. I’m sure that footage will surface somewhere along the line.

Our work with Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette has been a blast. He’s been a lot of fun to have around and doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty within the pre production process. All of the songs have taken on a new life under his whip. I’m enjoying every minute of this. Our engineer, Jef Moll, is a genius. This is an amazing team.

Gonna be monstrous!

(Full blog post: http://toddkerns.com/blog/?p=363)

Just listening to rehearsal demos in the car; so excited about this record! Start tracking this week! iiii]; )'

Final day of pre production finished. Tomorrow we load in to recording studio. Shit just got real!

Killer final jam tonight w/Conspirators before we hit the studio tomorrow! Everything is well oiled & ready to go. iiii]; )'

RECORDING PHASE I: DRUMS (First half of February)

Loading into the studio today to begin tracking drums (to tape of course) for Slash's new record!!

PICTURE: Time machine for Slash's record

PICTURE: @nrgrecording setting for day 1 of tracking drums with @brentfitz on the new @slashonline album with @toddkerns @myleskennedyofficial and @1f_jef

First day in studio today, getting drums sounds!!

PICTURE: Most important item at the recording studio. I challenge anyone to best me! It cannot be done

PICTURE: The start of a new record!!! Kit sounds amazing in studio thanks to the mighty @mikefasano!!! #dwdrums #sabian #remo #promark #gonbops #slash

PICTURE: Drums today, and the next, etc...

Recording song #1 RIGHT NOW!

PICTURE: First day of tracking the new @slashonline with @brentfitz @toddkerns @myleskennedyofficial with @1f_jef @nrgrecording Sounds Killer!! ‪#‎tape‬ ‪#‎neve‬

PICTURE: @brentfitz finishing his 5th brilliant track on the new Slash and the Conspirators record I'm producing.‬

PICTURE: Scenes from recording @slashonline 's new album with @brentfitz @toddkerns @1f_jef @krisgiddens @nrgrecording #tape #neve #brilliantplayers‬

Day 2 of tracking. @brentfitz is on fire! Sounding epic

PICTURE: Tonight's view tracking drums

PICTURE: In between takes in the studio last night. iiii]; p

PICTURE: Scenes from day 3 of drum tracking on Slash and the Conspirator's New record with @slashonline @brentfitz @toddkerns @myleskennedyofficial @1f_jef and @krisgiddens

PICTURE: Last shots of the day:)

PICTURE: @brentfitz officer on the bridge!

Great night of recording last night. We're 8 trx in. Back at it tonight. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: @Monday! Back to work!

PICTURE: Our office #slash #recording @nrgrecording

PICTURE: Scenes from recording Slash and the Conspirators today:)

Drums are complete! Three cheers for @brentfitz Hip Hip-Hooray! Hip Hip-

PICTURE: And with that @brentfitz drums are done on the new @slashonline and the conspirators record with @myleskennedyofficial @toddkerns @1f_jef @krisgiddens @nrgrecording !! Sounds so good!

DAMMIT: "I have to admit that, conceptually, I felt that 'Apocalyptic Love' would be a tough act to follow, but I can say with all the confidence in the world that we are more than armed and ready.
The material on this album is more serious and more fun at the same time, which is a tough balance indeed. The songs are sleazier, tougher and more dangerous . . . We are all very excited to unleash the monster upon you as soon as we can."

MYLES: It's good! It's very rock. It's very rocking. I think it's more up-tempo than the last record was, and [Slash has] got some really great riffs on this record. Killer stuff.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slashs ... s-kennedy/

PICTURE: Finished tracking drums last night with the amazing @brentfitz @elvisliberace @slashonline @toddkerns @mikefasano @krisgiddens Sounding killer at @nrgrecording!!

Finished drums last night. @BrentFitz did an incredible job. RnFnR! iiii]; )'

RECORDING PHASE II: BASS (Second half of February)

PICTURE: 1st day of recording bass! Stop! DAMMIT time!

PICTURE: Elvis,Jef & house engineer Chris, watching online porn before the next take.

PICTURE: 2nd day of tracking bass with gifted @toddkerns #analog #tape

PICTURE: Scenes from tracking bass on the new @slashonline record with @toddkerns

Channeling a little @NikkiSixx on bass day for the new Slash&Da Conspirators Bad ass!

@todddammitkerns is laying down killer bass parts. Fn' excellent playing, tone & energy. Exciting stuff. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: This @gibsonguitar Thunderbird bass sounds amazing! Going to have to take some of these on the road. iiii]; )'

Channeling a little Steve Harris @IronMaiden recording bass today on Slash&DaConspirators

It ain't RNFNR til I blow a speaker...and mission accomplished! Now THAT is RNFNR!

Last day of bass 2day on new @Slash @MylesKennedy & Conspirators. I'll b done wayyy ahead of schedule. Bittersweet but exciting. Sounds HUGE

Correction-Bass completed on new Conspirators album as of 11:23 pm pacific time Feb 20 2014. Thank you, @scottuchida

PICTURE: Todd crossing out the final song he completed on bass tonight. All done. Brilliant work Dammit! Gtrs next! iiii]; )'

PICTURE: And with that @toddkerns has finished the bass on the new @slash and the Conspirators record featuring @myleskennedyofficial with @brentfitz . Killer player sounds amazing and I'm super stoked!!

PICTURE: An old BC Rich I picked up the other day. Which makes it "new/old" I guess. Sounds great though. iiii]; )'

PICTURE: Amp testing time. iiii]; )'

Great couple weeks at @NRGRecording Awesome sounding sessions. Fantastic RnR studio & great people. Thanks Jay, Chris & staff! iiii]; )'

Epic night of guitar last night! In the studio for another round today/tonight. Elvis is a gtr nut. So it's working out great. iiii]; )'

Got home from the studio at 2:30am. And when you guys hear what we were working on you will see that it was totally worth it.

And just as quickly as it began it is over. Drums and bass completed NRG studios N Hollywood. Guitar chapter next elsewhere..!"

PICTURE: The @nrgrecording portion of the record is now done. On to the second phase of the @slash record with @brentfitz @toddkerns @myleskennedyofficial with @1f_jef! So far INCREDIBLE!! Phase two finishing guitars and vocals:)

RECORDING PHASE III: GUITARS SLASH (MARCH)

Killer 1st day at @ElvisLiberace 's studio! Great gtr sounds right off the bat. Knee deep in the 1st song now. iiii]; )'

http://toddkerns.com/blog/?p=366 <- a lot of information in here

PICTURE: Recording riffs with @ElvisLiberace today. That's engineer Kevin in the background. iiii]; )

Tracking guitars to tape with @slash today:)! Sounding awesome!! Having a blast:)

PICTURE: All good to go in FL:)time to track guitars overdubs

This shit sounds so bad ass! I am beside myself. iiii]; D'

[Timotheus]

Edit.

[Inconquerable]

Awesome, looking forward to this a lot! If this is going to be released in August (as it had been rumoured a little while back), when do you think we can expect the first single? Probably June-ish right? You're a Lie came out in February and AL came out in May, so May/June doesn't seem improbable.

[AB23]

Not really excited about this one after AL. The only songs I still listen to are Not for Me, Anastasia, and FaA. Everything else is too 70's-80's rock for me.

[austinjhnsn]

Yeah^ I enjoyed Crazy Life as well though.

[Timotheus]

Yay @ 70's-80's rock

[Ubik]

Halo's awesome, No More Heroes and Shots Fired are really good and the bridge of Apocalyptic Love is excellent (bit of a precursor to Bleed It Dry as well, perhaps). If I manage to forget the video for Bad Rain I can enjoy that song a lot too.

[Inconquerable]

I really liked all of the songs and I listened to the album quite frequently, and still do on occasion. There were obvious standouts and some songs that weren't as great for me, but the whole album is really tight. And it translated live so well it's crazy.

[GazEd]

I really hated the album first, as I thought that the voice did not suit this music and I fucking detest Slash.

It really did grow on me and I now it by heart. Love Bad Rain

[Timotheus]

I really liked all of the songs and I listened to the album quite frequently, and still do on occasion. There were obvious standouts and some songs that weren't as great for me, but the whole album is really tight. And it translated live so well it's crazy.

This is pretty much how I feel about the album.. Halo, Anastasia and Halo were three of my favourite rock songs of 2012. But on the other hand there were songs like We Will Roam and One Last Thrill that were a lot less exciting (but still not bad).

I feel like the second album's got a lot of potential, because of all the experience they've have together now. Before Apocalyptic Love they also toured together, but they never played original songs (written by the entire band).

[Ubik]

Halo - so good it can be two of your favourites.

[Timotheus]

And Crazy Life*

[AllC392Was]

Have yet to listen to the album. May listen shortly

[Inconquerable]

So you judged it before you heard anything off of it? I thought you'd at least listened to it. =P

[AHart96]

Hope I like this album way more than AL

[AllC392Was]

The only song I've listened to is Anastasia. Never judged the album but I've been pretty vocal on my opinions of slash so I won't go into that again lol I think it's the type of music he makes and Myles voice that steers me clear of it but I'll give it a whirl

[Inconquerable]

It's just that I've debated with you soooo much this year about Slash, I thought for sure that you had listened to AL before. No big deal though, definitely give it a listen when you get the chance. Selfishly… I hope you end up liking it. =D

[Lotha]

I really liked AL a lot and I listened to it a lot. Bad Rain, Anastasia, Halo, Not For Me... all great songs. Looking forward to the next one ^^

[Timotheus]

The only song I've listened to is Anastasia. Never judged the album but I've been pretty vocal on my opinions of slash so I won't go into that again lol I think it's the type of music he makes and Myles voice that steers me clear of it but I'll give it a whirl

I don't mean this judgemental at all, but what do you mean with "his type of music"? Most of the songs on Apocalyptic Love are just hard (blues) rock.. I don't really see the huge stylistic stretch between songs from AB like Find The Real, Down To My Last, Cry Of Achilles, Rise Today and songs from Slash like Halo, Starlight, Anastasia, Not For Me.

[AB23]

The only song I've listened to is Anastasia. Never judged the album but I've been pretty vocal on my opinions of slash so I won't go into that again lol I think it's the type of music he makes and Myles voice that steers me clear of it but I'll give it a whirl

I don't mean this judgemental at all, but what do you mean with "his type of music"? Most of the songs on Apocalyptic Love are just hard (blues) rock.. I don't really see the huge stylistic stretch between songs from AB like Find The Real, Down To My Last, Cry Of Achilles, Rise Today and songs from Slash like Halo, Starlight, Anastasia, Not For Me.

Damn I see a huge difference. Not even the same category for me. Different ears for different blokes.