2024 #2: March 1

Hello! Buncha stuff going on in my world, and might send out a “March pt 2” letter later this month. I super appreciate you giving this a spin - here’s what’s up!

Music stuff

Live:

• Patter (who I play drums with) will be opening for Dry Cleaning at the Empty Bottle on March 11th. It’s sold out but we’ve got a cool one to announce at the end of the month as well - you can keep up with us on Instagram at the @patterband handle

• There’s another show I’m playing (drumming with a Chicago band) toward the end of March but can’t announce it yet… will be sure to send out an email when it’s announced (second week of March)

• Today is Bandcamp Friday, where all $ goes to artists - I have some Options tshirts/sweatshirts/records/tapes up on my page, which you can check out here

Releases:

• Mister Goblin’s 4th LP, Frog Poems, is coming out 4/26 via Spartan Records. I played drums, and recorded & mixed it at the studio I co-run, Ohmstead. You can pre-order the record here and take a listen to the first single Goodnight Sun wherever you prefer to stream music (and there’s a nice lil writeup on Stereogum)

• A new Puddle Splashers live session video from Mister Goblin is coming out next week! Keep your eyes out for that, and more in due time

Recording:

• I’ve been working hard at putting together a “Mobile Recording Rig,” with which I can come to any location and record music. This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I’m really stoked about it! As you may expect, I’ve put together a webpage with all of the info you might want to know.
  Do you have a cool location where you’d be interested in making a record? Perhaps somewhere that sounds great, where it’s possible to play at whatever volume you need, but lacks pro-grade recording capability? Barns, churches, locations off the beaten path, maybe even your house or apartment, etc. If you’d like to chat about it, shoot me an email - I’m really interested in traveling with my equipment, this spring, summer, and beyond

  • One thing to note, is that the Mobile Rig is limited to being used in places I can drive to. I like to drive and I don’t mind a long trek, but unfortunately my configuration is too large to fly with at the moment.

• I’m swamped with mix projects at the moment (and very thankful for it), but my books are open for recording time and mastering projects, for April and beyond. If you’d like to work with me at Ohmstead, another studio, or in a scenario with my Mobile Rig, hit me up and let’s make it happen!

Non-music stuff

• Ok, this is *kind of * music-y but… I put together a guitar pedal myself, for the first time, from a pedal-making kit. This has been a project on my back-burner for a long time, and now I’m very excited about soldering. My friend Adrian described it as “adult Legos” and I now I really understand what he meant. Hoping to put together more pedals from kits, attempt simple repairs on my own equipment, maybe even get a kit to build some studio rack gear eventually… excited to see where this new interest takes me!

• I’ve been really enjoying a substantial break from social media, in form of deleting the instagram app from my phone. I’ve found myself feeling more energetic, more motivated, and my thoughts have been clearer and easier to organize. One of the most illuminating elements has been that, rather than sharing pictures/thoughts/anecdotes and passively waiting for folks to engage, I find myself reaching out directly instead, which leads to more one-on-one exchanges with people in my life. This self-imposed break has been the right for me in this moment, and I intend to continue on this track for however long as it’s useful.

• Been on a real Smoothie kick for the last few weeks… Frozen blueberries, strawberries, banana, oat milk (I’m lactose intolerant, boo hoo), plant-yogurt, spinach, kale, peanut butter, almond butter…. what a fun mix-and-match adventure! If you have any hot tips, feel free to share.

Thank you for listening (and reading), and I hope you have a great March!

- Seth