Image: A little graphic I was working on of my dear friend Klipso who sings to me each night here under the oaks. Who knows what he's eating out there each night.
Good morning in late April. It’s been a little longer than usual for an update, but, the wheels are still turning in the Hadder camp. How about a little update on some things.
I’ll be honest. I’m floating in the calm of the storm. The eye is above me. I might be enjoying my life under the oaks a little too much lately. I am a creature of nature and lately spring has been transforming my little mountain hideaway. A lot of what is happening to me lately has to do with what happened to me years ago. When I left my old mountain up on corral canyon and began this “Breakers” record, I always longed to return to the canyons. I was displaced, and in that displacement, I wrote the music for the first Diamonds Hadder record. But what now? I’ve come back to the oaks now but the wind she blows slightly different than she did before. Grief, she laid waste to the things I knew. The trees are grown up and wondering who the hell I am. There’s a great spirit here that I don’t really know. The nighttime here is filled with noises that make me want to sob in a happy way. The wolf certainly roams this land. I wander around in the yard cleaning the place up and repairing the towers that were here in the hopes of mending my soul. Hoping the blues and the birdfeeders will heal the broken heart I’ve carried for the last 6 years or so. Skinks and quails and tree frogs are invading my land. On the horizon I see a new record being born before my eyes, a record called “The Oaks”. A record about redemption and rebirth. Slowly I’ve been building the inside of this place. The center room, surrounded by the outer walls of this dwelling is where I’ve been spending most of my time. Designing the tower that will channel this new endeavor. My Noctua is ready now. In 1970, a record called “After the Gold Rush” was recorded in these very woods. This place also spawned The DOORS, “Roadhouse Blues”. It has a dark past as well, as its the place that Charles Manson called home when he arrived in Los Angeles. One thing is for sure, The lure of these oaks is mysterious and inviting and I can’t help but smile a twisted little grin at the thought of what I might create here musically in the coming months. Klipso sleeps very close these days and nights but the floors here they stay very cold as though they resent the warmth and coming of spring. I burn a lot of wood here and I think it's time I let the birds be birds.
Breakers Vinyl: As far as I know, the vinyl is in some stage of the manufacturing process somewhere in Europe. I've approve the vinyl remaster and it sound really good, much better than the digital release. You'll see soon enough. I wont say who did it just yet, but I'm very grateful for the work they put into it. They have now etched their name on this little breakers record of mine. I feel like during the making of the record “what was being recorded” always more important to me than “how it was recorded” and for that reason each song took on a life and sound of its own depending on what tower the song was recorded in. For that reason, the remaster was a bit tricky. The engineer had his hands full but he certainly reached for the gold and came away with some shiny stuff in the end. You can’t save every little ducking during a flood, but you can save most of them. That’s my philosophy on recording. Do your best to get it right, and don’t focus on the failures, instead… rejoice in the small victories and magic moments and move on to the next battle.
LITR: “Long Is the Road” Music video is in the editing stages. This is where I’ll be if you need me this spring. Knock loud because it’s noisy in here. I hope to be conjuring up something visually special. Something deserving of this record. Something maybe different than what we normally see. I’m in that world now and it’s a lonely but creative place where I’m painting the walls as I see fit and designing the rooms inside of the rooms without a single expectation. I aim to serve the thing that gave me this record. I serve the reasons this song exists and that’s all. Without a time limit and without a care about outcomes.
I suppose that’s all for now. Interesting times we are living in. Is it really that interesting or is this how it’s always been? Angry mobs and Sothern cross winds. Crooked politicians and hippie cults. Somewhere in the middle of it all, the Goat is hinting at a return to set things right and old music is growing ever more older under these same old twisted oaks that now have a hold of me. Ezra just grumbled, she grows tired of my philosophical meanderings. Ha. “Oh Really, girl. Go play with Jups.” I heard some advice yesterday, it was “Stay strong and hang in there.. I’m on it”, it came from above the trees. I’ll say the same to you.
Farewell friends
-j