Chicago is a subzero tundra right now. I’m sitting in my studio mixing Casey’s album (!!!) with extremities that I can barely feel, hehe.
The trackpad still sees my finger, so I know I’m alive.
Casey, band and I tracked this album in the summer of 2020 in our bandmates’ basement, when they still lived together in a bungalow in Kilbourn Park (a Chicago neighborhood), and when working face-to-face was only responsible if each of us could isolate for a few weeks leading up to it.
Over the past three years, we’ve been chipping away at it with overdubs and vocal sessions, and now we’ve finally kicked ourselves in the pants hard enough to mix it. I can’t wait till it’s ready to share.
In the meantime, do you want to see a jug with bubbling algae growing in it?
This is fish food (phytoplankton) they’re growing at the Shedd Aquarium. That jug contains some intermediate step of the process. It’s the best color. Algae green.
Casey and I visited the Shedd on her 29th birthday on Thursday.
If you’re looking for a sense of peace and, I don’t know, childlike safety, I recommend the aquarium or your nearest public educational institution. I don’t know if it was the nostalgia, the animals and the architecture, or the humidity, but something felt like a hug, a much-wanted (if not needed) exhalation.
We marveled at the names of fishes. Biologists… need to be checked sometimes? They’re out here naming species “Oldwife,” “Monkeyface prickleback,” and “Cherry barb.” Except let’s not stop them, because the names are fun. You go, biologists. (Can we have a “Wilco tartlet” fish when the 2024-identified species list drops?)
Last spring, I was at Sonic Ranch in Texas when I wrote about an adorable studio cat named Squeaker. The album that cat helped facilitate is announced now: it’s Tigers Blood by Waxahatchee.
Katie wrote some very kind words about the session on her Substack, and released the first single.
I’m extremely grateful to have been part of making the album. I’ll have more to say about it when it’s released on March 22.
I hope you’re staying safe, warm, and that the new year has brought some joy to you so far.
HUG,
Spencer
So THAT'S how they make Mountain Dew! I always wondered! Happy Birthday, Casey, and happy new year to you both!
This is the best kind of day to do some mixing.... too cold to move... hibernation mode, but just enough mitochondria activated to perk ears, click a few keyboard shortcuts and slide some virtual faders. Can't wait to hear those catchy Case Oats hooks!