Robert Wolter to Brian

Feb 10, 2009

yo brian!

how are you? how are you feeling these days? i see a lot of the flu-bug going around. i got the flu-shot but over the past few years i’ve become somewhat of a germ-a-phobe.

i’ve talked to a bunch of musicians who’ve mentioned how they recorded with you over the past year, hows the studio doing? devin always talks about you too. the weeds just had a pretty successful fundraiser show on the 31st. it helped pay for part of our record, hopefully we’ll have it finished in the next few months or so.

have you ever read the book, “many lives, many masters”? i think you would like it. it’s about past lives and reincarnation and touches on a lot of theories on wisdom and answering the eternal question, “why?”.

anyways i hope you are well my friend. talk to you soon.

bobby.

Brian McTear to me

Feb 27, 2009

How bout

Time, Life and Death

The Brian and Bobby Letters

Or just, The Brian and Bobby Letters (musing on Reality, time, life, death….)

I think I get my biggest creative burst out of writing my own music, but I think maybe even more of what you are talking about with production, ie that whole seeing something come from nothing.

I’ve also been trying to make a non-profit music organization lately that, I hope at least, will ultimately become a real job. I don’t know if I told you about it, but you can read about it at wvmusic.tumblr.com. Did I tell you about it? I’ve been talking my head off about it for the past several months…. But making a company out of nothing is pretty astonishing. I can’t believe we just had an idea, and when we finally start rolling, I’m sitting at a conference room at XPN with a whole board of directors and a staff. It’s really cool.

B

Brian McTear to me

Feb 27, 2009

How bout

Time, Life and Death

The Brian and Bobby Letters

Or just, The Brian and Bobby Letters (musing on Reality, time, life, death….)

I think I get my biggest creative burst out of writing my own music, but I think maybe even more of what you are talking about with production, ie that whole seeing something come from nothing.

I’ve also been trying to make a non-profit music organization lately that, I hope at least, will ultimately become a real job. I don’t know if I told you about it, but you can read about it at wvmusic.tumblr.com. Did I tell you about it? I’ve been talking my head off about it for the past several months…. But making a company out of nothing is pretty astonishing. I can’t believe we just had an idea, and when we finally start rolling, I’m sitting at a conference room at XPN with a whole board of directors and a staff. It’s really cool.

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

Feb 27, 2009

I like that first title. Guess what? My friend has offered to host our blog (i.e.- like a real website) if we want to do it that way. He said he could even put a link up there for people to donate to CF if we wanted to do something like that eventually. We just have to come up with a website name. Any ideas?

I am loving your non-profit organization, weathervane. How far along is it, do you have your first artist yet?

I always thought it would be cool to have another resurgence of a “philly sound”. Of having a studio (with a house band) where a songwriter could go and record without any limitations such as time, money, etc…and produce a true piece of art. i read an interview with dr. dog and they were talking about their studio and how they had their engineer (was is bill moriarty? you probably know exactly what i’m talking about. in fact, your studio is probably the similar in a lot of ways?) set it up exactly how they wanted it. their approach to recording is very cool. maybe i’m being presumptive in thinking that there isn’t a new kind of “sound” happening in Philly because i don’t get out that much. it seems like there’s certain pockets but no real movement. that subject could be a whole new blog. ha.

Brian McTear to me

Feb 27, 2009

Hey

Cool, so the blog would be hosted by another party? That’s cool. I’m down. I am down with the CF donations, too. I met someone who maybe works for a Greater Phila Area branch of the CF Foundation. I just have to jog my memory… But we could ask them to provide a paypal link and then just let people donate via that! Would be cool.

Regarding “Philly sound” – It’s interesting, because in all the years I’ve been here I have always been impressed by the fact that Philadelphia was growing into a “scene” but without any particular sound. True, there are a few bands with Dr. Dog’s sound (former band, The Teeth, Spinto Band, Drink up Buttercup, maybe even National Eye though completely different in other ways…), but on the whole I like the “community” here. People are, in recent years, happy…even psyched to be here. They love Johnny Brendas, and they almost universally support eachother without any strings attached.

I suppose I am partially sensitive to the “sound” thing, because I have often been told I need to impart more of “my sound” on people’s records, which I always shudder at the idea of. I think it’s important to find the essence of what each individual band does and help really develop THAT, you know? But I know that’s a different thing then what you are talking about.

I really don’t get out much either. And oddly, for that matter, I don’t hear very much music beside what Amy and I record! It’s crazy. I know way more about great local artists than great national and international artists!

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

5/6/05

hello there,

i am on tobi every two weeks and another inhaled antibiotic for the other two week and i am constantly bringing up junk. a lot more though as of late. i think it’s left over from a bad cold i got in the winter combined with my sinuses. but i think the summer will help me finally feel back to normal.

i’m playing with the weeds tonight (friday) at the tin angel again with One Star Hotel and Alvin Likes Apples. i think we are the opening act, but i could be wrong. i know the show starts at 9. i think it’ll be a good show, if you want me to put you on the guest list lemme know.

i would like to hear more novenas music sometime, when are you releasing a cd or anything? it was weird that night i emailed u i was looking for a word in the dictionary and i opened up right to novena.

i feel the same way u do about ric for certain bass players. they are really hard to find, good ones at least. melinda who plays w/me in shooting ropes is one of my favorites ever. she plays really simple but can lock up with me really well. i would love to record w/you if you had a day open or something. we are trying to work with a bunch of producers to get a feel for what kind of recording we want, so we figured if we could just do a song here and there with different people we might get some perspective. nothing too fancy or time consuming because we don’t have a lot of money to work with. but i really worry that being in close proximity to you with me having cepacia might be a bad idea. i’ll have to ask dr. lipson what he thinks.

anyways i’ve rambled for too long…i’ll talk to you lata,

bobby.

Brian McTear to me

5/6/05

Whats really weird for me (with my lungs) is that in the dryest, coldest point of the winter, I am clear as a bell. When warmer spells come around, or the spring, and the humidity creeps up I start to bringing stuff up. When I have been on tour, particulary in the high elevation dry places like Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, I feel very clear. On the east coast particularly in the Southern Coastal states (Alabama, Lousianna) the humidity drives me crazy. The other weird thing, like I think I mentioned before, is that I bring up more stuff during a course of Tobi, instead of it killing stuff off and lowering the amount in there.

Anyway, we’re screwed up…. I know I might have mentioned it before, but doing yoga regularly increased lung capacity by 10%. I always feel best when I am a few weeks or months into it. In doing yoga, (you probably already know this) you use breathing to get you from one position to the next. While in a position you keep the same steady breath. After a few minutes, I can breath freely throuh my nose. A few more and my lungs actaully feel wider. Of course, it is tough to work 12 to 15 hour days, get up in the morning, inhail whatever we are supposed to inhail, and THEN do a half hour of yoga… But really, nothing has made a greater difference in my well being than it has. Right now, I am not doing it. Getting started is hard. But I have gone months at a time and they have been the healthiest months of my adulthood.

I would like to see the show tonight, but I am starting an album today with Espers, and think it will go late. I think we could definitely record together, we just have to take precautions. Its not just you, you know. I am sure that my brand of shit in my lungs is potentially just as dangerous to you as yours is to me. I know, I don’t want to deal with cepacia, but I am pretty sure that adding mine to yours would be a bad idea too.

Having said all that, we are mostly booked (almost solid) until the end of the Summer. Then we are moving to Fishtown (much closer to home). We are having the new place built this Summer. Its all very exciting. (There is a yoga studio between our house and the new space). I am sure Amy and I could make the type of record you want to  make. We just have a knack for it. No one ever comes in and says, “this is all just going in the wrong direction…” And as far as money goes, if and when the time comes, I will tell what we charge people, you will tell me what you can afford, and we’ll all figure out how to make it happen. I just know that at some point we have to do it. I love what I have heard of the Weeds, I am sure I would love Shooting Ropes, and you and I just have so much in common that we have to make a record some time. You will love Amy, too. She is very quiet. She sets up and breaks down mics, keeps notes (and doodles all over them) the whole time. The two of make a great team while tracking a record.

Give me your address. I will ask Amy to send you the CD (4 songs) we have of the Novenas.

Great hearing from you, as always. (Sorry this is long winded, too).

B

Robert Wolter to Brian

4/25/05

hey brian,

how’s it going? i haven’t heard from u in a while so i thought id drop u an email. i’m doing pretty good. i was just working for the film festival for the past month and now i’m going to look for a job job. music has been going well, though. lot’s of good shows and good times. i’m looking to find somewhere to record some songs for my band shooting ropes. our first recordings were good but a little too slick for our liking. i went to the novenas website and listened to the song up there “tigers in the park”. i liked it a lot. i heard some sonic youth influence.

well i hope you’re doing good and in good health. talk to you soon,

bobby.

Brian McTear to me

4/25/05

Hey!

Things are going well. My health seems alright, though I am doing a Tobi treatment right now. The strange thing is that it CLEARS me up for about the first week, then I actually feel like there’s extra stuff down there the rest of the time. Does anything like that happen to you? When I stop, I then feel clear again (after a few days).

So I was going to come to the Weeds show a few weeks back at the Tin Angel, then I got held up at the studio. I was really bummed. I love that girls voice.

I would love to  record Shooting Ropes, though we may be all booked up for the next few months. Amy and I decided to move the studio, so we have sessions all summer and then (the intent, at least) is to move on Sept 1. It should be an amazing studio. The guys who own the building are friends of ours. They are the set designers and master carpenters for all the major movies that come around, so having THEM build this is going to be quite a plus.

I have come to realize that recordings that sound too slick come about when people get all stressed about the wrong things. It is really important to get the performances and sounds you want in basic tracking and then not much really has to be done. AND it sounds more professional. You should come by the studio at some point though. Depending on how much you want to record and how much time you need we could probably squeeze something in. Its expensive, though I would certainly give you a big break.

Tigers in the Park came out pretty great, along with the rest of the Novenas music. The drummer on the first four songs was Ric Menck. He is going to come out at the end of May to record on my new album. I am very excited, because in this whole big world, Ric is really my favorite drummer. He plays with Matthew Sweet and is an original member of a band called the Velvet Crush, but has also done studio work with lots of people (incl Willy Nelson). My music has typically been guitar and vocals, though for the next record, I want it to be a rock album.

Keep keeping me posted on your shows. I would love to come out. And if you want to come to the studio, just give us a call.

B

13.

Brian Mctear to me

2/17/05

How’ve you been? How was the tour you were on? Was it a tour?  I went back in our emails to find the “future” web addresses of the bands you play in…happy to see they are up and running! Man! The weeds music is awesome. Your singers voice is exceptional.  I am still trying to figure out where I know that guy Devon from…

What are you up to? How’s your health?

B