Psych, Oh?

New recording!

Today I was trying out my birthday present from my wife, a new Shure SM57! 

I'm a huge fan of The Sonics, a 60s garage rock band. If you've never listened, you should!

I think it sounds pretty good! I'm quite proud of the tone I got for the solo, if I do say so myself... And I did... I cranked up the amp pretty GD loud! 

Also, how did I get that saxophone sound on there, when I didn't have a saxophone? Hmm... Studio trickery?

Check it out!

Blllargh!

After a long, crappy day at work, and a long, crappy night at class, I came home and this popped out of my brain:

Idea#3 by TheWLRD

I Need a Dolla, Dolla, Dolla is What I Need!

I was listening to The Astronauts' 1964 live album "Astronauts Orbit Kampus," today and heard their rendition of "Greenback Dollar." I thought it was pretty good! I had never heard the song before, and after some research, I realized why it sounded like a surf version of a Kingston Trio song.... 'Cause that's pretty much what it was!

I was inspired to figure out the chords, and then I figured I'd give it the ol' One Take treatment and record it live in the basement (aka New Syrinx Studios).

Turned out pretty good for one mic set in the middle of the room! Check it out!

Greenback Dollar (Live at New Syrinx Studios) by TheWLRD

Snow Day 2012: Part II!

Another tune for good measure!

Snow Day 2012!

Anoka-Hennepin called off school for snow? Perhaps the 2012 apocalypse is truly upon us!

With the free time, might as well record a cover!

Gettin' a Little Chilly!

I just put the finishing touches on a new tune!

The tune's called "Catch That Cold," inspired by our recent trip to Austin!

While there we saw Nic Armstrong & The Thieves perform live at a bar called Swan Dive. Both the band and the bar were extremely cool!

Anyway, I liked the 60s-Rock-Yet-More-Rockin' sound that they had, so I tried out a new song in the vein of their sound... Check it out!

Catch That Cold by TheWLRD

I used a lot of recently acquired equipment on the recording...

I've been playing around with my new pedalboard:

I love the MXR Micro Amp as a clean boost... It gives the amp a nice full sound even at low volumes. The Tube Screamer is a great overdrive, especially in combination with the Micro Amp! I'm not a huge fan of the Boss Distortion, it's a bit too much distortion on even the lowest setting, and isn't very versatile, so I'm in the market for a new one. The CryBaby Wah came with my guitar as a free gift! Sure, why not? I got the Korg Pitchblack tuner off Craigslist, and it does what it should! The Phase 90 I've had for years and years, I don't use it a ton, but it's nice to play around with...

I've also been playing around with my new amp:

The Deluxe Reverb has about the nicest clean sound of any amp I've ever heard... Super warm and toasty! And, hence the name, the reverb can go from a tiny amount to a crazy saturation. It's also fun to mess around with the tremolo (called Vibrato by Fender)...

Many more recordings to come I'm sure!

SingleTracks is Released!

After a long summer and fall of recording, mixing, re-recording, re-mixing, and mastering, Willard's highly anticipated sophomore effort "SingleTracks" is finally released!

Featuring 9 all-new originals and a live cover, the album showcases a wide variety of styles, from acoustic to electric, from folky to rocking!

Also, keep an ear out for special guest musicians Darin Rieland and Erik Sherburne!

You can listen to the album on the player to your right!

You can check out the album artwork here!

More to come in the ensuing weeks!

Get It Goin' B-side!

Every good album single is backed by a B-side, right? Well, Get It Goin' is no different!

Recorded live in the basement of Syrinx Studios, Get It Goin' is backed with a cover of Warren Zevon's 1987 tune The Factory.

While the original is upbeat, I thought it would sound cool as a slower, more somber tune...

I did some unique things in the recording process, check it out and see if you like it!

You can listen below, at YouTube, over to the right, or on the Willard Facebook page!