Cut Off

I am making a confession to...well, basically to you, Kelly, since you're the only person who reads this blog that we imagine other people read.

I am the biggest fan of Kelly Kerr and the Distractions there is. That's probably sad since I play bass for us, and in many ways it doesn't count me as the title of "fan" since I am a part, and it's lame and sad to admit it among a profession where we're all supposed to be too cool or too busy or too deep or too ironic to actually like our own stuff. But I like it.

I listen to us more than anyone.

The rough cuts have been a sore spot for me because I want to listen to them for purposes of enjoyment and for creative purposes since I'm still thinking about new things to do with the works in progress, but they are also something I want to stay away from because I don't want to wear out the record or feel too familiar with it before it actually comes out.

So I decided that, for a while at least, I will not be getting the new batches of rough cuts we get from the studio each time as we add more bells and whistles and proper vocal takes to the recordings each time we go to the studio. I can't wait to hear "The Great Stink" once it gets the lead part and all the solos to come, but I want to wait until something closer to a finished product. I've already had to pace myself with the roughs to keep from playing them too much, and I think new ones would only perpetuate this.

The only reason I'll need them is for practicing, like with "Eli" this week, or for a few listens to make sure I'm satisfied with the parts, or later on, when we're talking seriously about track listing. For that reason, I'll probably get roughs of any new songs we record, like when Kelly goes in tomorrow and puts down an initial track for "Dear Abbey." And okay, I was going to cut myself off earlier but absolutely couldn't resist listening to that fiddle that had us playing "air violin" in the control room as soon as she started. But other than that, I'm taking a break, another step I have to take keep this record from being my full blown obsession and to let some other areas in my life have some room to get the attention they deserve.