theWANDAS - "Trepidation" Wins 1st Place on Ourstage.com

Hey Guys,

We had a great showing in the ourstage.com August 2008 competition. Our song "Trepidation" won 1st place in the indie pop channel.

Trepidation, by the WANDAS on OurStage

There were about 600 entries in this category and we overwhelmingly took 1st place. Thanks for everyone who judged. We'll probably have more stuff up on ourstage.com soon too.

You can download Trepidation from the download music section or you can get it straight from itunes.

"Trepidation" Makes Our Stage Quarter Finals

Hey Guys,

We got an email yesterday saying that our song "Trepidation" has made it to the quarter finals of the OurStage.com monthly music competition. I actually forgot about the whole thing when I submitted the song, so I never told anyone to go to the site and judge us.

Anyway, right now we're ranked #7 out of about 600 entries in the indie/pop category. The way the competition works is that you are presented two songs to listen to and you decide which one you like more; you'll cycle through a bunch of songs, that way the calculation is fair.

You can access the competition by clicking the banner below.

Studio - Day 12 - That's a Wrap

Well, that's it. We've finished tracking everything. It was a lot of late late nights, but when it was all said and done we finsihed tracking everything that we wanted in plenty of time.

Now onto the next step of mixing. We have a people in mind to mix the album. So we're going to start by getting some sample mixes and go from there.

Brent and I are traveling to Montreal tomorrow to to bring Patrick back and spend the night. I'll keep you posted with the progress of the album.

On a side note, the video for "Thank You Note" has been 99% done for a while. However, we haven't been able to sign off on the finishing touches, just because we've been wroking on the album for the last month,

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 11

Things are coming to an end as far as studio time goes. We had three guest players today record strings on three of the songs. The songs feature violin, viola, and cello. It sounds great. It's funny how after hearing samples for so long you forget that real strings have  such a nice warmth to them.

We recorded some gang vocal tracks which add a nice flare to a couple of the songs. And of course, what session would be complete without some hand claps.

Tomorrow will the last day in the studio. We'll be tracking one more of Keith's vocal parts. Other than that the day will  be used to tie up any loose ends.

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 10

Things are definitely coming to a close. We've got two more days left in the studio and then we're done. Today we tracked some horn parts. We had two guest musicians come in today and play on three of the songs. They did a great job, and their parts definitely add a lot to the songs.

Last night we tried to have an early night but after we left the studio we had some friends over to our place and ending up staying up just as late as the other nights. I've seen the sun rise 10 days in a row now, which has to be a personal record for me.

Tomorrow will most likely be the last day of tracking. We're having 3 more guest players come in and lay down violin, viola, and cello parts. If it goes anything like the horn section, we'll have some great sounding strings.

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 9

Last night was a fun time. Brent cranked through his harmonies. We were joking about how over time Keith and Brent's voices have grown into the perfect compliment for each other.

Getting the bulk of the work behind us, we started trying some extra guitar and vocal parts. Things are definitely moving along nicely. During some downtime Brent and Patrick compared notes on the martial arts.

(Patrick & Brent exchange martial arts moves)

Today, we had a guest female vocalist perform a part on one of the songs. She did a great job and it fills out the song very well.

Patrick spent a bunch of time today writing string and horn arrangements for when we have the guest musicians record next week. We have a vocal track left for one song. After that, we'll be layering all of the extras tomorrow and next week.

 

(Keith tunes up while Joe (lead engineer) admires.)

Until Tomorrow,

Ross

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I beat Mike Tyson's Punch Out!


Studio - Day 8

Today we got into the studio around 3:30pm. This was partly our fault for getting a late start, and partly the fault of the East Boston, Papa Gino's staff. We had been making food on our own from the grocery store, to save money during the whole studio session. However, today since we were running late we thought we'd grab something at Papa Gino's on the way up to the studio.

It took 40 minutes for them to "make" food for myself, Patrick, and Keith. Patrick ordered a turkey wrap, and they litterally give him two pieces of turkey on bread. Nothing else. That was certainly worth the wait.

O.K. back to recording. I finished 99% of my bass tracks last night. Today, Keith finished his vocals for all but 1 final track which still needs to be worked out lyrically. We also tracked a glockenspiel for one of the songs. Brent is cranking out his harmonies right now.

Everything is coming together quite nicely.

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 7

We're definitely on a roll now. Keith banged out vocal tracks for three more songs, as well as acoustic guitar parts for two other songs today.

Brent wrapped up his solo work for a couple songs last night, and is back on for 2 more songs today. After Brent is done, I'll be going back to bass tracks.

We're keeping track of everything on a high tech board, which allows you to keep track of what has been recorded and what still needs to be recorded. I've posted a picture of it below. After the band tracks everything, we are going to include some live string players; violin, viola, and cello. We'll also be tracking some live horns; trumpet, trombone, and french horn.

(The Master Plan)

Everything is coming together nicely. I can't wait to share it with everyone.

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 6

Today has been a real productive day. Everyone was finished by 3:45am yesterday (which was early for us), so we were able to get a bit of an earlier start today.  We finished up a lot of guitar tracks yesterday, so it was onto bass this afternoon. I finished the bass tracks for 3 songs today.

Keith started vocals as well today. He finished vocals for "Bending Over Backwards" and "Please Come Home". They both sound awesome. "Bending Over Backwards" has a bit of an 80's new wave feel, and "Please Come Home" is a slower ballad in 3/4 time with almost a slight country feel. I guess after all these years we're still all over the place. Actually, I think all of these songs are the most cohesive set of songs we've ever assembled. So I guess it just has that WANDAS touch.

Brent will be doing some more solo work late tonight, and then probably back to bass and vocals tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and for anyone who cares, I was recording for the most of the day, so I just resumed "Mike Tyson's Punch Out" and I'm at Super Macho Man.

Cheers,

Ross


Studio - Day 5

I ended up getting a good night sleep last night because I wasn't tracking any bass after midnight. Keith, Patrick and Joe (the lead engineer) had a late night (6:00am) tracking a ton of guitars. Keith and Brent got a bunch of stuff done for about 3-4 of the tracks

Today we're doing a bit more of the same. Keith an brent are plowing through guitar takes. Everything is sounding "amazing" as Patrick would say. This album is considerably more mellow, however the songs have great feel and soul. "Lose You" is shaping up to be an epic song. Patrick put together an unbelievable guitar tone for Brent, and Brent definitely delivered the goods on the performance

We've got a lot done, but there is a lot more to do. I'm definitely looking forward to turning the corner, when you can see all of the songs coming into their own.

In other news, I've gotten completely sidetracked with "Mike Tyson's Punch Out". It's really amazing to me that even after not playing this game for about 20 years, all of the players and idiosyncrasies come right back to me; like riding a bike. This game without a doubt brings back more childhood memories, than any other game.

Until Tomorrow


Ross

Studio - Day 4

We had originally planned to end "earlier" yesterday, but it seems like once you get into that cycle it's hard to break it. We ended up finishing at around 6am for the session. Pete laid down the drum tracks for three of the songs. One on the songs, "lose you" is a real slow laid back tune, with a bit of a swing. Pete's groove, feels great.

Today Pete is finishing the drum tracks for the rest of the album. After that, Brent and Pete will be doing guitar parts for about 2 or 3 of the songs tonight. They'll be a lot of bass to track for me tomorrow.

No monopoly yet today; but we've been preoccupied with "Excite Bike".

Until Tomorrow,

Ross

Studio - Day 3

We had another real late night last night. We didn't tracking until 7 a.m. Since we were making up for yesterday's snafu we had to essentially do double in one day. We were able to finish another song called "Please Come Home". It features a real piano which is a first for theWANDAS recording sessions. For those of you who made it to our last couple shows, we had played these first two songs live.

(Patrick jamming on the Piano, before Keith tracked  "Please Come Home")

Today, Pete is working on drum tracks for three more songs. Everything is sounding really awesome. Patrick is getting amazing sounds from the drums. Everything from a Stevie Wonder-esque pop  to Ringo's kit sound on "Let It Be".

I've won another game of monopoly against Brent, Keith and Josh (one of the engineers). Brent and I beat Bubble Bobble in it's entirety; which is 210 levels. I'll probably tracking bass for these 3 songs either tonight or early tomorrow.

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 2

We finished up last night (this morning) at 6am. We tracked all of the parts for "Bending Over Backwards" Everything sounded great. We're using an array of classic guitars and amps which all have great sounds. We returned to the studio for around 1:30pm this afternoon.

Unfortunately we arrived to listen to last night's work only to find that the song sounded just a tad slow. When we investigated further we realized that we tracked the song 1 bpm (beat per minute) too slow. This is a very small difference, but the entire feel just didn't seem right. So, we decided to re-track the entire thing. Sigh...

After the initial depression, Patrick reminded us that it's better to get it right and feel good about everything when we're done. Rather than regretting it after it's too late. Nonetheless we moved ahead in good spirits. Now we're just about done with the song yet again, and will be tracking another one tonight. Since it's already midnight, we'll be having another late night.

On the non-music related news, we've played 2 games of monopoly. I won the first and Brent won the second. Brent and I are also on level 73 of "Bubble Bobble". Which we're determined to beat before the session's end

Cheers,

Ross

Studio - Day 1

Alright here we go:

Keith and Pete spent the last two days in Montreal with Patrick, working out the songs together. The 3 of them arrived back in Boston last night. The full band and Patrick then went over 3 of the "less finished" tracks and finalized their structure. After practice we headed out on the town for our inaugural drinks of the recording session.

Today we headed to the studio around 1pm. First on the docket will be Pete's drums for one of the more upbeat songs on the album "Bending Over Backwards". It takes some time to start a recording session because you have to get "sounds" for each instrument. This means you combine the instrument, amps, room, microphones, etc to create a good sound, that is consistent throughout the recording.

90% of recording is waiting. Which is what Brent, Keith and I will be doing while Pete records his track. 

We'll be back online later.

Cheers,

Ross

It's Studio Time

Hey WANDAland,

It's an exciting time for us. We're heading Into the studio this Friday, July 25th to record our 3rd full length album and 4th studio release. We haven't recorded a full length album since "Can't Say Danger On The Radio" back in 2005-2006. With the success of our most recent release "You Should Have Listened [EP]" We'll be recording at Paper Cup Studios in Boston MA, with producer Patrick Krief (The Dears) again.

We'll be in there for 2 solid weeks and won't be coming up for air until we have a kick-ass album. All of the songs are written and ready to be tracked. I'm hoping to keep daily updates going on the web site.

When we get out of the studio we'll be playing a couple shows in Worcester MA and Boston MA, so check the Tour Page for up to date info.

Cheers,

Ross

**CANCELED** FRIDAY 3/7/08 SHOW: theWANDAS & KRIEF **CANCELED**

All,

Due to circumstances way beyond our control, we regret to inform you that the show at Great Scott this friday March 7th has been canceled.  We were all looking forward to a great time, but unfortunately the show will not be happening.

Thanks to the department of homeland security, who are keeping us safe from terrorists and starving musicians.
Not all members of Krief, were granted U.S. visas for ridiculous red tape & bureaucratic reasons. I can't express how disappointed we all are. Hopefully we'll work a show out in the near future.

Cheers,
theWANDAS & Krief

Music Video Shoot Date Announced & Boston Show

theWANDAS music video is being shot:

Saturday March 29th and Sunday March 30th at:

120-122 Holton St
Brighton MA 01235

Street parking is open to the public, and there is a parking lot across the street that is open to the public, as long as you don't park overnight.

For people coming from Rhode Island and Central MA, you can look into the commuter rail at: www.mbta.com.

There is a forum setup on our web site for people who want to connect for car pooling. It is located HERE.

For more info visit the official Music Video Production page. 

Also. theWANDAS are performing at Great Scott in Allston, March 7th with Krief, (members of The Dears). These guys are awesome. theWANDAS go on at 8:30pm sharp! It's an early one, so please make plans. The Pill dance night follows, which is always fun. Great music, great times. They've also arranged for our fans to only pay one cover for the entire night.

Cheers,

Ross