Cody Beebe and the Crooks "Friends of the Old Mill"

We didn’t have anything to do with it, but we’re still big fans of former Vicarious Rex artist Cody Beebe, who’s new album with The Crooks is available now. The album is titled “Friends of the Old Mill” and can purchased through the band’s website www.codybeebeandthecrooks.com or you can also find it on iTunes.

…and what a trip it was….Every once in a while it’s nice to get out of town to revitalize the spirit and, in the case of Vrex, recharge some musical inspiration batteries. With that in mind, Jake and I took Vrex on the road this past weekend to the Emerald city of Seattle. Highlights? you got it….

First, we started off our day of awesomeness by eating what is probably the best breakfast ever at Beth’s Cafe on Aurora Ave. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing the hashbrowns were…..

…..moving on to some music related activities…..After breakfast we headed to London Bridge Studios where former Vicarious Rex recording artist Cody Beebe is recording his new album. The studio first surged to fame after recording Pearl Jam’s “Ten” and has housed many prominent bands such as Alice in Chains, Blind Melon, Soundgarden, Nickelback and 3 Doors Down. Cody and Owner/Producer Jonathan Plum were gracious enough to let us sneak a peak at the studio and sit in on some drum editing and bass overdubs. The experience was amazing and I was floating on cloud nine afterward…..in an effort to return to reality we took a break from music activities for a few hours to drive around in search of parking spaces and then battle it out for mini-golf supremacy at the Interbay Golf Center…..

…..The nightcap kicked off with a trip to the Tractor Tavern in Ballard to see the final show on Miles Kurosky’s nationwide tour. Miles was great and the show couldn’t have been more fun (unless there were horns maybe). Having limited experience with Miles’ music, I was blown away by the performance and became an instant fan. If you haven’t heard him, or his former indie rock band Beulah, you definitely need to check out some of the tunes.

Welp, those are the highlights, but not the whole story so if you want to know more about our trip, like where to find the best pizzeria next to a boat company, who is the supreme chancellor of mini-golf or what happens when you pass das boot without taking a drink, just send us an email.

Rock and/or Roar!
Chris

Welp, here we are, a new post.  If you are the kind of person who eagerly awaits new updates from Vrex and is constantly checking the site….you’ve probably been getting disappointed on  a daily basis for the last month and a half.  You may have been asking yourself, “What the heck is going on with those guys…did their crazy little  dream of keeping a local recording studio afloat in Walla Walla finally run its course?”  Well to answer the question that I put in your head for you….no way, no how and not yet.  In fact, the reason there haven’t been any new posts in a while is because we’ve had so many projects lately there hasn’t been time to get them sorted out and on the site.  I’ll be posting about all the happenings (and the upcomings) in the next few days, but first I wanted to get the word out about a couple of cool events happening this Saturday 3/20.

If you don’t have plans for Saturday evening yet, grab a friend and do what I’m going to do (Which is the following)…  First, at 7:30 head over to Cordiner Hall on the Whitman campus to see the Nancy Wells dance production titled, “The Windy Wizard of Walla Walla.”  While there, take a peak through the program and check out the Vicarious Rex ad (big thanks to Joel at Walla Walla Village Winery for piecing that together).  Oh, and all the music you’re hearing as the soundtrack was put together at Vicarious Rex!

After the live dance performance, top off your night of fun by heading to the Jim German Bar in Waitsburg for the super fantastic album release show of Vicarious Rex friends “The Table of Contents.”  The show will be starting around 9, and I can tell you first hand, good times will be had by all.  The JGB, if you’ve never been, is a really cool venue and place to enjoy your Saturday night.  Not positive, but you probably have to be 21 to get in though.  But if you’re not 21, go anyway, buy a CD and then stand outside the window and look real sad….maybe someone will take pity and let you in.  Anyway, The Table of Contents plays a real fun live show so bring your dancing shoes.  Oh, and while you’re there come say hi to the guy running the mixing board (that’ll be me:).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned to the Vrex channel, and we promise to minimize your lack of new blog disappointment in the future.

Rock and Roar!

Chris

What is “The Abyss” you ask?  It’s a place where rogue resonating sound waves go to die….and it’s also the code name for the newly constructed vocal isolation booth in the studio.  Da beej and me put on our hard hats and work gloves this past weekend to develop the storage closet in the back of the live room into a fully functioning vocal booth.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to take any pictures of our hard work, but once we take care of a few finishing touches we’ll finally be able to put together our “tour of the studio” photo gallery.

The addition of the iso booth to the studio adds a lot of functionality.  Not only is the booth a great acoustic environment to record vocals,  it also will serve as another room to separate live performers and isolate guitar amps….all good things.

Woohoo!

-Chris

First things first, we are aware that we have not quite been holding up our end of the bargain in terms of updating with new posts. We don't have a very good excuse, but a glorious start to the new year, one Caribbean cruise and the inevitable end of all of our time off sure didn't help.

Alright! Now that we got that out of the way we can get on to the good stuff. The Jumping Fountains full-length is coming along nicely. All of the primary instruments (drums, bass, guitar and synth) have been tracked and await the nimble fingers and finely tuned ears of our sound engineer (and fearless leader), Chris Bigley. JF should be hitting the vocal booth, as time allows for it, over the next few weeks and beyond that, and a few other small instrumental parts, the CD should be finished. We are all starting to get very excited about the way the songs are coming together and are absolutely giddy with the thought that we will be able to share them with you in the not so distant future.

Until that day arrives, however, we will be sure to maintain a higher rate of "postage" on the VREX main page. Many thanks to all of you that have been checking back for updates, we will do our best to keep you fully supplied with the stuff you crave. For the time being, enjoy these shots of JF bassist, lovingly known as, "da beej".

Pendulum clock rock,

Jake

We here at Vicarious Rex understand that the world isn't only about music (although it is MOSTLY about music). To any extent, we love a good photo as much as anyone else, and if the photo is of a band, guitar, concert stage, horn section, or amp tube, we love it even more!

To help meet the world's need for quality music-themed photos, we are introducing a new "Photos" section to our website. This new section will have pictures of bands we work with, events we go to, changes we make to the studio, and more! For now, we are only featuring photos of Walla Walla's, The Blast, but expect many more categories to be introduced over the next couple of weeks. So what are you waiting for? Go check out some pics!

As Always... Rock and Roar,

As with all things in life, the first day of recording the album didn't exactly go as planned. To begin with, a faulty alarm clock contributed to a late start, and once we all made it to the studio, we found many more things to slow us down (including some mysterious disappearing drum hardware).

The better part of the day was spent tuning up the drums and developing tempos for scratch tracks, after which we were finally ready to hit record on some drum tracks. I don't know if it was the KFC bowl he ate for lunch or the hours of listening to a monotonous tone generator while we worked on the drums, but once it came time to lay down his tracks, Zach was a one-take machine. He powered through five of the eight songs in about two hours, making up for a lot of the day's lost time. In the end we came out with some rockin' drums tracks and a great start on the album.

Stay tuned for daily updates throughout the process of recording the album. Next up, more drums and then on to bass and guitars.....

Chris

Today marks the first day of tracking for Jumping Fountains at VREX Studios. Jumping Fountains is made up of four Walla Walla natives with a love of rock and an even stronger love of not taking themselves too seriously. JF will be recording a full-length over the next couple of weeks with the help of Vicarious Rex Studios and the expertise of our very own Chris Bigley. JF is planning to produce a limited number of CDs and the album (currently being called, "Jump This") will also be released for download through the Vicarious Rex website. More posts/photos documenting Jumping Fountains studio time will be put up as they become available so don't be afraid to check back regularly. Also be sure to check out JF's "Rock 'n' Roll Coyote" to get a taste of what the band is all about.

Welp, the decorations are up, the cookies are in the oven and all the familiar songs of the season are on the stereo...that means it's time to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

It's been a big year for VRex.  In March we moved into our studio and kicked off a new era in the evolution of the recording studio/label.  The new space was a much needed upgrade and solidified our presence in Walla Walla...  and what's a new space without some new gear to start tweaking?  With that in mind we made a significant investment in the quality of our services by upgrading our board, mics, instruments and computer equipment.  Lastly, thanks to the substantial effort and genius of our very own Jake Carlson, we finally started a complete overhaul and redesign of the website.  Though we didn't meet all of our goals for the year (most notably putting on an all-ages rock concert in Walla Walla...still in the works, stay tuned), we still did pretty well, and 2010 is setting up to be another huge year for us.