Hey there – this is Pat from The Cocktail Revisionists. I am really excited to announce that we have released a new EP called “Corpse Reviver No. 1”, featuring remixed and remastered versions of some songs from our “This is my happy face” LP.
This EP is available on all of the popular streaming services. Here are some quick links to get you started:
Here’s the story: When we recorded these songs back in 2004 and 2005, we were using some newer recording technology that I didn’t fully understand, and over the years I have wished I could go back and re-work some of these mixes. There are some really great songs on that record, and I don’t think those original mixes did them justice.
“Happy Face” was our third and most ambitious record. It had our most complex song arrangements, and featured some amazing performances from guest musicians who added new textures with cello, trumpet and keyboard parts.
This was also the first time we tried recording directly to computer. Prior to 2004, were recording on an 8-track reel-to-reel tape deck (Tascam 38). When you have only 8 tracks you have some built-in limits on how many distinct parts you can record. And sure, there are ways to record more than 8 tracks using bouncing (Sgt. Pepper was recorded on 4-track technology for example), but recording directly onto the computer was a pretty significant change in our approach. All of a sudden, we could have as many tracks as we wanted. Which was great from a creative standpoint, but it meant the mixing process needed a whole different skill set. Which I didn’t really have at the time… 🙂
I will be the first to admit I was in a bit over my head on this project. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot and gained a bunch of experience by recording and mixing not only my own bands, but other bands as well. In the 15 years since we originally tracked these songs, this additional experience has put me in a much better position to do great mixes for a project like this.
When the pandemic lockdowns hit in March 2020, I was trying to write new music for the 3rd Stellarator EP, but was having a really hard time being creative. So as a distraction one night, I located the original source tracks from Arbusto and tried to do a remix to see if it would sound better. The remixed version came out really great! So I picked a couple more, found the source tracks and tried mixing them. Consistently, I felt the new mixes were getting to the “heart” of these songs, and I was unlocking what we were trying to sound like as a band, as well as what Leslie and I were trying to do with writing of the songs.
And while I was very tempted to re-record some of the clunkier bits, I decided I would work only with the original performances from the original songs. The only place where I cheated a little is I changed the piano sound on “This Little Hell” to an electric piano (Wurlitzer) from the original grand piano sound. But it is the same actual performance that I played back in 2004. Everything else is using the original tracks as they were recorded in 2004 and 2005. If you are familiar with these songs, you may hear new details that you might not have heard in the original mixes, and you may even think we re-recorded some of them. That is my hope anyway. In any case, I think these 2020 remixes sound much closer to our vision, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to give these songs a second chance!
It was a lot of fun to do this project. I really hope you enjoy getting re-acquainted with these songs, or hearing them for the first time. Thanks for taking the time to read this too!
— Pat Stirrat, October 2020
