All comments by SC
2022
2020
Never Alone In Here
Put on line on 08.05.20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM6F6-jJz60
Klark Kent 'It's gonna rain'
Put on line on 09.05.20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEvTATjC5GY
2015
Ginger Baker and SC
Put on line :04.12.15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3xjzxInOZA
Even on the ornery day that Mr. Baker was having he could give us this one minute of mad genius. The hi-hat work alone is a monument.
A Little more noise Peart, Carey, Stone, Scannell & Copeland at the Sacred Grove
Put on line :16.02.15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mUjLAWIj7E
..with Mike Dolbear, Thomas Lang, Dave Elich & Aaron Sterling.
Some new drums arrived so Peart and Carey came over to lay heavy hands upon them. Scannell and I banged out any old riffs while Stone chimed the gongs.
Couple days later four MORE drummers dropped by and took up the horns. The piano was an afterthought.
2013
Animal Logic at the Sacred Grove with Deborah Holland, Stanley Clarke
Put on line :11.09.13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBLUwHTCiOE
Whipping Boy
Just because Deborah brought in a song doesn't mean this isn't spontaneous. We just ran it down a couple of times and then went straight into crazy overdub mode.
This drummer is at the RIGHT gig!
Put on line : 25.02.13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GZMdvSyS-M&feature=em-uploademail
Thomas Lang and Erin Feinberg came over on two separate days. Figured I could match them up. Mike Dolbear kept it rational.
Primus & SC
Put on line : 28.01.13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXaee7WmlwU&feature=em-uploademail
Primus came over and before you know it they got the treatment...
Andy Summers, Jeff Lynne & Stewart Copeland
Put on line : 07.01.13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzyycuoNjA&feature=em-uploademail
Buster Blues
Andy and Jeff (Man of Mystery) came by for dinner, after which we hit the Blues. Then Primus made an unexpected appearance...
2012
Serj Tankian, Stewart Copeland, Omar Fadel
Put on line : 21.12.12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSYiOkEILIE&feature=em-uploademail
Sunday Nuts - Another idle afternoon with Serj and Omar just coming up with stuff. As usual, nobody in here but us players. Untouched by professional hands.
Snoop Lion, Stewart Copeland & Armand Sabal Lecco
Put on line : 25.08.12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fokIxbY6TGo
THIS THAT SHIT
Snoop dropped by late one night. After smacking every instrument in the room he got on the mic and started coming up with all this cool stuff. This is all total improv.
Taylor Hawkins, Matt Stone, Chris Chaney, SC
Put on line : 13.06.12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2N4gXViE1U&feature=em-uploademail
Chris came up with these cool bass lines while Taylor went nuts on the octobans. Then Matt and me figured out some easy brass parts. Tim brought a fancy ass camera and Brad was the audience.
So Fool for Love
Put on line : 05.03.12 ( second video version )
Stanley Clarke, Ben Harper and SC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxoxmQ6oYx0
Too Cool Hats
Put on line : 08.02.12
Stanley came over and just started playing all this cool stuff. The backing tracks were completely spontaneous and the overdubs were pretty hasty too. Check out where Stanley goes after the groove ends. This is something you don't see every day...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM9IXnZ3Fsk
Happy Cut
Put on line : 27.01.12
Stanley Clarke and SC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-iFCJE8zk&list=LLyefmH8D5vbeiZLLTNtxGyw&index=2&feature=plpp_video
dead link !!!!
Blotto mondo
Put on line : 16.01.12
Danny Carey, Larry Lalonde, Matt Stone and Stewart Copeland
This was a particularly riotous party, and if the movie is a bit choppy it's because there were many sections that were too insane for family entertainment.
S.C
2011
Piven at the Pump'
Put on line : 23.12.11
Jeremy Piven and Stewart Copeland at the Sacred Grove
Like many actors, JP is a latent musician. He came over to shoot something for a show that he's making but I got him on the drums. He had his camera crew but I too have the technolgy. Every inch of the Grove is bugged.
S.C
The Prince of Cameroon
Put on line : 08.12.11
Armand Sabal Lecco & Stewart Copeland at the Sacred Grove
The mighty ARMAND SABAL LECCO came over one afternoon. With nothing prepared we just improvised a groove and then ran the tape again for an overdub of the next thing that came into our heads. Later I figured out some MIDI piano, found a moment for some live guitar and re-recorded the brass parts (post sync) with actual notes.
The movie was shot on Photo Booth (which is why it's backwards) and edited on Final Cut Pro
Qakastan Hymn of the Republic
Put on line : 23.11.11
Serj Tankian, Omar Fadel and Stewart Copeland at the Sacred Grove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqOET3-ufxw&context=C361d9c4ADOEgsToPDskKcvrBmZtzkifJ-jywpCMFq
''Carey Claypool Copeland Peart - Count Drumula''
Big guys at Katsuya. Neil Peart and Danny Carey are tall bastards. I'm six foot two on my hind legs but in conversation with these two mighty rhythmatists I mostly address their Adams apples. Les Claypool and I are similarly vertically blessed but we're both sitting up straight at our table at the fancy Westside cool restaurant. At least we can look down on Brad Sands, who is of normal height.
In such company are the very elements of our species understood and discussed. We are the unifying pulse that drew our pre-human bipedal ancestors into community. All other shamanistic callings derive from our calling of the time. Anyway, after a roaring dinner and a couple of shots of that ancient tequila we're all feeling pretty important as the cars take us up the canyon to the Grove.
Neil quickly commands the drum set while Les plugs the Fred bass into a not-museum-quality but powerful Carlsbro stack. Dang! I haven't yet figured out the DI on that crate but the monster bleeds into every mic in the room.
I have Sennheiser MD421s on all the amps and Toms with Shure BETA52s in all the Gong and kick drums. A pair of Neumann U87s gets the overall room sound and I have strategically mounted Shure KSM44s and SM7Bs for brass instruments, vocals and such. Many happy hours have I spent climbing around the orchard concealing wires and technology to leave just the instruments easy to grab and play. The recording technology is pre-rigged and line checked, with every mic routed to a known channel on my DP session. But you can hardly see any of it. I just hit the red light and every inch of the Grove is recording. Never crossed my mind to make a movie but Brad picks up a little handy cam and starts filming.
Danny and I fan out on all kinds of other stuff. There are three drum rigs including the standard set but Danny is busting out on the bass clarinet, the trombone and the baritone sax - which big horn looks like a toy on him.
Neil has the room shaking as Les pumps out the low-end riffs. Danny wails on the baritone, surges on the timpani and takes a turn on pretty much every device he can lay hand or lip to. I get to play the gong drum rack and groove along at the Grove with the Peart power train.
In a long ceremony of fun and groove the air throbs while the African and Oriental demi-gods that inhabit the Grove dance with the local djinns of the Chumash. The primal forces are unbound and we call out their names in weird tongues as our pulse drives them into frenzy!
Next morning I see what I got. After hitting the red button last night I gave no further thought to the technology so now is when I find out what fruit the Grove has borne.
Even after a couple of aspirins it's a LOT of banging and clattering. Just like my recordings of the Congo pygmy parties, which were unbelievably intense ceremonies, you kind of had to be there. But there is also some cool stuff that shines in the light of day. These aren't recordings of musicians making recordings (all business), they're glimpses of the deeper elements that produce the music that you pay for. When the jams come into focus there is a real charisma to them. All I have to do is carve Mount Rushmore out of all this rock.
S.C
Neil Peart
Drums - Tama Starclassic bubinga, with Paiste cymbals
Danny Carey
Timpani - Adams 35 inch
Bass Clarinet - 1952 Selmer
Trombone - Pukert, made in Germany -- year unknown
Baritone Sax - 1977 Conn "Mexico"
Les Claypool
Bass - 1979 custom electric semi acoustic upright bass
Carlsbro Stingray Pro Bass 150 watt
Stewart Copeland
Gong Rack - Tama gong drum with octobans
Paiste exotic cymbal rack
Guitar - 1979 maple Fender Stratocaster
1960 tweed Fender Champ
Trombone - Filmore Bros. Elite (with valves)
Baritone Tuba - 1911 Conn Master Art
BBb Tuba - 1914 J W York & Sons
Keyboards - 1949 Hammond Model M
1958 Leslie Model 45
GigaStudio Grand Piano (MIDI)
Vocals - Shure SM78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayxZSr8CFO0&context=C387ae64ADOEgsToPDskJG-0PV0RvJlrmUSihofMeC