2010

2009 was definitely the best year of my life, so far. so many memories, strides, changes etc. i used to be so stubborn to change, now its like i always crave it. 2010 looks very promising, the year of change and productivity. im excited to go back to school, but im sure as soon as it starts ill fucking hate it for taking my time away from me.

in regards to our EP, we sent our stuff to be mastered yesterday. its going to be a 4 songs EP, produced by bret hudzietz (fiore, a fall farewell) and mastered by beau burchell (saosin). i think its titled "the process of illumination", idk though, its impossible for us 5 to all decide on one thing, haha. we still have to get our ducks in a row in regards to album art and a website though. its gonna be made available to download on our site for free.

moving forward, ive started the writing process for our next batch and hope to have it recorded by april-may, depending on our schedules. im actually really excited about the new batch of stems i have. i havent played guitar in so long, its like i have a renewed love for it like when i first started writing full song arrangements. plus 2009 had some great records so the inspiration is flowing freely.

favorite 11 records of 2009:
11) the mercury program - chez viking
10) rx bandits - mandala
9) thrice - beggers
8) grizzly bear - veckatimest
7) mutemath - armistice
6) as tall as lions - you cant take this with you
5) yeah yeah yeahs - its blitz
4) phoenix - wolfgang amadeus phoenix
3) animal collective - merriweather post pavillion
2) tegan & sara - sainthood
1) st. vincent - actor

st vincent is the best thing ive heard in forever and i recommend everyone listen to this album. this list will probably change after i catch up on all the music thats coming out=] be happy and be safe everyone!



st vincent - the strangers


lovejohnmata.


ps-if you live around san juan capsitrano/southern orange county, we have a show at the ymca with a bunch of bands on the 22nd (friday).

wrex the halls

went to sdsu last night for wrex the halls at viejas arena. got to see all the shit happen behind the scenes which was pretty amazing to see. the production was the largest ive ever seen upclose. got to watch backstage from stage left which was the shiT!

line up:
anberlin - meh.

thrice - killed it. opened up with of dust of nations and closed with beggars. probably my 2 favorite thrice songs at the moment. flawless set. dustin kensrue is the man.

30 seconds to mars - jared leto is probably one of the best front men right now in rock. his voice was amazing, but how he commanded the crowd was absolutely amazing.

rise against - not my thing, but they were really tight

afi - one of, if not the best live shows ive ever seen in my life. jade and hunter is seriously running all over the stage the entire set. non stop. davey sounds amazing live. nostalgia on overload while watching their set.



on a side note: i just went 19-0 in call of duty. i think thats pretty fricken kick a if you ask me. gives me my props!

on another side note: i really love this photo.

madonna before she had arms of a linebacker

pretty gnarly.



thats all for now,
jm<3

preview 1 of 2 up.

greetings!

so we put up the 1st of 2 previews to our new ep. we've gotten good responses so far, which makes me really happy and excited for everyone to hear. i have never done anything with this band that ive been this proud about and i absolutely cannot wait for everyone to hear the mastered version. i think were mastering with beau burchell from saosin. everyone is probably watching thrice right now at house of blues, super jealous.

on a side note, did anyone see that kobe shot that went over the backboard? fricken ridics. its like he was putting on a clinic on how to school clowns.

ill keep up more with this. be safe.

<3jm.

ps-the preview us up on our facebook. add us!

mixxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

were at farewell studios (www.myspace.com/bretfarewellstudios) in laguna niguel, and mr. bret hudzietz is doing a great job right now touching everything up. mixing is where all the fun stuff happens. it makes all the shitty parts sound better, for the most part, hahahaha. the drums is sounding pretty fattt on trading sleep. cant wait for everyone to hear it already!!!!

on a compeltely unrelated but fun note, what were you for halloween? we were robberz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

L-R: the wild card, the looks, the brains, the muscle, the weird looking ninja turtle dude.

yeah, we rule. hope all is well and good.

auf wiedersehen,
john mata

Final Day of Tracking & Group Vocals!

So, yesterday we headed to the studio to finish up tracking for the EP. It was a pretty long session it seemed like. Everyone was already tired going into the studio. Good thing we only had few things to track and touch up.

We did this group vocal part in one of our songs that really picked up the night and woke us up! It was super fun because we had a bunch of us in front of a mic singing, yelling, and screaming. Also, it just so happened that my dad just flew in from Hawaii and wanted to come to the studio to check us out. So, I convinced him to join us in the group vocal and he even did the screaming part! I gotta say it was probably one of the funnest sessions we've had at the studio :D

Finally, all we have left is to mix and master the songs!

So sit tight everybody! It will be finished soon!

Good day,

-Kika

photographic aspect.

greetings!

im listening to our unmixed sessions for our new EP, and the vocals came out reeeeally good. im pretty excited now=]
anyways, ive been trying to be more active with photos.
heres some of kika tracking:








//we
//are
//recording
//vocals
//at
//the
//moment.


all the best,
john

Finishing up vocals.

Just got finished with vocals yesterday. It was a long day but definitely fun :D

Had to work during the day so right after work I went straight to the studio to track my back up vocals and harmonies. Ended up staying in the studio til 1am. Pretty stoked on the outcome of the tracks though! I can't wait for everything to get finalized and finished. Sooooo excited for everyone to hear our new music! We'll be doing minor tweaks here and there but for the most part everything is tracked.

Me and Bret were having fun doing harmonies for the songs[sarcasm]. I would have to say that harmonies are the thing I dread the most about being a singer...ahaha but its always worth it once you hear the end result.

There are two harmonies that stand out to me the most and make me laugh. Don't get me wrong, they sound good as the harmony but isolating them was funny. One of them sounds like the Green Ranger's Flute Call and the other sounds like a Christmas song. I won't specifically tell you where or what song they're in. Lets just make it a little game. How bout if you can guess where they are and what songs theyre in we'll send you a free physical cd[since the cd will be free digitally] or tshirt :D

So tired at work today, im dragging pretty bad. lol



-Kika