When my alarm went off at 4:30 am, I smelled coffee brewing, preset from the night before. My recurring Metallica audition dream came to an abrupt end, again. A few minutes later, as I cradled a cup of joe, I thought of the day ahead. One word came to mind: ketchup.
Not the tasty fry dipping kind, though. More like “catch up.” Tuesday was an unexpectedly full day. Yesterday, I had to get caught up on all the stuff I let slide.
I spent the morning mixing a Christmas project. Christmas? In February? Actually, yes. Music licensing for the Christmas season begins in July. Tracks have to be ready by March. I was able to complete two of three mixes by noon. This band, who asked to remain anonymous, has a cool vibe.
At 12 pm, I paused for a 15 minute lunch. Then, I travelled across town to the WQFS radio station at Guilford College. Beginning at 1 pm, I spent an hour on the air with Chris Roulhac. We talked about The Return of Spring—I performed half of the record live on the air. Radio interviews are fun. Thanks for tuning in if you did.
I returned to the studio at 2 pm to complete the remaining mix. I got things sounding as good as I could and finished at 4 pm. Then, I loaded the mixes into my phone and took Lord Smithfield for a walk. Everything sounded great. Very Christmasy. I’ll need to adjust the volume on two of the three tracks, but that’s an easy post-pro thing.
At five, I wrapped things up for the day. As I write this down, it doesn’t seem like an intense day on paper. I guess, if left to my own plan, I’d rather complete this amount of work over two days rather than one.
I am caught up. I like ketchup.
