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Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:36 pm
by GroovyYeti
Bored and starving for anything Soul Asylum I saw a video on Soul Asylum's facebook page of Michael Bland recording a bass track in the studio. I remember hearing Dave say that Michael is also responsible for the putting together the setlist each night. Also I don't know know if this is true but my friend who was at the concert in Poughkeepsie said that Dave and Michael shared the tour bus and Winston and Justin travelled in a 'rented' vehicle, granted this was the last show of this part of the tour so maybe they were headed somewhere different.

It's just interesting to me how big of a role Michael plays in Soul Asylum now, he seems pretty awesome, but it sorta makes Winston and Justin seem liked hired guns.

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:41 pm
by Yaz McBoo
Winston lives in NYC, so I imagine he does his own thing when they are "in the area." I wouldn't read too much into what vehicle they traveled in, one particular night. And I get the feeling that Justin is the defacto guitarist. Sounds like it was the opportunity of a lifetime for him, to audition for, and to join, the band, and I don't see him or Dave deciding otherwise at this point.

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:17 am
by nikkip
As far as I could tell, everyone is on the bus? Yaz brings up a good point about Winston being close to come for the last show. And that it's best not to read too much into things. i was just thinking yesterday after I watched this: http://m.rock933.com/features/live-perf ... sylum-973/ that I don't think Dave has ever seemed so happy with his band until recent years. He's constantly saying how much he loves his band, he has the best band now and how his band is better than ever now.

Then I just read this a few minutes ago:
My problem is that as the band gets better, it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn, which is weird. I’m tooting the horn of the people who are playing with me. I don’t change as far as getting better at what I do, but the band has made leaps and bounds in ways that are beyond my imagination as far as the potential goes and what it is capable of. The sky is the limit and that has not always been the case. I love these guys and the way they naturally gift and it comes second nature. I love the way nothing is forced. Everything is doable and you do it and then maybe you decide what your attitude is after you’re doing it. That’s a completely different trajectory than deciding you can’t do it because you don’t like it. That sums it up. It’s an incredible group of musicians. It’s just three dudes, but it took me forever to find them.
http://whopperjaw.net/dave-pirner-lovin ... is-forced/

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:43 am
by Yaz McBoo
Great find, thanks Nikki!

These interviews are the total opposite of the stuff that came out around the time of Delayed Reaction. Glad to see Dave is having a great time again.

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:57 am
by nikkip
Yaz McBoo wrote:Great find, thanks Nikki!

These interviews are the total opposite of the stuff that came out around the time of Delayed Reaction. Glad to see Dave is having a great time again.
Same here. I'm really happy for him. I remember watching the interview where he said he should have been a welder after Delayed Reaction came out and wondering how much longer the band would go on.

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:50 pm
by GroovyYeti
Yeah, you can definitely tell Dave is loving it. Which is great for us because it means more music and more shows!

In the interview before that mini acoustic set they did for Rock 93-3 - Dave said this is his favorite version of the band, which honestly made me a little sad (Grant and Karl was my favorite line up), but I do feel that this version of SA is the tightest, musicially, out of all the versions. I feel the guitar work of Justin probably stands out the most, he seems very techincal, where as Dave and Dan are a little more thrashy/loose. Which works both ways depending on peoples preference. You can really hear it when you compare Justins intro for "Somebody to Shove" and the older performances of it. At the end of the day I'm just happy there is a Soul Asylum out there making music.

Re: Michael Bland recording bass tracks for new album

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:09 pm
by Closer
GroovyYeti wrote: You can really hear it when you compare Justins intro for "Somebody to Shove" and the older performances of it.
Dave played that intro on the record but he never managed to play it the same way again live, and now it seems that he leaves Justin to play that part and he's technically a better player so it sounds better.

Dan had a very own style and I'm curious to see how that will affect the new album now he's no longer part of it, because at the end of the day it's not about how technical you are but about what feel you give a song.