Drayton Michaels

Low Stress In The Deep End available at CDBaby.com

OR go straight to the iTunes store!

Low Stress In The Deep End encapsulates Drayton's skills as a vocalist, composer, lyricist and guitarist. Guest musicians include Mike Mussberger (Posies), Keith Lowe (Fiona Apple, David Sylvian) and jazz legend Wayne Horvitz.

Produced by Drayton and Gary Reynolds at Electrokitty Studios in Seattle, Low Stress in the Deep End includes five tracks mixed by Robbie Adams (who has worked with U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon). The CD was mastered at Precision Mastering in LA by Ron Boustead.

Low Stress in the Deep End is a collection of 11 songs that span stylistic boundaries from exuberant pop hooks to quiet and reflective. The heart of the material is supported by the singer-songwriter ethic of personal introspection and well crafted tunes that are memorable. Ever present is the rich warm sounds of acoustic guitar and voice. Along with world class accompaniment, these songs offer a future classic sound.

About the Recording sessions for Low Stress In The Deep End - - - - - - - -



In 2002, Low Stress In The Deep End was a motto for a whole slew of home recordings that eventually materialized into the 11 songs that make up the finished disc.



In many past pro and at home recording settings there was always a distraction or detraction from the proceedings on some level. This time I wanted it to be only about the songs and the music. I decided to find players who had been on pro level sessions as well as people who dug the feel of just making music around a song. In order to keep the songs intact and the energy up, I decided to have no "pre production" with the musicians. Much like jazz sesssions - here is the tune let's do it. So I gave the musicians demo copies and we played the songs at the studio.



Gary Reynolds of Electrokitty studios is a recording head and a song junkie. He runs a great studio and stays focused at all times in the sessions. http://www.myspace.com/electrokitty - - -

We made a good team. He recomended drummer Mike Mussberger from the Posies. That was a great start.



All the players on the CD either knew each other or know of each other. Greg Keplinger was the drum sound guru. He tuned, tweeked and gave an overall well earned opinon to the drum sound for the type of track we were recording.



Anyu - www.anyu.net - who played percussion on two tracks was a catylist for having Dale Fanning's drumming and Kevin Hudson's bass playing. Dale hooked me up with Keith Lowe, http://www.myspace.com/keithlowebass and Keith mentioned Wayne Horvitz when I was looking for a keyboard player. All these people have great reps and play with some amazing artists.



Mandy Anderson came my way during some hip hop sessions I was producing. She made quite an impression. When she sang on the demo of the song Anyway, I knew she would fit with that track as well as a few more.



Cristina Orbe was recomended by Dave Miller as someone to book for a show at Studio 7 in Seattle, so I did and was quite happy I took his advice! Cristina is an amazing singer-songwriter in her own right. http://www.myspace.com/cristina. Both of these women are a great addition to the songs.



Dave Miller plays slide guitar on At Least and is one of the coolest guitarists around. http://www.myspace.com/beehive



Michael Clarke lends his electric guitar on two tracks, Anyway & Thievery. We spent many hours hanging and playing. Please visit www.draytonmichaels.com to hear the tracks Under The Radar and Fall Away. Check out Mr Clarke at http://www.myspace.com/mpc3



It all started on August 6th 2004.



The players got the songs a week or so in advance of the recording dates. In most cases there were no more than three takes after a 30 - 40 min walk through, talk through, listen through. I laid down all the acoustic guitars first to a drum loop. Then a guide vocal. We kept whole takes of the performances and kept digital wizardry to a respectful minimum. We finished tracking all the music by Mid September.



Vocals were cut in October.



There were discussions of a mix producer/engineer from early on. Robbie Adams had done some work out of Electrokitty a few months before I began. He was in town at the right time. He gave a great flow to the five songs he mixed. That set us up for the next 6 songs quite well. From his foundation, Gary and I mixed the remaining songs. We wrapped up the sessions on November 24th.



All in all, it took 40 days from August - November 2004 to capture.



I was blesssed to work with all these amazing people. They deserve much credit. Many people touched this recording. It was an honor and a pleasure working with them. They are all busy and talented people who I recommend checking out - they are doing interesting music all the time.



Low Stress In The Deep End available at CDBaby.com

OR go straight to the iTunes store!