Rush - Working On New Material
Neil Peart posted an update on his official website, here there are some extracts from his message:
"The day I picked up Alex and Geddy at the local airport was sunny, but near freezing, and the three of us hugged each other through masses of coats, scarves, and gloves. All bundled-up like . . . Canadians in winter."
...
"Earlier this winter, when the three of us were making plans for our meeting in Quebec, I had been jokingly calling it our "corporate retreat." And indeed, we do have some "business" to discuss, but first ? we eat and drink."
...
"As recounted in my previous news report, back in January I had sent Alex and Geddy some lyrics. I knew they had been working with some of them, but I hadn't heard anything yet. That day in my kitchen, we had a momentary panic when Alex went searching through his bags and couldn't find the CD ? frantically calling his son Adrian in Toronto to try to have it sent up, or to be uploaded somehow to the Internet so we could download it there (the extremities of modern technology). Adrian reported that he couldn't find the CD in Alex's studio either. Alex had another look in the part of his bag where "he would never put it," and walked back into the kitchen holding the clear plastic case, shaking his head.
"That was close."
We gathered before the fire in the living room and started listening. As the songs played out, the response we all shared was a sense of clarity ? for Alex and Geddy, playing the songs for me that first time threw their strengths and weaknesses into sharp contrast, and they kept saying things like, "I know what we have to do here." Same for me, lyrically ? I was very gratified to hear parts that worked, saying "Yeah" when I heard Geddy sing a line just perfectly, while also knowing right away what I could improve upon.
There were five song sketches ? guitar, vocals, and drum machine ? and I liked them all. I also noticed those songs already seemed to have a sort of unity, a stylistic approach of chord structures, rhythms, and vocal delivery that I could only describe as "spiritual." I'll say no more about that aspect until we get farther into it, but it was wonderful that after thirty years of working together, we could still find different paths to explore together."
...
"So now I'm going to spend the month of May in Toronto, where we have rented a small studio. It will be great to have the opportunity to work together on those songs, and hopefully some new ones, too. For me, after spending more than a year working on my book, Roadshow, it will be nice to take off the "author" hat (BMW Motorcycles baseball cap) and put on my "lyricist" hat (the old cowboy special, given to me by a fan in Dallas, that I always think helps keep my versifying down-to-earth) and my "drummer" hat (African prayer cap).
I like all of those hats, and all of those jobs, but it's especially the drumming I'm looking forward to right now. Lately I've been getting all inspired about "hitting things with sticks," driving around listening to Steve Smith's recorded work (to keep me humble) and enjoying a couple of sessions of "drum duets" with my friends Chris Stankee and Gregg Bissonette (another humbling, but inspiring experience)."
...
"I wrote earlier that when I first heard the new songs from Alex and Geddy, the word that occurred to me was "spiritual." I wonder if there's such a thing as "spiritual drumming?"
I'm working on it."
To read the whole message visit: http://www.neilpeart.net
"The day I picked up Alex and Geddy at the local airport was sunny, but near freezing, and the three of us hugged each other through masses of coats, scarves, and gloves. All bundled-up like . . . Canadians in winter."
...
"Earlier this winter, when the three of us were making plans for our meeting in Quebec, I had been jokingly calling it our "corporate retreat." And indeed, we do have some "business" to discuss, but first ? we eat and drink."
...
"As recounted in my previous news report, back in January I had sent Alex and Geddy some lyrics. I knew they had been working with some of them, but I hadn't heard anything yet. That day in my kitchen, we had a momentary panic when Alex went searching through his bags and couldn't find the CD ? frantically calling his son Adrian in Toronto to try to have it sent up, or to be uploaded somehow to the Internet so we could download it there (the extremities of modern technology). Adrian reported that he couldn't find the CD in Alex's studio either. Alex had another look in the part of his bag where "he would never put it," and walked back into the kitchen holding the clear plastic case, shaking his head.
"That was close."
We gathered before the fire in the living room and started listening. As the songs played out, the response we all shared was a sense of clarity ? for Alex and Geddy, playing the songs for me that first time threw their strengths and weaknesses into sharp contrast, and they kept saying things like, "I know what we have to do here." Same for me, lyrically ? I was very gratified to hear parts that worked, saying "Yeah" when I heard Geddy sing a line just perfectly, while also knowing right away what I could improve upon.
There were five song sketches ? guitar, vocals, and drum machine ? and I liked them all. I also noticed those songs already seemed to have a sort of unity, a stylistic approach of chord structures, rhythms, and vocal delivery that I could only describe as "spiritual." I'll say no more about that aspect until we get farther into it, but it was wonderful that after thirty years of working together, we could still find different paths to explore together."
...
"So now I'm going to spend the month of May in Toronto, where we have rented a small studio. It will be great to have the opportunity to work together on those songs, and hopefully some new ones, too. For me, after spending more than a year working on my book, Roadshow, it will be nice to take off the "author" hat (BMW Motorcycles baseball cap) and put on my "lyricist" hat (the old cowboy special, given to me by a fan in Dallas, that I always think helps keep my versifying down-to-earth) and my "drummer" hat (African prayer cap).
I like all of those hats, and all of those jobs, but it's especially the drumming I'm looking forward to right now. Lately I've been getting all inspired about "hitting things with sticks," driving around listening to Steve Smith's recorded work (to keep me humble) and enjoying a couple of sessions of "drum duets" with my friends Chris Stankee and Gregg Bissonette (another humbling, but inspiring experience)."
...
"I wrote earlier that when I first heard the new songs from Alex and Geddy, the word that occurred to me was "spiritual." I wonder if there's such a thing as "spiritual drumming?"
I'm working on it."
To read the whole message visit: http://www.neilpeart.net
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