Someone once said that if an essentially unknown musician were to issue a "best of" collection it would be a great way to start making a name for one's self.  Well maybe it was never said but it is an ironic thing to do -- and irony is certainly the hallmark of a great artist, right?  Maybe.  Anyway, for the time being, this is a free, MP3-only release.  If it jumps up the Billboard charts or I get an invitation from The Knitting Factory to come and perform, I'll probably start burning plastic, killing trees and selling real CDs.

Background Check is a set of instrumental music recorded between 1987 and 1995.  Most of it has been released to friends and family over the years, including The Non-Commercial in 1995.  I recently went through and picked out a CD's worth of material that was not too embarrassing and still slightly cool (at least in a lo-fi, non-shred guitar oriented psych-prog kind of way).  I should warn you it is slightly possible these recordings are no longer on the cutting edge of modern music.

In any case, all but one of these tracks were recorded on a vintage analog Fostex X-30 4-track, featured on the cover.  I transferred the masters to a non-vintage digital thingy (DAW) where I cleaned them up and remixed using a variety of tools.  So remember this was all pulled from 12-20 year old cassette tapes, not exactly the archive media of choice!

The tracks are listed below.  A few can be downloaded individually but you can get the entire thing in one chunk.  Also there are some bonus tracks here.  So enjoy and take the obvious mistakes and blemishes in stride.  It was all totally planned that way....

The entire thing in zip format (warning big file - 140Mb).  Includes playlist and album art.

By popular demand....  This is a quick sampling of most of the tracks in their original form.  Straight from tape with (almost) no processing.  Listen to this and then tell me if I screwed everything up by remixing!

One of my first recordings -- done using my brother's guitar tuned to something like CGCGCC.  Great for improv...

Boy meets girl, girl cares not, boy crashes car, gets lost in a cloud of despair, finally gets up and shakes it off.   All in just over 8 minutes.

I started writing this with my brother Adam but we quickly went different ways on the direction it should take.  So we agreed to disagree and I took it through about 62 chord changes.  It was dedicated to him on the first tape I made.

From a recording standpoint, I learned a lot on this one.  For example, always tune the instruments before recording and play everything in the same key.  Also, doubling the bass part may be too much if you're not in Spinal Tap.

This one came together by improvising a guitar part on one track.  Then two solo parts were added, the second without listening to the first.  It worked for some reason.

Incidentally, Heavy Water does have a strong Rush influence and they actually released a song called Cold Fire several years later.  What's stranger is that the feelings I attach to my CF could be described as a prequel to the lyrics in their CF.  So props to Neil Peart and Carl Jung.

After hearing Illusion's 1 played backwards I decided to learn the parts that way.  It produced a whole new piece but kept the same mood.

The title stems from the way you can be fooled into reading certain desired signals in another person which are in fact, not real.  A mirage.  Oddly enough, I had the titles before the whole Guns 'n Roses Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 thing in 1990.  Weird...

• i . Too Long in Lotus Land (1:10)
• ii.  Rude Awakening (0:11)
• iii.  Coming Home Confused (1:34)
• iv.  In Need of A Bath (0:56)
• v.  Attack of The Imitator Robots (0:30)
• vi.  Duel for Originality (1:40)
• to be continued...

A lot of ideas going on here.  For one, I had been listening to a local prog metal band a lot and was feeling a little competitive in that regard.  I also wanted to make fun of the excessive neoclassical rock guitar "movement" of the 80's though fully aware I could not play that well...  I was studying music theory in school (which mostly involved four part writing in the baroque style) and learning about MIDI sequencing at home.  So there's some of that.  More of the layered guitar swell thing in the beginning.  Some musique concrète in the middle. 

I started recording this in 1991 and didn't finish until 1995 which kind of adds to the multiple personality aspect. Just to add to the silliness I threw in a bunch of subsections to give it a narrative or whatever...

Came up with some of this while trying to get a band together with my friend Brett, which didn't go too far.  When I finally got around to recording, there were more ideas jammed in there.  In the end it still sounded like a 70's porno soundtrack (I'm told).

The coda section gave me an excuse to use all the little noise making instruments I had been collecting over the years, including a quantum whirly hose thing which changes pitch when you swing it at different speeds.  Just to add to the synchronicity of it all, Radiohead used one much later on Amnesiac after I gave them the go ahead.  I reserved the right to use my hose on future tracks. 

I got some help with the guitar solos.  That's me on solo #1, Adam on #2 and Brian Brooks on #3.

One of the few things (along with the next one) I actually wrote for someone, rather than about experiences with someone.  Originally part of a longer piece, it fades out before giving too much away.

Well, this really is both for and about.  It tries to capture the way a relationship can be both the best of times and the worst of times.  Features sampled e-bow and dulcimer from the Ensoniq ASR-10 which really sounded cool together.

Another one from the Brett & band sessions.  A fast paced tale of waking up to find your house on fire, trying to figure out what to save in a panic, finally accepting your fate, which is quite liberating (so they say).

These pieces came together from different places and times but seemed to stick together well.  I dedicated them to some pet rodents who, at one time, were part of a pretty big clan.  Eventually there were three favorites left.  They met an unfortunate end after their cage was left outside on a hot day...

I put this together after improvising a guide track on the guitar.  The other parts came from a Proteus/2 Orchestral module Adam let me borrow for a while.  At the time, it sounded like heaven in a little black box.

The Akai AX-60 (which I purchased for $100) is featured quite a bit here  Believe it or not, I found the original composition on a computer at the school music department.  It was set up on a primitive sequencer with only one instrument.  I asked around but could never find the original composer.  I found the music so compelling I decided to rearrange and record it.  So thanks "Author Unknown"...

Improvised on guitar while mindful my three friends' fate. 

Coming back full circle..

Still one of my favorites.  I wanted something good to end The Non-Commercial with and busted this out with a couple themes inspired by the solar eclipse in KS -- May, 1994.

More improv.  Props to George Harrison.

This started with a Rickenbacker bass recorded into an ASR-10 sampler and it just went from there.  I added some modern VST programming during the remix which changed things a bit.

***The STUDIOS***

α -- Tanglewood Studios - Shawnee, KS (1987-88)

The basement of my dad's townhouse when I was a senior in high school.  Also the bedroom Adam and I shared.  The walls of the house were very thin which was conducive to recording quiet acoustic music and avoiding repercussion from above.  The HVAC unit did not help, nor did the reflective concrete surfaces. 

I bought an cheap/expensive Italian Seil keyboard (long story) which was used on a few tracks before it died and the company went belly up.  It then spent many years in a repair shop and may still be there now.  Probably a sought after piece of gear these days.  Picked up an Alesis HR-16 drum machine as well which lasted much longer.  It was used on most of the tracks here and afterwards.  I guess that's more of a confession than anything else...

β -- Haze Grey Studios - Great Lakes, IL (1989)

Somehow I was able to get most of my meager studio components to Illinois and into the dorm of this US Naval training facility.  Having a creative outlet at that point made it all worthwhile.

δ -- Park Duplex Studios - Shawnee, KS (1991)

This was a duplex Adam and I, along with our friend Matt Rowe shared for a year.  Didn't record a lot, despite the extra equipment laying around -- thanks to Adam (who got a job in music retail) and the band he practiced with.

ζ -- Foxridge Studios - Mission, KS (1992)

My first apartment.  Huge complex.  Thought about recording a lot but didn't actually do it much.  After moving out, I spent a couple years renting rooms from people.  Most of the studio gear was placed in storage.

θ -- Acorn Studios, Lawrence, KS (1994-95)

After commuting for awhile, I moved to Lawrence while attending KU.  Somehow in between classes and homework I managed to play in a band for a while, do a lot of recording and complete my first "official" release, The Non-Commercial.  Also picked up the ASR-10 during this period which is used on many of the tracks.