HBS

In Deep Owl note from Ben Shepherd

I started this record on Thanksgiving 2009 , partly as a ‘where is he now ‘ note to the world, partly as a re- friending of my old acoustic guitar, and mostly because my friends Dave French and Chad MacMurray said I should use the studio that Chad owned.

Both of them being musicians/producers and fellow night freaks it seemed a natural pursuit, since I was already lurking on the green room couch of the club (the Mix) and studio (Kaos) in the depths of Georgetown, a backwater industrial section of Seattle, seedy and nearly lawless back then, but filled with the best and tightest knit group of hardworking blue collar artists, tradesman, bikers, onlookers, interlopers, truckers, long shore men, chefs, drug dealers, poets, hookers, witches, punk rockin train hoppers, inksters (tattoo artists), a record store , and a coffee shop, the best bar around, a food truck for lunch and skangers of every type. Perfect for me to feel right at home and do this thang.

Needless to say the further we got into this recording, the louder it got. Thanks in part to the great drumming of Matt Cameron and Matt Chamberlain, the music got louder and so did the mood, forcing us to uproot from GT and head to an area called Interbay , which is North towards Ballard but off on an another industrial forgotten vein of Seattle. It also happens to be where an old and dear friend Gerry Amandes runs a studio -it has no name, it’s behind a sex club, (yeesh thats where some uglier than me folk go to get it on in public) but it was where we could record all day, and all night , at all volumes.

So Dave French and I carried on with this recording, bringing in the drummers Matt Chamberlain again for another song but also Joseph Braley, and Greg Gilmore to lend their mastery and patience to this thing. Also bringing in the saxophones (tenor and baritone)of the one and only , Klaus Lustica and later bringing in the upright bass played by another Georgetowner and amazing bassist Steve Kim. This studio is where the bulk of recording and developing scurvy seemed to go on but it kept the main vibe of bohemian industrial, beat nickery, with Dave’s ever present vigilance and encouragement that we were sticking to night freak isms. Green bud, whiskey and bar tabs helped too.

During this time too, people stopping by or lending their hands on different songs were starting to say, “is this song on the same record as that last one?” I would laugh and get to say, yes.

This is also when I ran into Adam Kasper and brought up having him mix this here little recording. Low and behold, a few months later we’d do that and more to finish this off , mixing and producing with Nate Yaccino who was Adams assistant on some Soundgarden remixes and making of King Animal.

Nate became vitally instrumental in this whole thing by being there til the end to see it through , mixing and remixing ,producing and reproducing tracks, from studio to studio.

To all the people who helped, by loaning me money, by extending my tabs, by giving us food or money for it, by giving opinions and guidance through them by being forced to listen to mixes, by just being them whoever they may be and by letting me be me, I would like to say a very loud THANKS and hope you like ‘ In Deep Owl ‘ as much as we liked making it!

HB Shepherd

In Deep Owl note from Ben Shepherd

I started this record on Thanksgiving 2009 , partly as a ‘where is he now ‘ note to the world, partly as a re- friending of my old acoustic guitar, and mostly because my friends Dave French and Chad MacMurray said I should use the studio that Chad owned.

Both of them being musicians/producers and fellow night freaks it seemed a natural pursuit, since I was already lurking on the green room couch of the club (the Mix) and studio (Kaos) in the depths of Georgetown, a backwater industrial section of Seattle, seedy and nearly lawless back then, but filled with the best and tightest knit group of hardworking blue collar artists, tradesman, bikers, onlookers, interlopers, truckers, long shore men, chefs, drug dealers, poets, hookers, witches, punk rockin train hoppers, inksters (tattoo artists), a record store , and a coffee shop, the best bar around, a food truck for lunch and skangers of every type. Perfect for me to feel right at home and do this thang.

Needless to say the further we got into this recording, the louder it got. Thanks in part to the great drumming of Matt Cameron and Matt Chamberlain, the music got louder and so did the mood, forcing us to uproot from GT and head to an area called Interbay , which is North towards Ballard but off on an another industrial forgotten vein of Seattle. It also happens to be where an old and dear friend Gerry Amandes runs a studio -it has no name, it’s behind a sex club, (yeesh thats where some uglier than me folk go to get it on in public) but it was where we could record all day, and all night , at all volumes.

So Dave French and I carried on with this recording, bringing in the drummers Matt Chamberlain again for another song but also Joseph Braley, and Greg Gilmore to lend their mastery and patience to this thing. Also bringing in the saxophones (tenor and baritone)of the one and only , Klaus Lustica and later bringing in the upright bass played by another Georgetowner and amazing bassist Steve Kim. This studio is where the bulk of recording and developing scurvy seemed to go on but it kept the main vibe of bohemian industrial, beat nickery, with Dave’s ever present vigilance and encouragement that we were sticking to night freak isms. Green bud, whiskey and bar tabs helped too.

During this time too, people stopping by or lending their hands on different songs were starting to say, “is this song on the same record as that last one?” I would laugh and get to say, yes.

This is also when I ran into Adam Kasper and brought up having him mix this here little recording. Low and behold, a few months later we’d do that and more to finish this off , mixing and producing with Nate Yaccino who was Adams assistant on some Soundgarden remixes and making of King Animal.

Nate became vitally instrumental in this whole thing by being there til the end to see it through , mixing and remixing ,producing and reproducing tracks, from studio to studio.

To all the people who helped, by loaning me money, by extending my tabs, by giving us food or money for it, by giving opinions and guidance through them by being forced to listen to mixes, by just being them whoever they may be and by letting me be me, I would like to say a very loud THANKS and hope you like ‘ In Deep Owl ‘ as much as we liked making it!

HB Shepherd

Members

• Ben Shepherd