One
day I found a note that had been rained on for several hours hanging
from my door. It's gibberish at this point and I'm lucky enough to be
able to pick the phone number out. I call the number out of curiosity.
I end up talking to John Pupillo, the
front man for Red Desert. He says he is looking for a bass player to
do some live shows in support of the release of his cd " Squab
Kill ". I ask him what style of music this is and he tells me " Adult
contemporary that rides the crest of a wave". In the confusion
that follows I ask who referred him to me and who else is playing in
his band. He says he was sent to me by Michael Lummio a guitarist that
recorded with him. Mike is one of my best friends and we never
get to play in bands together as we are into different musical styles
but I jump at this chance to gig with him and say yes. Mike is
in Italy for a couple of weeks so we start the practice sessions with
the drummer Eric Kaye and the second guitarist Caesar Hernandez. I've
known Caesar since we were kids in school and worked with him a
for a year in a metal band. We practice for a couple of weeks at which
point Caesar disappears but luckily Mike is back home so we get
to work and do a few shows including Shuba's in Chicago as well as the
Beat Kitchen and Phyllis's Musical Inn. The Gig at Phyllis's
was the first and most horrifying. We outnumbered the crowd for
the first few songs and the drummer had never actually played
out before. Eric was so nervous he was sick and I had to talk
him into calming down as he was trying to make a run for the door to
leave. After several shows we went into Streeterville Studios in Chicago
and recorded three tracks along with our newly acquired Keyboard
player Greg Smith and Backup vocalist Tamara. The recording experience
was alot of fun and having these two very talented individuals
working with us really filled out the sound nicely. We did a few more
showcase gigs to promote Red Desert to Industry professionals. Eventually
money issues between John and Eric ripped their partnership apart thereby
ending Red Desert. To this day I don't believe the material we recorded
was ever released. I have what may be the only copy transferred
from analog to digital. The source tape was a little warped so it's
not the best quality, but I will post mp3's of them here. The first
song we recorded at Streeterville Studios was called "
Misfit Pawn ". This song features an underlying classical guitar
by Mike and a winding musical box keyboard piece by Greg. The second
song recorded at this studio is called " Dark Heart ".
This song was really heavy sounding in the original mix. Mike's guitar
was layered over and over, it sounded like a wall of Marshalls. But
something happen to it before the final mix. In this
song I did my best John Taylor but again that is lost in the mix too.
We did record one more song at a studio in Crown Point In. at a studio
called Power Bank. This song was written over the top of riffs Mike
and I would play to warm up at sound checks for shows. It's called "
Give it Up ". I think this went the quickest, maybe two takes
even. Mike's guitar is awesome and the high point of this song as well
as the others. The final mixes left out alot of great things. Tamara's
lush back ground vocals, more keyboards and guitars even a guest sax
solo. It was Johns Money so it got mixed to suit his taste. It was a
real treat to gig and record with Mike so it made the whole thing worth
while.
Downloadable MP3 Files from the
Streeterville and Power Bank sessions
( right click title and hit save as )
One
day I found a note that had been rained on for several hours hanging
from my door. It's gibberish at this point and I'm lucky enough to be
able to pick the phone number out. I call the number out of curiosity.
I end up talking to John Pupillo, the
front man for Red Desert. He says he is looking for a bass player to
do some live shows in support of the release of his cd " Squab
Kill ". I ask him what style of music this is and he tells me " Adult
contemporary that rides the crest of a wave". In the confusion
that follows I ask who referred him to me and who else is playing in
his band. He says he was sent to me by Michael Lummio a guitarist that
recorded with him. Mike is one of my best friends and we never
get to play in bands together as we are into different musical styles
but I jump at this chance to gig with him and say yes. Mike is
in Italy for a couple of weeks so we start the practice sessions with
the drummer Eric Kaye and the second guitarist Caesar Hernandez. I've
known Caesar since we were kids in school and worked with him a
for a year in a metal band. We practice for a couple of weeks at which
point Caesar disappears but luckily Mike is back home so we get
to work and do a few shows including Shuba's in Chicago as well as the
Beat Kitchen and Phyllis's Musical Inn. The Gig at Phyllis's
was the first and most horrifying. We outnumbered the crowd for
the first few songs and the drummer had never actually played
out before. Eric was so nervous he was sick and I had to talk
him into calming down as he was trying to make a run for the door to
leave. After several shows we went into Streeterville Studios in Chicago
and recorded three tracks along with our newly acquired Keyboard
player Greg Smith and Backup vocalist Tamara. The recording experience
was alot of fun and having these two very talented individuals
working with us really filled out the sound nicely. We did a few 
more
showcase gigs to promote Red Desert to Industry professionals. Eventually
money issues between John and Eric ripped their partnership apart thereby
ending Red Desert. To this day I don't believe the material we recorded
was ever released. I have what may be the only copy transferred
from analog to digital. The source tape was a little warped so it's
not the best quality, but I will post mp3's of them here. The first
song we recorded at Streeterville Studios was called "
Misfit Pawn ". This song features an underlying classical guitar
by Mike and a winding musical box keyboard piece by Greg. The second
song recorded at this studio is called " Dark Heart ".
This song was really heavy sounding in the original mix. Mike's guitar
was layered over and over, it sounded like a wall of Marshalls. But
something happen to it before the final mix. In 
this
song I did my best John Taylor but again that is lost in the mix too.
We did record one more song at a studio in Crown Point In. at a studio
called Power Bank. This song was written over the top of riffs Mike
and I would play to warm up at sound checks for shows. It's called "
Give it Up ". I think this went the quickest, maybe two takes
even. Mike's guitar is awesome and the high point of this song as well
as the others. The final mixes left out alot of great things. Tamara's
lush back ground vocals, more keyboards and guitars even a guest sax
solo. It was Johns Money so it got mixed to suit his taste. It was a
real treat to gig and record with Mike so it made the whole thing worth
while.