Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Dave Rat Blog - Paris Sept 6

Just off the Metro from the train station, after a bit over 5 hours on the high speed into Paris from Biarritz. High speed mini 56 hour holiday in the south of France does not suck. Scott and I headed down there to surf big scary waves and that we did or at least tried.

The adventure was wrapped around living large so the Ryan Air flight into a tiny Euopecar fit perfectly.

I had been to Biarritz before and must thank the legendary Takuji Masuda for hooking us up and lending us boards, Tak rules!

Also thank you Dudu and Axelle who own Core'S'air surf shop http://www.coresair.com which now sports a rat sticker as well. Killer board collection in there!

Our second night we hung out and stayed with Umesh and Brigitte, more friends I met last time when I was down there. And to big scary waves we went! I got smashed, I got bashed and I even paddled into some monsters and loved every second. Can't wait till next time! Too good to be true!

Now a train ride back to Paris to the office gig of hanging with friends doing rock shows.
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Sunday, September 4, 2011

Dave Rat Porta Blog - Surfs Up!

Posh London hotel and I'd give the $50 breakfast buffet a miss if it was not included in the room. Stuffy condescending wealth is so annoying.

Promo tours are an awkward mishmash of hurry up and wait, shaving down an arena setup into TV studios and small clubs, and absolutely no feel of rhythm.

Facing four days off in London for the crew while the band continues with a full schedule of interviews and such in various other countries.

Last night was a video shoot at club Koko. Hey, I remember mixing Juliette Lewis there a couple years back. With the exception of carrying a Midas Verona analog board so I don't get stuck on the house digi boards, I actually have been enjoying mixing on the assorted house rigs. It went all good, plenty of PA and it just takes a bunch more work to dial up a Vertec, but hey, keeps me from getting lazy.

I mix differently for recorded shows that go to broadcast. I put the reins on a bit, moderate solo pushes and try and keep the show in a more stable and compact volume range. I didn't always do that. I used to lack clarity to see the bigger picture and dealt with sound from more of a solo project stance. Now I try and take all aspects into account. Its all about a cohesive balance between sound, lights, video, recording, sightlines and any other integral aspect that benefits the overall experience. It is when everything lines up that the shows become magic and would much rather have an awesome all around show than double awesome sound and have everything else suck.

Anyway, "Four days off in London?" Ewww, really? I like a lot of people here, cool stuff and culture but I have a better idea, how about Scott the Lampi and I do plane hop to Biarritz to catch the hurricane Irene swell headed that way?

Bye bye city, hello paradise and hopefully waves with consequences!


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