BIC BLOG 1/23/21
I’d like to start off today’s blog with wishing Robin Zander a very Happy Birthday! Growing up, Cheap Trick was always one of my favorite bands. To me, Robin is one of the best voices in rock ‘n roll. It was so great to become friends with not only him, but also Rick and Tom. Really, really great people that always treated me and my family like their family. Even during the pre-covid times of last year, as we were visiting our youngest daughter in Chicago, they invited us to a show, and Robin tried to get our daughters on stage to sing ‘Surrender’ with him. I understand that Cheap Trick is probably out of the wheelhouse of many of our BIC Family … but ‘Drifting Away’ is a very important song in the genesis of Beauty In Chaos. When I jumped (partially before thinking) to reply to Michael Rozon’s question (challenge?) of ‘why don’t you just do your own record’ … it was Robin that I first reached out to. ‘Drifting Away’ was born from a song I had written in the late ‘90s (simply called ‘Drifting’ ) in a band I was in called Twist In Vain. I always loved the song, so in an effort to jump-start an album, I dusted off a deep cut and sent it to Robin, who was on tour at the time. It was so inspiring to see the time and effort he put into it. Working on the arrangement (the original bridge is now the chorus) , re-writing some of the lyrics … all in a low tech way! He would play parts on his lap-top while singing and recording on his phone! It all came together and as fate would have it, Cheap Trick would be in Los Angeles in a few weeks to play Staples Center. The day after their show, Robin hoped in an Uber from The Sunset Marquis and came to our SAINTinLA Studio. He banged thru 3 takes of the song and sat on the couch with the lyrics to work with Mr. Rozon on comping the best of the 3 takes. Even though he was a friend, having the guy who sang ‘Dream Police’, ‘Surrender’, and ‘I Want You To Want Me’ sitting next to me, asking my opinion on his vocals, and what was the best lines … well, to say it was a bit surreal would be an understatement! When Robin jumped back into an Uber to head to his hotel, Michael Rozon turned to me, somewhat in amazement and said ‘I think you will be able to pull your idea off!’ BIC song #1 was done!
Ok .. back to present-day BIC!
Michael and I sent the 1st new track off to a singer yesterday … I’ll keep her ‘un-named’ to not add pressure, as I wanted to make sure the music resonates with her. I also played Rozon a new idea that I had been working on that I think we will jump into this coming week.
Also, an interview I did a month or two back with Diego from Revista The 13th is now available in its English format. This is such a great mag, with lots of big pictures. Check it out HERE, starting on page 68.
Finally, our next (and probably final video) from ‘Out Of Chaos Comes…’ will premiere next week! More details and a ‘teaser’ coming soon!
BE THE STORM - BE THE CALM
MC X
New BIC video to premiere next week!!!
