TA-80: Still Recording....

This is the actual beer (in the actual white-trash beer cozy) that I actually just cracked open, right now, and am actually drinking as I, in all actuality, type this post. Really? Yup!

I figured it was about time for another recording update. Last time I posted, I really just did a build up so that I could leave myself time and stories to fill up the space until the album is finished. I waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy underestimated our work ethic and stamina when it comes to recording. And at that, I have to immediately derail this into talk of work ethic.

I've been told by people that I look up to as working musicians that TA-80's work ethic is something to be admired. I have no other response, every time I hear this, other than to laugh it off. Let me break down this band for you. I, Amy 80, dropped out of college and either quit or get fired (or laid off) from every job I get; Jens 80 dropped out of college and either quits or gets fired (or laid off) from every job he gets; Jamin 80 dropped out of college and actually does really well as a worker bee (if it wasn't for his dead-beat, drifter of a wife, Amy...); Klae 80 dropped out of high school and gets fired or quits, etc. from every job; Russ 80 dropped out of college, was on his way to getting fired and/or quitting every job he got until he got his new, fancy-schmancy job that he has now. He's easily the most responsible of us all, and I'm sorry Russ, but that's not really saying much. Aside from Russ and his insane computer knowledge, the only thing that any of us are good at is being in a band. Not even a band, but this band. We've all been in other bands that did absolutely nothing. But when we get together and write songs and make music, something clicks and we all want to put in 200%. It's not because anyone is pressuring us or anything. This is what we're good at. We figured out what we're good at, and amazingly enough, we all happen to enjoy it just as much so it leads into us doing pretty good work, really fast. I guess that's work ethic. I call it having a good time.

So let me tell you a little bit about this album. Right now, we're planning on it being 13 songs. We don't have a track listing made yet because we haven't finished recording. I know that in this age of digital music, a lot of people wouldn't think of the song order as being relevant but TA-80 does. We don't think you have to listen to the songs in order to enjoy them, and by all means, if you can find free downloads, go to town...But, if you happen to listen to a full copy of our album and get to hear the way we lay it out, I sincerely hope it adds something to the overall experience, because that's definitely something we're going for. We're all fans of albums, not just single tracks. It's good stuff. I hope that doesn't totally get lost.

The track listing, as it appears right now (and in no particular order) is:

1. Trading Diamonds for Dominoes
2. Brandy and Boardgames
3. Bury You
4. Seasons in the Slum
5. I Don't Wanna Think
6. Losing Time
7. Desperation Moonlanding
8. I Don't Wanna Start
9. Gates of Steel
10. The Only Man Conway Twitty Every Loved
11. Suicide Doesn't Go With My Shoes
12. Too Long, Too Slow

Okay, I know there are more, but for the life of me, and can't remember them right now. Some of these are not the real titles, also. "I Don't Wanna Think", "I Don't Wanna Start", and "Too Long, Too Slow" will be changed. Those are the songs that don't have lyrics written yet. Or if they do, I haven't heard them. Jamin writes the majority of the lyrics so we don't really hear them until he records a demo. Then I listen to that demo (and no one else) and do a new demo with my voice. Jamin doesn't like his voice and usually doesn't want people to hear him try to sing. It's not as bad as he thinks but whatever...We all have our quirks.

We have 8 songs that are almost completely done right now, including punch-ups and vocals. We've all decided that our goal is to have all recording done by Halloween and start mixing after that. From there, we want to have everything ready for mastering by December so we can schedule a January release. Get ready Johnny Love!! We have shit coming your way! (Johnny is our AMAZING mastering guy.)

That's about all I have for you all for now. I'm going to work on some super rough mixes and get them up online for some very exclusive sneak previews. I am only going to give the link out to people that directly ask for it. In case you want it and are reading this now, just send me an email at amyta801 at aol.com and I'll send you the link when it's available. It might not be for another week or so, so don't hold yer breath or anything.

xoxo -

Amy 80

A Break From What You're Used To...

For any of you faithful readers out there, you may have noticed that all has been quiet on the TA-80 front for a while now. Hopefully you know, from our posts thus far, that that means we've been busy little working bees. Yes, it's true...TA-80 is back in the studio. It may seem surprising since it took a whopping 5 years for an album to come out after "Junk Car Grand Prix" but the truth is, we work and record constantly. Whether or not we get to actually enjoy the fruits of our labor is always up in the air but with this new and most recent endeavor, I'm feeling confident that we're building up to the most impressive TA-80 release this world has seen yet.

The big plan is that we will switch over this blog to become a recording blog. We want you to experience the recording of this album along with us. In order to do that I feel I need to start from the beginning.


I know. But this is the way it goes.

The demos for this album started several months ago. Actually, they pretty much began right after we got off of our U.S. tour with the amazing bands, The Queers and The Leftovers. The tour didn't go the way we expected and we left the whole ordeal knowing one thing for certain: We had to do what we felt (really felt) was right and keep working no matter what happened. It was the only way for us to continue as a band. That tour was a very hard test for us and at first glance, we failed miserably. However, if you take a closer, a longer look, you can see that we fell hard and came back even stronger. We were detrimentally naive and crushingly inexperienced but we have always learned fast and we took our short tour in as the biggest learning experience of our lives.

Our tour ended in Phoenix, AZ and we moved into an apartment complex across the street from our last show. We were flat broke, homeless, unemployed and the band was as close to being over as I've ever seen it. We were at our lowest point. I really wondered if we could actually pull ourselves back together. It was so bad that everyone was donating plasma twice a week just for enough money to buy some bread to eat and cigarettes to smoke. The cigarettes were unnecessary if you ask my mom, but with the stress that I and everyone else in the band was under, it wasn't even an option. If I could've been drinking a fifth of vodka a day at this point, I would've been drowning. I can't stress enough how not good the situation was. The only thing I had...the only thing any of us had, was our determination to not EVER make the same mistakes again. This is still our drive.



So, with that unhappy scenario, let me bring you into the most amazing and wonderful world of the new album, TA-80: Will Bury You. This album will feature Russ 80 on drums and vocals; Jens 80 on rhythm guitar and vocals; Klae 80 on lead guitar and vocals; Jamin 80 on keyboards, programming and vocals; and Amy 80 on bass and vocals. The album will be recorded and mixed by TA-80 and recorded at the (for now) official studio of Phat Phorty Records. One song will feature a steel guitarist, though we haven't hired that person yet. I'm sure they will be amazing because, at this point, we won't settle for much less.

We've been busting our asses on this album so far. We already have all the drums and bass done. We started recording guitars a couple days ago and only have about 6 more songs to completely finish before we can leave guitars behind and move onto vocals, keyboard and overdubs. Overdubs usually involve another instrument (or vocals) that has already been recorded but needs some punching up. So far, nothing needs any punching up, which is incredibly exciting for me, as one of the main engineers for this album.

My main goal is to get a sound that's near perfect with the initial recording so that I don't have to do any punch ins or anything. It's hard to do and near impossible if you don't have great musicians to work with. Luckily, I have phenomenal musicians to work with. I can't wait to give all of you readers a sneak preview of the album. You're going to get it. Just keep reading and in one of these upcoming posts, there will be a link to a site that will be exclusively streaming some of the new songs.

We have hardcore, country, folk, punk, pop, rock and all the genres that come in between, on this new album. I've included a few random pictures from our sessions so far. Unfortunately, Russ 80 is missing from these. We captured a lot of his input for this album in a video recording we did during a practice at his house down in Tucson. Russ is a huge part of this album and his lack of pictures should not ever make anyone think he wasn't around. He is there from beginning to end, as always, and will be on this album too. And he'll also be having a beautiful baby with his beautiful wife during the recording of this album. It's a busy time for all of us.

I hope this whets your palates enough for the time being. We all have a 3 day weekend coming up and will be getting shit-tons of recording done. I'm hoping that I'll be able to share some music with you by Monday night. If not, I'll for sure have more stories and pictures.






xoxoxoxoxo ~

Amy 80