Thirstin' by Jack J

A special web only release of the 2015 hit THIRSTIN', backed with Atmosphere plus, salvaged from the original mix down sessions at Mood Hut Studios, a great perc and bass focused dub of Thirstin' for you to enjoy.

A little bit about the production of Thirstin'...

Back in 2014 I was working hard to improve my live drum recordings against all odds. I wanted to make jazz funk in the style of my favourite UK band Atmosfear (formed in '78). I was inspired by (and could easily relate to) their quite good but noticeably not that good chops. I heard that the drummer, Ray Johnson, had only been playing for a year or so before the band was formed and it shows in both the wavering tempo and enthusiastic hi-hat/snare work. As a starting point it felt more approachable than some of the more polished and technically accomplished American Jazz Funk that Atmosfear were surely inspired by.

I had a Shure SM57 microphone and an Akai MG614 four track tape recorder. The drum kit was stitched together over the years, mostly pieces that had been abandoned at different East side jam spaces I'd rented over the years. I had recently bought a beautiful 1978 Fender Rhodes Stage piano which I played through a Roland JC-120 amplifier. It sounded great!

So where to begin? Well I recorded the drums first. It took a while to get the sound I wanted and honestly I didn't even come close to achieving it but the groove was simple and it sounded alright. Onwards! I over dubbed some percussions (congas, cowbell etc), followed by a simple chord progression on the keyboard. Hmm...how about a bassline? This came quickly on Liam's black Fender Musicmaster with the flatwound strings. It's a shortscale bass so there are lots of dead spots but if you play right in the middle of the neck it can really sit nicely in a mix. The lyrics didn't take too long and I'm pretty sure nothing was written down. Some people think it's a sample but that's my voice, just jamming. Maybe you recognise it from some of my other music? You'll certainly hear more of it in my upcoming releases.

Once all the parts were in place I ran the tracks through the studio Akai MG1214 with a Roland Space Echo on the send. After about 50 real time passes I finally got the mixdown and effects/fade performance I wanted. In the process I made a few interesting versions and that's what is included here on this release. A drum/bass focused dub mix that slowly unfolds into the full keys/vocal/bass/drums that we all know plus a nice long ambient outro for the DJs.

Since you've read this far I'll just quickly touch on the production of Atmosphere. The process was more or less the same except for that for this one I dragged out the old upright piano that lives at our studio. Again, just some simple chords and a fun melody was all I was looking for here. The long introduction includes a field recording I had made one rainy evening of cars driving through the wet Chinatown streets.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share the story of how I made this music. I noticed that many people categorise Thirstin' and Atmosphere as "House Music" so I just wanted to give a little background of the production, the intention and the spirit behind these songs.

Jack

Jack J is a musician from Sydney, Australia and based in Vancouver, Canada. He is one half of Pender Street Steppers and member of the Mood Hut collective.