Welcome, friends.
This project is a demo tape of sketches.
Thank you for having me over.
We should do it again sometime.
Digital
Words
maxeltoft @ gmail . com
Mastered by Bruce Butkovich at Sometimes Satellite
2025
Zoom R16, Audacity, Ardour5 and whatever was used by Bruce Butkovich
Jacksonport, WI
22:24
Mixed and mastered by Eric Hagen at Blackwater Studios
2024
Zoom R16, Android phone, and whatever was used by Eric Hagen
Jacksonport/Sturgeon Bay, WI
18:26
Here are some more songs specifically developed for WRiTERS' NiGHT community. I played all of these songs solo live before doing these recordings. This is the regular minimalist trio style that Maxel Toft is famous for. It includes all of my bag of tricks except acoustic/electric guitar. Different banjo tunings. Different playing styles. Different recording techniques. Noise. And it is yet another case where the sound engineer, Eric Hagen, seemed a perfect match for making the material sound great. Drivel got it's name from a writing prompt. You can sing "D-R-I-V-E-L, drivel" over the lick. But really it is just an instrumental that wasn't going anywhere so I developed it to remove it from the queue. Buried is a continuation of the new folk music concept. The lyrics are silly but this is one of my favorite tunes. The banjo part for Aimlessness was sitting around for such a long time that I forced this out to get rid of it. I wanted to write about revenge but ended up with this instead. I hadn't been writing in the finger-picking style lately so it was nice to get one of these out there again. The music for Like A Cubic Zirconia was originally written as a variation to add to The Typist but then I decided to rip off myself and match up different words. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have had a good reason to use this lyrical concept. Geographical Midpoint was supposed to be developed as a one-person-band song with drums and keyboard at the same time. But that made me tired and I translated it to banjo. It started as a silly response to all the people that send things in to Letters to the Editor. But then someone actually did write something like this but I lost it and I cannot find it online and now I am not sure if it really happened or if I imagined it. I had to eventually remake The Tinkerer Turns even though this is not much of an improvement on the original that was done for Love On Holiday. At least I tried and now I don't have to think about it anymore. I also fixed some lyrics that I messed up. I had to record this vocal track in the car so I could have privacy and silence while recording. I had trouble with the vocal range and had to sort of yell it. When Steelbridge Got A Sister was a song I wrote in a couple of weeks for a Steel Bridge live performance. I messed up the performance so bad I had to start over on live radio. But here it is along with a phone recorded sample from the Door County Maritime Museum. I was going to bring something better to record the sample but then forgot and had to use my phone. I had to have my son drive the boat without crashing so I could capture the whole sequence. And then we had to be quiet the whole time although there are some other people walking around the museum talking in the background. But the best was when my daughter tried to steer and accidentally crashed and we were trying not to laugh and spoil the recording. I considered using the samples where the boat crashes but that didn't seem to be in good taste. Old Men Still See You is based on a real event that happened at the Tambo. An old guy said something like "old men still see you" which I interpreted as still looking at young women. I heard this and thought "man, I hope I am not still looking at young women when I am his age" and decided to write something about it. I got blocked for a few weeks and then another (female) poet read a poem based the same event but took a positive "old people/young love" approach. I was disappointed and it inspired me to work harder on this and the breakthrough came when I decided that I should present the character as looking forward to getting old and being allowed to objectify women openly. Now I don't think this character accurately represents me or the old man it is based on. And that's the way I like it! I wanted to record this to old fashioned tape but ended up using my phone (in the car again) just to get it over with.
Mixed and mastered by Bruce Butkovich at Sometimes Satellite
2023-2024
Zoom R16 and whatever was used by Bruce Butkovich
Jacksonport, WI
12:05
A while ago, I started saving "Crime Watch" newspaper clippings from a northwest Chicago newspaper. This project was supposed to be a backup plan for if I ever ran out of plot ideas for lyrics. But I was going too long without recording anything and I wanted a simple way to get motivated. One of the toughest parts about writing a unique song (with words) is to come up with a brand-new-never-been-done-before-but-not-too-clever-or-cheesy storyline. Even the concept for this gimmicky is not unique but I was sort of committed and I was curious to see/hear the outcome. I originally thought I had a great idea with this project and then I remembered that tv/radio/talk/comedy/late shows often have segments on silly or stupid criminals and I was worried that I was also making fun of these situations. But really I am just making fun of the fact that this was printed in a newspaper at all. I feel bad for the people involved. The problem is more that the paper prints these in the first place. It doesn't become a deterrent for criminals but rather makes the readers unnecessarily fearful. So this is my take on the Woody Guthrie/Malvina Reynolds tradition of writing about actual events. I developed all the words first and then added music. I wrote everything on the electric bass guitar and actually intended to add other instruments but then got lazy in the Maxel Toft approach and kept everything minimal. There was supposed to be one more (experimental) song but I couldn't get it to work in the imaginary time allotted. 3748 North Elston Ave was supposed to be a hole in the bucket or old woman that swallowed a fly or 12 days of christmas song but it didn't quite fit the pattern so it is just a timeline. I wrote the words for all of these songs before I added music and in this one I purposely added a repeated refrain in the style of a lot of Cuban songs. I think I would have preferred if the music had no reference to the influence but I still like the inevitable outcome. I picked 7500 block of West Forest Preserve Ave because the poetry in these newspaper listings is so great. I could almost keep them word for word. And I actually tried a couple of times. I love the overuse of "man" and it is always something they "allegedly" did. I decided to become the character in 6300 block of North Milwaukee Ave. I don't remember the order that I wrote the words to all of these pieces but I specifically did something different poetically for each by repeating something or changing the perspective. So each piece was a reaction to the previous. And then the music seemed to appear quickly based on patterns in the lyrics. I tried another approach to the 12 days of christmas concept for 5400 block of West Addison St. This is the only piece that uses a pre-existing riff. The music under these lyrics could be anything so I was more interested in pulling from my cache of licks that are difficult to use anywhere else. 4500 block of North Knox Ave is just silly. But the composition structure is satisfying. Meanwhile, the final product would not have been possible without Bruce Butkovich. His mixes gave unexpected depth to these simple recordings. I have a ton more clippings and I may do another collection of these in the future but approach it differently.
Mixed by sTeve sMith
2021
Zoom R16 and whatever was used by sTeve sMith
Sturgeon Bay, WI
18:10
Here is another collection of matched up pieces. I usually have a bunch of banjo licks and I have a bunch of lyric ideas. Sometimes they match up immediately and other times I have to write new material. Sometimes it is just a one line idea that gets developed. Sometimes it is multiple parts in the same key that I force together. Some pieces go back into the queue. To make things interesting I decided to focus on valve trombone instead of writing electric bass parts. The trombone was difficult to keep on pitch. I am not sure if it was more because I am not good or if the instrument is in bad shape. Everything was recorded in a room above a garage that was too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer so I was motivated to get things done in between. Threshing turned out much better than I hoped. This was the regular pattern of finally using an older lick that was in the queue too long. It is an interesting hammer-on-pull-off lick I but decided it was going nowhere and instead turned it into a reason to come up with a drum part and make noise on trombone. Recovery is a newer lick that inspired new words on a one line idea. The drums and trombone give it a completely different feel. MiddleMan is another newer lick, old one line idea, based on a fretted pull off. It is fun to play. It was in mixing this song that I realized that the floor tom mic must have gone bad at some point. Punk rock. Filming is a banjo lick I really like but maybe the overall concept doesn't work and too obvious clash of different musical themes. But I like this technique on the banjo that creates a full sound. I will probably use it again sometime. Off Track is supposed to sound like a train. The lyric concept is not the best and the banjo parts are sort of throwaways but overall it is passable. This Mess is a combination of threen (maybe four) different lyric ideas. This is a case where I combined the words first and then figured out the music. It is the only song that is not in the clawhammer style. I often don't like to add effects to the banjo but this one wasn't complete until sTeve added his production ideas. Now it works.
Mixed and mastered by Hans Christian at Studio 330
2020
Zoom R16 and whatever was used by Hans Christian at Studio 330
Sturgeon Bay, WI
21:56
My favorite type of piece to develop is just banjo, drums, and vocals. But it is also interesting how a bass line can really change the feel of a song. This collection has multiple solutions for song development. Banjo led trio, guitar led trio, a cappella, folk style songs, pop style songs, multiple banjo tunings, multiple banjos, multiple vocal styles. Made up words, historical words, specific syllables, time changes. Words set to music, music set to words, two separate ideas combined. Recorded in single unedited takes. There is the way a song sounds while I am writing it. Then there is the way a song sounds as I am recording it. And then there is the way a song sounds as it is being mixed. I went into Studio 330 to get these songs mixed by Hans Christian and that is always tough because I can get hung up on the way I imagined the song in the previous stages. Sometimes I can only focus on the mistakes and other times the technically difficult parts that I am proud of. But having different ears on a project really helps. I remember not liking some of the choices Hans made in the studio, but listening back now, these mixes sound great. So then there is also the way a song sounds to the listener that is hearing everything for the first time in its final format. Invasives was the chosen instrumental to not develop with lyrics and gets to be the opening song specifically for the attention span of online listeners. If you can make it through this one, then you are ready for the rest. We Are Mean is my favorite banjo lick (in D tuning) paired up with my favorite lines. So it is purposely sparse. Hearth is a tribute to Pete Seeger. It is based on a time when he played an integrated concert in The South and got rocks thrown at him. Can we be innocently mean? Also purposely undeveloped since a lot of Pete Seeger songs were just banjo and voice. Drafting is in G but with the 5th string in A for interesting tension that somehow sounds like riding bikes. If I could just remember how to pronounce peloton. I do wish the banjo was louder in this mix. On A Hillside Overlooking Egg Harbor is a true story taken from a couple of suicide notes from a distant relative of mine. I changed the order and forced some rhymes but many of the words are exact. The eerie open C tuning played with a backwards strum glues it all together for me. Waiting For Cover turned out way better than I imagined. It was a bouncy banjo lick with a missing beat so I added words with a certain number of syllables. Neighbors is beyond my vocal skills but here you go. It would have worked well as a banjo or guitar lick but I ended up matching all the syllables in this vocal line and then didn't need any backing music. A Noun is a little too cheesy for me so gets embarrassing to listen to but maybe it works for others. I record them anyway. Typeface Essay is a classic "kids song" for everyone. Banjo, drums, and vocals.
2019-2020
Zoom R16
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
12:19
These are selections from a forgotten Deitrich collaboration. It was supposed to be a sort of double album since it landed on the president that took two numbers. Eventually I just released this to fill the slot. There were three or four more tracks that I didn't include because they had already been recorded previously in other forms. The guitar and vocal tracks were recorded separately to a click track.
2019
Zoom R16 and Cubase AI Elements 8
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
Sturgeon Bay, WI
17:18
This a purge of guitar led songs and lyrics. Some of these songs were really meant to "rock out" but I stuck with the acoustic guitar and really didn't end up pairing them up with vocal melodies or lyrics that could really jam. But they all seemed to be unique and interesting enough to produce anyway. Some of my favorite parts are the vocal layers that I hadn't been using all that much lately. The guitar parts were written at various times just messing around with patterns so a lot ended up being more chromatic. And then that made for interesting vocal lines to lay over top. I also had some random drum ideas that I was able to use so it ends up being a drum heavy collection. It didn't seem necessary to spend time adding things like bass guitar since I was only interested in getting the guitar parts out and seeing what vocals and drums fit. This is the last stuff that I recorded in our house in Chicago. I cannot remember if I recorded drums first or guitar but I know that I recorded the drums upstairs and vocals in the basement. If I did guitar in the basement then I must have done drums first to a scratch track. At some point before 26 or 25 I simplified my drumset and I am still happy with that decision here. I mixed this myself and I test mixes on various systems and a good one is always a car stereo. We traded our car in shortly after I mixed this down and forgot to take the CD out so I wonder if anyone listened to it or could even get past the first song. Lob Pine is a pairing of an unused drum part with a guitar lick I didn't want to develop. A signpost for this collection. I like the chord progression for Boat Anchor. And it doesn't seem like it, but Similarity turned out better than I expected. It's a hit. Progressing has a picking pattern I didn't know what to do with but then it made sense to add the second part with that nice vocal weave. Braided Rug Of Worn Out Clothes has some nice thumb picking fun and more vocal layers. This stuff just didn't need to be developed. Another verse or alternate lyrics would have ruined it. I updated gender neutral lyrics for this old song Background and have wanted to do an acoustic version for a while now. I couldn't ever figure out how to use this really old chromatic lick in Abstract so paired it up here also with unused drums and lyrics to clean 'em all out. The words to Milk And Eggs were too cheesy for a folk song so purposely paired with an unlikely guitar riff. This song just exists for the drum beat.
2019
Zoom R16 and Cubase AI Elements 8
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
16:57
This is a simple album of a bunch of pieces that didn't really fit anywhere except together. Some are really old and redone. Some are older and didn't fit on other recordings and some are new pairings of music and words. Every piece was recorded in one take with no edits but there are also songs where vocals and instruments were recorded together in one take. I got tired of mixing through Cubase so I mixed directly on the Zoom R16 and am pleased with the change. I didn't bother adding bass guitar like I normally do and really went even more minimalist on some of these pieces than usual. Hectograph Machine is just a three finger banjo in D tuning solo. I seem to have a ton of D tuning instrumentals and I didn't feel like expanding on this one. This song is short but took a while to record because I would eventually mess up somewhere and play a wrong string or something. I was playing To Pieces on banjo with a friend and came up with this picking pattern and decided to record a new version. It was originally supposed to be more of a bluegrass style but I liked slowing it down and then the harmonica completed it. Longing is another redo because I came up with some new lyrics. I also was curious to see if it could stand with just an accompanying drum instead of guitar and/or bass. Foolish Gospel has a really old guitar part that used to go with different lyrics but I decided not to develop it and instead re-purposed with these other old lyrics. Again I was interested in a song with no bass guitar and I like how sparse it is. Worry Less is a clawhammer in D (capo up to E) tuning recorded live mainly because I change the tempo and would have had a tough time matching with overdubs. The words were written first and then the instrumental licks were paired up and then the vocal melody developed last. After The Feast is a clawhammer in G tuning recorded live mainly out of laziness in developing but also so it would fit with the other two banjo pieces. I think it could be a cool song with more instruments like fiddle or something. The words are stolen and forced to fit in with the previously written banjo licks. Classic non-religious religious-folk-parody. The Toddler is a piece that just didn't fit on any previous album and still doesn't fit here except that it is a banjo/vocal song and could be tagged on to the end of this similar set of songs. Classic non-childrens childrens-folk-parody.
2018
Zoom R16 and Cubase AI Elements 8
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
18:25
This is a mostly purge album of pieces that didn't seem to go with lyrics plus a few new ideas. Everything (except where I change banjo tuning and style) is still one take with no edits and it took me a long time to get passable tracks. All of them are just for the fun of matching up drum beats to melody. I did the drums last, it is poorly mixed by myself, and I did not get it mastered. Gimbal is similar to Assembly Line where I had a bunch of licks sitting around and decided to combine them and move on. I wanted to switch between guitar and banjo so I set them all to D tuning to fit. Some of the pieces work and some are forced. I am not as happy with the first two parts. First is Drop D acoustic guitar finger picking. I am not sure about the bass guitar but it is how I wanted to start the pattern. Second is Open E capoed up to D banjo in clawhammer style. This was one of the newer licks so I might develop it later and rerecord without the distraction of the drums. Third is back to Drop D acoustic guitar but with flatpick and now both drums and bass underneath. It leads nicely into the (fourth) Open D banjo in three finger style. And then fifth is back to another Drop D acoustic guitar similar in style to the third part. All of the banjo pieces are doubled and split right and left. I had to do a bunch of takes to get through without messing up and then I couldn't decide which to keep so I picked two. The drums were recorded through all the pieces and it was frustrating when I often messed up near the end of the fifth part and had to start over. Buoyant Mind is a combination of lyrics I thought would go nowhere and a guitar lick I thought I would never use. One day they just seemed to go together and I like it. It is reminiscent of early 2000 Maxel Toft but written more recently. It also works great to show how much more focused I am with the 2 minute pop trio format as opposed to the 12 minute collage instrumental where all I am trying to do is not mess up a take. The guitar lick for Taffrail Log is really old. I tried to develop it a couple of times (usually for acoustic guitar) but finally gave up and decided it should be a sparse instrumental. This really is early 2000 Maxel Toft but finally recorded. It is so old that I was lazy and just did it on bass with drums accompaniment (and vocal surprise). I just wanted to display the original idea and see if it could stand on its own.
Maxel Toft guitar and vocals
Ronnie Kuller accordion: Digging In
Auckland Bach everything else
Engineered by Andrew Deitrich at Hidden Wave
Mastered by Peter Andreadis for All City Mastering
2012-2018
Maestro-Matic (and Zoom R16)
W. Argyle, Chicago, IL
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
6:51
This is another collaboration with Andy Deitrich. See 37. I wrote the songs at least 7 years before they were released so finally getting them out was anticlimactic. Andy and I were trying to put together a full album (or even EP) and it just wasn't working out with our life circles so we gave up and released these so they would at least be out there and we could move on. I am happy with the outcome even though this is another case of not wanting to give up control when I am so used to doing everything myself. Everyone else seems to love it when Andy produces my stuff so it makes me want to do more even though I always have some issues . . .
It was originally recorded at Maestro-Matic possibly in 2012. We redid the vocals in 2017 since I should have been better after 5 years of practice. Right? A person could keep redoing tracks forever. I would have liked to redo the acoustic guitar. But I don't usually operate like that or I would never get anything done. I am not an accurate enough performer so I usually tend to leave the mistakes in there. The lyrics for Digging In started out as a response to Andy's daughter needing a lot of heart surgeries. It ended up going a different direction in my head because of wordplay and rhyming etc. but it seems to have multiple interpretations so it is a keeper. I remember being critical of the digital piano. Andy tried some different sounds and I was like I mean a "real" acoustic piano that is maybe even out of tune. However, I do like what is being played on the piano and I am sure that all the listeners are happy too. Then years later he added the "real" accordion so now we are even. I wrote Grow Restless for an topical art project based on a couple passages in scripture. The lyrics are on the border of cheese with all the matching "mustard" sounding lines but it is easy to ignore when listening. I actually like all of the added music to this song and have no problems with the sound of the arrangement. However, Andy took a couple parts out of the final mixdown and now it doesn't make sense lyrically. It is supposed to go A+B, A+B+B'+A', bridge, B'+A'. The final version of A+B, A+B', bridge, B'+A' loses the symmetry. But that is why there are songwriters and producers. I have no idea how much time Andy spent on producing and mixing. It is nice to have someone else push the buttons.
2016-2017
Zoom R16 and Cubase AI Elements 8
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
22:49
This is a purge album and a departure from the more "folk" centered recordings. I wanted to get rid of some licks and lyrics. Usually I would record a scratch track of vocals/guitar/banjo and then do the drums and work my way back to do vocals last. But this time I decided to do the drums last (except for a couple of loud electric guitar parts). There is three-finger style banjo, clawhammer banjo, strummed banjo, strummed guitar, finger picking, electric guitar, distortion, and feedback all from one guy. And I am sure that it would sound better if I didn't mix this all by myself. And I did not get it mastered.
Offshore Excursion is a purge of a boring banjo lick (in D), an unused lyric, and an unused drum beat. However, it is a perfect opener and ends up preparing you for the rest of the album. Therapy is an open G clawhammer banjo lick that I liked almost enough to be an instrumental but I paired with some words I thought I'd never use. It was fun to add bass and drums. Shadow is another silly set of lyrics I though I would never use but seems to work with this music. It also features an unused drum beat. Wits End is a guitar lick I thought I would never use paired with words I thought I would never use. And then I had another unused lick that seemed to sort of be in the same key so it solved the problem of the lyrics at the end that don't follow the same pattern. Radio Ready Love is an embarrassing lyric parody. But I also was able to get rid of this banjo lick plus an unused drum beat and make everyone uncomfortable. Somewheres is yet another forced banjo lyric pairing. I had originally imagined these lyrics with a more down and out "country" feel but this style made it worth it. I used a backyard (basic) banjo for this to get a different sound on purpose. It may also feature another unused drum beat but what would it matter anyway. Complaint is the only song with new lyrics to an old guitar lick. I was sick of this guitar tune going unused for so long and then I had this lyric idea that I wrote around it. Gone. Assembly Line is a collection of unused licks that I gave up trying to add words. I just took all the ones that were in E or E-minor and put them together. Besides that the tunes were so old they didn't really fit my style anymore and I needed to get rid of them. It had been a long time since I used feedback so that was fun. However, I was self-conscious of the loud noises coming from our house so I didn't do too many takes. Legal F is song in the style of Local H (see Pirate Garrghl for a Local H parody). It probably should have gone in my Clarence collection of non-Maxel Toft songs but then you wouldn't have gotten this last flavor all in one album.
Mastered by Peter Andreadis for All City Mastering
2016
Zoom R16, Cubase AI 8, and whatever was used by All City Mastering
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
23:33
I know I say this every time but this is yet another album that builds off of ideas in the previous recordings. I like trying to create old sounding folk songs with new lyrical material. I don't know how much it works for the listener but I am pretty pleased with the content. It is more "folk" like 31 where there are a lot of solo live recordings but this time there are also a couple of guitar songs like 30. I recorded every vocal track simultaneous to banjo/guitar. The drum parts were just recorded with two condenser mics. I went back to mixing this myself to save both time and money and as usual I wonder how much better it could sound from a professional. I released this only four months after the last one and I am not sure many people listened to it. I could have taken more time to rehearse everything but I decided that the results would be negligible so might as well record and move on. Hopefully there is character where the musicianship falters.
A Few Laborers is a clawhammer G tuning Bible reference song attempting to continue the tradition of old time religion. Dissed uses a more strummed clawhammer style in G tuning. These are some lyrics that I thought I would never use because they are more of a hip-hop parody but with this banjo lick they really work well in an upbeat sarcastic way. Offer is a clawhammer C tuning song. These lyrics are really old and they never seemed to fit with anything but finally it kind of made sense and fit in really good with this chromatic lick. Perfect is just the opposite of a hard luck song. The words came first and the music came naturally. When a song comes naturally I am always worried that I inadvertently stole from some other tune. Other times I can tell which tune I stole from and purposely not do the same thing. In Transition probably could have used some more producing but I wanted to make a sparse version. I think it could sound real good with piano and someone that can sing all the correct notes without straining. This was one of the more difficult songs to sing. Singing Along is one of those lyrics and tunes that came together real nice. I may record it again as a country song but I wanted a simple version first. Because We All Are Teachers is just me trying to be political folk and classical at the same time. I don't know if it works or not. I don't know if I broke any copyrights. The Typist is a D tuning clawhammer song that could almost be an instrumental but I had some words that fit. Just trying to create a folk song for another profession than all those romantic figures like cowboys and train engineers and hobos etc. This was one of the more difficult songs to play. He Is Instrumental is a song recorded after 30 but before I officially started 29. The words are too religious for what I consider a Maxel Toft song but I had space and wanted to include the tune.
Janelle LAH vocals: In Passing
Mixed by Andy Deitrich
Mastered by Peter Andreadis for All City Mastering
2015-2016
Zoom R16, whatever was used by Andy Deitrich, and whatever was used by All City Mastering
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
22:39
This album is another continuation of all the ideas in the last four albums. There are banjo led songs with drums and bass backing and there are guitar led songs and there are solo banjo songs. There are brand new lyrics and tunes, there are old lyrics finally completed and old tunes finally used, and there is a reworking of an old-old song. Most importantly these songs were mixed by Andy Deitrich so everything sounds much better than if I had mixed them on my own. But a continuing problem is that I still have trouble recording banjo and voice at the same time. The banjo bleeds heavily into the vocal mic. So there is a noticeable difference between the live songs and the ones done in parts. However, I still think everything works well together and is a good historical document of my ideas and execution.
Retirement is a solo song using the clawhammer M-arpeggio technique. The tune and words were written separately but somehow matched up perfectly. Giving and Receiving was actually written on guitar first. I wanted to have some more guitar songs on this album but then it translated better to banjo. This song is both musically and lyrically a continuation of the ideas in Greater Than. Downstairs is a clawhammer double C tuning bookend song similar to Layers. The lyrics are too short to really have a full song and I didn't want to mess them up by adding more so I resorted to an instrumental middle. And I really did sit through the whole instrumental part to record the two verses in one take. Masterpiece is a kids song that uses a more strummed clawhammer style. I thought I was finished with the whole album and I had to go back and rerecord this one because I decided to change a word. Prayin' Hands is another short lyric that I thought would never become a song but matched up to an unused lick. Again it was too short so I added another lick onto the end. With the clawhammer style I only have two contact points with my right hand so my left hand has to make up for it with hammer-ons and pull-offs. This song has great examples of both. Bedtime is in D tuning using my backwards Pete Seeger style. I matched up the opening lick thematically to the lyrics and the rest wrote itself especially harmonics to put you to sleep. The Flood is a clawhammer D tuning Bible reference song. For some reason I really enjoy using the open D banjo tuning and this is my favorite lick on the album. Double-Negative Love is a redo of a song of the same name on 42 and uses baritone uke in place of banjo uke. It was just an excuse to tweak old lyrics, write a drum and bass part, and keep with the "love" theme of the album. In Passing is a short lyric that had been sitting around for a while and didn't fit in since I was releasing all these banjo recordings but I decided to slip it in this time. I really didn't know what was going to happen but I left a bunch of space there and then it worked out in the end. This song breaks the "trio" rule that was used for the rest of the songs. I would have liked to have some more interesting and complicated drums but I had to simplify to get through without messing up.
Janelle LAH vocals: Delivery, Potholes
Mastered by Peter Andreadis for All City Mastering
2014-2015
Zoom R16, Cubase AI 6, and whatever was used by All City Mastering
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
19:58
I consider this to be my most "folk" album yet. I probably could have forced bass guitar and drums into some of these but decided instead to focus on playing everything in one take with no edits. My personal goal was to play these songs without messing them up too much and hopefully create something listenable. I probably could have done the whole thing with solo banjo but I ended up adding guitar and percussion in places. Each track of the guitar and/or percussion songs were recorded separately but still in single unedited takes. I recorded most of this stuff after 10pm and often after midnight. So it was both good and necessary not to have loud drum parts. I reluctantly went back to mixing this material down myself since the songs were not that complicated. I had a tough time agreeing on the balance between the vocals and banjo but I wasn't using any compression or limiters so there are places that bug me. Hopefully it is all still listenable and entertaining.
I am the most proud of Lazarus of Bethany. I think it is a catchy unique tune and the lyrical content is historical and repetitive and poetic. It is based on the John 11:1-44 passage and is only a retelling of the story. Don't try to pull any hidden message or metaphor from the lyrics. The banjo is in D tuning clawhammer style but had to capo down a step to C to fit my vocal range. I wrote Change wondering if it is still possible to come up with a relevant "bum and hobo" type theme. I only had one line so I had to flip the words around to make the song longer with a second verse. The lyrics are a little silly but completely true and my favorite part is that the music actually sounds like someone shaking a cup. The banjo is G tuning clawhammer style. Colic is a public service announcement and a dance but a little too clever. I like songs that have the word "baby" in them but really mean "baby" as in a very young child, especially one newly or recently born (see Polite To Stare from 32). The banjo is in G tuning three finger style. Delivery is already a dated folk song since now you can now have hourly delivery. The instrumental solos are kind of strange all by themselves but I left it that way in keeping with the banjo centered theme. JLAH was disappointed that I used her yelling vocal track and not the nice harmony that she wrote. The banjo is in G tuning capoed up a step to A in the three finger style. Potholes is another one like Change where I thought I would never use these short poem ideas or even be able to add music that sounds like the words. They both could have turned into really bad childrens songs but I think the rhythm changes make them interesting. And for both I matched up words with already existing licks. And in both cases I matched on the instrumental parts and then wrote the lyric backing parts as new pieces to glue everything together. The banjo is G tuning clawhammer style. Secret Question is a little too clever but still worth it. This one is just a victim of me combining unused lyrics with unused licks. The syllables fit so it didn't matter that it was really short. The banjo is in D tuning clawhammer style. Ringtone is also a little too clever and difficult for me to play. I would love to hear this song played really fast and maybe with a fiddle as well. The lyrics are another attempt to see if it is possible to not write cheesy folk music based on current technology. Why is so easy and cool to write a song about trains while nobody can write an interesting song about computers or handheld devices? The banjo is in D tuning but capoed down a step to C in the clawhammer style. Whats for dinner? is based on a live performance by Charlie McAlister heard on a "no talent boom-boom" cassette. The lyrics are all the things that Lars says. There were a lot of percussion tracks on this possibly ruining the song or maybe making it more interesting. The banjo is in D tuning capoed up to E using the backwards Pete Seeger style developed for Fifty Righteous on 32. Riffles and Currents was originally a kind of lullaby practicing different picking patterns but I wanted to do something with drumset and bass on this recording so this is it. It is in the "trio" style instrumental following the tradition of Harvestmen and Watering. I didn't have as much time with the drums as I would have liked but it was good enough. I always hope to do more with the electric guitar but then end up going really simple. The lyrical ending is based on "We're in the Same Boat, Brother" by Lead Belly. The banjo is in D tuning three finger style.
Janelle LAH vocals, Rhodes, piano: Fifty Righteous, Greater Than, Longdistance
Mixed by Jacob Ross
Mastered by Jonathan Schenke
2012-2013
Zoom R16, Kenwood TS-830S, and whatever was used by Jacob Ross and Jonathan Schenke
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
N. Kimball, Chicago, IL
Brooklyn, NY
23:10
This continuation of banjo led tunes is very similar in style and approach to 33. I did write some guitar led pieces during this time but I just put those aside for later since I had a better theme going with the banjo again. There are songs in open G and double C and an instrumental in D. There are clawhammer and three finger style songs. I also added a new style that is a backwards version of the folk or Pete Seeger style. The same minimalist "trio" (bass, drums, banjo) theme goes with this one as well but it is my hope that all of these songs could stand alone with no accompaniment. Lyrically these still have some religious ideas mixed with everyday life. It was mixed down by Jacob Ross. He was originally supposed to do 33 but was busy so he recommended Jamie Carter. It worked out because now I kind of like the idea of using someone different each time. It also worked out because he was the perfect fit for getting the Dress/Longdistance pieces to come to life. Jacob recommended Jonathan Schenke for mastering so even more people touched this record than any previous.
Fifty Righteous uses the backwards Pete Seeger style. It is kind of a ridiculous song with odd pieces put together but it ended up being really nice and very different from when I play it alone. I would be surprised if someone hasn't already written a song based on this Genesis 18:24 passage since it is already poetic. I left out the ending where everyone dies. Greater Than was originally written on guitar. It made sense to translate it to banjo since all the other songs were on banjo for this record. I wasn't getting anything with the traditional styles so I ended up with another hybrid. I like that this one sounds completely different when I play alone or play on guitar. I put the original guitar part in there at the end and this is the only song with acoustic guitar. It is blatantly Christian but also purposely ambiguous. VIP is a match-up of a separate tune with separate lyrics. I go through unused tunes and unused lyrics every once and a while to see if anything fits. And this time these fit nicely or at least make a unique song. And this was another chance for me to come up with bass and drums for a song that possibly wouldn't normally be arranged like this. Polite To Stare is an idea that I had for a while from riding public transportation. For a long time I didn't have all the pieces or a tune but it finally came together and made sense. I like work songs and folk songs and always wanted to have a more a cappella type song just like Layers on 33. But I am not a good singer so I hit the banjo to have something to hold on to. The Loop is another idea that I got from riding public transportation. I had various pieces but then it somehow came together. And then I finally had the banjo style to fit it and the tune came naturally. Usually I play every instrument separately for these recordings but here I felt like I should sing and play at the same time to really capture it. You have to take an outbound blue line train if you want to hear the rhyme I stole from the conductor at the Logan Square station. src is a piece I made up to practice three finger style. Maybe it could be an etude. It might be nice to embellish with drums and bass etc in the future. I don't know where I got this lyric idea for Dress but I didn't feel like there was any reason to develop further it so it became a short tune. The music followed naturally. Then I thought that it would be interesting to add some complete opposite hardcore influence to go with another idea of "black" than just absence of color. Later I had a tough time trying to figure out what to do in the digital age where songs need to be split into mp3s even though I wanted this ending to fade into the beginning of the next song. Should it be one whole combined song to force you to hear my vision or is it okay to hear a tiny break when your player switches to the next song? This is the third time that I have recorded Longdistance. This banjo part was created in case I ever wanted to play it live with my current setup. And then I really wanted to make something musical out of HAM radio sounds. I recorded a bunch of samples over a couple of weeks. There was a lot of dead air so I cut and pasted the parts that I liked. I am amazed that people are still using HAM radio when now we've got cellular phones and the internet. Harvestmen is another instrumental in D tuning just like Watering on 33. I maybe could have saved this and figured out lyrics but I decided I'd rather focus on developing it as an instrumental in the "trio" style (although there is a short electric guitar part). It is always impossible to name instrumentals. I don't know how the jazz guys do it.
1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1968-D, 1969, 1969-D, 1970, 1970-D, 1971, 1971-D, 1972, 1972-D, 1973, 1973-D, 1974, 1974-D, 1975, 1975-D, 1976, 1976-D, 1977, 1977-D, 1978, 1978-D, 1979, 1979-D, 1980-P, 1980-D, 1981-P, 1981-D, 1982-P, 1982-D, 1983-P, 1983-D, 1984-P, 1984-D, 1985-P, 1985-D, 1986-P, 1986-D, 1987-P, 1987-D, 1988-P, 1988-D, 1989-P, 1989-D, 1990-P, 1990-D, 1991-P, 1991-D, 1992-P, 1992-D, 1993-P, 1993-D, 1994-P, 1994-D, 1995-P, 1995-D, 1996-P, 1996-D, 1997-P, 1997-D, 1998-P, 1998-D, 1999-P, 1999-D, 2000-P, 2000-D, 2001-P, 2001-D, 2002-P, 2002-D, 2003-P, 2003-D, 2004-P, 2004-D, 2005-P, 2005-D, 2006-P, 2006-D, 2007-P, 2007-D, 2008-P, 2008-D, 2009-P, 2009-D, 2010-P, 2010-D, 2011-P, 2011-D, 2012-P, 2012-D, 2013-P, 2013-D, (2014-P, 2014-D, 2015-P, 2015-D)
Janelle LAH vocals, piano: Layers, Sawyerwood, Finished, Calling, Watering
Mixed and Mastered by Jamie Carter
2011-2012
Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio, HP Pavilion dv1000 with Lexicon Alpha, and whatever was used at Carterco
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
W. Cermak, Chicago, IL
19:59
This one is a purposely banjo led collection of tunes. Some of the songs were actually written on guitar first but then reworked for banjo. In some cases I wrote the words or tune first and then added the backing chords. Other songs were completely written on the banjo and then words were added to match. There are some three-finger style songs and some clawhammer songs. There are some songs in open G (and moved down to E), standard C, double C moved up to D, and open D (and moved up to E). None of this was on purpose. It just happened to be tunings that I was practicing and then ended up writing songs with. Most of these songs are in a trio style or at least started out that way. The idea is that three people could play these live exactly the way you hear them. A couple of them break this rule on purpose. I originally wanted to get the Rhodes in there again but the piano seemed to fit better. Then for continuity it got added to more places that would have been guitar in the past. I also should never been in charge of mixing down all of the past recordings so I finally got someone else to do it. The whole thing was mixed down with Jamie Carter where he had good input on the final output.
Ailments Part 1 & 2 is a lyrical concept that I wasn't sure would turn into anything but then it came together. I believe there could be more verses but I didn't want to develop them right now. There could be more parts in the future. Usually the banjo is played fast. I wanted a slow melodic banjo style ending so there it is. It is played on a long-neck banjo with the capo off. This is the only song with electric guitar. Get A Witness is an example of double C tuning using the clawhammer technique. But actually the words were written first and then the banjo part just came naturally out of the syllables. It actually is a great solo song but I couldn't resist adding the drum/bass alternative trio effect. Layers is a story song in standard C. I am always interested in whether a song works unaccompanied and the material made it even more necessary. The middle instrumental part was actually written years ago and it seemed to fit well and become the bridge between the two sections of lyrics. There are actually four recorder parts. I almost wanted to not put any processing on them to prove that they were not synthetic. This is the only song with acoustic guitar. Sawyerwood is a parody of Sourwood Mountain with a piano and drum solos instead of some other kind of break that would normally be fiddle or something. Straw Union is just more messing around in open G. A banjo and drum duo without the bass for a change of scenery. I don't have a problem with Unions. They just aren't necessarily the answer. The Employer. The Employee. The Advocate. We are all greedy. Finished is an open G clawhammer rip-off of "(The Ring on My Finger is) Johnny Give Me" modified enough to make it sound like a new song that you feel like you've heard before. A banjo and piano duo for another change of scenery. I felt like redoing Calling both to get a better quality recording and to experiment more with the banjo/piano theme that found itself into this project. Watering is open D instrumental deemed not worthy of needing lyrics. Maybe I could have waited to see if something worked out. Or maybe I still could. I decided to call it "Watering" when I wrote the piano part. Then later it was raining while recording the piano part so I wanted to capture it but I didn't have the correct microphones for that kind thing. But then it started hailing so it was a lot louder. JLAH was scared and almost stopped playing.
Janelle LAH vocals, Rhodes, piano: The Economy, Last, Lost, Least, and Lifted, Calling, Making Contact, Late To Work
Maid Marion vocals, guitar: Calling
2010-2011
Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio, HP Pavilion dv1000 with Lexicon Alpha, Olympus VN-6200PC or Sony ICD-PX820, Dell Quietkey
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
Sturgeon Bay, WI
Circle M Farm, WI
20:58
This one is a continuation of similar ideas found on 35: Guitar led songs, banjo led songs, Rhodes keyboard backup, dueling drumsets, and a banjo instrumental. This was also a similar process for writing, recording, producing, etc and all the same equipment was used but recorded in a different location. Like most of these recordings, I think the execution could be better but I am more interested in getting the sketches out there than practicing forever to get them perfect. Every track was recorded from start to finish with no punch in/out or digital editing so you are hearing the best I could do at the time after a million or so mis-takes. The lyrics are just a continued attempt to mix old and new ideas into some kind of a character that may or may not be me.
The Economy was designed around the way that JLAH and I were performing live. The Rhodes is just mimicking what would be played on guitar (and/or bass). The guitar that you don't hear was actually written first in a "talkin-blues" style and then the banjo/Rhodes off of that. Last, Lost, Least, and Lifted was supposed to be the hit single off this. And maybe it still is or maybe it would be if someone else redid it in a radio-ready style. The lyrics are not perfect but I still think pretty good. It can be applied to Katrina but wasn't specifically written for that disaster. I could have got some better banjo sound if I had played the high parts closer to the neck. Calling was recorded with two digital recorders in a farmhouse but couldn't use both because they recorded at different sample rate or something. And then the main vocals were a little too quiet so I had to overdub second set of vocals to make sure it could be heard. The idea was to create an old fashioned song using common new technology. It may have worked if I was a better performer. You have to try real hard to make an old-timey sounding recording these days. You cannot just use a bad mic and hope to capture something amazing. But it is still a worthwhile document. Singing Nearby is another example of using bad equipment on purpose. This one was probably some sort of HAM radio mic. It might be cool if an actual choir sang this song but there are no good places to breathe and I was embarrassed to try and teach it. Often I want to have an acoustic song with heavier elements in it so Executive Decision was that song this time. I really like the two drumsets recorded with a couple of mics. They sound great alone hard panned left and right. I didn't have the right microphone to capture fingerpicking and had a lot of trouble balancing all the elements that I wanted to be heard. If someone else mixed this maybe the whole thing could have come out cleaner. I probably shouldn't be playing a horn but why not. Having some kind of brass or wind instrument in at least one song seems to be another recurring theme. Making Contact is a combination of an old set of lyrics with an old guitar riff. It ended up sounding better with piano instead of Rhodes even though I would have rather used Rhodes for continuity. Classic Maxel Toft beginning-middle-end style song. This is what happens when I only have verses and no chorus. Late To Work is just me deciding that this banjo lick will never become a song with words. The rest just kind of follows. I had lent out my microphones during the time that I wanted to record these drums so I decided to record each part separately. I found an old mic that had this weird hum and recorded ride, hi-hat, snare, and bass all on separate tracks start to finish. And then since I was separating things, I also split the banjo into two parts so it could be like a call and response type thing. Maybe these decisions are artistic. Maybe it is just easier to play. But then again I could just punch in/out and digitally edit everything if I was really that self conscious.
Auckland Bach drums: Afraid
Janelle LAH vocals and Rhodes: Beneath The Willow, To Pieces, The Thaw
2007-2009
Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio, HP Pavilion dv1000 with Lexicon Alpha
N. Keokuk, Chicago, IL
W. Winona, Chicago, IL
23:07
This album is meant as an exercise and comparison to the raw arrangements found on Johnson (which are really not all that different in this case except with less instruments). It is a continuation of shorter albums that don't benefit all that much from taking longer to make. I started recording mostly on the Portastudio but then it broke and I had to pay to get it fixed just so I could get the files out and transferred to Cubase. Usually when artists record, they go back and refine things and make sure they get each part exactly right. I just play everything straight through and hope that I don't mess up near the end. But if I do mess up and I cannot live with the mistakes then I have to start over. This method may not be in best interest of the listener but it is just a continuation of my 4-track cassette tape approach to recording. These songs were pretty old by the time I actually mixed them down but I like them all and think they are all worth playing live either alone or with a band.
Abandoned is my favorite off this one because it is this great melodic banjo piece and I was able to put lyrics over it and then add drums and bass in indie pop fashion. Short and simple. The Thaw is really a great song if you can get past this arrangement. I wanted to see what would happen if I treated the bass and electric guitar like drums and I think it ruins this recording. The other instrument is a Tonette which is also supposed to be percussive. It could benefit from supporting instruments that sound more like the lyrics. To Pieces is the hit song off this one. I may have made a poor choice to turn off the snare on the snare drum but I like a lot of the rest. Afraid is an un-worship song done on electric guitar just to have a song with electric guitar. I wrote the melody with voice first and then figured out a suitable guitar part. The second idea was to have dueling drum parts but I wasn't ready to do anything complicated so I just did the simple one so Auckland Bach could solo. Destination was written on guitar and I don't remember when or why it worked out so well for banjo. I like to think it actually sounds like driving. The in between banjo parts were written separately but they seemed to fit so they got inserted. Beneath The Willow is classic Maxel Toft guitar like To Pieces using only the low four strings and tuned down a step. It is a death march of sorts. This was the beginning of incorporating the Rhodes into the compositions. Canyon is just one of many banjo licks that was hanging around waiting to become a full song. I didn't foresee ever adding lyrics or developing it more and it made it on to the album because I realized that I could play it as a canon. It actually sounds pretty good live when the second part is a piano or something other than a banjo.
2006-2007
HP Pavilion dv1000 with Lexicon Alpha
N. Keokuk, Chicago, IL
17:04
This was cheating but since I made the rules for this stupid project, then I can break them (and I will probably have to create/break more in the future if I ever want to finish). I knew that it would be while before I could get a proper album out so I decided to release the raw demo tracks. Unfortunately for me, "raw demo tracks" means rehearsed with a million takes. But I was already getting a couple of years behind and I had other life priorities. Besides the time issue (which is really just a cop-out), I also wanted to force myself to practice and develop my performance skills and possibly make it easier for when it was time to do Kennedy. Up to now I was still mostly a home-recording artist and not very good in front of people with getting nervous and forgetting lyrics and chords etc. So this "album" represents Maxel Toft songs in their purest form. This is the way I write most of them straight through words and guitar (or banjo) in the folk style with no proper solo breaks or bridges but maybe one alternate part that usually becomes an intro or interlude. This album is meant as an exercise and comparison to the final arrangements found on Kennedy (which are really not all that different in this case except with more instruments).
A successful artist would probably have released these tracks as promo or bonus but here they are as an excuse for a mp3 album. This was the first Maxel Toft album to not have a CD so I produced a (collector item) sticker designed by Dowie Partners with a URL to the download.
Auckland Bach drums, bass, guitar, vocals, sequences: Half Full, Doctors Note, The Stranger, The Word, Why, The Firemen's Ball
Janelle LAH vocals: Doctors Note, The Word, The Firemen's Ball
Jane Deitrich vocals: The Stranger, The Word
John Boyd baritone and alto saxophone: Doctors Note, Why
Hans Lindemann tuba, trombone, clarinet: Why
Engineered by Andrew Deitrich at Hidden Wave
2005-2006
PowerMac G4, Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio, 1/4" Analog Tape
W. Argyle, Chicago, IL
N. Keokuk, Chicago, IL
35:17
This was a collaboration where I wrote all the words and basic outline for each song but it was really produced by Andrew Deitrich.
The tension between our different skills, background, and approach to creating music developed a really interesting record.
I am listening to and writing this retrospect more than ten years later and I love The Magnificent Voice.
This is classic "Maxel Toft" experimentation with banjo, homemade tape loops, and a beautiful guest performance. This is the stuff I am most proud of. And the vocalist did not want to be credited because she was currently working to become a professional opera singer and this was too weird.
Andy didn't have any input on this one. This was my way of transitioning into a "produced" album.
Half Full is one of the songs that I wrote during this album purposely to collaborate on. Andy compliments it perfectly.
If I remember correctly, we wrote the instrumental part together. It may be one of the few things that we actually did together.
Most of the time it was me recording vocals and acoustic guitar and then Andy doing the rest while I wasn't there.
However, I actually played and recorded the drums for Doctors Note.
And I was trying to find a replacement for Maid Marion at this time so I rushed JLAH into recording vocals for this.
JLAH had never recorded before and was used to singing in choirs and I was disappointed with her performance at the time. Now it doesn't sound too bad. My vocals aren't any better.
The horns are great and I wasn't even there for any of that stuff.
The lyrics for The Stranger are a combination of anecdotes from my Great-Grandmother Lucy Toft and Great-Aunt Emma Toft.
The music is awesome and simple like Half Full.
I feel like it is a great balance of Maxel Toft and Andy and it would have been our hit single.
The Word is more heavy on the Andy side. You can get a great comparison by listening to the live version on 38 and note how much he added.
Why is more good producing. Again I was only there for the vocals and acoustic guitar except that I also played that electric guitar for some reason (although the CD credits say I played bass which could also be true).
The Firemen's Ball was a follow up to the success of Quick Fix on 38. I wanted to write something from a female perspective that honored my grandmother. However, this is completely made up.
I have now written and recorded tons of banjo folk-parody type songs and I still think this one is precious.
I hated Andy's orchestral contribution at the time but similar to my feelings for everything else on this record, I now love how it is unique and doesn't quite fit and kind of works as a soundtrack piece for the credits at the end of a film.
The original idea was something you could barely hear like there was a dance going on far away. It was supposed to be a kind of bookend to The Magnificent Voice and this was way too clean for me.
But my idea of a muddy orchestra wasn't fair to the time and effort he put into the piece.
All I know is that I hated the production of this record at the time because these were not decisions (for example synths) that I would have made.
But then over time I liked the idea of hearing another interpretation of my work. And besides, I could be lazy and just write. I would have liked to do more records like this but then who knows if I would have written all those cool banjo pieces over the last ten years . . .
Mrs. Deitrich double bass: Unlisted
Maid Marion ambient percussion: Enough
Mr. Deitrich drums: The Word
2003-2004
Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio
W. Summerdale, Chicago, IL
W. Argyle, Chicago, IL
25:46
This recording is a good example of the refined Maxel Toft formula with examples of all the styles found in previous albums. There are songs with electric guitar and songs with acoustic guitar. Songs with drumset and songs with percussion and songs with none. There are a couple of guest musicians. And of course a banjo song or two. It is also interesting to note that there are only single vocal lines for all of the songs. There are no harmonies or dual vocals because I felt that the lyrics represented a single voice. I like the flow of this recording.
Eyelash is kind of a continuation of the electric based style found on Carter. For anyone wondering, the lyrics are a mix of boxing and eye contact. Supposedly made my wife fall in love with me but she still doesn't get it. Unlisted is a simple letter to God. The really great addition of upright bass was pretty much improvised by Mrs. Deitrich with no rehearsal. I also like the odd use of china cymbal that comes from my punk/hardcore influences. Quick Fix (G tuning but with the 5th string tuned down to F# to play in D) is just a little too clever. I am embarrassed to sing it since it is a role that I really haven't experienced and I don't want to offend anyone that has lived it. But it got on a compilation and that is good. And now everyone thinks I am a hack banjo artist. Longing was written with just guitar first and then the banjo just fell in. It gave me great confidence in banjo arrangement. I wanted to have both a clawhammer style and bluegrass style banjo on every album ever since but you can't force something like that. The lyrics are in the Reagan style and may have been written around that time. I will always remember that Enough was written the day that Johnny Cash died. They were showing clips on TV and I was moved by a performance of him singing Man in Black to a small audience outside. Shortly afterward I had my own version for the Iraq/Afghani conflicts. It is probably not as good as I think it is but that doesn't matter because it is more for me than for you. I wanted to include Maid Marion in some way so she does percussion. With The Word I wanted to prove that I could record something live and raw. Mr. Deitrich and I did a couple of takes in his living room alternately messing up until we had one. Just like the other guest musicians, there were no rehearsals except for the practice takes. The ending is actually spliced on from a different take. Band 2: Lesson 37 - Formal Speech was removed when it was added to a compilation. It is not really the kind of song I would want on a comp but I couldn't turn it down. It was more of an ending to this album than a stand alone representation of Maxel Toft. And now everyone thinks I am a hack electronic artist. Busted Me was recorded afterward because I needed to replace Band 2: Lesson 37 - Formal Speech and I had no more complete songs. I cannot remember if I wrote the new lyrics specifically for this recording or if I already had them but had no intention of using them until I needed this replacement.
Maid Marion vocals: Visiting Hours, Background, Unsteady, Humboldt
2002-2003
Tascam 788 Digital Portastudio
W. Summerdale, Chicago, IL
Sturgeon Bay, WI
33:44
This was my electric follow up contrast to Reagan. It is a kind of art of the trio type recording where there is mostly one electric guitar, bass, and drums for each song. Some songs could have benefited from acoustic treatment but I wanted to keep the theme. It was also the first time since before Clinton that I had a space to record full drumset. I was also helped by the fact that the Tascam 788 has virtual tracks and mixing down drums is a whole lot easier than on tape where you are forced to overwrite the bounced tracks.
Every so often I like to clear out all my old songs to make room for new ones. I doubt that it really works this way but for some reason I get more ideas after the old ones are used and recorded. The second half of this album is old unused songs matched up with some old unused lyrics. The first half is a continuation of some of the ideas and goals I began to refine in Reagan. During this period I also started doing shows with Maid Marion that mostly consisted of the tolerable songs from these two albums. I don't usually feel like playing most of these songs live anymore but this album is very listenable and there is some clever interplay between the minimal instruments.
Visiting Hours has kind of personal lyrics based on a friend. I think he realized and was angry. Either way, the characters are fictional (like everything else I write to avoid being vulnerable). There are great oohs from Maid Marion in a space made specifically for her. For some reason I feel like this song is boring when I play it solo but I think it is a good story song. You can sing the words to Background to The Party's Over by Willie Nelson. I love the sounds of all the instruments that I captured but I am sad at how I mixed the picked guitar too soft. This was pretty much the first time that I tried to write anything with finger picking (even though it was completed after other finger picking songs) and I am still proud of it. The bass solo at the end is my favorite. It is so sad and beautiful. Again, the characters are all fictional. Unsteady was supposed to be the epic song of this album like Sow on Reagan (along with dual vocals and repetitive builds and false endings) but again it was just not executed as well as I hoped and desired. The result seems flat to me as I would have liked to create more emotion from the song. Instead it is an interesting song that maybe I will rerecord sometime in the future. This song definitely could have benefited from a second guitar or more. I liked the music for Ending Or Beginning? but didn't have any good ideas for lyrics so I reused some words from an old song called 2day that I wasn't satisfied with. It's a rock song with brushes! This album was all about pieces. I had fun taking an unused guitar part and then composing something creative on drums and then a complimentary bass part. Pangs is an example of what I do with left over lyrics sometimes. It is supposed to be silly and sarcastic but mostly I am just embarrassed. You can hear the punk and hardcore influence. This could easily be a hardcore song with screamed vocals. I took the same approach as Ending Or Beginning? for putting the pieces together. I like Humboldt but it is too long and cheesy. This one is similar to the last couple of songs where there are really only a couple of musical parts but I changed the drums and/or bass and/or vocal line to make it different each time. I tried to use compression on the drums and ended up getting some interesting sounds accidentally. I was actually trying to use compression correctly but gave up. There is also a pitch shifter effect on the guitar that feels like cheating. I like this chord progression that is based around letting the open A string ring. I am always drawn to songs that have a drone note. Old Lovers Having Lunch was recorded with one mic and a mini Marshall Stack. The best part is where I inadvertently do a harmonic as I lift my fingers from the strings and it makes a cool ring. Again, the characters are all fictional.
Maid Marion vocals: Sow, Ring, Reflection
2001-2002
Tascam 464 Portastudio
W. Farragut, Chicago, IL
W. Summerdale, Chicago, IL
W. Argyle, Chicago, IL
30:16
This may be my favorite recording. The lyrics are clever and consistent and the music is simple but interesting. I still enjoy playing all of these songs and they regularly end up in my sets.
I had a tough time recording this album since I was finishing a Computer Science degree at DePaul University and had an unemployed roommate and all I wanted to do was record in private and get these ideas out as soon as possible so I could be admired for all the unique and creative ideas I thought came up with. These lyrics are deliberately more religious than the first two albums. I wanted to create something more mature and personal. A lot of Christian influenced music is exclusive and cold (on purpose) and this was my first attempt at trying present my views in an accessible and universal way to music I would listen to if I didn't write it myself. The production is a minimalistic and folk influenced reaction to the ideas that came out in Bush and meant to bring more attention to the lyrics and melodies than in previous recordings. I really enjoy dual-vocal, call-and-response type lyrics and I am proud that I could write some of my own. I purposely wrote Sow, Ring, and Reflection to include Maid Marion and relieve myself of vocal responsibilities.
Flight is a good example of me breaking my own rules. The Rule is: Never write about emotional current events because they always end up cheesy and forced. Well, in this case always was changed to usually. I am really proud of these lyrics. I even put these words on my first web page (before I had written the music). The hymn-like music just came to me one day and there it was. This song is also on my first compilation appearance on VBM. I should have used trained singers and a real trumpet player. I had a great vision for Sow and couldn't execute it the way I wanted. But it is still a great song that I spent a lot of time on. It took on many forms with lyrics that changed often until I settled on this one. When I was finished recording and cleaning up dead space on the tape, I accidentally deleted the very end of the percussion part. I was so angry I wanted to break things. I decided to drop a cup full of loose-change to mask the blank space instead of recording the whole part over again. The drumset part at the end was recorded at Auckland Bach's house on his drumset. I like how Ring is centered around one chord. I used an upside down snare drum (because the top was missing), ride cymbal, and floor tom for the mimicked drumset part. Reflection is my first traditional three-finger banjo and folk style arrangement. I like it a lot but sometimes I am embarrassed to play it because I think it is too cheesy. Devil Death had to be redone so here it is with a better pace and breaks. I recorded it in the upper part of Maid Marion's garage and you can barely hear birds in the background if you listen close. I thought this was cool until I remembered that they were in the background of a couple of Damien Jurado songs. Cowboy also had to be redone to make it more listenable. I sing the line, "land called Wisconsin" as "land o'er the Mountains" now to make it less personal. I meant to record this version that way also but forgot. I love when the slide guitar and keyboard combine with the banjo uke. There was a time when I wanted to feature at least one banjo, banjo uke, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drumset, percussion, keyboard, etc. part on each album but now I just do what I feel is best for the songs (or maybe I'm just lazy). Sentences has a nice picking pattern that goes from major to minor equivalent. The lyrics are just as vague as Ring which I like because they can apply to anything.
Maid Marion vocals: Steps
Steps Produced by Jay Elder at studiochicago
1999-2000
Tascam 464 Portastudio, studiochicago, Midisoft Studio LE (Windows 98), and whatever was used at studiochicago
Zion, IL
N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL
W. Farragut, Chicago, IL
N. Clybourn, Chicago, IL
40:24
This album was a continuation of trying to perfect my writing/performing/recording abilities so I bought and borrowed some more equipment, concentrated more on lyrics, and played the songs over and over and over again. The problem with my musical leanings at this time (and on through until Ford) was that I did not practice to perform live but only to record a passable take. I enjoy the process of writing and then trying to recreate what is in my head, but since I was no good, I would get really frustrated and angry and break things when I couldn't do a take without screwing up. I was just going to school and working at Starbucks and hoping I could write some stuff that would impress people and make me feel good about being an artist.
One of the concepts behind this album was to have different instruments (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, live drums, electric drums, harmonica, mandolin, banjo uke) and voices for every song and show off my versatility. To me it all just ends up sounding mediocre.
These are the first Maxel Toft songs that feature bass guitar. I went and bought one just for recording purposes. It was/is a Cort EFVB1 Violin/Beatle Bass that is extremely heavy and I had to buy an extra fat strap so my arm doesn't get cut off. I also bought a cheap electric guitar to add some color to the songs. I still have it and it may be a DeArmond M-70 but I scratched off the numbers on it and I don't know. I bought a used guitar amplifier head at the same time as the bass and I do not remember what brand because it was stolen a couple of years later.
For My Auto I used a toy keyboard (from thrift) with built in microphone and recorded the keyboard and vocal part at the same time to save an extra track. I like the scratching on the bongo head and think it really pushes the song. And yes, that is a Wuhan China Symbol you hear. This song is a recurring example of where I had a tune that I didn't really care too much about so I threw some old lyrics over it that I didn't really care too much about. Sometimes it really helps just to get rid of some old material and make room for new ideas. I would really enjoy Skeleton Key if it weren't for the fact that the guitar part sounds too much like Pedro The Lion. I love the clever use of bongos, tambourine, and bell to mimic a real drum set. The four guitar solo instrumental part displays my love of creating space for noise where I don't know what will happen. Steps (Produced by Jay Elder at studiochicago) was a scary studio experience miracle. I had been in three or four real studio experiences but this was the first and only time alone. I wrote this song a couple of weeks before the session out of a guitar part I really liked and pieces from a bunch of lyrics I never used. I got the drum part in one take (after a false start), I borrowed a bass and had a little trouble playing it right (it was shortly after this that I decided to buy my own), I had a lot of trouble with my voice, and I am pretty amazed by the slide guitar part I made up in a couple of takes (great use of noise). This was the first track to feature Maid Marion. I called her after every track was finished and had her improvise over the end. Dreamboat is an angry song with great drum track built in Midisoft Studio LE. Originally I created this song because I sold my skills at an auction and wrote a song for/about the buyer. That was a clever song too but I liked the tune and rewrote it with words about dumping a girl and telling the world she was available. For the bridge I used a broken amp that made great noises when you turned the knobs. The amp was first used with Suentes Po. Previously I used it on a Clarence song and also for a magic moment on a Maid Marion song. I tried a little too hard to write a drinking song called Never Thirsty. It is a little too clever for me but drinking songs are dumb anyway. I waited until I was sick so I could sing low and I think I started to drool during one of the lines. Roll On is another example of me trying to use a different voice. This is also an example of me wanting to make sure that my guitar parts were not all the same. This version of Cowboy is so horrible that I had to rerecord it for a later album. I wanted to play harmonica and guitar at the same time and recorded in my bathroom for no reason into one crappy microphone . . . for no reason. Long Ago features a bowl back mandolin that always sat on my parents piano. I had to get it repaired before I used it but I think now it is cracked again. I don't like it when people who don't know how to play mandolin play mandolin (but I can't promise I won't do it again). For the drums I used a real snare drum with an electronic bass drum pedal. I figured out a way to use the banjo uke again (see Double Negative Love) on Buy Me. The vocals were sung through reverb and guitar through the tremolo settings on the guitar amplifier head that was later stolen (that is why there is so much amp hum). I first thought it would be too personal to release but then I recorded it on purpose to prove that I didn't care. Remembrance is an old Clarence song remastered with doubled vocals because I lost the original and I wanted the vocals louder. I recorded the drums in my parents basement on a drum set I still own. It seemed to fit in with the other songs on the recording and I wanted to make the album longer. I like how it ended with, "There's more to come . . ."
1998-1999
Tascam 464 Portastudio
W. Belden, Chicago, IL
N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL
26:47
This recording represents everything I learned from my experiences with Suentes Po and Clarence. Suentes Po was a high school rock/pop band where I played drums but also had a hand in the songwriting. We may have had potential but we did not get together too often so I created Clarence out of boredom and started writing and recording songs to four-track tape. Some of it is okay. Almost all of it is embarrassing in some way. I released a couple of tapes under the Clarence moniker. They were widely unfocused.
Then I was in my first studio apartment and I was lonely and bored so I decided to make a concept album where every song led into the next (this proved too difficult to achieve for the whole thing but you can hear it in a couple of songs). So I wrote and recorded some new folk leaning songs and reworked a couple of Clarence songs. It is interesting to look back and listen to what comes from the restriction of only four tracks, no bass guitar, and no drumset. I like restrictions because I feel comfortable knowing that the possibilities are not endless and also because I am lazy when it comes to recording. I want so badly for it to be like I hear it in my head but I usually have to give up and let it be what it is. For example, I bought special tapes made for four tracks hoping that maybe the recordings would sound better but they actually screwed it up and added reverb that I didn't notice until mixdown. It made me angry at the time because I was trying to make a real recording but now I like it because it has a special quality that cannot be reproduced. It is proof that you cannot try to make a recording like this. It is more a product of what was available and the accidents that happened while I was trying to pursue something larger. Another thing that I remember is that I was afraid of my neighbors hearing me record. I didn't want them to hear me doing the vocal tracks or know how many takes I would have to do to get parts right.
Then when it came time to name it and create album art I decided to avoid both by creating the President Series. The original idea was to have each album be named according to the president number and have a president picture on the cover. The band name was also supposed to change with each president name. But changing the band name each time didn't make sense and Maxel Toft was added later. This was my first CD (cd burners were just then popular on home computers) and it featured a picture of Bill Clinton on the front and track list on the back.
I wanted to do a Woody Guthrie cover that you usually don't hear so I chose Ship In The Sky because it is so simple and complex at the same time and amazing. The Clarence Show is a tribute to leaving Clarence behind. I used a homemade mini strat for the electric guitar part (on the original Clarence version I tried to play guitar and piano at the same time). Makes Sense is a Clarence song I recorded three times before this shortened version. I used practice drum pads with piezo buzzers in them hooked up to a Casio DZ-1 hooked up to someones keyboard for the drum parts. Pirate Garrghl is a parody of the Local H song Grrrlfriend. The H. P. and the C. D. (hokey pokey and chicken dance) is a dumb song about two people who just met at a wedding and start having their own wedding. I removed the percussion because it sounded lame. Wash features more electric drums and overuse of harmony. Here's Lookin' At You is an embarrassing self portrait. Gonna Blues was reworked later on Reagan because I didn't like the strumming. Loveletters tries to figure out how many words rhyme with et. There were more but I am lazy. Longdistance has the first appearance of the banjo uke. I should bring it back for future recordings. Gettin' Old features bells from when I was in Suentes Po and wanted something to set me apart from other drummers. Now I think it is gimmicky and contributes my current minimalist approaches to music. Weather Report is an ode to God to counter the challenge that Gonna Blues provoked. Double Negative Love is one of many depressing almost anti love songs but it makes good use of the banjo uke.