The J.E.L.L.i. Blog

Random Writes - The J.E.L.L.i. Blog

What a hell of a start...

by Chris

Jan 10, 2012

What a terrible start to Sauter Shutdown... i feel like i've been to hell and back... i'm not going to go into the personal side of the complication, but on the professional side: "Pro Tools" my recording program kept crashing and giving me crazy errors, I cracked my china cymbal during the recording of Glassman, that costs $325 to replace, and the strawberry on top of the shit cake: $2500 worth power conditioners in my studio FRIED for no good reason..

but EVERYTHING is absolutely fine now... everything.. on the personal side and on the professional side.. and i'm back on track.. but it's unbelieveable how simple a problem is to fix, and you don't even know it.. you over complicate & worry & freak out for no reason... The Automatic Voltage Stabilizer that fried, costs $1600.. I called Monster and they said they "don't repair the AVS 2000 PRO" and basically said i'm screwed.. and to trade in my "broken" unit for a new one they would have charged me at LEAST $800.. So i said screw that, I just opened the son of a bitch up myself.. i thought it was toast, but guess what.. it was just a fuse... JUST A GOD DAMN 90 CENT fuse!!!! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!

I ran out to radioshack skipping like a little girl in glee looking like a fuckin' moron but i didn't care.. (you should have seen it, lol) i was just so friggin' happy that i was about to save $1600 dollars... I bought the fuse, replaced it, and now IT WORKS LIKE NEW... un...be...lievable.. i'm the happiest guy in the world right now

SO... moral of the story, if you're in hell, then heaven can't be too far away...
it just can't be... believe that it's on the way, and you will make it through.

-Chris

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Sauter Shutdown

by Chris

Oct 30, 2011

HTML COUNTDOWN CLOCKS

SAUTER SHUTDOWN

Picture this: You are an HDTV broadcasting in standard definition. You are a california redwood growing in a greenhouse. You are a radio picking up equal parts static and music, never staying on a station long enough to play a song all the way through. You are a candle melting without a flame, the sun shining behind dark skies, and fresh air locked inside a coffin, for no one.

The above paragraph describes how i've felt about my music career for the last 3 years. I already have nearly 3 full albums written, 50+ songs... and how much of that has been recorded & released? Just a 5 song demo that came out in 2008. Despicable.
The reason for this?? There's not one reason, there are several, but the main reason?: I'm not focused. My energy is divided. I sacrifice too much for other people and I have a hard time letting them down, and if that's truly the case, then I should have a hard time letting myself down too... I finally do. I've been parading around again & again every year saying that the album would be finished, and year after year I've made a liar out of myself.. This is the last year I will let that happen to me.

I'm a lot like George Bailey, however there is one big difference between us: I would have gotten on that train, and followed the path of my own passions, despite people's "need" for me to help them with their situations. The purpose of this blog is to all inform you all, that I will be disappearing for a while.. I'm getting on that train. It's time for me to focus all of my energy into finishing "Jump Into The Fuzz" and finally become all I was born to be, whatever that may be.

Starting January 1st, 2012, I will be freezing my facebook account, I will be turning off my cellphone, and I will not be in contact with anyone, anywhere, for any reason until the very last note of "Jump Into The Fuzz" is recorded. This is a serious statement: I CANNOT remember the last time I asked a favor from someone... I can't.. For real. Yet , I can count on the fingers of one hundred hands the amount of requests people have asked of me over this last year alone; and I obliged. I am a giver, it's in my nature to sacrifice for others. But now, it's finally time to give back to myself, and ask everyone to sacrifice for me...

THIS IS WHAT I NEED FROM YOU:

Starting January 1st 2012, Treat me like i don't exist...
Don't call me, don't write, don't invite me to anything, don't ask anything of me.. just forget about me.
Until I come back to the world with this album that spans nearly a DECADE of my life already,
Leave me alone.

You may think this is a little extreme, and here is my response: I've been trying to balance J.E.L.L.i. with the rest of my life for years now, and it just doesn't ever work without my music getting put on the back burner for someone else's project or needs. The reason is: I'm a one man band. There is no balance in that. It is impossible to balance that with a normal life. Being a one man band is an extreme problem, therefore, it needs an extreme solution, hence: Sauter Shutdown. Even come January when i'm working on it every single hour of every single day, it's STILL not a productive situation, because i'm just one guy doing all the collective work of 7 people: two guitarists, a bass player, drummer, singer, audio engineer, and a producer. A full team can get done lazily in a day what i get done in a full week working my ass off.

These last two months are my goodbye... I thank you all for your understanding, and I hope I will still have an audience when I emerge from my studio cave with what many people in my life have been waiting for nearly a decade to finally hear:
J.E.L.L.i.'s first full length album:

JUMP INTO THE FUZZ

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NO MORE SUNNY DOODLES..

by Chris

Sep 27, 2011

I just got home from a Foo Fighters Concert... Dave Grohl was playing 10 feet away from me.... it was an amazing experience, and every time i get close to one of these people, it re-affirms the passion i've had in me since i first picked up a guitar in 1995. There's no doubt in my mind that i'm on the right track, and no doubt in my mind that i will arrive, right on time.

Drum recording for "Jump Into The Fuzz" is going great, and turning out as good as i've always hoped for... in a word (or 4), the drums sound awesome. I was nervous before i started tracking them, because although i can rock out on the drums, i'm no pro... and drums are the hardest instrument to record and get right because there are so many pieces contained in this instrument.. it's not just a "drum", it's "drums" plural... AND cymbals... and every part needs a mic, and not just any mic, the proper mics selected to bring the most out of the instrument and also properly placed to avoid phase issues (sorry i'm getting too technical for you now..)

But i gotta say, as much as i love drumming and doing everything myself, i cannot WAIT to hand this responsibility over for second album... (which already has a title and a concept but i'm not gonna tellll youuu... hehe) ..you will not hear a single drum hit from me on the 2nd album... i will be passing that torch to a wonderful human being named Andrew Johansen.. he's incredible, and i'm honored and lucky to have him as my drummer.

Long story short, the album is coming out as good as i always knew it could, and should.. and i'm proud that i'm finally doing it justice... the title of this blog is called "No More Sunny Doodles", that's me starting to take my voice more seriously and stop eating Sunny Doodles, 3 Muskateer bars and all the other sugary crap i shove into my face all the time. Since i'm more than half way done with the drum tracks for the album now, i'm starting to switch over into serious vocal mode to get ready to sing on the album... and that means lots of exercise, proper diet, proper amount of sleep, attention to in the way i speak throughout the day and consistent vocal warmups/exercises/warmdowns.

I'm really excited to update the songs from the J.E.L.L.i. EP with my new & improved voice, and hear the way the rest of the songs turn out too... i've grown a whole lot as a singer, and i'm finally ready to do these songs justice.

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring, thanks for breathing and thanks to anyone who i've kept waiting.. i'm no rock star yet but i know that there are a lot of people that have been ready to buy this album for a very long time.. thank you for holding onto me and not letting go..

-Chris

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What are you Tapping into?

by Chris

Jul 6, 2011

I love being able to stare at a tall tree, and feel the energy, the history and the majesty that surrounds it, instead of just seeing it as another log for my fire.. Many people can't do this, and I think that's very bad. It's very easy to take the simplest most beautiful things in the world for granted, when your a human. Humans come stock with egos, it's a hard wired feature in us that we cannot bypass, we can only learn how balance it. The ego doesn't seek out peace and beauty and truth... It seeks out drama, status and whatever "truth" supports it's own purpose. But besides most of us being slaves to our egos, and not being able to see our own lives from an outside perspective, I think the biggest drain on us is the need to work to live. it's a shitty situation, you spend 50% of your time doing something you probably would rather not be doing, 25% of your time asleep, and then that meager 25% remainder is all you have to achieve any personal goals you've set for yourself and enjoy what's left of you life. That sucks. Period. and for 95% of people, that's the reality they live in for 50 years untill they finally retire.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is:

"Man ain't made to work, C'mon build a machine! So we can sleep and, make love deeper..."

-Jane's Addiction

I'm not saying this situation will ever change.. because it will not.. ever. You need money to live, you must work to earn money. But what makes me truly sad is that I bet millions of people would love to work on balancing out their ego, becoming more positive, growing spiritually and all that crap, but there's just not enough time in the day to do it, with a full time job.. That fact deeply saddens me.. but even though it's hard to make a conscious effort to grow despite a full time job, it's not impossible.. There are things we can do to make sure our work/life balance is in check.

First, gain a true perspective on life, know that it's all fleeting, nothing and no one lasts forever in the physical plane. You can't live here forever in your body. This will help you take your family, friends and personal life more serious and put a priority on it. Re-center yourself and decide what is most important to you. It can help you stop your bullet train and appreciate all those little things you miss because you're too distracted & drained from working a job you don't even like to begin with, which leads me to point #2..

DON'T WORK A JOB YOU DON'T LIKE TO BEGIN WITH!! Don't work at a shitty job forever, find something better.. work there KNOWING that you will be moving on. While you're working there, ACTIVELY look for another job that you feel better about. I'd be miserable if I worked a job that I couldn't stand, without setting any time limit for myself of when I was going to take the plunge, quit, and find something better for myself. The saying goes, if you work a job you love, then you'll never work another day in your life... Now THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! Do whatever it takes to make that happen for yourself... ANYTHING. I'd rather make $34,000 a year after taxes and be consistently happy throughout my life, than make $400,000 a year and smile only on the weekends.

Life is a hurricane, there's no question about it... But make sure to step into the eye of the storm as often as you can.. Gain perspective from a peaceful place, gain knowledge and plan your next move from a consistent place of solitude... not while you're twisting around in the tornado. If you can't look at a giant tree and feel it's sovereignty, or swim in the ocean and know that you are energetically part of everything everywhere all at once, or look in the mirror and see someone that you love, then your life is not balanced and you have got a lot of work to do if you ever want to reach your full potential and power as a human being. Don't think i was born this way, I have a natural swing towards positivity yes, but sustaining my happiness and focusing my power at the level i have achieved comes from lots of strong determination and strict self control. I'm not that special. Anyone can do this... Anyone who wants it, and will do what it takes to get it.

Get on it.

-Love Chris

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My Friend's Stalker

by Christopher

Jun 29, 2011

I have a funny friend who makes YouTube videos, his name is John. We collaborate constantly on them and are very proud of them.. So after finishing drums for "White Lines", i started mixing them last night, when i pause to check my gmail and realize I got a message from a person i've never met before... it read:

"do you have any naked pics of your friend....I love to see them....I am his one and only true love.....he blocked me on facebook...but I know he loves me as well.....did he ever fart in front your? tell me....did you ever see me naked? tell me.....did you have a naked pic of him-send it to me so I can jack off to it....I am in love with johnny mathos.... or johnny matland as his name on staten island......I love him so much....I wish he would talk to me....."

WOAH!!!! Not cool, in the words of Garth: "PSYCHO HOSEBEAST...." To which i reply:

"Daniel, you've never met me before, and the first thing you ask me is for naked pictures of my friend?? Do you think it's okay to do that?? Because it is not. I'm worried about you, based on this message you seem like someone who is unhealthily obsessed with my friend John.. This is not good for you, you're only going to hurt yourself. Let me tell you, John is a heterosexual, he does not love any men, including you.. he loves women and only women." I know you "believe" he's your true love, but I have to tell you Daniel, you are wrong. I don't care what voices in your head are telling you otherwise, listen to me.. they are wrong too. Don't pursue John, it is a dead end, a waste of your time and it's not real. It's over.. You need to see through this obsession and realize how bad this has become... WAKE UP!! you don't want to be a "stalker" do you? Because that's where you're headed, and there's a lot of trouble down that road: harassment charges, restraining orders ect.. Just get over him, move on.. find somebody else, NO! better yet, find YOURSELF... Fall in love, with YOU. Make that change...

Good Luck.. I will be blocking you forever now."
-Chris

Crazy Crazy... Neither i or my friend John can be considered celebrities yet by any means, but even at our low status of popularity, stalkers are a viable possibility.. Creeepy! Maybe YouTube has somewhat bridged the gap between the A list celebrity and the D list celebrity for these loonies.. Check out John's YouTube page, but if you feel a stalkerish tendency while watching, turn off immediately and seek professional help.. lol: http://www.youtube.com/johnnymattoos

So in other J.E.L.L.i. news, all the drums are sounding fantastic... I'm very proud of myself and my abilities. I haven't been blogging a lot at all, but that's because i've been recording.. so I guess that's okay.. =) . Enjoy the hot day!

-Chris

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Feeling Realer everyday...

by Chris

May 24, 2011

It's 81 degrees outside... It's the perfect weather to thrive in... so lets do that shall we? Let's take a look at our lives, a real good look into our own lives and come to some conclusions about who we've become, and if that matches up with who we really want to be...

My name is Christopher Sauter. I've been alive since 1985 and I consider myself to have come a long way since then. I received my first guitar on my 10th birthday, and from that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. 16 years later i've turned myself into a complete one man production company that's about to release a really great album and charge forward into a career starting with music and ending up god knows where... No the album isn't done yet... No i don't have a sure fire marketing plan, NO it's not guaranteed to go anywhere or do ANYTHING at all... But, that doesn't mean i'm not going to do it. Why? Because, some things in life just beckon you relentlessly and burn at your feet until you give up and walk down their path. That is J.E.L.L.i. for me. No escape, No qualms, No resistance, because I simply cannot fight the natural flow of my life. But that's just me, and I know I will be fine. When you don't fight the flow, things fall right into place like puzzle pieces.

There is a time and a place for everything and everyone, to give and take from this world all that they are supposed to. The world is divided between givers and takers, and while it's a gift in itself to be a giver, you must know when to draw the line... I'm feeling more real every day, now that i've been just recording MY album and turning down other outside projects.. The sun has officially set on "Sunshine Studios" in regards to outside recordings (except for a few exceptions.. you can't ever really be an island no matter how hard you try... lol) It feels like my life is getting closer and closer to reaching a turning point, a "point of no return" turning point, but that's a good thing. I'm also reading a book right now called "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" and it's completely connecting me to the amazing reality of this horridly beautiful entangled world of love and hate we all live in.. i'm only 30 pages in, but already i've laughed out loud at least 5 times and have deeply connected to this guy named Jed McKenna... It's slowly, turning out to be what MAY become my favorite book of all time, and it's a spiritual book that is completely contrary to all the spiritual literature i've ever read before.. isn't that the damnedest thing? lol

So where are we? Are we growing? Are we sprinting towards our own personal goals focused, with a banner waving in achievement? or are we crawling forward, spreading our energy too thin, giving our time and talent away, being there for others but never ourselves?...

Enjoy this beautiful day, and do something you want to do. Something YOU REALLY want to do.

-Chris

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Let's Get Married...

by Chris

Mar 16, 2011

HA. Don't let the title fool you, my love life is barely breathing right now. But, there are two couples that are very close friends of mine who are very much in love & both in competitions to win free wedding stuff. If you'd be so kind, it'd make their day if you could click the links below and VOTE for them! The first one takes 10 seconds to "Like" a status on facebook, and the 2nd one takes 2 minutes to sign up on 106.7litefm.com and vote. Pretty Please? ;) It'll make me get my album done faster I promise... haha

1. Justin & Amanda: http://tinyurl.com/Justin-Amanda

Log into facebook, click the link above, "Like" their status and you're done!! Easy Schmeezy.. It's a "Like" race to win a free Engagement Ring from some jewelry company.

2. Lauren & Gregg: http://www.1067litefm.com/pages/contest/dream-wedding/

This one takes a minute or two, because you need to sign up with 106.7 lite fm and check your e-mail for the verification, but you'd be helping out a very dear friend of mine from the 7th grade who has always made my life happier by just being in it, she's my superstar, and I'd appreciate it if you helped her out! They deserve it!! VOTE LAUREN & GREGG!!

Now that I promoted my friends, I'm off to do more sound checking for drums before I start to actually record for the album.. You'd be surprised how many microphones it takes to capture every nuance of a drumset... right now i'm up to 14.

On another note, I just finished another voice lesson today and i'm steadily starting to reach my full potential as a singer.. my voice is re-inventing itself and i'm so excited about the way I sound now. The way my voice sounded on the EP wasn't bad, but I've definitely grown a lot and learned a lot about the human instrument that is the voice, and am excited to unveil J.E.L.L.i. V.2.0 when the album is finally finished...

THANKS FOR SPENDING 3 MINUTES TO HELP MY FRIENDS OUT!!
YOU RAWK!! =)

-Chris

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Almost Spring Ramble

by Chris

Mar 5, 2011

Yesss.... I woke up with my windows open this morning, and felt the beginning of spring flowing. It's almost here, i'm so happy about that, the winter is a harsh time for me, and while you can retreat to a warm place in your mind, your body is still subjected to the cold. I keep an internal campfire burning throughout winter, but as good as that is, it's only simulation. Though soon, my body will join my mind at a real beach, with a guitar and real warmth all around,

I can't wait.

Music is so important to people. I'm really happy to be a part of all that. I realize this because the album i'm listening to right now just ended and it left the room in silence.. a very empty feeling silence, with just a refrigerator buzzing.. Normally i'd be able to find beauty in the buzz, hear the underlying notes and write a harmony to it, but it's hard to do that when you're depressed... (WHAT!? Chris... you're depressed?)

Yes. But in a good way.. It's always a good way. It's my emotional guidance system kicking in.. Depression for me indicates that I am either denying something/someone I shouldn't be, or i'm doing something I shouldn't be doing. I don't get sad without reason, but I actually do get very happy for no appart reason. I guess you could say i'm half bi-polar with the longer end of the stick. So what am I not doing that's depressing me? Take a guess... recording my music.

I have about 3 albums written now, and only a 5 song demo recorded. The last J.E.L.L.i. release was in 2008. (Dear god just writing that makes me angry..) It feels like i'm as pregnant as you can get with no musical vagina to let this thing outta me. Well then it's C-Section time. My studio is finally complete, and the only thing left to do now, is record. I'm gonna explode music soon, and when I do, it's never going to end for the rest of my life, I know this.. I will be addicted to putting music out into the world, because that's just what I do.. it's my purpose. A bee makes honey, I make music. That's all there is to it.. There are only two things in this world that mean the world to me, Music and Love... and though neither of those things are where I want them to be right now, I know, without a doubt, that they are exactly, where they should be.

-Chris

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Checklist for "Jump Into The Fuzz"

by Chris

Jan 22, 2011

I need to think outloud right now... these are all the things I still need to do right now to prepare to record drums for the album:

1. Completely finish recording scrap vocals so I can record the final drums with a vocal take in the song. (Everything revolves around the vocals...)

2. Create mixes of all the songs on "Jump Into The Fuzz" without the drums, so I can record real drums to them.

3. Take all the crazy drum parts I composed on the drum machine with my 10 fingers, and translate them to a real drum set, using only two arms and two legs. (Greattttttt....)

4. Rehearse all those parts until I can perform them properly for the recording session.

5. After rehearsing enough to be ready for actual recording, re-skin all the drums fresh for recording and tune them properly.

6. Sound check every microphone for the best possible position on each of the drums in the drumset. (12 mics in all...) Get proper gain/compression/equalization settings.

7. Record drums for 15 songs.

--------------------------------------End of Drums-------------------------------------------------

Then......

Start final vocals/background vocal recording, then Mixing, then Mastering, then creating artwork for the album, then CD pressing, then uploading to iTunes +1000 other places, then getting a live band together to rehearse and plan for a CD release party, then manager hunting, then advertising, then coping with commercial failure due to lack of a proper advertising, then the beginning of recording the 2nd album (which is already written and titled and ready to go...)

And that's what I need to do, in time for the summer. One month already flying by... FML.

-Love J.E.L.L.i. Bean

P.S. To keep track of how far along i am, click HERE

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Stop shaking stupid hand!!

by Chris

Jan 7, 2011

I sit here eating my Kashi "GoLean Crunch!" cereal, with a side of Rainbow Cookie, (mmmm...) pondering last nights events.. I was at a well known Staten Island bar called "Bootleg Mannings" yesterday for Karaoke Night... it's a nice venue, one of the biggest bars on staten island capacity wise.

I decided to sing the song "Creep" by Radiohead. I pulled it off great, hit the high note, was received well and my mind was completely relaxed the entire time.. Great Success.. (borat) but I noticed throughout the entire song, despite my relaxed mind and good performance, the hand holding the microphone was shaking!! the entire time!! and I couldn't stop it, no matter how hard I tried... wtf!

Isn't that weird? I looked at it in disbelief, and I actually talked to it and said: "What the hell is wrong with you??" as if my own hand was something/someone else I had to put up with for the 3 minutes I was up there..

I guess deep down subconsciously I must have actually been nervous... I really didn't feel it though. Maybe it's because I rarely play live at all, and even though I know it's no big deal, just the fact that I don't have a lot of exposure to live performance must make me subconsciously nervous... But I play guitar and sing for strangers all the time, I was just playing Weezer songs for two strangers the other day... I never get nervous when I'm one on one, or at a party and there's a guitar there, I put on a show for everyone everytime. Maybe it's because there was around 100 people at bootlegs instead of just 20 people at a house party? who knows..

Oh well, no biggie. I'll just keep performing over and over again till my hand shuts up.. And now i'm off to get ready for a recording session. I'm tracking my friend Michelle Cleary. She's a nice artist =)

Talk to the hand.. and tell it to shut the EFF up.

♥Chris

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Random Writes - The J.E.L.L.i. Blog