Joel Hamilton lives loud

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Me needing to "arise and shine"

More recording

Nomvula as a part of the group vocal on one of the more "hip hop" tracks.

Recording stuff

So great. I cant wait for you all to hear it.

Evidence of Ceiling fans gone past

I guess they used to have ceiling fans here at some point.

Gas stop

Stopping for gas with the crew at some random spot. Dirt roads....

Bullet

The bullet hole in the wall just above where I am sitting each day at the school. its HUGE.

my desk again

Please notice the very large caliber bullet hole in the chalkboard.

Another school in a different town/village

Out of order pictures

There is a huge rainstorm with lightning going on and a power outage so I am just putting up as many pictures as I can ,quickly. Enjoy. Today was another completely amazing day. Really hot

Looking out the window at the school. This trip is absolutely incredible so far. The people are amazing, the voices are amazing, and my very presence here seems to make the people feel like they are "worth recording." The fact that there are people sitting at the table with me right now at breakfast who have been beaten horribly, and/or raped, and/or been through hell in one way or another... and who have ALL lost friends and family members to HIV makes my heart explode with empathy and compassion.... TonyI keep remembering this.. its like you said, man: "you have to put your oxygen mask on first, then help the person next to you."
   I am doing that right now. I miss Coco and Rachel, but the overwhelming positivity flowing here right now is simply something I will never forget.
Jen Reiber: the people thanking me directly for our efforts on the hugh thing simply can not be described in a quick blog post. you HAVE to come here and make sure to meet these kids and let them thank you themselves. you will never, ever, ever forget it. There is a paradigm shift happening here for some of these people, and we have been a part of that.
   Everyone: please remember that the very fact that you are thinking about the HIV issue here at the swaziland border right now is why I am here. The record that I am making with these people will be a constant source of income hopefully, and also live on as a monument to our efforts together no mater how well it sells or not.....
   I am simply amazed at how great the recording is going already.
   There is just too much to write about. I will continue to post pictures as I get a second to sit in the one spot where my vodafone 3G usb stick actually grabs the network.....
Headed to a different school now.... talk later everyone.
Love to you all. We are very fortunate. hug your loved ones.
-Joel

fingers in ears

Recording Klani (kulani) and using iPod earbuds so it looks like I have my fingers in my ears....

Lockers

Again, at the school. some lockers to keep your stuff.

Feel the heat

The graffiti is seriously cracking us up.

Master of Hip Hop.

More graffiti on the orange school chairs. Amazing.

chairs

Mic stands and chairs. One and the same. also using the podium... the orange chairs all have amazing graffiti on them......

Pictures

Any time we can, we are taking pictures.... the group just rocks it no matter how many cameras are going during the take. We were recording the group vocals for "come together" on this one... Nomvula singing lead: " africa, lets come together.... we'll be united... africa, lets come together..."

Percussion window

legend killer

The graffitti at the school is amazing.

group

group recording in the hall at the school.

After hours

We have been working on tracks with Nomvula after the days recording with the group.

Nomvula's voice is incredible.. Really incredible.

outside the hall

outside the hall at the local school.

map on the flight

Staring at the back of the seat for the last 2 hours of the flight.....hopefully driving to the indian ocean tomorrow or friday. Its only 2 hours away, through Swaziland and Mozambique......

Driving from J'Burg to Nkomazi

I got pulled over for speeding but luckily the officer took cash.

Really.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

red light

The setup for group and soloist. The podium had a hole perfectly sized to put an SDC mic in it as a mic stand. These kids have such amazig voices and attitudes... really amazing.

This project has already made me feel like if I left tomorrow it would have absollutely been worth the trip. Recording people singing in Si Swati (the language here) and watching the looks on their faces when they hear the playback... amazing. So amazing. The malaria pills arent messing me up too much, and the tea is flowing....

reviewing

reviewing some footage that Juddy(triad) shot of the sessions.

My desk

We set this up each day and break down each night. 2 zoom H4N's running in 4ch mode, and an mbox. not sync'd, but I will line them up again in Protools later. The hall sounds great.