ABOUT

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And the story continues... 

Through 2023, the next iteration of the entity known as The Wring was in full creative mode.  New songs, a new singer and a new drummer... change is the only constant.

Spectra introduced me to the incredible talent of bassist Reggie Hache.  Nemesis will also feature his vocal genius, delivering what I believe to be the most cohesive and memorable set of songs to date.

Kyle Brian Abbott performed all drums on this record.  Kyle is a precise and articulate player that was the metronomic back drop for often slippery and shifting time.  An absolute powerhouse.

Of course, Francis Perron returned for mixing duties.  A Juno award-winning talent, Francis brings the songs to life.  The music would not be the same without him.

I have to mention Carlo Belotti from Wormholedeath Records.  In a world where music is essentially free, it's easy for an artist to get discouraged.  Carlo has a roster of hundreds of bands, but treats each as if they were the only one.  I'm thankful for his support of The Wring.

No band, but plenty of new ideas; only one thing to do: 

Make another record.

So, as Project Cipher was making the rounds in the world, I was creating what would become SPECTRA.

Once the demo versions were complete, I needed to secure players to bring it to life.  Again, my first point of contact was Jason Henrie, erstwhile bass player and confidant, who connected me with Marco Minnemann.  Like Thomas Lang, Marco has a musical pedigree of incredible depth.  I was very humbled by his kind willingness and enthusiasm to play drums on my new record.  Of course, his performance was spectacular.

Once drums were done, I needed bass.  Jason had been my first choice for many years but he was unable to commit to this project, so I jumped onto SoundBetter and waded through hundreds of players to try and fill out my roster.  I still can't believe how lucky I was to find Reggie, Chandler and Isamu this way.

Reggie Hache is an extraordinary bass player.  He caught the vibe of the songs instantly and created insanely intricate and melodic lines to complement every part.  He also added keyboard parts to The Wolf and the spooky piano line in From Mars.  As a bonus, Reggie is a talented video creator and he generated video for 'Stiletto', 'From Mars' and 'Fallen'.  Very cool.

Once the music was done, I needed a great singer.  I knew that Marc Bonilla was touring with Asia and, truthfully, I was thinking of a different vibe for SPECTRA.  I happened upon Chandler Mogel.  Chandler has performed on dozens of recordings and live acts and has a vibrancy in his voice and in his character that I immediately loved.  He had to interpret and reimagine my (terrible) demo vocals and was patient and accommodating as we worked through that.  The result speaks for itself.

I added keyboards at the very end, compliments of Isamu McGregor, who really killed it.  The keys ended up fairly deep in the mix but they are outstanding.

So now I had what I believed to be a pretty good record with some incredible performances by incredible musicians... and I needed a mixing engineer.  By chance, I was listening to the newest Voivod record, Synchro Anarchy, and loved the production.  I looked to see who did the work and discovered Francis Perron from Radicart Studios.  I contacted Francis to see if he would be interested in mixing SPECTRA.  He was.  I was so lucky, again.  Francis did a great job of interpreting my vision and provided valuable guidance and advice along the way.  I am very grateful for his presence.

Gord Woolley created the artwork and graphics for the album cover and CD package.  I still can't believe how perfect they are for this record!

So here we are.  SPECTRA was released in December 2022 on Wormholedeath Records (thanks again to Carlo and Naty!).  

Jon Asher (Ashermedia) and Erin Buell (thebandstrategist) are helping me reach a few more eyes and ears and I am working on songs for The Wring 4.

Stay tuned.