Atlanta
TWO
DAYS TO GET DOWN
By. Forrest Robinson
(11/23/02)
We were having a bit of a rough run this past month. I wasn’t expecting
for India’s schedule to be so jam-packed with back-to-back shows.
Not that it’s such a bad thing, but geographically it doesn’t
feel set up quite as smoothly as it could be. We were zigzagging in a
way to where we roughed it out on the bus pretty fiercely. I was missing
home and more personal creative space; not to mention getting things done
on a more personal level.
The reality is that traveling with an artist is mainly about the record company, the artist, and the album that the artist is supporting. But I must acknowledge that touring with an artist like India has been a true blessing. Creating with good people and seeing places I’ve never seen is something to cherish. There were still Christmas chores to take care of at home and by the looks of it, there wouldn’t be much time-allowance to take care of many of them by the time I got home from this leg of the tour. And I couldn’t see much time to take care of any personal projects while on the road.
Surprisingly, we found that there would be a two-day break in Atlanta,
where India and half her band live. I had just moved from there so it
would a great time to try and unite with a few people I love dearly and
for my friends Khari (India’s bassist), DJ Karl Injex and I to try
and finish up the Jiva cd we’ve been working on. It was actually
funny the way we were trying to churn out the tracks in a day, but it
was SOOO worth it. It was like, “okay, run the click.” “too
slow!” “too fast!” “well that didn’t feel
right.” “okay, run the vocal.” “where’s
the bass?” “LUNCH!!” “what are you doing?”
“do you know what you’re doing?” “all right, I
can live with that, I think.” “Cool. That’s a wrap.”
Even though it was frustrating, it was all a fun time and it felt great
to know that my tracks were done.
So now it’s time for the real work to begin. The Jiva “Love EP” which was released on Giant Step records in late October 2002 <wink!> was done pretty much in the same manner – but it got done. At this point, unfortunately, that’s the best we can do right now. One thing’s for sure: a well invested two days of tracking can really make a difference! As for the full-length cd, we are nearing mix-mode. And I can’t wait for it to finally get done and out there!
Forrest Robinson