Inspiration

So I got a real burst of inspiration from all the postings by Tchad Blake at gearslutz.com
For a while I've been thinking very technically about the tracks I'm mixing - how to fix little problems here and there, what fx to use, master bus compressors, argh$#$#@! Tchad made me realize that mixing should be as much of an art form as the performing, writing, etc. Duh. But it gives me license to really grab hold of the music and shake it like a dog. Stop thinking like a technician about how to accomplish something, and start doing things to the mix regardless of the tools involved. So far I've pretty much just fucked up the current, near-perfect state of my mixes, but I'm not worried. :)

Which leads me to thinking about the next album. Now I know all to painfully well what I need the tracks to sound like, i.e. the sound that is initially recorded before any mixing. I would like to use almost no EQ or compression on the next one and have it pop like any big-budget mix. There it is, my secret desire: to face the whole world (wife, family, friends, music pros, and anyone else in the whole fucking world), play my track, and just fucking gloat. "Suck on that, motherfucker." I want to be the poster child for lo-budget recording. I want bands calling me up, begging me to produce their next album. Ah...but wishes ain't fishes - they're a lot more slippery.