gschmitt album: The Year in Pictures

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The Year in Pictures - gschmitt discusses creating The Year in Pictures

“This is my first album. It’s filled with anticipation, aggravation and ambivalence. Some of it is due to the actual content of the songs; some of it is due to the grueling process of getting a record finished. Even today as I type this and listen to the music in the background, I’m still only half-believing that it’s actually done and so many of the emotions that I went through over the 2+ years of making it are coming back.

It’s funny to think back on how wrong I was in my perceptions of how to make a record before I actually sat down to do it. My whole process was out of whack. The work involved was beyond anything I had ever imagined it would be and I still marvel at the idea of how off I actually was about making a CD. A lot is left to chance and planning can suck the life out of a project. I’m a guy who likes to have things planned and it was difficult to let go of my idea of “what I’m going to get done today” and just let the process’s own life take control. When I think back on it, I see that the whole album happened organically and couldn’t have been planned.

It all started with a demo that I made; I recorded the drums, bass and guitar parts live for about 8 songs and gave a copy to my good friends Isaak Sakko and Carlos Cintron at Redemption Studios. I wasn’t really anticipating anything more than completing something on a CD and giving it to my friends to hear. Sakko’s a fellow musician who’s among the best rock bass players I’ve ever heard and Carlos is a growing force in Latin Christian music who got me started gigging in Puerto Rico as his guitarist. They never really had the chance to hear my songwriting and singing, so it was only natural that I wanted to have their input on it. Sakko called me back the next day and said “we’re recording this in my studio; I’m your bassist.” From then on it was good to go and the two of them were 100% into making MY record for me. Carlos volunteered his time to engineer 90% of my recordings. I couldn’t believe it.

I got in contact with Ariel Cedeno (one of my favorite drummers on earth) to drum the whole record but afterward when Rai Torres checked out the demo, he made it clear he wanted some tracks on it, too. It was beyond flattering. Rai pretty much owns most of the rock drumming scene here in Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America and he doesn’t exactly have an empty dance card. He made the time to rehearse and record because he dug what he heard. That was cool. To this day, I think one of the things I’m proudest of on this album is the drumming. The two of them made it so I can never listen to my drumming on my shitty little demo ever again. The coolest part is that their styles are both so different and they really are drumming the “correct songs” for what they do.

I can’t keep going on about this record without mentioning Maraliza. My wife is a HUGE part of this. She was my sounding board for everything. Every bit of my frustration and stress landed on that girl’s shoulders. Every take in the studio was given to her to listen to. (She’s got inhuman ears.) Even when she knew my delicate ass couldn’t take it, she was never afraid to tell me what I needed to hear. She never is. Simply put, this project wouldn’t have come out as well as it did if I were married to another girl. Period.

Musically, I guess you could say the album’s as confused as I am. One day, I’m all rock. Another, I’m a jazz guitarist. Put me in Latin America and things just get all mixed up. I didn’t sit down and plan to write any of the songs or any of the styles that came about here. They just came through playing. I just sat down to play the guitar for every tune and on different days, I’d come up with different feels and melodies that inspired me to develop the idea. That’s why Muddy Water has a jazz/groove element to it while It’s Alright; A Passing has a strong forward-moving rock thing going on and This Imperfect World has a Rumba clave driving it. In Castles, I jump ship on the jazz feel in the bridge! Confused.

This record taught me so much about myself as a musician and a songwriter. It taught me what to do and what NOT to do. It taught me exactly how I’m going to make my next record….I think.”

- gschmitt