Mark Boquist

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Real Live Drummer. Semi-Professional Pinball Player. Private Chef.
All the relevant information is in the blogs.

Does anybody read the blogs?
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[**Caroline**]
written by Marc Benning (eighty two fifty music/bmi)
performed by 34 SATELLITE
(Marc Benning--vocals, guitar; Marc Smith--guitar; Mike Santoro--bass; Mark Boquist--drums & percussion)
recorded in West Creek, Colorado at Hideaway Studios in July 2001
produced by John Agnello
from the 2002 album 'Stop' (Hideaway)
The sessions for 'Stop' took place at the Hideaway Studios in West Creek, Colorado during the summer of 2001. We had been touring heavily throughout the past year supporting our first record 'Radar' and had come together as a band despite being so geographically displaced from each other--Benning lived in Colorado, Smith lived in Raleigh NC, Santoro lived in New Jersey, and I lived in New York. I don't remember working 'Caroline' up from one of Benning's home demos, it came together in the studio during the Agnello regime of production. I built a bunch of percussion tracks on top of the basic drum track (cabasa, tambourine, shaker) with Jim Vollintine and then John mixed it at The Magic Shop in NYC during the week of the attacks on the World Trade Center. That whole record was sort of marred by death and tragedy--a lot of things burned while we made that record. Not a surprise that the band broke up shortly after the record came out.
[**Don't Forget Me**]
written by Mark Lanegan (published by Justice Artists Music [bmi]/Ripplestick Music [bmi])
performed by Mark Lanegan--vocals; Mike Johnson--guitars; Keni Richards--piano; Ben Shepherd--bass; Mark Boquist--drums.
recorded in Seattle, Washington at Robert Lang Studios in April 1999
produced by Martin Feveyear
from the 2001 album 'Field Songs' (Sub Pop)
I used to hang out with Ben Shepherd at the OK Hotel when I lived in Seattle and we'd drink and talk shit. I always wanted to play that Stooges song 'Shake Appeal' with him in his band Hater. Of course, it was all a bunch of shit-talking--Ben and I didn't budge much beyond our barstools at Steve and Tia's lovely bar under Alaskan Way. Patrick kept the drinks coming and filled in with a story when the conversation lulled. In 1997, I moved to New York.
In the summer of 1998, Ben called me on the phone and asked me if I'd like to go on a European tour with Mark Lanegan. He had never called me before, ever. Ben Shepherd on the phone is peculiar and beautiful. Anyways, plans were set in motion to tour Europe with Mark Lanegan, a guy I had never met but supremely admired from afar, his record 'Whiskey For The Holy Ghost' had always been a favorite.
Lanegan had never toured behind his solo records and by this time his band The Screaming Trees had broken up and we would be going to Europe in support of his 3rd record 'Scraps At Midnight.' The touring band consisted of Lanegan's longtime collaborator Mike Johnson--formerly of Dinosaur Jr; Ben Shepherd--formerly of Soundgarden; and Marc Olson--NOT the one who used to be in The Jayhawks. Rehearsals consisted of bowling in Ballard. In Europe we headlined big rooms and as the tour gathered steam and press, it was like we were the fucking Beatles or something--this is on the tail end of the grunge thing and Mark, Mike and Ben had done a lot of ground work. Me, I had never been there. Fun tour.
When we returned to the States, we took a small tour down the West Coast. Back in Seattle, we set out to record. There were two separate sessions--at Martin Feveyear's Jupiter Studios and at Robert Lang Studios up in Shoreline. Recording a Lanegan song is a leap of faith, it's like driving a car blind. I never knew a chorus from a verse from a middle-eight, and each song's lyrics were a variation on Lanegan's soulful voice singing "BaNaNaNa Naaaa" because he hadn't really gotten around to finalizing his lyrics for any of the songs. I ended up calling Lanegan's songs field songs because they sounded like American Slave's blues chants that you couldn't really make out the words to. He surprised me by naming his record 'Field Songs.'
The song 'Don't Forget Me' is the only song I've ever played--much less recorded--without using a matched grip on my sticks. We were at Robert Lang Studios and I was just goofing around with a feel for this thing that Johnson was fucking around with and ended up with a traditional grip on my left (snare) hand when we recorded it. That might explain the weird stutter beat that has no real pattern. A happy accident caught on tape. Remember tape?
[**Sundown**]
written by Gordon Lightfoot (Early Morning Music/Moose Music)
performed by Eric Athey--vocals, guitar; Dave Boquist--guitar, lap steel, vocals; Mike Santoro--bass; Mark Boquist--drums, percussion, vocals; Ken Zeserson--saxophone; Marta Milans--whispering.
recorded in Ithaca, New York at Electric Wilburland Studios in August 2005
produced by Eric Athey, Matthew Saccuccimorano, Mark Boquist
from the 2006 album 'Time / Distance' (Marchbrown)
This has always been one of my favorite songs and Gordon Lightfoot's sound has always exemplified the perfect mix of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass and drums--warm like a wood cabin in the winter. The lyric is about his cat. Marta Milans whispers sexy things in Spanish on the front and back end of the song and Mike Santoro--the most transparent bass player ever--lays down the solid groove bass line. I think the drums on Gord's version are doubletracked--mine are one pass through. Dave plays the lap steel like a spooky airplane engine. I'm singing back-up vocals for free (usually costs at least $100.00). One of two covers on 'Time / Distance'--the other one is The Kinks 'The Way Love Used To Be.'
[**DR. R.U.I.N.**]
written by David Schmitt and Mark Boquist
performed by KITCHEN RADIO
(David Schmitt--vocals, guitar; Mark Notermann--guitar; Mark Patterson--bass; Mark Boquist--drums)
recorded in Seattle, Washington at Hanzsek Audio in July 1993
produced by Pete Gerrald and Kitchen Radio
from the 1994 album 'Virgin Smile' (Glitterhouse)
The way Kitchen Radio wrote songs was collaborative. We had a great rehearsal space overlooking the Interbay Railroad Yard in Seattle and we'd just riff on stuff and cycle through shit all night long while watching 'em hitch trains together. The riff that Dave came up with for 'DR. R.U.I.N.' is something that he'd mumble a melody and a cadence to but he didn't really have any words. One night after practice, I stopped at The Rendezvous on the way home and put some lyrics together about a shell of a human who appeared to have their shit together but goes to the doctor to find out that they in fact have 'no heart, no soul, no transplant.' It was pointed at someone I knew, someone I was close with who'd done me wrong only by being themselves. Notermann's explosive lead guitar captures the warring conversations that were playing in my head perfectly. Kitchen Radio's songs were often dark commentaries about less than savory characters and 'DR R.U.I.N' was my bid into the mix.
'Virgin Smile' was released in Europe only. In the USA, Kitchen Radio remained another of those little bands that couldn't despite a strong fan base, critical acclaim, loads of solid live shows, creative pre-myspace marketing, a little radio play and even financial solvency. In Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in the early '90s, what we were doing--what became known as 'alt-country' or 'Americana' or 'No Depression (whatever that is)'--was kind of novel. Now, apparently, it's positively trendy, even girls like it. 'DR. R.U.I.N.', while not necessarily in that twangy vein, is close to what we sounded like live.
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