New News: NEW SONG Posted!!!!
The NEW SONG posted is called ALWAYS MEANT TO BE and I wrote it last year. Then I recorded it but the master got ruined. I had to then go back and reconstruct it and re-mix it. SO this is what I have so far. The rest I'll have to go back and re-record!!!
ALWAYS MEANT TO BE - 1970s LOST TAPE REMIX
cheers and best,
Chris
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Old News: This project is somewhat on hold because I'm working on some other music projects at the moment.
Next step is to remix the songs already on this page (guitars lower, drums higher) and add more already composed and partially-recorded.
There are currently 12 Secret Mission songs -- 5 recorded on this page that are finished except for some mixing touchup. Then there are 7 songs which have been written and partially recorded (mainly the drums and the scratch tracks only).
"Widowmaker" - a heavy blues number. Patterned a bit after the old Westerns, Morricione.
"Generate" - a political song about revolution and evolution
"Unknown Man" - this version is not the full song, it's the lead-in to Widowmaker, the full Unknown Man has another part and revisits the chorus.
"Makes You Wonder" - what's said and not said in a relationship
"I'm Leaving" - leaving a relationship or situation
I put this project on hold for a bit because I am working on some more radio-friendly projects such as Ruckus Revival and other ideas.
I am proud of what has been accomplished here and will be back soon. Secret Mission (2009) is my first reentry in the music scene after leaving music behind in 1996.
OLD NOTES2009 - San DiegoBack in San Diego!!! ASCAP Expo rocked. Great people and great vibe. Posted a bit about it in my blog, but will also post a more detailed review later.
BLOG POST: Back from ASCAP Expo in Hollywood
APRIL 22 2009 - San Diego - Los Angeles
Headed to the ASCAP Expo. The panels look real good, and I've been networking online. Looking forward to the Jeff Beck show too! I'll try to give an update in the next couple days!!!
MARCH 24 - San Diego
I got back from Austin, Texas, USA from the SXSW Conference and had a helluva good time. Now it's time to get back to work on making music. My Secret Mission demo is called v. 0.5. Read more about my SXSW adventures here: on my BLOG
March 12 - part2
I'm in a big hurry tonight...but re-uploaded the new songs again with some better EQ. More updates in the next few days with some background info about these songs, song pictures and proper credits to the session players (see left column)
March 12
I just added some new stuff. I may touch it up (EQ) and re-upload again tonight. I'm using some new mastering stuff and hear a little top-end distortion on Generate, I don't know if that's from the MP3 conversion or what but I want to fix that by tonight.
Add me on twitter @ I'll add you too!!!
http://twitter.com/CSJpower
I've been on a little HIATUS!!! (a few months)
But the Good News is that with the New Year I am back to working on the tracks that I already composed and were partially recorded (making progress).
ALSO, even better news is during the hiatus I was definitely writing a lot of new music (just not recording it), so that's going to be making the SECRET MISSION ALBUM even better than it would of been!!!
Stay tuned... I appreciate you stopping by to check out the music...I will update the page, add blog entries and pictures once I have new material posted!!!
Chris:
IMPORTANT! "The songs currently listed on this page are demos...I'm posting updates of a few of the songs as I make progress. Keep in mind, this is my first album as producer so I am doing a bunch of different versions and improving both the songs and my production skills as I go along...I'm currently working on the new studio versions (for the album!)"
NEW (8/01/08)! Yet another mix of I'm Leaving because I decided the levels/eq on the last one sucked. AGAIN. :( Do I get to play music soon? I'm still not happy with this mix. I dunno, might have to re-record the guitars or keep messing with eq/mastering stuff. Can I kill my computers?
NEW (7/27/08)! Finally got I'm Leaving posted. Credits: Chris St. John vocals/guitars/music/lyrics/producer, Matt Lynott on drums and Dave Blood on bass guitar. Recorded at Sushifish and Chris' home studio.
NEW (7/01/08)! New mix of Widowmaker. I added I'm Leaving last night but that squeeking fret noise bugged the hell out of me, so it's gone until I get the guitar re-recored! And, y'all know Widowmaker but this is a slightly different mix I'm playing with...still needs some fine tuning (thus, the 2-13d version)...but it's a bit more interesting than the last mix... The demo is making progress slowly. Thanks everybody for hanging out...
NEW (5/22/08)! I have just added A DIFFERENT MIX of Widowmaker (aka Blues in Blood) to our player playlist--It's a terrific new track we did last week (May 14), and is poised to be one of the most powerful songs on the album. The NEW MIX has LOUDER DRUMS, MORE BASS-END, MORE HARMONICA (Christopher Hamm), CRISPER HIGH END and overall volume is LOUDER---in short a kick ass song is made more kick ass.....Note that this is just an early mix to keep everybody updated with the progress, some parts of the guitars/vocals will be re-recorded and some additional instrumentation (bass) need to be added.
"Just finished some new recordings with Bill Ray (Kings of Rhythm and Ike Turner drummer) over at Sushifish. Read my blog entry (see below this section, down the page) for more details on how the session went!"
"Earlier completed sessions at Sushifish Recording with Dave Blood from the Experiments and Matt Lynott on drums (Jade Shader/White Buffalo/sometimes Truckee Brothers) for 5 of the songs. I have five more songs I am working on, slowly accumulating enough for a full album...NOTE: the songs currently listed on this page are the original demo prior to Sushifish.
SESSION PLAYERS: As a songwriter, I've been blessed to work with some great musicians and am always looking for people to record or work with...maybe you like my stuff and could use some extra cash (I don't have a big label budget but we can talk) or we can trade some skills on each of our songs. I'd always be open to working with great musicians. If you are interested, don't hestitate to mention it (contact me).
SONG REVIEWS: I'd be interested to hear any constructive critiques of my stuff. And if you would like I'll do the same for you. Message me, we might learn something from each other.
PEOPLE I RANDOMLY MET: When I got to shows (small, local venues as often as possible) I meet a lot of people and exchange email/myspace...if that's you, say hi...
I took this interesting photo of street art in 2003 while living in Brooklyn. As far as I know it's the best/nicest/most-colorful early example of omnipresent underground artist Kuma's work on the Web (I found a cropped version--from mine?--on Lounge37, but no other earlier examples). Apparently there are two tags, the other is Sonet. Kuma was/is active in Williamsburg and Bushwick from 2003-2007+(?). This art was on a wall near the Boars Head distribution center and Morgan L stop. Kuma's work has become more popular and was recently spotted in the film American Gangster. Since this art is often covered up or re-tagged it is rare to have an early photo like this.
About SECRET MISSION: Secret Mission was started in March 2008 in San Diego by songwriter/guitarist/singer Chris St. John. He's previously played as a solo artist and in the 1990s in L.A. with the Martian-Americans. During that band he was fortunate to sell-out famous clubs like the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and the Roxy as well as play as a supporting act at the Troubador and many other L.A.-area clubs, bars and coffeehouses.
Chris is the webmaster for Acoustic Guitars Now . He also was the webmaster for the original MP3.com.
Some of the photos posted here were from his travels....He has traveled extensively around the world, at various times based in San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Bushwick(Morgan-L)/Brooklyn-NYC, Europe and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Photo with friends in Buenos Aires, Argentina at El Firulete hostel 2005. I lived in Argentina for about a year and also traveled to Uruguay and Brazil.
"I want to give props to my friends at SDUNDISPUTED & Fokai (North Park, San Diego)..an amazing place to train."