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Volume 1

Posts 1-25

Thursday, August 23, 2007to

Friday, September 14, 2007

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Blog News: Welcome Statement

I am going to try something new here!

The goal of this site is to provide the following information:

1. Up-to-the-minute news about what is happening with Metal XOR Studio

2. Announce new projects or albums

3. Discuss old songs, albums, and projects

4. Explain recording techniques and equipment currently or previously used

5. Anything else pertaining to the Studio in any shape or form

I will try to update at least once a week (probably more often).

You can leave comments on my blog entries or email me for private

correspondence.

I have lots of information to share. So bookmark this site and check back often

because you never know when a pearl of wisdom may appear!

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 1:24 PM 0 comments

Labels: Blog News

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Studio News: *** NEW ALBUM RELEASE ***

Tuesday, August 14, 2007, saw the release of the latest Metal XOR Studio CD.

It is titled My First Albumand is Paige Watson's debut album. It contains 23 tracks

of her singing standard children's songs, a TV theme, her first recorded original

song, and more. The songs are taken from several recording sessions, the earliest

was recorded when she was 2.5 years old and the latest when she was 3.5 years

old. Additionally, the CD label and optional sleeve art were drawn by Paige.

This is the first of many in her upcoming music career.


Labels: Studio News

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Blog News: Site Schedule

In addition to special articles and the regular news updates that will be posted asneeded, there will be a couple of regular features posted throughout each week.

Here is an introduction to two series that will start next week.

Album of the WeekThese will be posted on Sundays. Each week will spotlight a different album that

has been released by Metal XOR. A picture of the album cover will be provided

along with the album's release date, variations of the album or album cover, the

track list, and other interesting facts about the album. There are plenty of albums

to be covered, so look forward to this feature lasting a long time. The first album

to be spotlighted is Mune Mud's unreleased 1991 debut album.

Project SpotlightThese will be posted on Wednesdays. Each week will spotlight a different project

(or group) that has been recorded by Metal XOR. Who is in the group? How many

albums have been released under that project name? Where did the project namecome from? All of those questions and more will be answered each Wednesday.

There have been many projects, so this feature will also last quite a while. The

first project to be spotlighted is Mune Mud.

And when these two series are finished, there will be more to take their place.

There is a lot of information buried in the Metal XOR vaults just waiting to be

released to the public.

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 9:06 AM 0 comments

Labels: Blog News

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Just For Fun #1

Paige's new CD has been a hugesuccess. In fact, her Sunday mornings are booked

thru the middle of February already!

And she does take requests (she just doesn't know most of them).


Labels: Just for Fun

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Album of the Week #1: Mune Mud debut

Project name: Mune MudAlbum name: Mune Mud (self-titled debut)

Release date: unreleased(recorded in 1990-91)

Release format: cassette

Studio name: none

Tracks:1. That's All I Need to Know

2. Ominous

3. Why Did You Go?

4. Peachtree

5. Just Defied

6. Harley

7. Fruit Preserve

8. The One-Liner

9. Go West

10. Under the Sky

11. I Dream

12. Lyric

13. SC Paradise

14. Umbra Flame

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15. That's Life

16. King Song

17. We Dog

18. EnVenum Above

19. Downstairs

20. Disco Babies

This was the album that started it all. Before the Studio had a name. Even before

the Studio was a studio. Prior to this, experiments in writing lyrics to instrumental

music from the radio were recorded, but not much original music was created.

Using a drum machine, a portable keyboard, an electric guitar and amp, and a

microphone, song-writing began in June of 1990 during a week-long break between

semesters from school. For the next seven months more songs were recorded,

sometimes using friends or family members who happened to drop by the Studio

during recording sessions. After the music was finished, it took about a month to

master the tape and create/print labels, so by February/March of 1991, the album

was finished.

The lyrics were fun. Not much seriousness came out of this time period. And many

of the rhymes came from a newly acquired rhyming dictionary. Musical influences

were from heavier groups such as Faith No More, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Nine

Inch Nails, and Ministry, just to name a few.

The equipment used was rather primitive. An electric guitar thru an amp provided

the guitar sounds. There were two options: distortion turned off for a clean sound

or distortion turned on for a dirty sound. A portable Yamaha keyboard provided all

the keyboard sounds. In the earlier songs the drums also came from the keyboard.

A drum machine was later purchased and replaced the tin-can drums from the

keyboard. And a Shure SM-57 mic was used for vocals, usually going thru the guitar

amp for reverb.

The recording technique used introduced a lot of noise into the songs. This was the

recording process: the first layer was recorded to a standard cassette tape using a

regular cassette deck. This first layer was usually the drum track (sometimes with

the keyboard playing along with the drums). Then the first tape would be played

back on another cassette deck and an instrument would be played along with the

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tape in real-time and recorded to a second tape. Then the second tape, now

consisting of the first two layers together, would be played and another

instrument or vocals would be added in real-time and recorded to a third tape. By

this third generation the first layer of music was usually real muddy and the

recording itself was very noisy and muffled. So most songs did not go beyond the

third layer. The final songs were usually too noisy to play for other people. When a

4-track recorder was purchased in March of 1991 and the recording quality

improved immensely, it was realized this album should never be heard. So the few

copies that existed were placed in a box and still sit on the shelf.

The tape jacket was designed using a Commodore 64 and was very basic. There

was no copyright date (which has been on every subsequent album recorded at the

Studio) and no studio name appeared on the jacket. The two overlapping squares

became the Mune Mud symbol and every Mune Mud album since has had the

blue/green/yellow symbol on the cover. The computer was programmed to draw

each letter since there was no font available like that.

A couple of years later in 1993, it was decided the songs were good enough for

people to hear, they were just poorly recorded. So a project was started to re-

record every song on the album with the 4-track recorder. Four of the songs were

started but the project soon ended.

Then in 1994 it was decided to re-release the album in its original state, even with

the poor quality. The track list was changed (a slightly different play order and a

couple of different tracks used) and it had a real limited re-release.

And now with computers and digital editing, it has been considered to try to clean

the songs up and have yet another release of the album that started it all. But no

concrete plans have been made and this project will surely remain on the "to do"

list for quite some time.

Next week's Album of the Week: Olympusby Mune Mud from 1991.


Labels: Album of the Week

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Listen Online!

You can now go to this blog's companion site, Metal XOR Studio InformationSource, to listen to Metal XOR music online. New songs will be added period ically,and each time there will be a blog entry for notification of the new track.

The first song available for listening is a song called "Moon Spell". It was recorded

in 2006 and will be on an upcoming, as of yet untitled, album. Enjoy!

Click here to listen to the song.


Labels: Listen Online

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Collector's Corner #1

The Collector's Corner feature will spotlight collectible items and merchandisethat have been found or created over the years. It could be items with a band

name on them, rare advertisements or posters, or items that have some

connection to the Studio.

The first item is a 6.5" x 10" ultra-rare advertisement from 1991 to announce the

new project, Mune Mud, specifically in regards to the upcoming debut album.

This poster hung on the Studio door for quite some time so all who entered or

walked past the Studio could see it. It was created on the same Commodore 64

used to print the cover of the Mune Muddebut album (notice the lettering for the

words Mune Mud are the same that was used on the album.) This was the first

public appearance of the two-square Mune Mud symbol.

This poster was created on January 5, 1991, and remains in the Mune Mud Master

File stored within the Studio vaults.


Labels: Collector's Corner

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Where did Mune Mud get the name Underwater Problem Factoryfor the thirdalbum? This rare piece of history holds the answer. . .

Here's the story straight from Mune Mud front-man, Jason.

"It was probably early 1992 when I was at work looking through the newspaper.

They had a section called 'Kids Corner' once a week where kids could submit storiesor jokes or whatever. I never read that section, but this particular day I did. It

contained two stories written by kids. So I read through the first story, The Polar

Snake, and thought it was a typical kid story until I got to the last three words. . .

underwater problem factory. WOW! Where did Talia come up with that? Whatever

it meant it was pure genius. So I borrowed the phrase for the album I knew would

be coming out soon. And that's how the album got its title." - JW



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Project Spotlight #1: What is Mune Mud?

The year was 1990.

Several experimental songs were primitively recorded that year. Near the end of

the year, it was realized that there would soon be enough songs recorded to

compile a tape. The big question was "What is it going to be called?" Not worried

about the album title, efforts were concentrated on naming the 'band'. The

following is taken from an interview with Mune Mud front-man, Jason: "I've always

had an interest in space, so I knew the name would be astronomical. I set my sites

on the Moon. The name had to have something to do with the Moon. Then I

decided it would be a two-word name with the first word being Moon and the

second also starting with M. Then in late December 1990 or early January 1991,

after having spent several days of thinking of names, I was laying on my bed and

the name just came to me: Moon Mud. And to be a little different, I changed Moon

to Mune." Thus the name was born.

The above scan (from January 5, 1991) shows the evolution of the name and design

of the letters. In the center at the bottom of the scan shows the final letter

design. It was used on the cover of the unreleased 1991 Mune Muddebut album.The scan below shows an alternate name design with an Arabic theme (sketched by

co-worker Kevin).

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In November of 1991 the next album, Olympus, was released. 1992 saw the release

of Underwater Problem Factoryand 1993 released Pryme Material. 1994 had two

releases, the first being the re-release of the debut Mune Mudalbum and the

second being the EP Devaulted. 1996 also had two Mune Mud releases, the first

was a "live" album called Monographand the second was Equation of Time. SleepState Fwas released in 1997. The Search for Metropoliswas released in 2001. It

was the first Mune Mud album to be released on CD. The Singles Collectionwas

released in 2004 along with Hobson's Choice. And the last new Mune Mud release to

date was in 2005 with Hobson's Second Choice. Update: In 2008 Precursory 33was

released. This was a re-re-release of the original Mune Muddebut album.

In 2001, the Mune Mud 10th Anniversary Collection was started. The first one was

Olympus. Each song was remastered and re-released on CD. Each CD also

contained bonus material, usually unreleased songs or demos of songs appearing on

the original album. There are five albums in the Mune Mud 10th Anniversary

Collection.

But who is Mune Mud? It has been one person since it was created. Mune Mud is

Jason Watson. There have been various guest musicians and singers on songs

throughout the years, but it has always been a solo effort.

By far the project with the most released albums of Metal XOR Studio, Mune Mudcontinues to thrive with the occasional new recording being made. When enough

material is recorded, there will be a new Mune Mud album. But that could still be

a year or two away.

Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMorgue?

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Labels: Project Spotlight

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Studio News: The 2007 Musik Catalog

How many albums has Metal XOR Studio released? Are any lyric booklets available?What about obscure interviews?

See the entire Metal XOR Musik Catalog at the Metal XOR Studio Information

Source.


Labels: Studio News

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Listen Online!

The second song available for listening is a song called "The Manor Court". It wasrecorded in 2006 and will be on an upcoming, as of yet untitled, album. Enjoy!

Click here to listen to the song.


Labels: Listen Online

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State of the Studio #1: September '07

This feature will appear on the first of every month to let the public know recentaccomplishments and what is currently happening within the walls of Metal XOR

Studio.

Obviously the biggest news of the past month is the creation of this blog. It does

not take a lot of time to create a post, so I think I will be able to maintain this for

quite a while. I have had a lot of posts this first week, but that is because I have a

lot of information I want to share. I have so many ongoing series ready to start

that it is a bit crazy. Some will be on a weekly basis, some will be at random times

whenever I have a chance to post a new one. Unless real life gets too crazy,

expect the blog to be around for a while.

Reviews have been positive on the latest album release, Paige's My First Album. It

was fun to do and I hope in the upcoming year to record her more often than I did

in the year that CD covers. Kids only sing like that once, when they get older they

lose the "kid" voice. And we will see how Will does in a year or so. . .

As far as my music goes, I have an album about half-finished. I started it inSeptember of 2006 when I was on vacation when Will was born. I got a lot of

material recorded and some of it even made it to its final stage, but I have not had

much time to continue with it since. It is an entirely new music project, it does

not even have a name yet. It is all synth/keyboards and done within one computer

program called Reason. The sounds are incredible and are one of the things that

inspired me to go in a new direction with my music. Some of it sounds Middle

Eastern, some Asian, some African. I know this sounds like a strange mix, but it

does come together nicely. This CD will be perfect for listening to in bed in the

dark. It is very atmospheric. I will update next month if it is any closer to

completion.

The Studio equipment setup has changed over the last year or two. The 4-track

recorder that was bought in March of 1991 really needs to be in a nursing home. It

just can't do the job it used to. So I try not to use it any more to record so it will

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still work when I need to play back one of the old 4-track master tapes. So I have

been experimenting with multi-track recording using a computer. Vocals are the

hardest thing because I am used to running vocals through a processor before it

gets recorded (a habit from recording to tape for so many years). So now when I

try to record vocals dry to add whatever effects I need after they are recorded, it

is very hard for me to do. And getting sound levels and techniques down when you

don't get to record very often is also difficult. But I am still trying to tweak out a

new equipment setup that will be easy-to-use and versatile. That is another reason

my unnamed object took a different music direction, it is all instrumental and

done in the computer, so I do not need to record guitars or vocals. That makes it

much easier.

And that's about all I have to say about the current situation. No new albums will

be out any time soon, even though there are many started or in the pre-planning

stages. I will continue work on the instrumental album and try to continue

recording Mune Mud songs with guitars and singing when I get the equipment

layout straightened out. I will continue recording Paige singing now and then. And

we will see where I am a month from now. . .


Labels: State of the Studio

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Album of the Week #2: Olympus

Project name: Mune MudAlbum name: Olympus

Release date: November 12, 1991


Studio name: none

Tracks:1. Etesian Wind

2. To Clementi

3. Waterfall

4. Castor & Pollux

5. Another Troubled Night

6. Sittin' At Home

7. Moon Mud

8. The Last Temptation

9. Infernal Tree

10. Scales of Justice

11. You and Me

12. Paroxysm

13. I'm With You

14. The Solitude

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15. So Many

16. Redman

17. Slow It Down

18. In the Morning

19. Matter in General

20. Night Sea

21. Ministry

22. Moon Garden

23. Audobaun

24. Telescope

This was the first album released to the public. The purchase of the 4-track

recorder in March of 1991 immensely improved the quality of song recordings. So

from mid-March to October many songs were recorded, a lot of them experiments

with the new equipment. But there were enough songs to compile a new album.

The above scan shows an early version of the track list. Note the list shows the

temporary titles that some of the songs had when recorded. It was later on this

track list that those songs were renamed to their final titles.

Some of the lyrics were a bit deeper than what was previously written. The first

'negative' song, "Infernal Tree", appeared on this album. Musical influences were

still on the heavy side, including Metallica, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and more. But

there were some slower songs on the album too.

This album spawned the first single from the Studio, "Etesian Wind". "Etesian Wind"

is still the most re-recorded song of the Studio to date with over six versions

existing.

The equipment used was almost the same as was used to record the debut Mune

Mud album, but this time the recorder was more sophisticated. An electric guitarthru an amp provided the guitar sounds. There were two options: distortion turned

off for a clean sound or distortion turned on for a dirty sound. A portable Yamaha

keyboard provided keyboard sounds for the earlier songs, then a Casio keybord was

purchased and replaced the Yamaha. A drum machine was used for the drum

sounds. And a Shure SM-57 mic was used for vocals. Another new piece of

equipment was a delay/sample pedal that was used for both the guitar and vocals.

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The recording technique was improved since the last album, the Mune Muddebut

album. Four tracks could easily be recorded while maintaining the first generation

quality. But sometimes a method called ping-ponging, or bouncing, was used. This

was to record the first three tracks, then mix those to the fourth track. The first

three tracks could then be erased and reused. So doing this could result in songs

having up to seven tracks or so. And this method was used a lot in some of the

more complex songs.

The tape jacket was mostly done on a Brother word processor. The outside of the

jacket listed all the songs that were on the album and the inside had a continuous

typing of all the lyrics on the album. Each tape was also individually numbered.

In October of 1996, nearly five years after the album was released, a book came

out called "Olympus: Mountain or Molehill?" This was the definitive guide to

Olympus. It had a small production run and not many copies were printed. It

explained how the album was recorded, details about every song, notes about

guest musicians on the album, and MUCH more.

In 2001, Olympuswas the first CD in the 10th Anniversary Collection. This

collection was a re-release of the original album, ten years later, with remastered

songs (including bonus tracks) on a CD rather than cassette as with the original

release. The bonus tracks on this CD were "Country Ill", "Chaser", "Just Defied (2)",

"Test", "Off Silence", and "Mystical Dream."

Next week's Album of the Week: ...Libra 971 by NueroMud from 1994.



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Track #8 on Mune Mud's 2001 The Search for Metropolisalbum was called "UrbanGaxiola." Where did that name come from?

This is actually the second piece of mail the Studio received that was addressed to

Urban Gaxiola. The first piece was something about feeding the hungry kids in

some third world country. Jason had just recorded the music to a new song when

the Studio received that first piece of mail, so why not use Urban Gaxiola as the

title of the song? Jason actually thought Urban Gaxiola was Russian or some other

language that meant "current resident." And that is where the chorus for that song

came from: "I wish I knew what it meant..."

A couple of years later at church, the pastor was out of town so another pastor

came in to lead that week's sermon. He introduced himself as... Urban Gaxiola!

What a spiritual event for Jason! After the sermon Jason briefly talked with Urban

and found out Urban used to live a block away from the Studio but had since

moved. So the post office had delivered a couple of pieces of his mail to the Studio

by accident. It was not mentioned that there was a song named after Urban.

So the above artifact remains in the Metal XOR Museum as a piece of history for

one of Mune Mud's songs.



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This is a unique item that is on display at Metal XOR Studio.

Jason's father had this license plate made on one of his over-the-road truck driving

jobs. He delivered it to the Studio on December 24, 1997, and it has been on

display ever since. It is the only one known to be in existence, thus making it

priceless.



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Project Spotlight #2: What is NueroMorgue?

By late 1992, Mune Mud had already released three albums and the fourth wasbeing recorded. But the music was becoming more diverse. It was feared that the

varied types of music on one album would turn most people off to the album

(people who liked slower, more melodic music would not care for the new faster,

more industrial sound, and vice versa). So it was decided to branch out and create

a new project: NueroMorgue.

Where did the name come from? The word nuerohad been tagged as usable for

something for quite some time and to represent the dark and heavy moods of some

of the songs the word morguewas used. So NueroMorgue was born. The name was

relatively easy to come up with. No project logo was ever decided on, but below is

the design test sheet from March 25, 1993.

NueroMorgue was keeping true to the earlier Mune Mud influences of Nine Inch

Nails, Ministry, and other industrial groups, especially with the recent biggest

equipment upgrade the Studio has ever seen at one time. Overnight, the Studio

had a new sequencer, new sound modules, and the supporting equipment for a

MIDI studio. So the distorted guitar and synth sounds evolved.

Who was in NueroMorgue? It depends on who you ask.The credits on the album say

Jason Watson. Credits on the 1994 EP and lyric booklet go to Gargoyle. But others

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report an entire line-up of players: Python XYZ (bass guitar), El Cid minor (drums),

Agnus Dei (lead guitar), and Venus Psyche (rhythm guitar). So the actual

member(s) still remain a mystery.

The first NueroMorgue album, Devis Tortura, was recorded at the same time as itsbipolar opposite album, Mune Mud's Pryme Material. It was released on December

14, 1993, and was chock full o' samples from other Metal XOR songs, TV clips,

pieces of other music, and much more. It was a very complex album. A few months

later a lyric booklet titled "Devastation and Minim Opi" was released. This

contained every lyric found on the album buried within a main story and seven

short stories. The book ended with a full-page drawing by NueroMorgue titled

Primordial Water and Lotus.

Following that album and book was a seven-song EP called E. Phantasmata,

released in 1994. It contained some demos and alternate versions of songs from

Devis Torturaplus a couple of unreleased tracks.

There was a break from NueroMorgue for a while, then recording started again.

There was a lot of new material recorded for the second full-length NueroMorge

album but it was never compiled and completed (see the proposed track list from

January 10, 1996, below).

There have been plans on re-releasing Devis Torturaon CD, but its 10th

anniversary has come and gone and the idea has been dropped again for the time

being. There were also plans to release the unused songs on a new album, but the

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track listing was incomplete. So until more material is recorded, these dark and

dreary treasures will not be heard. Recording techniques have drastically changed

since NueroMorgue's hay day, but the new techniques actually lend themselves

better to recording the type of music NueroMorgue creates.

So until the project is resurrected, R.I.P. NueroMorgue!

Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMud?



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A Look Back...

In 1994, one of Jason's co-workers (not from his Studio career but from his secular,non-music job) said his wife's place of employment was creating a new

promotional video to send out across the country to promote their carnival

supplies and festival games. The name of the company was Lefton Productions and

soon Mr. Lefton called Jason and asked for a sample of music. A piece was

recorded and Mr. Lefton liked it, so a contract was drafted and signed by both

parties that stated all rights of Jason's Lefton song was turned over to Lefton. . .

for a mere $60. But this was a monumental moment, it was the first time the

Studio had made money off of its music.

The Studio still has a copy of the promotional tape that was sent to many

companies and clients across the country.Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:43 AM 0 comments

Labels: A Look Back

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Interviews from the Past (1 of 3)

For more than a decade the fictitious magazine Eclectic Musicianhas been theexclusive publication to feature Metal XOR Studio. It has published three

interviews with the Studio which can now be read at the Metal XOR Studio

Information Source link below.

The first interview appeared in the October 1995 issue. It took place during the

recording of NueroMud's second album, Nine Days Wonder, so much of the

interview discussed that album. Also talked about was the second NueroMorgue

album (which has yet to be finished). It was also at this time that the Studio had

just been renamed to Metal XOR, so there is a little talk about the different

studios. This was also at the beginning of digital recording, a little is discussed

regarding that. And the interview ends with plans for upcoming projects which is

an interesting look back at where the Studio wanted to go and what has been

accomplished and has yet to be accomplished.


Labels: Interviews

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The second interview appeared in the October 1997 issue. It took place as Mune

Mud's Sleep State Falbum was in its final stages of production, so most of the

interview was about that. The interview ends with plans for upcoming Studio

projects.


Labels: Interviews

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Album of the Week #3: ...Libra 971

Project name: NueroMudAlbum name: ...Libra 971

Release date: October 18, 1994


Studio name: Circle IX Studio

Tracks:1. Shut Up!

2. Can't Climb Out

3. A Dreamworld

4. Brittle Side Bones in Your Eyes

5. Dusk Channel

6. Pathos

7. M45/NGC1432

8. Up in Wind

9. Pedestal Song

10. Celluxism

11. Dead Clown

12. For All Sheep (Pt III)

13. Chaos of the Credit Fix

14. Grave

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inside of the cover was typed up away from the Studio and the running times were

not known. So every song had the (x:xx) placeholder. When the times were added

to the cover at a later date, "Grave" was accidentally overlooked and it was not

noticed until after the album was released.

And what exactly does ...Libra 971 mean? Jason was born on October 9, 1971. The

sign for October is Libra and 971 is the 9th of '71. So the album title is actually

Jason's birthday. The scan below (from September 6, 1994) shows various phrases

that were considered for the album title. Moonless Voyagewas the working title

for quite some time, then it was changed to ...Libra 971 at the last minute. Also

notice the sketch of the Libra symbol in the upper-left corner. That became the

front of the album cover.

This was the first of only two NueroMud albums. Their 10th Anniversaries were

missed, but there are still plans to re-release the albums on CD some time in the

future. There were several unused tracks recorded too, so there will probably also

be bonus tracks on those CD's. There was an effort several years ago to re -record

each song on this album in a different version and release the songs on a CD, but

only a few songs were finished and the project was abandoned.

Next week's Album of the Week: Nine Days Wonderby NueroMud from 1995.



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M O N D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 0 7


Track #7 on Mune Mud's 1996 Equation of Timealbum was called "Essence ofPearl". Where did that name come from?

In February of 1996 Jason noticed the soap in the lunch room at work was smelling

much nicer than it normally did. So after a while of using it, he looked at the soap

dispenser... the Essence of Pearl. That would be the perfect title for a song! He

had recorded some music the previous month that still needed lyrics and a title. So

he titled the song and wrote the lyrics, even though the song has nothing to do

with lotion soap. But that is where the name of the song came from.

The empty dispenser now resides in the Personal Hygiene wing of the Metal XOR

Studio Museum.



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T U E SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 0 7


It was Easter of 1996. Jason woke up and discovered a basket the Easter bunny hadleft for him. One of the first things to catch his eye was a large, pink, rectangular

crinkly package with a transparent window displaying its content of popcorn. And

the label read "Bumpy and Jumpy: Popcorn Bunnies"!!!

It wasn't long after Easter that a new song was recorded for Mune Mud's Equation

of Timealbum that came out later that same year. The name of the song was

"Bumpy and Jumpy" and it was the story of two young bunnies made of popcorn

whose mother warned them not to venture too close to humans or they would be

caught and used as Easter treats. As the sad story goes, Bumpy and Jumpy were

caught and put into a human's Easter basket. But in the end their mother had more

bunnies so everything turned out ok.

Jason just couldn't bring himself to eat the popcorn bunnies that inspired one of

the silliest songs the Studio has ever recorded, so it remains on display in the

Metal XOR Studio Museum.



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W E D N E SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 7

Project Spotlight #3: What is NueroMud?

In the beginning, there was Mune Mud.

When the music being recorded at the Studio became too diverse, Mune Mud

remained the slower, upbeat pop style of music and another project was created:

NueroMorgue. It focused on the faster, electronic, heavy metal style of music.

Then along came a new style, one that was more experimental and new age. It

used unique sounds and dealt with astronomy, astrology, and various deep, dark

subjects. So what could a project be called whose music fell somewhere between

NueroMorgue and Mune Mud? NueroMud!

There have only been two NueroMud releases to date, 1994's ...Libra 971 and

1995's Nine Days Wonder. They both had real limited releases, so not many people

know of this project. There are plans to eventually re-release both albums on CD,

including unreleased bonus tracks, some time in the future.

Who are the players in NueroMud? The same as Mune Mud and NueroMorgue...

Jason Watson. There have only been two guest musicians on NueroMud songs. Thefirst was Jimmy who sang vocals with Jason on "Pedestal Song" which appeared on

...Libra 971. This song was also the beginning of their side project ORC . The other

guest musician was Darrin on the drum machine at the very end of "Remembered

for Living" from ...Libra 971. Darrin happened to drop by the Studio as the song

was being finished and he was asked to play drums however he wanted to during

the noise at the end of the song.

As for the future of NueroMud, it can best be summed up as "living in the past".

There are no plans for new NueroMud songs to be recorded so therefore we will

allow this giant to continue its slumber.

Next week's Project Spotlight: Who is Nikki Watson?

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T H U R SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 3 , 2 0 0 7





The third and final interview appeared in the June 2004 issue. It took place as

Mune Mud's Hobson's Choicealbum was in its final stages of production, so most of

the interview was about that. The interview ends with plans for upcoming Studio

projects.


Labels: Interviews

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F R I D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 0 7

A Look Back...

The year was 1995. One of Jason's co-workers had a wife who worked in themedical field. She had come up a new technique for a specific type of surgery. To

demonstrate the technique, she had a video made of her "operating" on the body

of a dead pig. It was a documentary that needed background music.

So Jason was approached and asked if he could record some music that could be

used in the video. He recorded a piece of music which he jokingly titled "Bacon"

and took it to work. The music was fine, but not for watching a surgical technique.

Even though his music was not used, he was paid a small fee for his effort.


Labels: A Look Back

C i h 2008 M l XOR S di

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