YoWutUpdate March 2022
Lately bottleflies has been focused on recording and songwriting. In September 2020 we released Blue Period - a DIY album of 14 original songs, most of which the band has been playing since before I joined in 2016.
We started recording back in 2019 before COVID hit, and the lull after gave Charlie Boyd (our drummer and lead engineer on the album) the time to mix and release. My guitar parts were recorded direct using Marill, my trusty 2005 Fender Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Strat, into a Boss GT-100 multi-effects pedal.
My recording process was straightforward - I recorded 2-3 takes for each song, and chose the take I preferred. Having played these songs for years now, I knew how I was going to approach my parts and wanted to keep things natural. No overdubs, no overthinking.
Next up: bottleflies heads to Weird Studios to record a mix of old and new songs we’ve been working on over the last few months. First time bringing the band together in a proper studio, so we’re looking forward to it!
This past fall I served as a Techie Club virtual instructor with TECH CORPS, a Columbus-based nonprofit organization “dedicated to ensuring K-12 students have equal access to Computer Science and Information Technology programs, skills, and resources.” Techie Club provides “hands-on, interactive lessons and activities” that “focus on a variety of computing topics, promote 21st-century skills, and provide students with an awareness of technology and tech-related careers.”
Our club was composed of 4th-6th graders from across Columbus, along with a rotating group of volunteers from Grange Insurance. I had a great time working with the students, especially during the hands-on programming activities in Scratch and Python. I was impressed to find that many of the students already had some programming experience, and the ones who didn’t had the enthusiasm and inquisitiveness to catch up quickly.
As someone who has benefited from a career in tech, I’m always happy to share my experience with those interested in the field. I’m thankful TECH CORPS is making these opportunities possible, and I hope to join them for some in-person events - such as their hackathons - in the future.