Sex Lives of Cartoon Bombshells

Record Label: California Republic Records

Release Date: 2025

Producer: Ann Morrison and The Groovy Times

Length: 49:22

Studio: The Rabbit Hole, Los Angeles, California
The Factory Showroom, Sunnyvale, California

Track listing

01. House of Joy 02. Million Dollar Handjob 03. Everything You Do Is Sex 04. Darling Plays with Me 05. Sexsmith

06. Wingwoman 07. Sexual Electricity 08. I Like It Big 09. Paradise with a DD 10. Squirt Gun

Credits

Produced by "Amethyst" Ann Morrison and The Groovy Times

Engineered, mixed and mastered by "Topaz" Terry Gunsell
Assisted by "Emerald" Ellen Katzen and "Golden" Gilly Ossen

Recorded at the Rabbit Hole, Los Angeles, California, 20 July 2024–7 March 2025
"Amazing" Acey Nickel's parts recorded at the Factory Showroom, Sunnyvale, California

The Groovy Times are:

"Lazurite" Laurel Wood – lead and backing vocals, body percussion

"Beryllium" Betty Wood – lead guitar, backing vocals

"Howlite" Harley McLaren – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, second lead guitar on "Wingwoman" and "Darling Plays with Me"

"Silver" Sunny Coral – Korg M1, Korg Triton, Korg Wavestation, sampler, backing vocals

"Carnelian" Cherry Kane – bass, backing vocals

"Sapphire" Stephen Big – drums, percussion, programming, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Wingwoman" and "Paradise with a DD"

And friends:

"Diamond" David Marin – harmonica and backing vocals on "Everything You Do Is Sex"

"Amazing" Acey Nickel – Tammy voice on "I Like It Big"

"Emerald" Ellen Katzen and "Golden" Gilly Ossen – programming, sound effects, sampler, sequencing, backing vocals

Management and creative direction by "Amethyst" Ann Morrison

Front and back covers by the Atwater Village Artssociation, with invaluable redlining assistance by Andreea Răducu

The Groovy Times would like to thank: Acey!, Adi, Alex, Alina, Alma and Ciprian, Amy, Ana, Andreea, Andrei, Andreia, Andrew Loomis, Anita, Arrow S. Morgan, Betty Cohen, Betty Edwards, Bez, Cammy (more than a streetfighter!), Connor and Fiona O'Reilly, Cristina, Dee Cooke, Flor, Gargoyle, Gitane (won't pay me the rent), Grebo Guru, Hayley, Irina Pernes, Jonathan, Jordan!, Julia Baritz, Kaelynn Laefon, Katie Miller, Kirk, Lari, "Dr." Lee "Ph.D", Lilly, Maci (intense, eh?), Maia Kuperstein (haven't forgotten ya!), Maya, Marius, Mattia, Michael Sturdza, Mike Russo, the Mo Chits, Mona, Pasta, Polly Geist, Răzvan, Rob, Rox, Runna, Ryan Haggerty, SleepyGirl, Stephanie, Tatiana Ernuțeanu, Vlad (I'll figure out freehand, just you watch :P), Victor, Wade, everyone at California Republic Records, Roger and Jessica Rabbit

Music and lyrics by The Groovy Times/Ann Morrison, except #6 music by Judas Priest/Power Tool/Primal Scream

Lyrics

House of Joy

Way up high in Crestwood Hills
Just at the foot of Hanley Avenue
Lies a place that's full of thrills
A house that knows just how to cure the blues

We got it all at affordable price
And we're rated A++ by the Cal/OSHA
So don't you worry or think about it twice
We'll put your wettest dreams into motion

You step right through that door, my friend
We promise you a good time
If you've got the bucks you're willing to spend,
You'll feel mighty fine

So come on down, honey, to the (house of joy)
We got the time, if you got the money (house of joy)
If you got blue balls give us a call (house of joy)
If your pussy's dead beat we'll give it a treat (house of joy)

We're the best brothel in town
Feels just like a home away from home
Our sex workers are the best around
They read the Kama Sutra like a tome

We're well acquainted with any hole
And any position from A to Z-69
Our sex workers are also droll
They'll make you laugh while shivering your spine

You step right through that door, my friend
We promise you a good time
If you've got the bucks you're willing to spend,
You'll feel mighty fine

So come on down, honey, to the (house of joy)
We got the time, if you got the money (house of joy)
If you got blue balls give us a call (house of joy)
If your pussy's dead beat we'll give it a treat (house of joy)

Million Dollar Handjob

Take a good look,
these hands made a million
Nails cut short and polish like a book
I agree, they're brilliant

These hands are right at home
Whether they're going slow or fast
Any erogenous zone
Will agree: "That's a blast!"

(I give out the)
Million dollar handjob

These hands, they are magic
They paid my way through college
They put me on the map, and it's
Right on Santa Monica's edge

You could call me goddess,
You could say I got the golden touch,
I'm generous with my service
And no price is too much

(I give out the)
Million dollar handjob

(Golden handshake for the Golden State!)

Everything You Do Is Sex

When you're walking downtown
Everybody gets a notion
When you shake your hair
The world goes in slow motion

When you're serving drinks
You get fat tips and green eyes
When you cross the street
There's a car crash at your nine

Everything you do is sex

When you step out in the rain
The clouds all stop to stare
When you have sex in your bed
6,9 on the Richter scale

When you wash your pussy
Your showerhead starts to blush
When you're making dinner
Your oven melts it to mush

Everything you do is sex

Darling Plays with Me

I got a husband, he's just the best
When it comes to lovin', he's far above the rest
He's the greatest lover in the whole world
And when I'm horny, he puts me in a whirl

When we have sex it feels so magical
When we're in bed we can get farcical too

Darling plays with me

He can do it all, really give a rimjob
If I ask for it, he can really make me throb
He can use his tongue, when I'm getting kissed
And of course he knows, how to use a fist

He blows my mind just when he goes down on me
I know just how to make him cum like a tsunami

Darling plays with me

Sexsmith

With a mole on her breast
And a choker on her neck
She's a master at sex
As if you need to check

The suit that she wears
Is erotically charged
To encounter her
Makes your world enlarged

She's a sexsmith, honey
Like you wouldn't believe
She's a modern myth, it's funny
And you're about to perceive

Her mouth is a wonder
The 8th in the world
Her legs have seen more
Than your average girl

She's a master of toys
With an arsenal of tricks
She can bring you such joys,
And you should see her cosplay of Cybersix

She's a sexsmith, honey
Like you wouldn't believe
She's a modern myth, it's funny
And you're about to perceive

Wingwoman

Well, it's a day of the week
And we're busy getting chic
For a brilliant night of pleasure
She looks so cute
In her Jenny Lewis suit
And my clothes are made to measure

With our division of labour,
We are willing and able
To get laid all the time
She talks so smooth
And I'm a silly goose
And that drives the ladies wild

It's the greatest team
You've ever really seen
For romance
A straight dude with the gear
A woman who's so queer
We advance

Flying high
with my wingwoman by my side

We walk in the party,
And we're feeling so hearty
'cos the night has just begun
We set our sights
On the women, that's right
And we pick the best bi ones

A bit of goofy talk
And a big sexy walk
And we've scored our night's companion
She's a tall sexy blonde
With breasts of which I'm fond
And she's deep just like a canyon

Honey you're in luck
Your world we're gonna rock
To excess
All aboard the train
to Orgasm Way
It's express

Flying high
with my wingwoman by my side

(thanks to Steph and her posse for the title – we all miss you Steph)

Sexual Electricity

She conducts a current that's so foxy
She exerts a force far beyond static
She is blessed with unbelievable moxy
She can charge you up 'til you're ecstatic

She's got a sexual electricity

She dances at a club called the Faraday Cage
Where her magnetism exerts a field
She makes a circuit far beyond the stage
'til all Los Angeles feels her appeal

She's got a sexual electricity

Once she plugs you in, it'll charge your life
Coulomb's law will rule your sex drive
Her voltage could power a small town
And she'll blow your mind when she goes down!

She's got a sexual electricity

I Like It Big

Hi, I'm Tammy, and I like it when things are big

Big hair
Big clothes
Big breasts
Ooh, goodness knows

Big suit
Big ass
Big money
Walking, talking class

And here she is! The star of her own mirror! Tammy! Aww, thank you! I love you all! I will forever treasure this "most sexy socialite of the Valley" award! Like, oh my golly, I look hella bitchin'. You know, they oughta pay me for getting dressed! Because I don't just wear an outfit. I elevate it. I take it to fashion heaven! ... wait, that sounded better in my head. Gosh, I look so damn good, it's like illegal in the lamer states! Who knew a beret could, like, be this totally awesome? I oughta give France lessons some time! Oh, hi! Don't mind me, I'm just talking to myself as usual. Gal must admire herself to get dressed, yeah? I'll be right down in two minutes! Like, yeah, I know I said that an hour ago... but... look at this outfit! Doesn't it look divine? Oh! When you put it that way, it would be most grody to deprive the people of my brilliance! Here's to a long hard day of shopping ahead. I can't wait!

Big pride
Big suite
Big strut
Big beat

Blue eyes
Big cute
Big bounce
Did I mention I'm astute?

Ah, Rodeo! The best reason to come down from Northridge! I just know I'm gonna get some mondo exercise today. Like, who needs weights when you can lift shopping bags? Walk of style? Ha! Honey, who needs to walk when you can strut? Oh, I'm checking out this store, for sure. They have a hella cute clerk! And the clothes look good too! Hiya, honey! Tammy. I'll show you mine if you show me yours~ Mmm, nobody can resist my big wallet. I'm so glad it fits between my boobs! Golly, so much bitchin' clothes. Those look good, can I buy 7 of 'em? And 7 of that too. Oh, that one's rad! I'll buy one for Stephen. I'd like 10 of these too, please. Can never have too many spare berets! And, gosh, that one looks so cute. I gotta get it! Mmm, I love the sound of commerce in the morning. And I'm just gettin' warmed up! Can't wait to hit the hair salon! Huh! Well, how'd ya like that? Store went outta business, like, just now? That's like sooo totally weird. Phew, golly, fitting all those clothes in the trunk was grody. I should call for my backup limousine.

Bright lights
Big city
Big charm
Pretty and witty

Big beauty
Big blonde
Big pleasure
with a big wand

Paradise with a DD

Now ever since I was a little kid
I've had a passion for big tits
But despite my attraction
I couldn't get much action
Way back home

then I heard a voice with a life's command
It said "Come to California, that's your land"
So I flew there
Like a moon dare
And it totally blew my mind

All the bust sizes here are first rate
I can totally see why they call it the
Golden State
It's so great
It must have been fate

Paradise with a double D

Now I love to see 'em bounce around
And I love it when they stand so tall and proud
In the sun
We'll have such fun
All I need to do is look around

The promised land feels so good to me
It's got sun, surf, and blondes in bikinis
Yes it's true
I'm a tit man through and through
And I feel right at home

Like Tete felt about Estrellita
Like Joe Walsh sang, nothing beats the
Big ol' tits
It's such bliss
They feel so good to kiss

Paradise with a double D

The bigger the bra, the more it blows my mind
The bigger the bounce, I find I'm
Hypnotised
Energised
Certainly not wise!

Paradise with a double D

Squirt Gun

Yes, I'm cocked and loaded
I like to come fashionably late
I got a party in my pants
And honey, you'll be my date

I'm a crack shot with a squirt gun
And you're a master of sex
I just know we'll have fun
The bed can take what's next

Yeah my squirt gun's loaded
My magazine's ready to blow
I've got you in my sights
And I'll give you a show

If Eros shoots an arrow,
Then I'm a loaded bomb
I feel your loving touch
And move in with aplomb

Things just start to heat up
And I'm so excited to play
I just want your best
Honey ride me all the way

Yeah my squirt gun's loaded
My magazine's ready to blow
I've got you in my sights
And I'll give you a show

The safety's on and my aim is true
I've got such joy in store for you
Don't you hesitate, we'll have such fun
I'm gonna shoot you with my squirt gun

Honey you're an expert
You really took me for a ride
Loving feels so fun
When I got you by my side

You blew me so well
And I sucked you dry
Come on now let's cuddle
You gotta hold me tight

Now my squirt gun's empty
My face is all a-flush
You're so soft and gentle
You're so cute when you blush

(see you Steph cowboy – we'll hold down the fort for you)

A Message from Ann Morrison

Managing the Groovy Times is a dream come true. It's the greatest job in the world. I love the darlings with all my heart. Before they go into the studio, I tell them, "Darlings, only music I can get dressed or swagger to." And they do exactly that, they're such dolls.

This album is about sex. And dreams. Sexy dreams. But also normal ones.

It's about having the courage to be yourself.

It's about pleasure. It's the greatest thing in the world. Everyone should feel it, all the time. Everyone should have the right to it.

For this album, the Groovy Times were a lemon, and I squeezed every last drop of juice out of it. I made them plumb deep into their souls to produce these odes to sex, lust, and big breasts.

At its heart, this album is about vulnerability. To explore sexuality so boldly in song is to tear out pieces of your heart for the world to see. To stand up and declare your desires openly is an act of courage.

Whenever we put ourselves out there, we go out on a limb. We open ourselves up at the risk of rejection and hurt.

We pulled out these sexy little slices of our soul just for your hearing pleasure. There's a little Bettie Page in all of us. We all reached deep into our souls to bring out our inner Betties.

Listening to this album will make you feel like a million dollars.

It will make you feel like wearing expensive haute couture, tailored to perfection.

It will make you feel like someone's darling, your loved one whispering praise in your ear.

It will make you feel on top of the world, celebrating a triumph with the best threesome ever.

If you have a cock, it will make you feel like it's horse-sized and full of cum.

If you have a pussy, it will make you feel the orgasm that will touch your soul.

If you have breasts, it will make you feel like they're huge but weightless, and flowing with milk.

If you have legs, it will make you strut. You won't remember how to walk normally, or need to.

This album is very dear to me and my bank account. RIAA, please send the Platinum plaque to my future mansion in the Hollywood Hills.

I love to tell the Groovy Times they're the greatest band in the world. I love how it makes them cringe, it makes me say it more. It's important to embarrass the darlings with love. It's more important to believe it.

No matter what life throws at you, if you feel like a winner, if you feel like somebody, you'll grow stronger.

To anyone listening to this album, thank you so much. I love you. You're a beautiful person with a beautiful soul. I am grateful beyond words.

I treasure your thoughtful gesture of giving us your hard-earned money. My fat bank account is forever thankful.

Ta-ta, darlings,
Ann Morrison

Recording the Groovy Times: An Essay

by Terry Gunsell

Every band has a producer that makes ‘em great. The Beatles had George Martin. The Red Hot Chili Peppers had Rick Rubin. Van Halen had Ted Templeman. The Groovy Times have… well, themselves, and Ann. Ann’s their manager but she referees their creative process, which makes her kind of a producer. Me? I’m just their engineer and mixer. But I’m the one who gets the sound on tape, which is what matters, right? Like, there’s a reason they say “Okay Ter, make us sound good.”

The Rabbit Hole is this rundown building in East Hollywood we managed to get space in. It’s on North Vermont, right above Vermont/Beverly, opposite Hubbard College of Administration. Not much to write home about, but it does the job. It’s an all-virtual studio. There’s a soundproofed room the band plays in, that’s it. I mean, I’d love to be loaded enough to record at Sunset Sound! But we can’t afford to be gearheads. We have a Focusrite to plug the guitars and mic into, that’s it. Stephen plays an electronic kit we use as a MIDI controller. Sunny plays a MIDI keyboard. Betty, Harley, and Cherry all plug in to the Focusrite.

We use Propellerheads Reason and VSTs. I know, the real bands use Ableton or Pro Tools or whatever. Stephen used Reason, so we stuck with it. I’m used to it. Do we really need Marshall stacks? No, amp modeling does the job fine. All the guitar sounds you’ll hear are mostly Guitar Rig, Amplitube, and Amplifikation 360. Shout out to my main man Steven Slate Drums for making Stephen rock. Ann had to talk Stephen out of trying to buy the Chris Lord-Alge extension. Sorry Stephen, there’s no budget for it. Sunny played all Korgs: M1, Triton, Wavestation.

I like to run a tight ship in the studio. Assisting me with that are Ellen and Gilly. They do all kinds of stuff. Programming, looping, sequencing. Oh, and the all important water and food supply. Can’t have a band recording dehydrated or hungry. They keep a nice atmosphere in the studio, wearing those cute uniforms. They look a bit like election volunteers around 1964 or so. Ann’s a big help too. She likes to show up in the control room wearing her cream-coloured business suit and observe. Then she gets on the talkback and goes “Dahlings, that was wonderful!”. Even if it wasn’t, but you gotta keep up morale, right? Sometimes I’m still not sure if Ann knows our names. She calls everyone “dahling”, it’s really sweet.

By the time the band comes to me, they’ve already run their ideas by Ann and she helped filter ‘em. We sat down this time and talked about what we want from this album. I keep trying to simplify the mixing process, as always. I felt that on Daily Lives with Cartoon Bombshells, I got a bit too into the everything in its right place trip. I quantised pretty hard there because Stephen wanted a steady beat. This time I took a cue from Rick Beato: to keep the human element. I didn’t quantise as hard. I had Sunny and Stephen do drum machine parts as live as possible, too. Sunny played loops on a Korg Wavestation to reinforce the grooves.

We wanted to build on Daily Lives, make Sex Lives harder, better, faster, stronger. Stephen demanded that big sound, make it rock like it’s 1991. Use Your Illusion and Blood Sugar Sex Magik were touchstones. The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move too, and The Extremist. (Mostly just “Summer Song”.) I think the balance this time tilted more hair metal than funk metal.

Funny thing, the first two songs we finished were the least hair metal-like. We happened to have lyrics ready for “Everything You Do Is Sex” and “Sexsmith” first. Recording was straightforward. We’d put down the backing tracks first, then the vocals. We recorded all the vocals naked, especially the gang vocals. It got them in the right spirit. Stephen might’ve tried to wear a sock on his cock a few times. The song structures got set in stone first. Lyrics sometimes took longer to write. When they were ready, we’d record the vocals and that was it. They’d leave the mixing to me.

Stephen’s pal David “DAMARIN” Marin really came through on “Everything You Do Is Sex”. He got so into the spirit he ended up doing 7 tracks of harmonica! Had to piece together the final result with Ellen and Gilly, that was fun. Betty even skipped doing a guitar solo just to let David wail away on harmonica. He earned that “Diamond” in the credits, for sure. Laurel sang more nasal than usual. Stephen was telling her to take inspiration from Anthony Kiedis. She might’ve taken that literally.

“Sexsmith”, we were thinking of Genesis’ “I Can’t Dance”. Course, Harley brought that crunch riff, like the Cars’ “Just What I Needed”. It was just what the song needed. Stephen ended up playing eighths on the rim because he can’t just sit still and play kick and snare for a whole song. In the demo stage, I thought this song was gonna be more dub. It got a real kick in the end. That’s Stephen doing the backing vocals. He thought it’d be funny if he tried to sound like Prince. I ran him through this harmoniser thingy that gave these space-age, vocoded chords. Then I put on a reverb setting marked “George Michael”. Gotta get up to get down, y’know? You need that Fastlove.

This was actually the first song to get previewed in public. A friend was going to this private party, up in Pasadena. We gave her the rough mix and joked, would it fit the playlist? She passed it on to the host, who liked the instrumental but not Laurel’s vocals. I made an instrumental mix just for the party. Sorry Laurel! And big hugs to (NAME CENSORED AT REQUEST)!

"Wingwoman"'s idea came from a music review. A limey reviewing Drake's "Girls Want Girls": “either about a night out picking up women with a lesbian friend…”. Stephen stopped reading there and was like, that needs to be a song. Ann said, damn right, that must be a song, dahlings, and you’ll write it. This song actually got us in trouble at the record label. Sometimes we jam on other songs for inspiration. This time they stuck pretty close to the starting points. The legal department facepalmed that it sounded like a mashup. We had to give music credits to Judas Priest, Power Tool, and Primal Scream. This song needs a shirtless blonde Californian rock god screaming at the top of his lungs. We shoulda hired a Van Halen tribute band for the Diamond Dave and Michael Anthony voices.

“Million Dollar Handjob”’s idea came from Future’s “Shit”. He has a line bragging about spending a quarter million on a handjob. We found that really funny. The band ended up making a song about a million dollar handjob. The super-amped rock’n’roll riff owes a bit to the Stripperella theme. Thanks, Erotica. Betty used an Amplitube setting from the Joe Satriani collection. You should’ve seen her face light up when she got to wah away. The ending riff was a reject from “Everything You Do Is Sex”. Harley suggested we do a break and then go right into it, like Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion”. Ellen and Gilly may have gotten a bit carried away with the sampler.

“Darling Plays with Me” is a garage rocker with hair metal ambitions. It’s the fastest song on the album – 163 bpm. Sunny found a pumpin’ patch on the Triton that was totally ZZ Top. She also wanted an overdub like The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. She decided to play that whole overdub live instead of running it through a gate effect. Human touch, no? The shreddage after the first chorus is Harley’s. She recorded it at slower speed and sped it up. We still had to cut and paste it together. Harley loves to shred, but she skipped the “learning” part. What can ya do? Betty played that outro lick like it was Joe Satriani’s “Energy”. Stephen loved that.

“House of Joy” was the touchstone for the whole album. The chorus is more hair metal, the verses are more shuffled. Ann was always in the control room telling us to loosen up and swing. The main riff’s inspired by Extreme’s “Little Girls” and Sugar Ray’s “Caboose” in a blender. After we recorded, Harley slapped her head and said, “Oh! We should’ve had a ‘Running with the Devil’ lick in there too!”. Yeah, Harley. We totally should’ve. You can hear Laurel shout “Whoo! That’s the take!” at the end. She was redoing her lead vocal and she was pumped she managed to nail that Tenacious D “yeah-ah-ah” flourish at the end.

We thought there’d be 2 pop songs on the album, but then “Sexual Electricity” had other ideas. It’s this wild stew of 1960s pop, hair metal, and rockabilly. At the start, we wanted Poison’s “Unskinny Bop” with Def Leppard’s “Rocket” tribal drumming. Well, Stephen tried to do the tribal drumming, but he ended up doing “Sing, Sing, Sing” on the toms. The bridge comes from “She’s So Far Out, She’s In”, which the Monkees didn’t finish recording, but Dino, Desi and Billy did. The verse came from there too first, but we had to rewrite it. Sunny lit up when she found that “JazzHits!” preset on the M1. Slap bass on the left hand and organ/horns on the right. Perfect for a video game soundtrack, yeah? You should’ve seen Ann grinning in the control room while recording this. I can still hear her drilling the band. “Dahlings, swing that groove like a cartoon bombshell swinging her butt as she walks!”. I don’t know if she was thinking of Jessica Rabbit or Angel Jones there.

“Paradise with a DD” is an ode to big breasts, in the key of rock’n’roll. (A Mixolydian, if you’re technical.) It might be the only rock song about breasts to mention Bigas Luna’s The Tit and the Moon. Stephen was proud of that, he loves that movie. We parked this song at the intersection of power pop, hair metal, and good ol’ rock’n’roll. At first, we planned to keep it straightforward. Ann walked in on a break while Sunny was trying to figure out how to play Traffic’s “Glad”. Ann shouted, “Dahling, that’s the bridge!”. Record label felt relieved Sunny hadn’t figured out the riff, I tell ya! It’s a real rock’n’roll stew. Play this while checking out honeys on the beach, you’ll get about as oiled as a diesel train.

“Squirt Gun” is all about that easy-rollin’ groove. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swagger. We played James Gang’s “Funk #48” and “Funk #49” on a loop while working on this, trying to get the same feel. The feel of a band totally locked in on a monster groove, comin’ on like a freight train. Ann especially enjoyed drilling the band to perfection on this. Harley said she fell asleep one night and in her dream she still heard Ann telling her to “Loosen up and swagger right, dahling!”. This song’s all about that relentless forward drive. And space. Can’t forget space. You can hear Harley and Betty here trying to lay it back and channel Joe Walsh. You shoulda seen the Rabbit Hole when we recorded the percussion break. Everybody in the studio was doing percussion, beating on whatever, yelling silly stuff. Laurel actually led us in a conga line afterwards, totes fun. She felt like rock’n’roll needs more songs about chicks squirtin’. This was her doing her part.

“I Like It Big” is self-explanatory. If you want a light aerobic workout with your funk metal, this is the ticket. The song started life as a jam the band was kicking around in rehearsals. Ann managed to squeeze some structure into it, make it more of a song, but we were stuck for how to finish it. We got a visit in the studio from our dearest friend, our fanclub president, Tammy. And then it hit us: let’s make it an annoying novelty song meets funk metal! We put Tammy on the mic and let her talk, and in the end we had a song. Ann goaded her on very beautifully. She was like a director guiding her star from the control booth. Sunny programmed that Triton beat that Stephen drummed over. She tried to do some Prince keyboard stabs otherwise. Betty was a bit skeptical about putting a filter on that rockabilly guitar. She thought, we already have a wah-wah guitar. I reassured her it’ll work. Gilly and Ellen wanted to tart up the mix with more samples, but Reason was already pretty hard up for memory. I said we’ll do it in post.

I learned everything I know about mixing working with the Groovy Times. I keep the process simple. Bring all the faders to zero. Put the whole mix in mono. Bring up the drums ‘til they hit -4 dB. Bring up the percussion and bass. After the drums and bass are balanced, get the rest up accordingly. Leave vocals last. Then turn off the mono. I don’t bother with sidechaining bass to drums or whatever. Doesn’t do anything for me. The best mixes are the ones done as quickly as possible. It’s like Diamond Dave told John 5: “If you can’t do it in two takes, you can’t do it.”

I changed my approach to vocals too. One of my bad memories of Daily Lives was fighting with the de-esser. I swear, that fucker was a pain in the ass to train on Laurel’s voice. I didn’t use a de-esser this time. I went into the EQ, found the sibilant frequency by ear, and reduced that. Ellen and Gilly watch me work, and I’d say, “Girls, mix with your ears, not your eyes”. Had to show ‘em.

They say it’s a bad idea to have the same person mixing and mastering. Well, we do it anyway. Another mastering engineer would make things sound more pro, but it’d lose the grooviness, y’know? Mastering, there isn’t a lot to say. I tinker a bit with the master EQ, I put reverb on to glue the mix together. Then I just drop Ozone on it. I let Ozone figure out what to do and then I just reduce the volume if needed. It’s cheaper than hiring a mastering engineer, too! Talk about a great investment.