2006 - JT Longoria Q & A (Apr)
Q: Where the "Like A Dog" songs already worked out in a far state or where they mostly put
together in the studio?
izzy had brought in demo versions of the songs on cassette but the songs were essentially pieced together by izzy, rick, and taz in the studio.
Q: Do you remember how many songs in total where recorded for "Like A Dog"? Where there many songs that didn't make it to the final cut?
there were one or two that didn't make the record. when working in that sort of spontaneous environment there are always going to be a couple of tracks that don't make the final cut.
Q: You play the bass guitar on Hammerhead and Chop Away, was that because you where part of the writing of those songs aswell?
i wasn't involved in the writing of those tunes. what happened was that those two songs were recorded after the initial sessions. izzy came back to dallas with two new songs to track and wanted to do a little rehearsing before hand. since HE was the one playing bass as well as guitar on the recording he asked me if i would play bass for the rehearsals, so i did. when he came in to track the songs i ended up playing bass on the recordings as well.
there's another record that izzy did after like a dog (the one done in miami). on THAT one, i played bass on the whole record.
Q: How much time in total did the "Like A Dog" recording sessions take?
good god, i don't even remember. it wasn't long, i remember that. there were two different recording sessions, like i said before, so it's even harder to say. maybe 3 weeks?
Q: In 2004 there was mentioned that you and Steven Adler had recorded some songs at Izzy's home on a digital 8-track. An mp3 of "Do You Love Me" surfaced on the internet shortly after. Where there any original songs recorded aswell at those sessions? Could you tell us some more about that session?
that was done in izzy's basement!
i had flown to california to do some tracking with izzy. when i got there he said that steven was flying in to hang out for a bit and maybe jam a little. 'do you love me' was the only song we did but it was so much fun! we only had like 3 or 4 microphones and we recorded it on a little digital 8 track thing that izzy had. we mixed it on a small pro tools rig i had brought with me and it turned out sounding not-too-bad considering we did it all in one day and with VERY limited gear.
as far as any original music, izzy played guitar on 3 kittyviolet tunes. but steven was not involved with that. it was just a good time, you know?
Q: I've read that you can play multiple instruments; Guitar, bass, drums, violin, viola, cello and keyboard. Are you a self-taught musician?
you probably got that from the nomad website or jtlongoria.com (which i did NOT put together). that's a mistake. i don't play keyboards. i play enough piano to fool someone who doesn't play piano! it should say "mandolin", not "keyboard". i play piano on the 'kittyviolet' record, but the playing is horrible! i'm not entirely self-taught. i studied viola for years before i began playing guitar. everything other than viola, though, i never got formal training in.
Q: How long have you been workin as a Producer/Engineer/Composer in the recording industry?
that's a hard question to answer. i've been messing around with audio since i was like 5 but never did anything too serious. i'd recorded a lot of my friends' bands and such for a while until about '97. in 1997 i started a wee low-budget studio with a good friend zack henry. for a couple of years we recorded dozens upon dozens of cheap demos for different bands on a little 8 track recorder until Gary Long from Nomad Recording Studio heard some of my work. the first major paying recording gig i had was with King Diamond on the 'house of god' album at Nomad. i was 2nd engineer (i think that was in 2000...maybe '99). i've been doing production and session playing ever since.
Q: Please tell us about work with some other artists and albums that you have been working on. Any particular projects you are extra proud of?
i've got credits all over several genres. i've played guitar on rap albums with play n' skillz (universal) and lil flip (columbia). i'm working as a producer on my second King Diamond record (metal blade), the fifth one i work on. i've done some production work on some roadrunner records compilations. i've got production credit on a Cradle of Filth album ('devil woman' on the bonus release of 'nymphetamine').i know these are quite a departure from izzy's music! i've never really thought about which i'm most proud of.
Q: Could you tell us something about the current bands/projects you're involved in? i'm currently working on yet another King Diamond record! aside from that, it's pretty much kittyviolet, kittyviolet, KITTYVIOLET!!!
Q: Please tell us more about your band Kitty Violet and it's future plans.
kittyviolet is made up of myself and scarlet (a very talented and gorgeous vocalist). we just finished tracking and mixing our first record "winterblossom is dead". it's loud, obnoxious rock and roll though a bit noisier than others. you can check it out at www.myspace.com/kittyandscarlet (how's that for shameless self-promotion?). as far as future plans go, we're solidifying a deal with an attorney and we've got a little interest from some manegement in california (though that's not remotely solid yet). after that it's just gearing up the live band and making racket all over!
izzy had brought in demo versions of the songs on cassette but the songs were essentially pieced together by izzy, rick, and taz in the studio.
Q: Do you remember how many songs in total where recorded for "Like A Dog"? Where there many songs that didn't make it to the final cut?
there were one or two that didn't make the record. when working in that sort of spontaneous environment there are always going to be a couple of tracks that don't make the final cut.
Q: You play the bass guitar on Hammerhead and Chop Away, was that because you where part of the writing of those songs aswell?
i wasn't involved in the writing of those tunes. what happened was that those two songs were recorded after the initial sessions. izzy came back to dallas with two new songs to track and wanted to do a little rehearsing before hand. since HE was the one playing bass as well as guitar on the recording he asked me if i would play bass for the rehearsals, so i did. when he came in to track the songs i ended up playing bass on the recordings as well.
there's another record that izzy did after like a dog (the one done in miami). on THAT one, i played bass on the whole record.
Q: How much time in total did the "Like A Dog" recording sessions take?
good god, i don't even remember. it wasn't long, i remember that. there were two different recording sessions, like i said before, so it's even harder to say. maybe 3 weeks?
Q: In 2004 there was mentioned that you and Steven Adler had recorded some songs at Izzy's home on a digital 8-track. An mp3 of "Do You Love Me" surfaced on the internet shortly after. Where there any original songs recorded aswell at those sessions? Could you tell us some more about that session?
that was done in izzy's basement!
i had flown to california to do some tracking with izzy. when i got there he said that steven was flying in to hang out for a bit and maybe jam a little. 'do you love me' was the only song we did but it was so much fun! we only had like 3 or 4 microphones and we recorded it on a little digital 8 track thing that izzy had. we mixed it on a small pro tools rig i had brought with me and it turned out sounding not-too-bad considering we did it all in one day and with VERY limited gear.
as far as any original music, izzy played guitar on 3 kittyviolet tunes. but steven was not involved with that. it was just a good time, you know?
Q: I've read that you can play multiple instruments; Guitar, bass, drums, violin, viola, cello and keyboard. Are you a self-taught musician?
you probably got that from the nomad website or jtlongoria.com (which i did NOT put together). that's a mistake. i don't play keyboards. i play enough piano to fool someone who doesn't play piano! it should say "mandolin", not "keyboard". i play piano on the 'kittyviolet' record, but the playing is horrible! i'm not entirely self-taught. i studied viola for years before i began playing guitar. everything other than viola, though, i never got formal training in.
Q: How long have you been workin as a Producer/Engineer/Composer in the recording industry?
that's a hard question to answer. i've been messing around with audio since i was like 5 but never did anything too serious. i'd recorded a lot of my friends' bands and such for a while until about '97. in 1997 i started a wee low-budget studio with a good friend zack henry. for a couple of years we recorded dozens upon dozens of cheap demos for different bands on a little 8 track recorder until Gary Long from Nomad Recording Studio heard some of my work. the first major paying recording gig i had was with King Diamond on the 'house of god' album at Nomad. i was 2nd engineer (i think that was in 2000...maybe '99). i've been doing production and session playing ever since.
Q: Please tell us about work with some other artists and albums that you have been working on. Any particular projects you are extra proud of?
i've got credits all over several genres. i've played guitar on rap albums with play n' skillz (universal) and lil flip (columbia). i'm working as a producer on my second King Diamond record (metal blade), the fifth one i work on. i've done some production work on some roadrunner records compilations. i've got production credit on a Cradle of Filth album ('devil woman' on the bonus release of 'nymphetamine').i know these are quite a departure from izzy's music! i've never really thought about which i'm most proud of.
Q: Could you tell us something about the current bands/projects you're involved in? i'm currently working on yet another King Diamond record! aside from that, it's pretty much kittyviolet, kittyviolet, KITTYVIOLET!!!
Q: Please tell us more about your band Kitty Violet and it's future plans.
kittyviolet is made up of myself and scarlet (a very talented and gorgeous vocalist). we just finished tracking and mixing our first record "winterblossom is dead". it's loud, obnoxious rock and roll though a bit noisier than others. you can check it out at www.myspace.com/kittyandscarlet (how's that for shameless self-promotion?). as far as future plans go, we're solidifying a deal with an attorney and we've got a little interest from some manegement in california (though that's not remotely solid yet). after that it's just gearing up the live band and making racket all over!