Inside the Mind

A minute with...ST co-founder Dr. Greg Trash

ST.com: Doc, it's been 2 years between releases. Your 2003 CD "Invisible Visions" was panned by fans and critics alike. Now with "Two Wells" coming out later this month. What can fans expect?

DRT: Critics are critics. They like to criticize things. That's why they are critics. Their job is to pick things apart. I think it's fair to say "Invisible Visions" was a good record. I think it was simply misunderstood. Situation Tranquil likes to challenge our fans, our listeners. We expect them to make an effort. I didn't really get it either until we were done recording and I had played the disk 50 or 60 times.

As for our new CD "Two Wells", I'll say this. It indeed rocks with severe authority. This was indeed a labor of love, and sweat, and tears and other bodily fluids that I'd rather not talk about right now. But be it safe to say our fans will enjoy this aural outing like no other.

ST.com: I've had the good fortune to get a pre-listen to "Two Wells" and I was impressed by the song writing and the production. How did you guys approach the process?

DRT: For two years both myself and KF were sequestered in a dingy, run-down Memphis hotel. There we tried to feel the presence of the King. Let's just say we never felt the King's presence, but while we waited we worked out some clever hooks. The lyrics actually flowed really well. I'm proud of of all the songs that made the release. In fact we've got enough for a whole box set. We may do the iTunes thing later.

As for the production. We decided to call in Kevin Archer. He was a guy we had worked with in the mid 80's. Fans may remember his masterful production on "Spanish Flies in France", "Earth to You", and the single "Buy Me". Kevin was working with Radiohead. He had to get out of his contract. But it wasn't a big deal.

We thought we should record on location. It always gets us in a creative mood. KF wanted to rent a submarine and equipt it with some digital recording gear but we had problems getting cleared in international waters. I actually liked the idea. But finally we settled on a mobile facility at Australia's Ayer's Rock.
Prior to the record sessions we rented out SkyDome in Toronto for rehearsals. That's where you get the kinks out. Iron out the rough portions and let the songs trully come to life. We only needed 2 weeks of rehearsals.

Once in Australia, everything just came together. Wok was held up in immigration for a couple of days, but we recorded most of our drum and base tracks. Keyboards came later. Wok is actually an over dub kind of guy.
Kevin Archer was a mad man behind the glass. He would put on his sunglasses, stand on the soundboard and just twist knobs to his heart's content.

The beauty of this record is in the performance. I've discovered deep meditating yoga. I feel calm and focused even when I don't want to (which is a plus). KF is finally over the whole 'nervous breakdown' thing and Gary, Markus and Jimbo all followed directions very well. Once Wok did arrive the magic took over.

ST.com: Where does the title "Two Wells" come from?

DRT: Back in '01 I was feeling trapped by my life. Like lots of people I had stress, worry, twitches, panic attacks, itchy toes, plus my hair was starting to fall out. I consulted my optician and he suggested that I try a lifestyle change. Anyway, I decided to purchase a small farm in Wales. It really wasn't all that great but it did have 2 wells. Which is so much better than having just 1 well.