Nezrok (LP) by Nezrok

released October 20, 2018

Nezrok is not only the reverse moniker of Chris Korzen, but also the group that follows his musical exploits. This latest band of musician friends has just released their self-titled collection on New Jersey’s Jahal Records (ST100/7).

Back Story or “It’s Done When You Run Out of Money”:
The records’ genesis can be traced to the fall of 2015, when my long-time friend Chris Bolger was finishing his first solo record No Promises. He asked me - a graphic designer by day - to help him with the release. I had just finished writing a power pop song called “Beach People” that seemed to be a perfect fit for him to help record. He suggested using friend, fellow Jerseyite and Smithereen, Dennis Diken on drums and to track with Kostadin Kamcev at Mozart Studios in Clifton, NJ. So, I flew up to New Jersey and being that Kostadin had a grand piano, I took advantage and retooled an older piano melody with new lyrics that reflected my mom’s recent diagnosis with old age (“Birth of a Smile”).

After basic tracks to these were recorded (via CLASP tape interface), I brought the sessions back to my current home state where I recorded overdubs, vocals and mixed at TruNoyz Studios in Fort Lauderdale, FL, using the expertise of Eddie Perez behind the board.

Fly. Record. Repeat.

This is the way the proceedings would go for the next three years.

Along the way, I had been in contact with Memphis power pop legend Van Duren who recorded sweet harmonies to “Beach People” at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with Mike Wilson at the desk. Chris Bolger and I had been fans of Van since we stumbled across his song mislabelled “Breaking Your Heart in Two” on a Big Star demo cassette. The song - “Andy, Please” - had been written by Van and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and was produced by Andrew Loog Oldham back in 1975. Chris suggested recording it for the following session in NJ. This time, besides Dennis, Chris & myself, friends Dave Amels on Hammond organ and Joe Howell on bass would join us.

These sessions also saw the first composition brought in by Diane E - the ethereal “Wide Open Spaces”, which features Shelby Rael on electric lead. I also brought a new song celebrating Diane and our
10-year wedding anniversary - “Strong Love”.

Once again the session files were brought back to South Florida for overdubs, vocals and mixing.
And once again, Van provided backing vocals in Memphis - this time on his own song - “Andy, Please”.
In his words:
“... the session was very surreal. I was singing the same parts in the same studio on the same mic in the same booth as I did in March 1975. Hard to believe, and a perspective gained I hadn’t had before.”

“Andy, Please” b/w “Beach People” was released as a 45-RPM single in June, 2017 (Jahal ST100/6).

Before the next NJ session in the fall of 2017, I wrote a little ditty that had the urgency to be recorded sooner rather than later. Luckily, an old friend - Fernando Perdomo - was in town from LA and together we knocked out “Imagine That!” in one afternoon at Markee Studios in Deerfield Beach, FL with Marko Ruffalo feverishly working the knobs as Hurricane Irma was looming. Then, Fernando smartly split!

Again, the sweetened tracks were sent to Ardent. This time it would be for not only Van, but also his co-pilot Vicki Loveland to record lead and backing vocals on utilizing the engineering prowess of Adam Hill. After the track was quickly mixed and mastered (by Zach Ziskin), Joe Howell produced an imaginative video featuring all of the musicians, and “Imagine That!” was released as a single in January, 2018.

Meanwhile, Chris Bolger had sent me a home recording of an experimental track that he had tried several melodies on, without satisfaction. Since the piece had a trippy feel, I wrote a melody and lyrics about dreams and it became “Dream Away”. We decided to salvage the hard to recreate sounds from the home recording while rerecording the rhythm tracks. Although Chris and I had been in many bands over the years, this was our first co-write! Having been a fan of Dennis Diken with Bell Sounds 2009 “solo” album, Late Music, I thought he could sing this well and he happily obliged, so the song became the most communal project on the record.

For this session, Diane E brought in “ICU”. While explaining a certain element of the song, she cited Sting’s “Walking on the Moon” as a reference. We worked out an adhoc version and she incorporated it into the intro, which has nothing to do with the rest of the song. Classic Diane E!

The last song to be tracked for this collection was “Middle Ground”, utilizing the core group of Dennis, Chris and myself. I grabbed Fernando the next time he was in town and he laid down stellar guitar overdubs. A subsequent trip saw him putting the transforming touches on “ICU”.

A common friend of many of the participants who was mentioned throughout the sessions was Bob Brainen. Although he did not join us here, I brought back an old 4-track recording that we had done back around 1989. “Ethereal Fluffernutter Too”. It belonged here.

Enjoy,
ck