Joshua
Harrison
Drums
Chris McKay and the Critical Darlings
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Joshua Harrison
Drums
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Meet Josh
(Aliases: "The Quiet One," "Master of Funk")
I'm Joshua Harrison, drummer for Chris McKay and the Critical
Darlings. I was born in Henderson, KY on July 31, 1985. I grew up on a
farm surrounding a restored Civil War era home where my musical tastes were
shaped early on by my father, who loved heavy rock and soul. At the age of 15 I
decided to become a drummer. It took a lot of convincing before my parents
decided to buy me a Ludwig Rocker set for Christmas. I've always had a love for
music, especially the drums and bass. (Guitar never really interested me because
there were already so many guitar players around. I kid you not, it seemed like
every kid in high school played guitar!) So, to the annoyance of my parents and
neighbors, I started playing drums, making music and have never stopped since.
Although I've had several drum teachers over the years (usually
mandatory for the music programs I've been involved with) the one drum teacher
to ever really make an impact on me was a studio drummer named Jeff McKinney. I
started taking lessons with him about a year after I began drumming. He taught
me to have "soul" when playing music. He said he would teach me theory but he
believed a drummer should develop their style and THEN learn all the technical
aspects. Jeff taught me how to listen closely to the song being played and be
able to "fake" any style needed. Being adaptable was his strongest point. Later
on when I moved to Asheville, NC and started playing in jam bands this skill
helped greatly. Now, I can listen to any song and play something cool no
matter what it is.
In 2007 I moved to Athens, started UGA and joined the Critical Darlings. I have
to say that I have grown as a musician in the short time I've
played with The Darlings. When I originally tried out, Chris told me immediately
what my problem was- I overplay. Not wanting to lose the chance to play with
these guys I worked on "toning my style down." That has been the best gift the
Critical Darlings have given me. They taught me to be a real musician and
really play for the song, to always make the fills special and not just throw
them all around.
My first "official" recording experience was at Chase Park studios with Dave
Barbie for our new album, Satisfactionista. It was such an honor to be able to
work with a Grammy nominated producer within a year of joining a new band. The
Critical Darlings have given me the ability to experience a whole other world of
rock that I had only dreamed about.
Here are my favorite drummers of all times:
1.) Jimmy Chamberlain- Smashing Pumpkins
2.) Brad Wilk- Rage Against the Machine
3.) Tim Alexander- Primus
All of these men are amazing artists in their own way. Chamberlain has speed and creativity, Wilk always plays the exact perfect part for a song without overplaying, and Alexander is one of the most creative players I have ever heard. Their influence will always be a part of me.
Josh's
Recording Collaborations
I've gone to 3 different schools since I first began my college voyage in 2003. At Transylvania University in Lexington, KY I learned how to be a rockstar. At UNC-Asheville in Asheville, NC I learned to jam and developed my musical creativity. Finally, at UGA in Athens, GA I learned how to be a Critical Darling. I'd like to share a little bit of my past with you here. Amidst flocks of hippies, mountain parties, drum circles, and enlightenment, I studied Music Technology in Asheville. Not only did I learn how to record but also compose and do music theory as well. While at UNC-Asheville I had a professor that would play chords on a piano facing away from the class, and we would have to write down the chord and all the notes within it! That was really intense to say the least, but I learned a lot. I'd like to share a few of my audio projects with you. Maybe it'll introduce to you a side of me that doesn't come through in the Darlings.
1.) "Fine, Fine" is the very first audio project I ever worked on. A friend of my then guitar player and collaborator, Noah Wilson, was wanting to get one of her songs recorded. Her name was Kaylee. Kaylee was a beautiful girl with an amazing voice, but she didn't have any money or even a band to play with. Noah and I helped her out by recording her playing acoustic guitar and singing. Just for good measure, I had her make up as many harmonies as she could on the spot. In the first verse, you can hear one of my notorious "whisper tracks" behind the main vocal. I loved those so much I did them in just about every project I ever recorded. A few days later Noah and I went back in the studio and made up the rest of the music around her acoustic and vocal tracks. I later found out the importance of a click track, which would later help me in my work with the Critical Darlings. (Although they used a click track to record "Sadder Day," I still had to make the drums sound like they went with the song even after everything else was recorded. Usually the drums go down first and the rest of the song is played to suite the drums.) So in this song, "Fine, Fine", I am listening as closely as I possibly can to make sure I am on track due to the mistake of just hitting Play and not using the click track. There is one point (see if you can notice it) where I had to stop doing a steady beat and just play the hi-hats because of what the acoustic guitar does. After I finished Noah added the bass and lead guitar. I spent the night mixing the song and a very tired me emerged the next morning with this song finished.
(Click link to listen on new page or right click to "Save As")
2.) The second song is called "Smilin' Man," which is about my father and all of his crazy adventures traveling the world. The song didn't begin this way however. It started out as a song written by two of my friends, Cacey and Jordan. I found out they had this great song with interesting lyrics, so I encouraged them to come into the studio to get it all down. Since these guys had never played to a click track before (I had since learned the importance of this early on) or ever recorded before, it was, needless to say, rough. After 8 hours solid we had the acoustic, electric, and layered guitars recorded. That's it. I let a week slide without thinking about it, but then I had a project due the next day. All I could think to do was take that song and completely make all the rest up. I didn't have time to get Jordan in to sing. I didn't have studio time set aside to record anything. So I improvised. I took my personal recorder, grabbed some mics from the studio, and sat down on the floor of an unused vocal booth next to the studio. Since I didn't know the words to Jordan's song, I made up some about my dad. After all that, I stayed up all night recording the percussion with my Roland Handsonic. If you don't know what that is, it's basically an electric handrum with a large bank of samples within it. After recording the drums I went over to Noah's house and had him write a bass and lead guitar part. From 4-8AM, I furiously mixed the song to turn it in at 9AM. The final song sounds nothing like Cacey and Jordan's original song, but "Smilin' Man" didn't turn out too bad at all.
3.) The last song I'm going to share (for now) was my final audio project
before I moved to Athens. It is entitled "Antlers" and was written by my best
friend, Brian Sneeden. What's interesting about this piece is that it started
out as simply a poem. That's what Brian is best at, writing poetry. Well, there
is that, play-writing, and lighting design. Anyway, I convinced him that I
could record his poetry and make it sound 100X better with music. He was
interested. We took a few hours and recorded all of the vocal tracks. I'm big on
layering vocals to add all the possible little intricacies. Once that was
finished I sent Brian home. My next step was to conceptualize what the poem
would sound like. This is the producer side of me coming out. After I wrote up a
rough idea of what the piece should sound like, I called up Noah Wilson and had
him bring over his new Native American flutes. I told him, "Imagine you are a deer,
cold and alone walking in the snow. It is morning, the light glints over the
snow. You are afraid..." After giving him a mental image to work with I sat back
and recorded about a dozen takes of him simply playing the flutes. Once he was
done I pieced together the best parts that complemented the flow of the poem.
The most interesting idea I had was to go check out the wav file audio
library at UNC-Asheville. They had dozens of CDs. In my head I heard
particular footsteps and biting wind for the piece. I must have listened to
50 different wind samples before I found the one that was in my head. After
that, I added a little hand drums, spent many hours mixing, and "Antlers" is
here before you. "Antlers" wasn't actually my first project with Brian. We
recorded 6 pieces total. the first one was called "Day Catcher." I wasn't as
good of an audio engineer then, but it is the most creative in my opinion. Check
out his myspace to hear a sample of our work together. All of the effects and
music came from me trying to create an aural equivalent to the imagery from
his
poems. Noah Wilson, with his skill at playing so many different instruments,
allowed for me to create the sounds I would otherwise not be able to get out of
my head. Enjoy www.myspace.com/
A Brief History of Josh's Drumming
1.)This first song is called "Matt Maddox" that I performed with the
Transylvania Jazz Ensemble. It was about this time that I developed "the funk."
At the beginning of the show I waited for the rest of the band to take the
stage. Once everything was ready, I walked out on stage, put on my sunglasses,
and jumped down to my drum kit. If I remember correctly, this song contains one
of my very first "drum solos." Enjoy!
2.) The next two songs "This Machine" and "Roots" I recorded at the UNC-Asheville studio. "Roots" was recorded around 2 years after "This Machine." Besides playing with the Critical Darlings, this band called Dashvara was the other group I grew the most musically in. You might call Dashvara a jam band but we really had some cool songs. Both drum tracks were recorded in one take. I've grown a great deal since then because of Chris. He challenged me to play for the songs instead of just play cool drum parts. Check out "Sadder Day" on Satisfactionista and see what YOU think.
Bet you didn't know...
By Mary Gadd & Emily Kimball
1) Who is Sir Charles Edward Cornelious Phee Harrison the Third de Elegante?
Sir Charles Edward Cornelious Phee Harrison the Third de Elegante is the reincarnation of a Spanish conquistador. In his current form, he resembles a long-haired orange feline...but his essence is so much more. He has the poise geisha can only hope to achieve, and the honor only a samurai can comprehend. Sir Charles also has an alter ego. For many ladies standing on street corners in the dead of night, he is known simply as Pimp Gnarles. Pimp Gnarles is the flyest little mammal to ever roam the streets. As Royal Brown says, "Everybody wants to be a player, am I the only coach?" Here is Royal Brown's song "The Only Coach". Gnarles laments, "Royal, ain't is so true."
2) Did you really see a stripper dance to "Happy Here and Now"?
Yes. My journey with Frank to the legendary "Tattle Tales" in Atlanta, GA was an eventful one. We not only both received lap dances, but also got to watch "Happy Here and Now" by the Critical Darlings "performed"! Our journey began after being invited by our "Movie Screams" host, Violet, to have dinner. She brought us there and treated us like kings. Just for fun, Violet told me to go get a copy of Satisfactionista, our then unreleased album. She handed it off to the DJ and history was made. The girl in the corner of the picture of Frank and I, with the white heels, was the dancer. For both of us, this was our first experience with a strip club. I missed the other guys, but some of the "Move Screams" staff showed up and we made it a party. Check out some of the footage we shot at "Movie Screams" on http://www.youtube.com/user/CriticalDarlings!
3) As a college student, you are well acquainted with the art of making PB&Js. Can you tell us about "A PB&J Odyssey"?
The article, "A PB&J Odyssey" best portrays my personality. I love to be ridiculous. I come from a long line of great storytellers, and as any great storyteller knows exaggeration is key. The assignment was for a Sociology class at UGA. All I had to do was describe how to make a PB&J sandwich. This is where I went with it...
A PB&J Odyssey by Joshua Harrison
The making of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is one of the most sacred rituals a college student can take part in. It is second only to the mysterious concoction known as Top Ramen, which may have been heavily integrated into the sexual practices of early Gnostic Christianity. In fact, it is debated among some scholars (myself and I) that the creation of the P. B. & J. quite possibly helped the gods of Olympus overthrow the Titans, and is the nickname of the alien monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey that gave early man the mental capacity to create tools. Before I can divulge the alchemic principles necessary to the creation of this divinely inspired sandwich, there are some key concepts that you must understand. First, we must begin by gathering the ingredients and understanding exactly what they are made of. We will need peanut butter- which consisted of the crushed souls of many innocent peanuts in addition to salt and oil, jelly- the congealed remains of countless fruit warriors, a loaf of bread- the manna of Eden, and a butter knife- the scourge of all things spreadable. The peanut butter and jelly should, thanks to modern invention, come in two jars complete with lids. The bread will come in its own plastic burial shroud. Lastly, the butter knife, the lone samurai, stands alone. Make sure all these ingredients lay before thee on a flat surface. Now the mayhem begins.
Step 1: Take the loaf of bread into thy shaking hands and undo the twist tie. If done correctly, a waft of baked grain will emerge from the entrance of the plastic shroud.
Step 2:
Reach into the plastic shroud and with thumb and pointer finger, remove two
slices of bread from the shroud. If one does not understand the meaning of
“slices,” it is in reference to the many divisions of the loaf as a whole.
Step 3:
Lay these “slices” of bread on a flat surface. They should not be on top of each
other, but laid in a manner that allows both to be seen simultaneous. It is also
advised that the slices not be placed on their edge, but flat to where the most
surface area is presented.
Step 4:
Now we shall open the tomb of the peanut souls. Reach out for the jar of peanut
butter so that when your hand comes into contact with it, your thumb is on one
side and the rest of your fingers on the other. Squeeze the jar between the
fingers with adequate pressure so that if you lift your arm the jar will stay in
your hand.
Step 5:
Place the hand not in use as of yet on the lid of the jar. If the lid happens to
be facing towards the floor at the present moment, turn the jar 180 degrees so
that it faces the ceiling. Squeeze the lid between the fingers. There will now
be two choices, one is to apply pressure to the lid and turn towards the left
while the other is to turn the lid towards the right. You may try as hard as you
like to turn to the right but to remove the lid you must turn to the left. Keep
turning the lid until it comes off of the jar. Now sit the lid and peanut butter
jar on the flat surface away from the two slices of bread. The exposed peanut
butter should not be facing the flat surface.
Step 6:
We shall repeat the steps of 4 and 5 with the jar of jelly. It will best serve
the P. B. & J. disciple if they sit the jelly jar next to the peanut butter jar
at the end of step 5.
Step 7:
Take the peanut butter jar in one hand, with the exposed contents still facing
up, and pick it up in before mentioned manner with one hand. Now, take the
butter knife in the other hand. One will need to grasp the knife by the handle.
It will be the thickest part of the overall knife. In addition, the blade of the
knife should be facing away from the disciple and be closer to the thumb and not
bottom of fingers. If done correctly, the knife can be held high into the air as
light glistens of the lactose product death contraption.
Step 8:
Plunge the phallic blade straight into the middle of the exposed peanut butter
surface. If it be a new jar of peanut butter one will gain a certain pleasure in
this plunge. If one listens closely they will hear the slightly pained, yet
sensual moan of the virgin whipped peanut butter as it spreads to accommodate
the stiff blade.
Step 9:
While keeping the knife at the same depth in the peanut butter, pull the handle
towards you and the edge of the jar. Twist the knife 90 degrees so that a flat
part of the blade is facing both you and the opposing edge of the peanut butter
jar. It is now time to lift the blade out of the peanut substance. When doing so
make sure to push the knife towards the opposing side of the jar. There should
now be a quantity of peanut butter on your knife.
Step 10:
With knife in hand use your other hand to find one of the slices of bread. Push
the pointer finger of this hand into the flesh of the bread at one of its four
corners. This will keep the bread stabilized for the peanut butter application.
Now hold the knife directly over the middle of the slice of bread. If the glob
of peanut butter isn’t facing towards the bread, make sure it is now doing so.
Lower the blade until it rests against the surface of the bread slice. Push down
lightly on the blade and pull the blade back towards you.
Step 11:
There should be a slice of bread before you will a glob of peanut butter
shamefully smeared across its face.
Give it some dignity by raking the tiny
mountain of peanut butter across the face of the bread until it is completely
covered with a thin layer of the peanut butter. It may be necessary to turn the
knife at various angles to do this feat. Do not worry; you were not at the
Geneva Convention. You are not obliged to take notice of the slice of bread’s
tiny screams as it slowly suffocates in peanut paste.
Step 12:
Get rid of the evidence. You need to clean the peanut butter off of the blade so
that you can use it again with the jelly. I would advise squeezing the flat
parts of the blade between the thumb and pointer finger firmly at the base of
the blade. This is where the blade meets the handle.
While maintaining constant
pressure, pull your hand away from you, towards the end of the blade. You will
now have a glob of peanut butter on your fingers. I would advise one of two
plans of action. You could either unbutton your shirt and spread the peanut
butter on your nipples, or place it into your mouth to savor the taste of the
path to victory.
Step 13:
Repeat steps 7-11 with the jar of jelly. There is but one exception and that is
to put the jelly on the slice of bread not covered with peanut butter from step
10.
Step 14:
It is now the moment of truth.
Grab the slice of bread with the peanut butter and hold it up in the air. Make
sure you rotate the slice of bread if need be so that the peanut butter is
facing downwards. Lay the slice right on top of the other slice of bread. The
peanut butter and jelly should be cohabitating the center of this P. B. & J.
temple.
Step 15:
Give a slight twist of the top slice of bread until the four corners match up
with the corners of the bottom slice of bread.
Step 16:
Grasp the sandwich in both hands. As it so happens, peanut butter and jelly have
an extreme sexual attraction for each other. So when you raise the sandwich to
your mouth, juices from their lovemaking may leak out from the center of the
sandwich. As it so happens, these love juices are actually quite delicious.
When I gave these directions
to my father he was able to successfully make a peanut butter sandwich. He
however had this to say, “You are one sick individual.” I, in turn, smiled.
Josh's Favorites
These are some songs that I would like to share with everyone. The first one is my current favorite song "Kids in a Candy Store." Royal Brown has one of my favorite voices I've heard in a while. The second is an "Asheville Drum Circle Mix" of "Waiting for the Siren" by the Critical Darlings. Chris challenged everyone to do their own mixes of our songs. I created this one in tribute to the many drum circles I danced my heart out to in downtown Asheville. Cheers to the hippies, whom I will forever love!
Waiting for the Siren (Asheville Drum Circle Mix)
