i-dots

 

Chris Alvarado: guitar, bass†, vocals

Jan Blochwitz: vocals

Mike Wilson: drums, percussion

Erik Lee Skjon: bass, guitar*, vocals

 

We recorded these songs at the end of spring quarter, 1982, at Lawrence University, just six months after forming i-dots. We used the conservatory’s mixing board and my reel-to-reel 4-track recorder. The backing instrumental tracks were recorded on two tracks, and the vocals, guitar solos, and additional percussion were recorded on the other two. The next year, my senior year, I studied abroad in Yugoslavia during fall quarter, but then we really honed the songs through lots of live performances during the following winter and spring quarters. It would’ve been nice to have recorded the songs again after that, but the opportunity never presented itself. In 2011 I remixed everything the best I could with Audacity software, enhancing the stereo sound and equalization somewhat, and adding some reverb and a few other effects.

The name “i-dots” was suggested by my apartment mate at the time, Bruce Heil, who came up with a list of 20-25 viable band names within a matter of minutes. Incredible. “i-dots” is idiots with the middle ‘i’ taken out and put on its side. A good name for the new wave sensibility of the time. I think it was Mike who suggested the album title.

This was the first band that I put together, and the first in which I was the principal singer-songwriter. It was around this time that I began to feel more confident in my songwriting. In previous college bands I had either been recruited or had formed them together with others, had shared songwriting duties, and was only grudgingly allowed to sing (with good reason!).

I had heard about Chris and Mike, both conservatory students, through friends, and then someone in Jan’s dorm told me she sang really well in the shower. I always thought it was neat that we had four last names representing Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern Europe. We did a lot of cover tunes (rock, r & b, new wave) at our gigs around campus. These were recorded live a few times on cassettes, but never in the studio. Jan sang most of those songs. It was a great pleasure to work with such talented and easygoing musicians. I can’t remember a single disagreement, I loved the parts Mike and Chris came up with for my songs, and I always marveled at how quickly we would master cover tunes.