Todd Mathis

On June 25, 2021 I will release an EP dedicated to my recording partner and friend of 11 years, Paul Bodamer, who died August 27, 2020.  Working closely with engineer Carl Burnitz, also a good friend of Paul’s, I put my own spin on 3 covers and wrote one original for the EP.

My heart is heavy these days. This past month I lost my good friend and collaborator Paul Bodamer. I have released a number of recordings over the past 11 years, and Paul has had his hand on most of them. From engineering, mixing, mastering, playing drums, singing backup, producing, or all of the above, he’s there. And even if he didn’t do one of those things, I probably asked his advice about a mix or what to do with a certain aspect of a song or recorded it with some of his equipment.

We talked weekly and if 2 or 3 days went by without texting it was odd. A lot of it was about music but there were also numerous conversations about our families, religion, politics, the state of the world, and a few stupid jokes thrown in there. He was always there to listen, especially recently when I lost my dad and my day job within days. He called me his brother.

Paul was a force in the studio and out. When I met him he had already established a great ear for mixing, but over the past couple of years he had also upped his mastering game. He loved UAD plugins but he also lived by the rule of “less is more” and to let the art and song speak for itself. He always got some of the best drum sounds out of such little gear. He read constantly, soaking up recording techniques and was always up for trying something new and not just doing it the same way because there were good results the previous time. We didn’t always see eye to eye on things, but as a good producer he always deferred to the artist. He may have fought for a certain mix or chord change or added part, but if I didn’t “feel it” he’d drop it. He loved people so he was always ready to jump on to the next project, and the studio “hang” was one of his favorite things.

A couple years ago I was at the studio with Carl on a Wednesday night listening back to a Willie Nelson cover I’d just recorded. I’d been in a writing rut so instead of not doing anything, I decided to do an EP of covers. Now, before Paul had small children, I’d be in the studio with him a good bit of the time, but for the past few years it’s been me and Carl in there with Paul popping in occasionally when he had the time. Or he’d come in later and mix/master the stuff we’d been working on. This particular night I think he’d just ran by to grab something to use at his house or something he’d left. He popped into the control room and said “What’s this?” I told him it was a Willie Nelson song and without skipping a beat quipped “So you’re singing it like Johnny Cash? Ha!” and was out the door. Well, that pissed me off for some reason and I decided not to work on that track anymore. That track was “Me and Paul” by Nelson. He never stuck around to hear the tag line at the ending of each verse. And I never told him I’d chosen it for him. I hope you get some rest my friend. I love you.

Above:  Paul goofing off in the studio January 2020.  It would be the last time we were in the studio together.  We were working on my brother’s album.  

Last year over my birthday weekend I had a few local musicians come to the house and record some 70s country covers with me. It was a lot of fun and turned out pretty damn good so I decided to put it out around my birthday this year. It’ll be released on all digital platforms by August 21, but I may drop it earlier via Bandcamp and the like. I’ll post on Facebook, Instagram etc. if any of you check in there. But by the 21st you can steal it from Spotify, etc.

The second release is an Interruptions of the Mind project that I started back in 2018 called The Border. Most of it was recorded with Carl Burnitz at High Fidelity while working on Learning to do the Harder Thing. I’m not sure why I waited so long to release it, as it has been done for at least a year, but anyway, you’d have to take a deep dive into my head to figure that out. It consists of 5 tracks, but I am releasing it as a stand alone single of 12 minutes and 17 seconds with each separate tune going into the next. It felt right that way because in my head (see, here we go) it is all one piece.

Hope you all are well and loving the ones around you with your actions and telling them how much they mean to you.