Web Log 01 (1-25)

Volume 1
Posts 1-25
Thursday, August 23, 2007
to
Friday, September 14, 2007
T H U R SD A Y , A U G U ST 2 3 , 2 0 0 7
Blog News: Welcome Statement
I am going to try something new here!
The goal of this site is to provide the following information:

1. Up-to-the-minute news about what is happening with Metal XOR Studio
2. Announce new projects or albums
3. Discuss old songs, albums, and projects
4. Explain recording techniques and equipment currently or previously used
5. Anything else pertaining to the Studio in any shape or form
I will try to update at least once a week (probably more often).

You can leave comments on my blog entries or email me for private
correspondence.
I have lots of information to share. So bookmark this site and check back often
because you never know when a pearl of wisdom may appear!
Posted by - Mune Mud - at 1:24 PM 0 comments

Labels: Blog News
T H U R SD A Y , A U G U ST 2 3 , 2 0 0 7
Studio News: *** NEW ALBUM RELEASE ***
Tuesday, August 14, 2007, saw the release of the latest Metal XOR Studio CD.
It is titled My First Album and is Paige Watson's debut album. It contains 23 tracks
of her singing standard children's songs, a TV theme, her first recorded original
song, and more. The songs are taken from several recording sessions, the earliest
was recorded when she was 2.5 years old and the latest when she was 3.5 years
old. Additionally, the CD label and optional sleeve art were drawn by Paige.
This is the first of many in her upcoming music career.

Labels: Studio News
F R I D A Y , A U G U ST 2 4 , 2 0 0 7
Blog News: Site Schedule
In addition to special articles and the regular news updates that will be posted as
needed, there will be a couple of regular features posted throughout each week.
Here is an introduction to two series that will start next week.
Album of the Week

These will be posted on Sundays. Each week will spotlight a different album that
has been released by Metal XOR. A picture of the album cover will be provided
along with the album's release date, variations of the album or album cover, the
track list, and other interesting facts about the album. There are plenty of albums
to be covered, so look forward to this feature lasting a long time. The first album
to be spotlighted is Mune Mud's unreleased 1991 debut album.
Project Spotlight
These will be posted on Wednesdays. Each week will spotlight a different project
(or group) that has been recorded by Metal XOR. Who is in the group? How many
albums have been released under that project name? Where did the project name
come from? All of those questions and more will be answered each Wednesday.
There have been many projects, so this feature will also last quite a while. The
first project to be spotlighted is Mune Mud.
And when these two series are finished, there will be more to take their place.
There is a lot of information buried in the Metal XOR vaults just waiting to be
released to the public.
Posted by - Mune Mud - at 9:06 AM 0 comments

Labels: Blog News
SA T U R D A Y , A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 0 7
Just For Fun #1
Paige's new CD has been a huge success. In fact, her Sunday mornings are booked
thru the middle of February already!
And she does take requests (she just doesn't know most of them).
Labels: Just for Fun
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Album of the Week #1: Mune Mud debut
Project name: Mune Mud

Album name: Mune Mud (self-titled debut)
Release date: unreleased (recorded in 1990-91)
Release format: cassette
Studio name: none
Tracks:
1. That's All I Need to Know
2. Ominous
3. Why Did You Go?
4. Peachtree
5. Just Defied
6. Harley
7. Fruit Preserve
8. The One-Liner
9. Go West
10. Under the Sky
11. I Dream
12. Lyric
13. SC Paradise
14. Umbra Flame
15. That's Life
16. King Song
17. We Dog
18. EnVenum Above
19. Downstairs
20. Disco Babies
This was the album that started it all. Before the Studio had a name. Even before
the Studio was a studio. Prior to this, experiments in writing lyrics to instrumental
music from the radio were recorded, but not much original music was created.
Using a drum machine, a portable keyboard, an electric guitar and amp, and a
microphone, song-writing began in June of 1990 during a week-long break between
semesters from school. For the next seven months more songs were recorded,
sometimes using friends or family members who happened to drop by the Studio
during recording sessions. After the music was finished, it took about a month to
master the tape and create/print labels, so by February/March of 1991, the album
was finished.
The lyrics were fun. Not much seriousness came out of this time period. And many
of the rhymes came from a newly acquired rhyming dictionary. Musical influences
were from heavier groups such as Faith No More, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Nine
Inch Nails, and Ministry, just to name a few.
The equipment used was rather primitive. An electric guitar thru an amp provided
the guitar sounds. There were two options: distortion turned off for a clean sound
or distortion turned on for a dirty sound. A portable Yamaha keyboard provided all
the keyboard sounds. In the earlier songs the drums also came from the keyboard.
A drum machine was later purchased and replaced the tin-can drums from the
keyboard. And a Shure SM-57 mic was used for vocals, usually going thru the guitar
amp for reverb.
The recording technique used introduced a lot of noise into the songs. This was the
recording process: the first layer was recorded to a standard cassette tape using a
regular cassette deck. This first layer was usually the drum track (sometimes with
the keyboard playing along with the drums). Then the first tape would be played
back on another cassette deck and an instrument would be played along with the
tape in real-time and recorded to a second tape. Then the second tape, now
consisting of the first two layers together, would be played and another
instrument or vocals would be added in real-time and recorded to a third tape. By
this third generation the first layer of music was usually real muddy and the
recording itself was very noisy and muffled. So most songs did not go beyond the
third layer. The final songs were usually too noisy to play for other people. When a
4-track recorder was purchased in March of 1991 and the recording quality
improved immensely, it was realized this album should never be heard. So the few
copies that existed were placed in a box and still sit on the shelf.
The tape jacket was designed using a Commodore 64 and was very basic. There
was no copyright date (which has been on every subsequent album recorded at the
Studio) and no studio name appeared on the jacket. The two overlapping squares
became the Mune Mud symbol and every Mune Mud album since has had the
blue/green/yellow symbol on the cover. The computer was programmed to draw
each letter since there was no font available like that.
A couple of years later in 1993, it was decided the songs were good enough for
people to hear, they were just poorly recorded. So a project was started to re-
record every song on the album with the 4-track recorder. Four of the songs were
started but the project soon ended.
Then in 1994 it was decided to re-release the album in its original state, even with
the poor quality. The track list was changed (a slightly different play order and a
couple of different tracks used) and it had a real limited re-release.
And now with computers and digital editing, it has been considered to try to clean
the songs up and have yet another release of the album that started it all. But no
concrete plans have been made and this project will surely remain on the "to do"
list for quite some time.
Next week's Album of the Week: Olympus by Mune Mud from 1991.
Labels: Album of the Week
SU N D A Y , A U G U ST 2 6 , 2 0 0 7
Listen Online!
You can now go to this blog's companion site, Metal XOR Studio Information
Source, to listen to Metal XOR music online. New songs will be added periodically,
and each time there will be a blog entry for notification of the new track.
The first song available for listening is a song called "Moon Spell". It was recorded
in 2006 and will be on an upcoming, as of yet untitled, album. Enjoy!
Click here to listen to the song.

Labels: Listen Online
M O N D A Y , A U G U ST 2 7 , 2 0 0 7
Collector's Corner #1
The Collector's Corner feature will spotlight collectible items and merchandise
that have been found or created over the years. It could be items with a band
name on them, rare advertisements or posters, or items that have some
connection to the Studio.
The first item is a 6.5" x 10" ultra-rare advertisement from 1991 to announce the
new project, Mune Mud, specifically in regards to the upcoming debut album.
This poster hung on the Studio door for quite some time so all who entered or
walked past the Studio could see it. It was created on the same Commodore 64
used to print the cover of the Mune Mud debut album (notice the lettering for the
words Mune Mud are the same that was used on the album.) This was the first
public appearance of the two-square Mune Mud symbol.
This poster was created on January 5, 1991, and remains in the Mune Mud Master
File stored within the Studio vaults.

Labels: Collector's Corner
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Where did Mune Mud get the name Underwater Problem Factory for the third
album? This rare piece of history holds the answer. . .
Here's the story straight from Mune Mud front-man, Jason.
"It was probably early 1992 when I was at work looking through the newspaper.
They had a section called 'Kids Corner' once a week where kids could submit stories
or jokes or whatever. I never read that section, but this particular day I did. It
contained two stories written by kids. So I read through the first story, The Polar
Snake, and thought it was a typical kid story until I got to the last three words. . .
underwater problem factory. WOW! Where did Talia come up with that? Whatever
it meant it was pure genius. So I borrowed the phrase for the album I knew would
be coming out soon. And that's how the album got its title." - JW
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Project Spotlight #1: What is Mune Mud?
The year was 1990.
Several experimental songs were primitively recorded that year. Near the end of
the year, it was realized that there would soon be enough songs recorded to
compile a tape. The big question was "What is it going to be called?" Not worried
about the album title, efforts were concentrated on naming the 'band'. The
following is taken from an interview with Mune Mud front-man, Jason: "I've always
had an interest in space, so I knew the name would be astronomical. I set my sites
on the Moon. The name had to have something to do with the Moon. Then I
decided it would be a two-word name with the first word being Moon and the
second also starting with M. Then in late December 1990 or early January 1991,
after having spent several days of thinking of names, I was laying on my bed and
the name just came to me: Moon Mud. And to be a little different, I changed Moon
to Mune." Thus the name was born.
The above scan (from January 5, 1991) shows the evolution of the name and design
of the letters. In the center at the bottom of the scan shows the final letter
design. It was used on the cover of the unreleased 1991 Mune Mud debut album.
The scan below shows an alternate name design with an Arabic theme (sketched by
co-worker Kevin).
In November of 1991 the next album, Olympus, was released. 1992 saw the release
of Underwater Problem Factory and 1993 released Pryme Material. 1994 had two
releases, the first being the re-release of the debut Mune Mud album and the
second being the EP Devaulted. 1996 also had two Mune Mud releases, the first
was a "live" album called Monograph and the second was Equation of Time. Sleep
State F was released in 1997. The Search for Metropolis was released in 2001. It
was the first Mune Mud album to be released on CD. The Singles Collection was
released in 2004 along with Hobson's Choice. And the last new Mune Mud release to
date was in 2005 with Hobson's Second Choice. Update: In 2008 Precursory 33 was
released. This was a re-re-release of the original Mune Mud debut album.
In 2001, the Mune Mud 10th Anniversary Collection was started. The first one was
Olympus. Each song was remastered and re-released on CD. Each CD also
contained bonus material, usually unreleased songs or demos of songs appearing on
the original album. There are five albums in the Mune Mud 10th Anniversary
Collection.
But who is Mune Mud? It has been one person since it was created. Mune Mud is
Jason Watson. There have been various guest musicians and singers on songs
throughout the years, but it has always been a solo effort.
By far the project with the most released albums of Metal XOR Studio, Mune Mud
continues to thrive with the occasional new recording being made. When enough
material is recorded, there will be a new Mune Mud album. But that could still be
a year or two away.
Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMorgue?

Labels: Project Spotlight
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Studio News: The 2007 Musik Catalog
How many albums has Metal XOR Studio released? Are any lyric booklets available?
What about obscure interviews?
See the entire Metal XOR Musik Catalog at the Metal XOR Studio Information
Source.

Labels: Studio News
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Listen Online!
The second song available for listening is a song called "The Manor Court". It was
recorded in 2006 and will be on an upcoming, as of yet untitled, album. Enjoy!
Click here to listen to the song.

Labels: Listen Online
SA T U R D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 , 2 0 0 7
State of the Studio #1: September '07
This feature will appear on the first of every month to let the public know recent
accomplishments and what is currently happening within the walls of Metal XOR
Studio.
Obviously the biggest news of the past month is the creation of this blog. It does
not take a lot of time to create a post, so I think I will be able to maintain this for
quite a while. I have had a lot of posts this first week, but that is because I have a
lot of information I want to share. I have so many ongoing series ready to start
that it is a bit crazy. Some will be on a weekly basis, some will be at random times
whenever I have a chance to post a new one. Unless real life gets too crazy,
expect the blog to be around for a while.
Reviews have been positive on the latest album release, Paige's My First Album. It
was fun to do and I hope in the upcoming year to record her more often than I did
in the year that CD covers. Kids only sing like that once, when they get older they
lose the "kid" voice. And we will see how Will does in a year or so. . .
As far as my music goes, I have an album about half-finished. I started it in

September of 2006 when I was on vacation when Will was born. I got a lot of
material recorded and some of it even made it to its final stage, but I have not had
much time to continue with it since. It is an entirely new music project, it does
not even have a name yet. It is all synth/keyboards and done within one computer
program called Reason. The sounds are incredible and are one of the things that
inspired me to go in a new direction with my music. Some of it sounds Middle
Eastern, some Asian, some African. I know this sounds like a strange mix, but it
does come together nicely. This CD will be perfect for listening to in bed in the
dark. It is very atmospheric. I will update next month if it is any closer to
completion.
The Studio equipment setup has changed over the last year or two. The 4-track
recorder that was bought in March of 1991 really needs to be in a nursing home. It
just can't do the job it used to. So I try not to use it any more to record so it will
still work when I need to play back one of the old 4-track master tapes. So I have
been experimenting with multi-track recording using a computer. Vocals are the
hardest thing because I am used to running vocals through a processor before it
gets recorded (a habit from recording to tape for so many years). So now when I
try to record vocals dry to add whatever effects I need after they are recorded, it
is very hard for me to do. And getting sound levels and techniques down when you
don't get to record very often is also difficult. But I am still trying to tweak out a
new equipment setup that will be easy-to-use and versatile. That is another reason
my unnamed object took a different music direction, it is all instrumental and
done in the computer, so I do not need to record guitars or vocals. That makes it
much easier.
And that's about all I have to say about the current situation. No new albums will
be out any time soon, even though there are many started or in the pre-planning
stages. I will continue work on the instrumental album and try to continue
recording Mune Mud songs with guitars and singing when I get the equipment
layout straightened out. I will continue recording Paige singing now and then. And
we will see where I am a month from now. . .

Labels: State of the Studio
SU N D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 0 7
Album of the Week #2: Olympus
Project name: Mune Mud

Album name: Olympus
Release date: November 12, 1991
Studio name: none
Tracks:
1. Etesian Wind
2. To Clementi
3. Waterfall
4. Castor & Pollux
5. Another Troubled Night
6. Sittin' At Home
7. Moon Mud
8. The Last Temptation
9. Infernal Tree
10. Scales of Justice
11. You and Me
12. Paroxysm
13. I'm With You
14. The Solitude
15. So Many
16. Redman
17. Slow It Down
18. In the Morning
19. Matter in General
20. Night Sea
21. Ministry
22. Moon Garden
23. Audobaun
24. Telescope
This was the first album released to the public. The purchase of the 4-track
recorder in March of 1991 immensely improved the quality of song recordings. So
from mid-March to October many songs were recorded, a lot of them experiments
with the new equipment. But there were enough songs to compile a new album.
The above scan shows an early version of the track list. Note the list shows the
temporary titles that some of the songs had when recorded. It was later on this
track list that those songs were renamed to their final titles.
Some of the lyrics were a bit deeper than what was previously written. The first
'negative' song, "Infernal Tree", appeared on this album. Musical influences were
still on the heavy side, including Metallica, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and more. But
there were some slower songs on the album too.
This album spawned the first single from the Studio, "Etesian Wind". "Etesian Wind"
is still the most re-recorded song of the Studio to date with over six versions
existing.
The equipment used was almost the same as was used to record the debut Mune
Mud album, but this time the recorder was more sophisticated. An electric guitar
thru an amp provided the guitar sounds. There were two options: distortion turned
off for a clean sound or distortion turned on for a dirty sound. A portable Yamaha
keyboard provided keyboard sounds for the earlier songs, then a Casio keybord was
purchased and replaced the Yamaha. A drum machine was used for the drum
sounds. And a Shure SM-57 mic was used for vocals. Another new piece of
equipment was a delay/sample pedal that was used for both the guitar and vocals.
The recording technique was improved since the last album, the Mune Mud debut
album. Four tracks could easily be recorded while maintaining the first generation
quality. But sometimes a method called ping-ponging, or bouncing, was used. This
was to record the first three tracks, then mix those to the fourth track. The first
three tracks could then be erased and reused. So doing this could result in songs
having up to seven tracks or so. And this method was used a lot in some of the
more complex songs.
The tape jacket was mostly done on a Brother word processor. The outside of the
jacket listed all the songs that were on the album and the inside had a continuous
typing of all the lyrics on the album. Each tape was also individually numbered.
In October of 1996, nearly five years after the album was released, a book came
out called "Olympus: Mountain or Molehill?" This was the definitive guide to
Olympus. It had a small production run and not many copies were printed. It
explained how the album was recorded, details about every song, notes about
guest musicians on the album, and MUCH more.
In 2001, Olympus was the first CD in the 10th Anniversary Collection. This
collection was a re-release of the original album, ten years later, with remastered
songs (including bonus tracks) on a CD rather than cassette as with the original
release. The bonus tracks on this CD were "Country Ill", "Chaser", "Just Defied (2)",
"Test", "Off Silence", and "Mystical Dream."
Next week's Album of the Week: ...Libra 971 by NueroMud from 1994.
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Track #8 on Mune Mud's 2001 The Search for Metropolis album was called "Urban
Gaxiola." Where did that name come from?
This is actually the second piece of mail the Studio received that was addressed to
Urban Gaxiola. The first piece was something about feeding the hungry kids in
some third world country. Jason had just recorded the music to a new song when
the Studio received that first piece of mail, so why not use Urban Gaxiola as the
title of the song? Jason actually thought Urban Gaxiola was Russian or some other
language that meant "current resident." And that is where the chorus for that song
came from: "I wish I knew what it meant..."
A couple of years later at church, the pastor was out of town so another pastor
came in to lead that week's sermon. He introduced himself as... Urban Gaxiola!
What a spiritual event for Jason! After the sermon Jason briefly talked with Urban
and found out Urban used to live a block away from the Studio but had since
moved. So the post office had delivered a couple of pieces of his mail to the Studio
by accident. It was not mentioned that there was a song named after Urban.
So the above artifact remains in the Metal XOR Museum as a piece of history for
one of Mune Mud's songs.

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This is a unique item that is on display at Metal XOR Studio.
Jason's father had this license plate made on one of his over-the-road truck driving
jobs. He delivered it to the Studio on December 24, 1997, and it has been on
display ever since. It is the only one known to be in existence, thus making it
priceless.
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Project Spotlight #2: What is NueroMorgue?
By late 1992, Mune Mud had already released three albums and the fourth was
being recorded. But the music was becoming more diverse. It was feared that the
varied types of music on one album would turn most people off to the album
(people who liked slower, more melodic music would not care for the new faster,
more industrial sound, and vice versa). So it was decided to branch out and create
a new project: NueroMorgue.
Where did the name come from? The word nuero had been tagged as usable for
something for quite some time and to represent the dark and heavy moods of some
of the songs the word morgue was used. So NueroMorgue was born. The name was
relatively easy to come up with. No project logo was ever decided on, but below is
the design test sheet from March 25, 1993.
NueroMorgue was keeping true to the earlier Mune Mud influences of Nine Inch
Nails, Ministry, and other industrial groups, especially with the recent biggest
equipment upgrade the Studio has ever seen at one time. Overnight, the Studio
had a new sequencer, new sound modules, and the supporting equipment for a
MIDI studio. So the distorted guitar and synth sounds evolved.
Who was in NueroMorgue? It depends on who you ask.The credits on the album say
Jason Watson. Credits on the 1994 EP and lyric booklet go to Gargoyle. But others
report an entire line-up of players: Python XYZ (bass guitar), El Cid minor (drums),
Agnus Dei (lead guitar), and Venus Psyche (rhythm guitar). So the actual
member(s) still remain a mystery.
The first NueroMorgue album, Devis Tortura, was recorded at the same time as its
bipolar opposite album, Mune Mud's Pryme Material. It was released on December
14, 1993, and was chock full o' samples from other Metal XOR songs, TV clips,
pieces of other music, and much more. It was a very complex album. A few months
later a lyric booklet titled "Devastation and Minim Opi" was released. This
contained every lyric found on the album buried within a main story and seven
short stories. The book ended with a full-page drawing by NueroMorgue titled
Primordial Water and Lotus.
Following that album and book was a seven-song EP called E. Phantasmata,

released in 1994. It contained some demos and alternate versions of songs from
Devis Tortura plus a couple of unreleased tracks.
There was a break from NueroMorgue for a while, then recording started again.
There was a lot of new material recorded for the second full-length NueroMorge
album but it was never compiled and completed (see the proposed track list from
January 10, 1996, below).
There have been plans on re-releasing Devis Tortura on CD, but its 10th
anniversary has come and gone and the idea has been dropped again for the time
being. There were also plans to release the unused songs on a new album, but the
track listing was incomplete. So until more material is recorded, these dark and
dreary treasures will not be heard. Recording techniques have drastically changed
since NueroMorgue's hay day, but the new techniques actually lend themselves
better to recording the type of music NueroMorgue creates.
So until the project is resurrected, R.I.P. NueroMorgue!
Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMud?

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A Look Back...
In 1994, one of Jason's co-workers (not from his Studio career but from his secular,
non-music job) said his wife's place of employment was creating a new
promotional video to send out across the country to promote their carnival
supplies and festival games. The name of the company was Lefton Productions and
soon Mr. Lefton called Jason and asked for a sample of music. A piece was
recorded and Mr. Lefton liked it, so a contract was drafted and signed by both
parties that stated all rights of Jason's Lefton song was turned over to Lefton. . .
for a mere $60. But this was a monumental moment, it was the first time the
Studio had made money off of its music.
The Studio still has a copy of the promotional tape that was sent to many
companies and clients across the country.
Labels: A Look Back
F R I D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 0 7
Interviews from the Past (1 of 3)
For more than a decade the fictitious magazine Eclectic Musician has been the
exclusive publication to feature Metal XOR Studio. It has published three
interviews with the Studio which can now be read at the Metal XOR Studio
Information Source link below.
The first interview appeared in the October 1995 issue. It took place during the
recording of NueroMud's second album, Nine Days Wonder, so much of the
interview discussed that album. Also talked about was the second NueroMorgue
album (which has yet to be finished). It was also at this time that the Studio had
just been renamed to Metal XOR, so there is a little talk about the different
studios. This was also at the beginning of digital recording, a little is discussed
regarding that. And the interview ends with plans for upcoming projects which is
an interesting look back at where the Studio wanted to go and what has been
accomplished and has yet to be accomplished.

Labels: Interviews
SA T U R D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 8 , 2 0 0 7
The second interview appeared in the October 1997 issue. It took place as Mune
Mud's Sleep State F album was in its final stages of production, so most of the
interview was about that. The interview ends with plans for upcoming Studio
projects.

Labels: Interviews
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Album of the Week #3: ...Libra 971
Project name: NueroMud

Album name: ...Libra 971
Release date: October 18, 1994
Studio name: Circle IX Studio
Tracks:
1. Shut Up!
2. Can't Climb Out
3. A Dreamworld
4. Brittle Side Bones in Your Eyes
5. Dusk Channel
6. Pathos
7. M45/NGC1432
8. Up in Wind
9. Pedestal Song
10. Celluxism
11. Dead Clown
12. For All Sheep (Pt III)
13. Chaos of the Credit Fix
14. Grave
15. Stormfrunte
16. Remembered for Living
17. September's
18. Air
19. Jhwy
This was the first NueroMud album released. NueroMud was a project for music
that did not quite fit into the Mune Mud or NueroMorgue styles. It was the
"strange" music that often had to do with astronomy or astrology. The above scan
shows the track list that was used to figure out the order of the songs. The final
order was slightly different than what is shown on the scan.
This album, as would the second NueroMud album, had a real limited release. But
it did make it somewhere that no other Metal XOR album has. Jason had applied as
an intern to a local radio station and this album was used as part of his "portfolio".
So his music was at a radio station for a while. Side note: he did not get the job.
This was recorded at the time when the Studio was known as Circle IX Studio. It
was the Studio located at Jason's parents' house.
There were a lot of experiments in sound and recording on this album. A lot of
background sounds or sound effects were used to create sounds previously unheard
at the Studio.
A few of the songs worth mentioning:

The opening track, "Shut Up!", was actually a faster version of the song "Hush" that
appeared on the NueroMorgue EP E. Phantasmata.
"Pedestal Song" featured guest vocalist Jimmy in what was one of his earliest
contributions to the Studio. This is what led to the project ORC (with Jason and
Jimmy) that released their own album in 1999.
"Stormfrunte" was inspired as a mean-looking storm approached the Studio. As the
strong winds and heavy rain arrived, the song was recorded and named.
The tape jacket was mostly done on a computer. The symbol on the front is, of
course, the zodiac symbol for Libra. And have you ever wondered why every song
has its running time listed except "Grave", it just lists (x:xx)? It is because the
inside of the cover was typed up away from the Studio and the running times were
not known. So every song had the (x:xx) placeholder. When the times were added
to the cover at a later date, "Grave" was accidentally overlooked and it was not
noticed until after the album was released.
And what exactly does ...Libra 971 mean? Jason was born on October 9, 1971. The
sign for October is Libra and 971 is the 9th of '71. So the album title is actually
Jason's birthday. The scan below (from September 6, 1994) shows various phrases
that were considered for the album title. Moonless Voyage was the working title
for quite some time, then it was changed to ...Libra 971 at the last minute. Also
notice the sketch of the Libra symbol in the upper-left corner. That became the
front of the album cover.
This was the first of only two NueroMud albums. Their 10th Anniversaries were
missed, but there are still plans to re-release the albums on CD some time in the
future. There were several unused tracks recorded too, so there will probably also
be bonus tracks on those CD's. There was an effort several years ago to re-record
each song on this album in a different version and release the songs on a CD, but
only a few songs were finished and the project was abandoned.
Next week's Album of the Week: Nine Days Wonder by NueroMud from 1995.
M O N D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 0 7
Track #7 on Mune Mud's 1996 Equation of Time album was called "Essence of
Pearl". Where did that name come from?
In February of 1996 Jason noticed the soap in the lunch room at work was smelling
much nicer than it normally did. So after a while of using it, he looked at the soap
dispenser... the Essence of Pearl. That would be the perfect title for a song! He
had recorded some music the previous month that still needed lyrics and a title. So
he titled the song and wrote the lyrics, even though the song has nothing to do
with lotion soap. But that is where the name of the song came from.
The empty dispenser now resides in the Personal Hygiene wing of the Metal XOR
Studio Museum.

T U E SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 0 7
It was Easter of 1996. Jason woke up and discovered a basket the Easter bunny had
left for him. One of the first things to catch his eye was a large, pink, rectangular
crinkly package with a transparent window displaying its content of popcorn. And
the label read "Bumpy and Jumpy: Popcorn Bunnies"!!!
It wasn't long after Easter that a new song was recorded for Mune Mud's Equation
of Time album that came out later that same year. The name of the song was
"Bumpy and Jumpy" and it was the story of two young bunnies made of popcorn
whose mother warned them not to venture too close to humans or they would be
caught and used as Easter treats. As the sad story goes, Bumpy and Jumpy were
caught and put into a human's Easter basket. But in the end their mother had more
bunnies so everything turned out ok.
Jason just couldn't bring himself to eat the popcorn bunnies that inspired one of
the silliest songs the Studio has ever recorded, so it remains on display in the
Metal XOR Studio Museum.
W E D N E SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 7
Project Spotlight #3: What is NueroMud?
In the beginning, there was Mune Mud.
When the music being recorded at the Studio became too diverse, Mune Mud
remained the slower, upbeat pop style of music and another project was created:
NueroMorgue. It focused on the faster, electronic, heavy metal style of music.
Then along came a new style, one that was more experimental and new age. It
used unique sounds and dealt with astronomy, astrology, and various deep, dark
subjects. So what could a project be called whose music fell somewhere between
NueroMorgue and Mune Mud? NueroMud!
There have only been two NueroMud releases to date, 1994's ...Libra 971 and
1995's Nine Days Wonder. They both had real limited releases, so not many people
know of this project. There are plans to eventually re-release both albums on CD,
including unreleased bonus tracks, some time in the future.
Who are the players in NueroMud? The same as Mune Mud and NueroMorgue...
Jason Watson. There have only been two guest musicians on NueroMud songs. The
first was Jimmy who sang vocals with Jason on "Pedestal Song" which appeared on
...Libra 971. This song was also the beginning of their side project ORC. The other
guest musician was Darrin on the drum machine at the very end of "Remembered
for Living" from ...Libra 971. Darrin happened to drop by the Studio as the song
was being finished and he was asked to play drums however he wanted to during
the noise at the end of the song.
As for the future of NueroMud, it can best be summed up as "living in the past".
There are no plans for new NueroMud songs to be recorded so therefore we will
allow this giant to continue its slumber.
Next week's Project Spotlight: Who is Nikki Watson?

T H U R SD A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 3 , 2 0 0 7
The third and final interview appeared in the June 2004 issue. It took place as
Mune Mud's Hobson's Choice album was in its final stages of production, so most of
the interview was about that. The interview ends with plans for upcoming Studio
projects.

Labels: Interviews
F R I D A Y , SE P T E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 0 7
A Look Back...
The year was 1995. One of Jason's co-workers had a wife who worked in the
medical field. She had come up a new technique for a specific type of surgery. To
demonstrate the technique, she had a video made of her "operating" on the body
of a dead pig. It was a documentary that needed background music.
So Jason was approached and asked if he could record some music that could be
used in the video. He recorded a piece of music which he jokingly titled "Bacon"
and took it to work. The music was fine, but not for watching a surgical technique.
Even though his music was not used, he was paid a small fee for his effort.

Labels: A Look Back
© Copyright 2008 Metal XOR Studio

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Volume 1

Blog News: Welcome Statement

I am going to try something new here!

The goal of this site is to provide the following information:

I will try to update at least once a week (probably more often).

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 1:24 PM 0 comments

Studio News: *** NEW ALBUM RELEASE ***

This is the first of many in her upcoming music career.

Blog News: Site Schedule

Album of the Week

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 9:06 AM 0 comments

Just For Fun #1

Album of the Week #1: Mune Mud debut

Project name: Mune Mud

Click here to listen to the song.

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 9:56 PM 0 comments

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:45 AM 0 comments

Here's the story straight from Mune Mud front-man, Jason.

Project Spotlight #1: What is Mune Mud?

The year was 1990.

Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMorgue?

Studio News: The 2007 Musik Catalog

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 11:20 AM 0 comments

Click here to listen to the song.

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:35 AM 0 comments

State of the Studio #1: September '07

As far as my music goes, I have an album about half-finished. I started it in

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 12:31 AM 0 comments

Album of the Week #2: Olympus

Project name: Mune Mud

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 6:51 AM 2 comments

This is a unique item that is on display at Metal XOR Studio.

Project Spotlight #2: What is NueroMorgue?

Following that album and book was a seven-song EP called E. Phantasmata,

So until the project is resurrected, R.I.P. NueroMorgue!

Next week's Project Spotlight: What is NueroMud?

Interviews from the Past (1 of 3)

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 12:47 AM 0 comments

Interviews from the Past (2 of 3)

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:40 AM 0 comments

Album of the Week #3: ...Libra 971

Project name: NueroMud

A few of the songs worth mentioning:

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:50 AM 0 comments

Project Spotlight #3: What is NueroMud?

In the beginning, there was Mune Mud.

Next week's Project Spotlight: Who is Nikki Watson?

Interviews from the Past (3 of 3)

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:39 AM 0 comments

Posted by - Mune Mud - at 5:11 AM 0 comments

© Copyright 2008 Metal XOR Studio

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Studio News: * NEW ALBUM RELEASE *