Everything I Do - Tribute for my Friend

[NickT]

Russ Kotlarz

June 7 1968 - November 2 2007


This one is personal. My best friend and singer of 15 years passed away About 2 months ago. In a strange turn of events, I pulled out my old 4 track cassette recorder to listen to some old tapes. (The tascam plays at twice the ips of a normal deck.) The belt kept falling off, but I put a tape in and found this vocal track. This is the original audition Russ did for me 15 years ago. It was the first time I heard him sing. I invited him over, threw a PL80 or SM58 in front of this stranger and said sing. All the music was in the computer, so all I had was a tone track and the lone vocal. He did this in one take.

His wife is celebrating her 30th birthday this weekend. I thought this would be a nice gift from Russ. So I transferred the vocal track, Found a close midi and began trying to match things up. I dressed the midi up and fixed some parts, replaced the guitars and mixed and mastered. Russ was a member of our site and would visit, he just never had a chance to record.

I hope you enjoy this.

(Everything I do) I Do It For You

Russ Kotlarz - Vocals
Nick Testa - Music, Mix and Master

This is the memorial site for Russ

http://virtualmemorials.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=10734&page_no=1

[Bobby Watson]

This kind of task is not an easy one to pull off. I know, I've done it before...
Someone was watching over you.... 
BW@

[jeff]

Nice.

[Appleluza]

Nice job, Nick.  I'm sure it means a lot to your friend's wife and family.  God bless you and all who grieve his loss.

Rob T

[NickT]

Thanks Guys,

This one was tough. A labor of love. I am sure I have at least 40 hours into it. It was hard to listen to him sing for hours on end. Once I started concentrating of the "song", it got easier.

I forgot to thank Cary for pointing some things out and Ken for confirming my thoughts.

Thanks all,

Nick

[youtube]

Sad 

I seen his site. Very sad... He has a real nice voice too.

The track sound real nice the way you arranged it. This guy had a lot of talent. I like everything in the track. Not thrilled with the strings though but they are alright.

Those old 4 tracks. I had a 144 Tascam and 244 too.

Thanks for sharing your friends story. He came and made the world a better place 

Tubes 

[dan k]

wow , thats very cool nick,

      I am sure jackie will cherish that. It was definatly worth the wait.
You know, It was awsome playing with russ but I think I will miss watching from the crowd more.  He was the best singer around here hands down.


                  DAN K,

[DoozerDan]

Wow, what a voice. I was expecting something good, but that is just amazing. It's a lovely song Nick, you did it justice.

Dan.

[Studioplayer]

Sorry about your friend Nick. Looks like a nice guy. Hard to understand the world sometimes.    Really nice voice. Really great job on the mix & recording. It's going to be a nice gift but I'd imagine it's going to be very hard for his wife to listen too. It touches really close to the heart.

Really nice Nick. 

[NickT]

Thanks guys.

I will let you know how it goes.

Nick

[spacecube]

Great voice and work Nick ,
I agree with studioplayer "it's going to be very hard for his wife to listen too. It touches really close to the heart. "

[Pleasuredome]

Happiness although shrouded in sadness.

Lovely take Russ and wish I had known you.

Great work Nick, hard as it must have been bro.

It certainly causes refocus on priorities and a realisation of what is really important.

Russ, your voice reminds me very much of Kenny Livgren in style, keep on singing bro on the wind, you are a sad loss.

[Billy]

You really pulled it off Nick. Very impressive from midi. To spend that amount of hours on this goe's to show how much he meant to you as a friend and that is quite humbling.
Russ's voice does have heaps of character and has a certain richness that Bryan Adams just doesn't have. Sung with conviction and I guess because of the lyrical nature of this particular song, the words will impact greatly on his wife, especially towards the end. But I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear it! Well done sir!

Aidan.

[NickT]

Thanks Guys!

Steve - Russ always liked the Ain't TV work we did together. He liked your vox!

Aiden - Thanks. Once I started adding good samplers and real guitars the song began to breath. It turned out  as a good bed track for Russ's track.

Juhani - Yes it is going to be tough. She hasn't had the courage to listen yet. But she will.

Nick

[CosmicDolphin]

Sounds great Nick...he must have been one hell of a singer.....

I read some of the stuff on his site.  My own son is a heart patient,and has been through open heart surgery. It kinda made me think what the future might hold for him also.  If you offered me 40 years , a grandchild and a great singing voice I'd probably take it right now.....so be be sad but also be happy for the time that you had as friends together and the great fortune that your lives crossed paths.

CD


PS - This would be a great opener for MC Artists Volume II