We rolled into the Highlands late morning, the sun still clinging to the tree line as if reluctant to rise. By noon, a chill had already settled in. The kind of northern cold that hints the season’s about to turn for good. Fox’s Den stood quiet on the lake’s edge, its reflection rippling in the grey water like something watching itself dream.
Sly was already there, gear dialed in, the studio warmed by the wood burning stove and humming with anticipation… That’s the thing about the Den: it always feels ready, like it’s just been waiting for the music to start… Lote and I scarfed down a quick lunch, unpacked our notes, and before long, the room was alive with sound.
It was eerily quiet, little activity on the lake no boats cutting across the lake. Just wind through bare branches and the faint hiss of mist lifting off the water. October empties the Highlands. It leaves room for the music.
The Final Review
Our process at this stage is simple but sacred: everyone arrives having done their own deep listen. Sly had already tweaked a few mixes; Lote had his lyric notes; I’d marked a few rhythm ideas. So, when we hit play, it wasn’t guesswork, it was precision with space for play.
By early afternoon, we’d found our groove. The Den pulsed with energy: feedback loops, lots of ribbing, laughter, that shorthand that comes only after years of collaboration. By five or six, as the light fell fast behind the trees, thoughts of dinner started sneaking in. A few beers opened. Someone uncorked a bottle of red. The music shifted from analysis to feeling.
That’s when the changes we had been making brought Oxy’s Morons alive. The kind of moment you don’t plan, you just fall into.
Contradiction as Compass
The name Oxy’s Morons started as a joke! Just a clever twist on “oxymoron.” But over time, it became a mirror. We actually debated whether to do WooWoo & VooDoo first or Oxy’s Morons. In the end, Sly leaned toward Oxy’s, and that call shaped everything.
On the cover, you’ll meet Oxy… a lanky six-foot figure towering over a band of small, chaotic characters: the Morons. It’s part parody, part portrait. That’s us. The music, the mischief, the mix of precision and play. We even joked that “Oxy and the Morons” could be a band within the band… our own mythical alter-ego.
But beneath the humor, there’s truth. The songs thrive on contradiction, wisdom dressed as foolishness, clarity emerging from chaos. The Highlands mirrored that perfectly: the warmth of the Den against the cold, the laughter echoing into the dark.
The T-Shirt Ritual
I brought up a surprise! Freshly printed Oxy’s Morons tees for Lote and Sly. They ripped open the bag and the reaction was pure joy. The artwork looked wild under the soft studio lights: Oxy towering, the Morons marching beneath him, all color and cleverness.
We pulled them on right there, sleeves still creased. Three figures laughing in the half-dark. The music’s serious; we aren’t. That contrast keeps us grounded and maybe a little taller than we should be.
Echoes and Crossovers
While we were writing and recording Oxy’s Morons songs, my solo alter-ego jΔwnΞx was finishing Reprise 83… a project using the music AI – Suno to reimagine/remix 15 songs written and recorded decades ago by Mike Kohler and Ron Fox from back in the Return To Zero (RTZ) days…
It felt poetic, really: SixFootStilts finishing a record about folly and human contradiction, while jΔwnΞx revisited ghosts from the past. Old riffs and new frequencies, echoing across time and tech. Two sides of the same creative fire.
I think it turned out really well… Let us know what you think…
Nightfall Reflections
By the time we stepped outside that evening, the Den’s windows were glowing like lanterns in the black. The lake was still, the mist rising slow, wrapping around the deck. No one else for miles. Just us, the cold, and a silence so deep it almost felt alive.
That’s when we knew the album had crossed over, from idea to being. You could feel it. Oxy’s Morons was finished…
Every album changes us, but this one reminded us why we do it: curiosity over perfection, laughter over ego, and the quiet truth that the best art is always a little haunted by what you meant, what you missed, and what you might yet find.
So here’s to the contradictions that keep us climbing.
Here’s to the Den in the Haunted Highlands, and the strange beauty that lives in the in-between.
Next Up: WooWoo & VooDoo
As Oxy’s Morons moves into post production, we’re already stirring the next potion. The next themed album… WooWoo & VooDoo. We will explore where reason meets ritual, and where the mystical finds its rhythm.
The cauldron’s already simmering. Stay tuned.
