(link to Picasa picture folder)
The first weekend of tracking went better than expected. I was very leery about starting this whole recording and mixing session. There was a large amount of unknowns and an equal amount of 'that's going to be a pain in the ass'-edness. Ryan, the singer and guitar player in the band, had a desire to do one more album the old fashioned way. I could either pass on the opportunity or go along for the ride. I don't have much more hair to lose from stress so I jumped right in.
North Styrenn is a band that I have worked with since 2002. I started working with them when I was an assistant at Oarfin Records. Ryan was an intern there for awhile and got a deal to track his band in our studio B. That first session was really fun and listening back to the 'flannel shirt / pseudo Brit Pop rock, I must say we all did a pretty decent job.
The band would come in a couple more times during my stint at Oarfin. We recorded about 8 songs before the studio closed its doors in December of 2003. In January or February of 04, Victor Johnson, the bass player/guitar player of North Styrenn, came in to record his solo album.
The band would follow me to A440 studios in 2004. We did 2 songs there along with finishing Victor's solo project. Sometime in late 2004/early 2005 (I am starting to forget dates), the band finally set out to record a 'real' album. We chose to do it at The Hideaway studios which was connected to A440. That album was tracked to 2 inch with a vast selection of great outboard gear that was housed at The Hideaway. That project was loads of fun and I think the band came into its own during that time. We all did in fact. The end result was an EP that displayed a growth in the writing of the band. It would also mark the last official release of the band. During the North Styrenn 'dark ages', there would be countless demo sessions at their practice space and at Ryan's home studio, Gettysburg Studio. The band took some time off (hiatus is what the pros call it) and we always talked about doing 'just 1 more record'.
Shit...that was in 06. I'm not good at telling stories so....
Fast forward to THIS DECADE. We all finally got our heads out of each other's asses and started the album. The songs have been on the burner for a couple years. Some are newer. There are about 15 songs that will be recorded. The band wanted to do the album all in the analog world. To the layman, that means we won't be using any digital recording software. No Pro Tools or any other software. This is a totally obscure way of doing a record these days. I started with analog tape and always loved the challenge in working with it not to mention the sound that comes from recording to tape. It's certainly a lost art and most bands these days don't even know what it's like to work with tape.
I'll stop with the history lesson for now. I will gladly post some techy stuff for people to read about but I'm guessing most of that will be pretty boring. I'll keep uploading musings, pics and videos as the session progresses.
Drums for 5 songs are done.
Until next time...'pour some sugar on it'!
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