Recording
A few weeks ago we went down to Athens, GA to record some songs for an EP we’re releasing with Quote Unquote Records as well as a 7″ with Fall of the West. Before we left I thought a bit about this journal, of my plans of updating it while recording, and how I’ve never really liked reading other band’s studio journals. The problem is, recording is just plain boring (I think). It’s taking songs that are fun to play in rooms full of people, where there is energy and emotion and diversity, and cramming them into a little box with a bunch of squiggly lines and absolutely no people. That cramming process is arduous and, while some people enjoy it, I don’t. It’s just not my thing and I think the only thing more boring than sitting in a room and playing the same riff over and over and over and over, is sitting in another room and reading about someone else doing that.
So I felt a bit apprehensive about how I would keep a studio journal without reverting to the usual “we recorded bass today…so far things are sounding pretty good…etc,” and boring you to death while personally adding more boredom on top of an entire days worth of the stuff. I wasn’t quite sure how I would go about making recording exciting in word form, but I was dedicated to giving it a go. I decided I would fill this page recounting non-studio based antics and observations from our time in Athens, and I’d try to make it fun to write and read, and it would have little or nothing to do with tracking or riffs, rifffs that I now hate because I’ve heard them approximately a googolplex of times.
But that’s not how things worked out, obviously. Life has a funny way of taking your plans, in this case my plans of writing fun things, and rearranging them, of mocking you even, and so life gave to me, without me even asking for it, while I was walking to the studio from a nearby coffee shop, literally in mid conversation, the flu. That’s right, I got the flu no less than an hour before we started recording. It. Sucked.
My plans for updating this thing went out the proverbial window—along with my vocal chords, normal body temperature, the ability to get pleasant sleep, any sort of energy or enthusiasm, and my usually natural ability to sweat or shiver only when the surrounding weather called for it (luckily I maintained my ability to digest things for which I was grateful). The timing was, well, bad, to the point that it was funny, but then, after laughing (which resulted in coughing which then agitated my already pounding headache) I just got more sad at the utter realness of my seemingly unreal predicament.
All that said, no updating took place then, and now, two weeks later, it just doesn’t feel all that necessary to recount our time in Athens, especially since most of my memories weren’t those that you’d like to read about (unless you find couch laying and headache pain diminishing captivating). So I guess I’ll just say that we recorded some songs and the proof will be available to be downloaded or spun in circles as soon as possible. I truly hope you like those songs when you hear them and that you come out and watch us play them in their natural surroundings.
Oh, and Jeff Rosenstock is a quality guy who just happens to be on good standing with those possessing an endless supply of cooked and cut and very garlicky potatoes.
We go on tour soon for a very long time. This is good.
Brett