Well, the drums are in the can! Yup: we spent the weekend of March 27-28-29 laying down the drum tracks for the forthcoming full album, Don't Fake It. What follows is a blow-by-blow of the process, as well as the FULL running order of the LP, presented here for the first time. Let's get down to business!
We recorded at Guilbeaux's Pub. See, if I tell you that it was all done in the basement of our sound designer Hans, you'll think it's low-tech and a waste of time. Not so! True, the studio IS in his basement, but…well, this is a guy who designed the audio production studio at his college alma mater, so trust me when I say: this guy knows his stuff. The drum room is actually a room-within-a-room, double-insulated and double-drywalled, with moveable acoustic panels. I used Hans' kit - remember, he's a metal drummer with recordings of his OWN! - and (mostly) my cymbals. The kit proper is a standard 6-piece: bass, snare, and four toms. These each had their own dedicated mic. Hi-hats, the 20" ride, and 6 various crashes were all captured with the overheads. The door to the studio closes snugly over the umbilical, which feeds directly into Hans' 32-channel board. Everything was recorded into Presonus Studio 1.
Rebel and I drove down on Friday to get set up, haul in our gear, and set preliminary levels. I played Hans' drums for an hour or so, getting used to the slightly different feel…you drummers out there, you know what I'm talking about. Drums are drums, but every kit is a little different. Doing those prelim levels REALLY saved us a lot of time on Saturday! We just had a little tweaking to do before we were off to the races. Pappy came over - he lives close by - and after we got our work done we settled into some beers. Well, in my case, just a couple; I like my beer, but I had a long day of work ahead of me on Saturday, and I certainly didn't want to be punchy.
Saturday morning started off with some welcome strong coffee, breakfast, and then final level adjustments. While Hans and Rebel were fooling with the board and the software, I got warmed up: I'm a firm believer in G. L. Stone's Stick Control, plus a lot of my old marching band warmups. I can't just go in and play cold; gotta get those muscles warmed up, get the wrists loosened. Otherwise, the first couple of tracks will sound stiff and out-of-time. I was also careful with the order I wanted to cut the tracks: a couple of easier things right off the bat, then tackle some of the harder stuff while I was in a good zone.
We laid down "Viceville" first, with me doing my best Phil Rudd backbeat. Hans was very particular about whether or not I liked the sound we were getting, constantly asking me things like "Is the snare drum sound the way you want it?" It's tough for me, because I don't really know how many different "sounds" there could be: y'know, if you turn this dial ¼" to the right, does that change much? Is it possible to evaluate ALL the possible sounds that we could achieve? I (wisely) decided to give a general impression of what I wanted - fat, thick snare with a sharp attack, thudding bass drum that you'll feel in your chest - and then let Hans and Rebel do the fine-tuning. After "VV" we cut "Look Out" (yes, we re-cut the four tracks from last summer's EP for inclusion on the album). I can tell you, it's really frustrating to have an otherwise-great take marred by a rim hit or missed cymbal at the 30-second mark! I'd leave the recording room and be greeted by the question "How did that feel?" Uh…I don't know? Pretty good? Hans gave me the best advice possible: he said that, in his experience, if you think you can do a better take, then you should get your ass back in there and do it again. If NOT…you're done. So, both "VV" and "Look Out" went through three complete takes, with multiple stops-and-starts for outright goof-ups.
I wanted to work on "No Man's Land" and the title track next. Of the 10 tunes we laid down, four were really brand-new, and these were two of them. I literally had a stand with my sheet music in there. This is how Rebel and I work together on songs: we'll email ideas back and forth until we have a good idea of what we're after, then I'll enter a drum part into the Finale notation software; with that, HE can work out the guitar parts. The lead, rhythm, and bass guitars are all laid down at HIS studio, and then when it comes time to do the ACTUAL drums, I simply play along with the computer drums I sent him to rough out the song. Hans tells me that that's an odd way to go about it, but it's the way Rebel and I have worked on songs together, so for us, it's perfect.
Our plan was to end the day with a familiar tune - "Unleash The Beast" - and leave the other five for Sunday. But, "UtB" was done by about 4:30, and we were all still feeling pretty fresh. We cut "On Its Way" with a minimum of fuss, and then started in on "(I Like) Grown-Up Girls." Wow, THAT was an energy suck! This was another of the brand-new tunes, never before performed live, and I'd written some rather intricate parts for myself. We went through take after take, and by about 6:00 I'd been at it for eight hours or so…I was feeling pretty washed out. I agreed to do one more take, and whatever we got, I was done and ready for a brew! Lo and behold, THAT was the one that was a keeper! I guess somebody works well under pressure…?
Drew had joined us for the day, busying himself with watching the Red Wings on the giant TV set outside the recording room in between listening to takes and offering up his advice. Once I got that great take in the can we all headed out for a well-deserved meal while the files backed up to the cloud (can you IMAGINE losing all that hard work to a computer crash?!?), then gathered on the various couches to drink beer and unwind with a little Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm an old Marvel geek from way, WAY back in the day, and I thought this adaptation of a beloved '80s maxi-series was fabulous!
Sunday began again with coffee and a hearty meal, and then I cut "Hey Kelly," "Lovin' You," and "Middle Age Mettle." I can't remember which one it was, but ONE of those was a single take. Hans was right: I just knew it. I walked out of the booth all cocky and said "Hey, that's it! I can't do it better than that!" Felt pretty good, actually! Once all the drums proper were done, we settled in to get the various "ear candy" laid down. I got that term from famed producer Toby Wright, and I think it's a spot-on description of what goes onto an album that doesn't necessarily have to be played live. There are shakers and cowbell in the chorus of "On Its Way," hand claps on "Viceville," and a whole BUNCH of stuff in "Hey Kelly." We wrapped around 5:00 that afternoon, and Rebel and I headed for home, exhausted but EXHILARATED!
Now, of course, comes the rest of the process: mixing and mastering. Rebel has been hard at work doing a million-and-six tweaks, sending me and Hans the files on a daily basis. I provide my feedback - louder snare here, less overhead cymbals in general, see if you can put some reverb on the castanets - and we go. Again, and again, and again. THIS is a record you're going to be amazed by, proud to blast from your car speakers, or wherever you like your rock & roll. When it drops this summer, you can look forward to this track listing:
1) Look Out
2) Viceville
3) On Its Way
4) No Man's Land
5) Hey Kelly
6) Lovin' You
7) Unleash The Beast
8) (I Like) Grown-Up Girls
9) Middle Age Mettle
10) Don't Fake It
