X Ambassadors' Gear: ZVex Mastotron Fuzz
		" a cross between what Ray Manzarek used on The Doors' "Five To One" and what Colin Greenwood used on Radiohead's Exit Music "

X Ambassadors' music is full and energetic, but they aren’t scared to slow things down and get sensitive from time to time. The sound of this Brooklyn based quartet emanates from drummer Adam Levin’s thunderous grooves and Noah Feldshuh’s powerful and catchy riffs; rounding it up, brothers Sam and Casey Harris fill out the band’s sound. Here is a bit on how they accomplish that while recording. - How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? We usually demo all of our material at home using very minimal equipment; a few mics, mostly programmed drums, etc. Then after we've figured the song out with the whole band, we go into a studio and do it all there. - What do you record at the studio and what do you record by yourself and why? Pretty much everything is tracked in the studio. We do drums and bass first live, then track guitar, keys, and vocals later. Everyone is very nit-picky about their own parts, so tracking everything separately is the best way to keep the group sane. - What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home? I love using Logic Pro. I used to be a total Pro Tools geek, but after using Logic for a while I got really into the user-friendly aspect of it that I just started strictly using that. The plugin-ins are awesome and the layout of the whole program is really simple. I use an M-Audio Axiom midi keyboard to program stuff in Logic, and that's also become my new best friend. - What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why? I would re-create Phil Spector's reverb chamber out of my living room. If cost wasn't an issue, why not? - Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it's the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? We've always admired producers like Phil Spector, Rick Rubin, Steve Albini, Nigel Godrich, Danger Mouse-- dudes who tend to leave their fingerprints all over the records they do. But in the past we've always produced our own stuff and we got pretty good at editing ourselves and crafting our own "sound" in the studio. That being said, our last record was co-produced, engineered, and mixed by our friend, the amazing Dan Stringer (Chester French, Talib Kweli) and it was really awesome to have him as a sounding-board for all our ideas. So while we aren't completely opposed to bringing other people into our recording process, we're pretty happy with what we've got going right now. - Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them. Noah uses his own secret combo of pedals for his guitar, and Casey crafts all his sounds through his Nord Stage and Nord Wave. I only use one pedal for my bass, and that's a ZVex Mastotron fuzz pedal. I wanted to find a fuzz pedal that was a cross between what Ray Manzarek used on The Doors' "Five To One" and what Colin Greenwood used on Radiohead's "Exit Music", and the Mastotron was the one. - Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? I always love records where you can get a real sense of the environment in which everything was recorded. Microphones picking up bits of our conversations, instruments being dropped, talk-back on the monitors; all things that make the listener aware of the "process" in the product. That being said, our newest record still tends to sound very "produced" in the sense that it's heavily layered and the production itself is pretty crisp and clean. Walking that line between radio-ready and ambiance-laden production is something that we really try to emphasize. - Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? We all do. No question. I'm usually the one who's in the studio the most during the mixing process, but at the end of the day, this is a collective and nothing gets done without everyone's approval. - Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? Dan Stringer has been an incredible asset to the band; as an engineer he's always willing to work with us, and never insists on imposing his own style or techniques on us. He's there to bring out the best in us and in our sound. As a producer, he and I have very different tastes in terms of production but what we come up with together is really cool. I'm a bit of a control freak, so forcing myself to listen to someone else's ideas is extremly hard. But attempting to truly collaborate is such a big part of the band ethos, so bringing it into this context is just as important to me. - What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? When I first started recording myself and the band, I was listening to a lot of proto-punk shit --MC5, The Stooges, Love, 13th Floor Elevators-- and I loved the sound of those records. But I had also grown up listening to a lot of R&B and hip-hop with super sleek production, so I guess in the back of my mind that was always the way I pictured professionally recorded music should actually sound. My goal was always, and still is, to take the best of both worlds. The last two records I heard that did this really well were Spoon's "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" and the Black Keys' "Brothers". In both cases, you can hear every individual instrument clearly, but there is a bit of grit and grime to the production that still makes it feel loose and almost a little unstable. I love that. - Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show? Both? Neither? Both, for sure. The biggest example for us would be that when we are recording songs in the studio, we're always keeping the live version of the song in mind as we start overdubbing. We never want to rely on backing tracks live, so we have to constantly be making sure that whatever we do in the studio we can recreate exactly on stage (or something VERY very close). - Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? My Boss tuning pedal. - With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.? Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? In terms of fashion, we're all just dapper dressers by nature. But with graphic design, we work closely with a small group of our friends who are photographers, web designers, etc. Our asthetic is very stark and simple, and we've worked hard to make it present in everything we produce. - What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Not suffocating from the man-stench that envelopes the room in the first hour and lingers throughout the entirety of the recording process. But you definitely get good at knowing who farted.

		Laura's Gear: Fender Roc Pro Amp
		" It breaks into distortion at this really distinct spot that works really well with the way I naturally play. "

With the new album "Wheel", just fresh out of the oven, NYC songwriter Laura Stevenson decided to up the production value, steering away from the lo-fi approach of her previous two albums. She enlisted producer Kevin McMahon, someone whose work she respected immensely and who would, as she put it, “be the perfect set of ears for these songs.” She also brought in Rob Moose on violin and Kelly Pratt to play brass, adding their own layers of depth to the band’s full arrangements. Despite the move to sleeker production, the album retains its organic nature, relying primarily on the resonance of acoustic instruments and the electricity of simply over-driven amplifiers, with its most synthetic moment coming from a Roland organ, an unconscious decision explained as Laura Stevenson and the Cans’ way of “being real, relying on each other’s energy to keep time and just playing the songs like human beings, flaws and all.” "Wheel" is driven by Stevenson's repetition of existential questions such as the effect of melting icecaps on the beaches of her native Long Island. The album is brimming with life and death in the desperate search for what keeps us turning in the face of doubt, an exercise in coming to terms with the overwhelming beauty that can be found in the lack of an answer. - How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? Some of the stuff on “A Record” (our first record) was recorded by me, on my laptop... but I’m not too savvy so, everything else is studio. It would be nice to do it alone, I just can’t operate anything more complex than an 8-track. We usually start with drums and scratch guitar and build from there, but this new record has all been done live, with drums, bass, and 2 guitars. That has definitely been harder but it feels much more natural... we can move with each other and the temp just goes where it needs to go. Otherwise, everyone gets a little restrained by the drum track and it all gets forced in one direction. I’d like to record vocals privately, it’s really hard to sing intimately when it feels super sterile in a studio... tracking vocals always feels really uncomfortable, but some people have no problem. I have problems. - What are the pieces of equipment that you guys find particularly inspiring when recording? At the studio we’ve been using a lot of really old, custom, ribbon mics and custom amps. However, even though we had all of this beautiful equipment, I brought this terrible Fender Rock Pro amp with me to the studio. It sounds like a beast... it’s our accordion player’s first amp, like, from middle school or high school. I don’t know why, but it’s my favorite thing to play out of. It sounds terrible to most people but I really love it. It breaks into distortion at this really distinct spot that works really well with the way I naturally play. - Do you guys use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? I use no pedals. Only that ridiculous amp. Our guitar player, Peter has a whole suitcase full of pedals. Volume pedals, tremolos, delay, etc. I have a tuning pedal and that’s as far as I’ll go... something will go horribly wrong if there is more than that. - Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? I like lo-fi sounding records. I think its necessary for us to have some dirt to temper my voice and the band’s playing, and the prettiness of a lot of the songs. It’s nice to make it a little bit ugly... it’s totally necessary. With our first record, it wasn’t technique it was just like, we used what we had and it sounded lo-fi because it was all pretty low-budget. With “Sit Resist” (our second record) we were coming out of a long year of touring, playing a lot of house shows and stuff, and we wanted it to sound natural and cohesive and warm. I brought in a Built to Spill song as a reference mix and was like, “make it like this”... but we put some more low-end in there... it was like, the  reble-y-est song on the planet. - Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? The band has really been giving a lot of input... which is nice because sometimes I don’t know how things should sound once they are arranged. With the record we are making, the producer has been getting a lot of the sounds for us, which has resulted in a very polished sound... which is making me feel kind of crazy. I’m not used to things being clean. It’s not the aesthetic that I’m drawn to. But we are also not done mixing so, that’s all working itself out right now. - Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? Our buddy, Jeff from Bomb the Music Industry has done a lot of stuff for us. He’s great and he knows me really well so he knows what I like. - Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show? Both? Neither? I’d say neither. Our live shows sound nothing like our records. We play a lot faster and a lot louder. All of us come from punk backgrounds and... that’s just the kinds of live shows we are used to seeing so, I think that’s just naturally what we want to do. Then, we’ll slow it down and play some doomy, pretty song about dying or something. It’s a weird time for everybody. - Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? On stage I use a new-ish Fender DeVille and a ‘72 American Telecaster. I haven’t found the sweet-spot on that amp yet... it’s temperamental with my guitar and it’s always different depending on the room and the electricity in the building. Sometimes it’s great though. I also RARELY change my strings. Like, pretty much never. And I don’t bring my own mic... which I know is bad but... that’s just another thing I will lose. - With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.? Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? I am terrible at self-promotion and I pretty much wear the same sweatshirt (a black hoody with holes in it that my drummer found in his van one time) at most shows we play. It’s bad. I wore it during our ENTIRE European tour last year. Sometimes, if I know my mom is coming to a show, I will buy a dress. So, I have like, 4 dresses now that I may wear. Right now, true story, my pants ripped so I’ve been wearing the same dress for about a week, so I’m pretty fancy as of right now but only out of necessity. My bandmates dress nice though. They always have like, a nice thing on... making me look more like a shlub. As for our web stuff- our drummer is a graphic designer so he does all of that, and he designs our t-shirts, which is really nice. Oh, I also got my picture taken yesterday actually by a very nice gentleman named Shervin Lainez. Those’ll be our press photos for the new record, whenever that comes out.

		Jonathan Schenke's Gear: Deltalab Effectron
		"We have an AMS DMX Delay that is incredible... it’s the Martin Hannett/Joy Division delay, and completely unlike anything else I’ve heard."

Jonathan Schenke, sound engineer and music lover, recorded the debut album of Brooklyn indie rock buzz band Parquet Courts. We asked him a few question about that experience. - Tell us a little about the studios you work in and how you got started as a sound engineer. I'm a partner at Doctor Wu's studio in Williamsburg, with Yale Yng-Wong and Jake Aron. I also have a mobile recording rig and a home studio for editing and mixing, which is how we did Light Up Gold. I was always an obsessive music fan growing up, but I didn't get into recording until college. I was studying at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH, and made up a major to get into the audio classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music. I also interned at a local studio, setting up mics and wrapping cables… just trying to take in everything that was happening. I really got started as a sound engineer when I started playing in a band, though. I bought an interface for my laptop, a few mics that had been recommended to me, and borrowed the rest to start making a record. It was all done in fits and spurts, total trial and error on my part - I think it was close to two years, start to finish. I figured out a lot in the process though, and once I had the gear, I started recording my friends' bands. After college, I moved to Chicago and started recording at Experimental Sound Studio and doing live sound at clubs like the Empty Bottle and the Hideout. I moved to Brooklyn in 2010, and helped open Doctor Wu's last year. - Tell us about the process of recording the Parquet Courts record - was it a band easy to work with? Were you involved as a sound engineer or also producer? How do you think the band's sound evolved after the recording (if it did)? The guys in Parquet Courts are hands-down some of my favorite people to work with - there’s something really special about it. Andrew and I met making the Fergus & Geronimo record 'Funky Was the State of Affairs,' and Austin and I have also worked on his side-project The Keepsies. We've all got overlapping aesthetics and similar work flows and ethics... it’s a lot of work, but it’s a whole lot of fun. We're actually recording some new stuff down at Seaside Lounge while I’m writing this, and it’s been a total blast. We spent three days in their practice space recording Light Up Gold on Austin's Tascam 388 - this mid-80s 8-track 1/4" tape machine with a built-in mixer, like a coffee-table-sized Portastudio with a totally unique sound. We did all the basics live in one day, vocals the next, and overdubs the third. Since we only had 8 tracks, I used a little Mackie mixer to submix the drums down to two channels, and we'd have everyone around one mic for things like percussion and background vocals. I transferred the tracks through my Apogee Ensemble to my laptop, and we spent two days mixing it at my place. By the end of that second day, we had the album sequencing down and everything - it still amazes me how quickly that record came together. My production style is like a guide or an enabler. I feel that a big part of my role in the process is to maintain an environment of forward motion. A lot of that is getting the technical side handled quickly and out of the way - auditioning sounds during a run-through, making decisions, and fixing or working around problems before they derail things (something doing live sound really hammered home for me). Time management is also really important in keeping the momentum going. I’m trying to get us to a point where we all can work off intuition, through experimentation, and allow for creativity. With Parquet Courts, we’re always pushing each other to do more during recording. A number of songs on Light Up Gold they’d only played once or twice before - they’d work out the structure, we’d lay down a good take, Andrew would leave the room to write some lyrics, and come back to belt them out a half hour later. I think in those cases, they learned to play the songs based on the recordings. We’re doing some of that this time again, except they’re that much tighter after playing so many shows since Light Up Gold dropped. - What pieces of advice would you give to a band that's entering the studio for the first time? What do you want your recording to sound like? Pick some records that you like and draw inspiration from, and play them for your engineer. That is one of the most helpful things for me before a session. - How do you work with bands to determine the direction and style of their recordings? Before we even book time, I like to have a long chat about that, whether it’s over a drink or over the phone. We’ll talk about records we like and approaches to sounds, bounce ideas back and forth, and see what kind of common ground we share. It’s a good way to get to know someone a bit before trying to work with them, and it helps in planning an approach. - Do you have a particular mixing/engineering style that you're personally drawn toward? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? I got into music the year punk broke, so that whole Alternative Nation sound is imprinted heavily on my mind. Sonically and stylistically, there’s something really special about how recordings from the 70s sound. And I wouldn’t be doing what I do if I hadn’t been obsessed with Sgt Pepper as a kid. Brian Eno, Steve Albini, and the Beatles - that’s where I’m coming from. I’m drawn to that articulate, wild and wooly sound. Whether it’s two guys playing acoustic guitars, a punk band, or a piece of sound design, I want it to sound almost tangible and slightly larger than life. That’s what gets me excited about listening to something. My general approach is to start with everyone playing together in a room, recording to tape if we can. I’ll baffle things in such a way to cut down on bleed, but I’m not precious about total isolation. I don’t go overboard on mics - I get better definition and less phase issues that way. 5-6 mics on the drums, one on each amp, and maybe a couple of room mics. I’ll audition a few different setups, pick the best sounds in context, and roll with it. Once we have a good foundation, I like to add vocals and overdubs starting with the most important ones. That helps to see how things are working together and often inspires better ideas for other additions. I like to approach my mixes as a series of refinements. I’ll get a sound dialed in fairly quickly to see how things hang together. If something is sticking out or in the way, I’ll make an edit or cut some frequencies or ride the level, whatever that situation calls for. Editing arrangements is really important to me - every part should have its own place in the mix, and it’s really easy to clutter a song with extraneous overdubs. But by treating my mix as a series of refinements, I only tweak as much as feels right. You could always do more editing if you wanted to, but those oddities and imperfections are what make a recording feel real. - What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring? The most inspiring piece of equipment is whatever is around and working! I always love tracking to tape. It sounds great, and it requires a particular way of working. It forces you to commit - you have to give it your all as a performer to get the right take, and it keeps me on my toes and engaged as an engineer. My new favorite is the Otari MX 5050 ½” 8 track (pictured). It’s the machine that a lot of the early Sub Pop and Daptone records were done on, and it’s what we’re recording the new Parquet Courts stuff to. Effects-wise, I’m a big fan of delays. I love my Deltalab Effectron - it has a great echo and doubler with modulation, but you can also infinitely repeat a sample and totally whack out the sound. The solo in “Yonder” on Light Up Gold is me playing some feedback through the Effectron. We have an AMS DMX Delay at Doctor Wu’s that is incredible... it’s the Martin Hannett/Joy Division delay, and completely unlike anything else I’ve heard. I’m also a big fan of the Vallhalla Ubermod and Sound Toys EchoBoy plugins. - What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording/engineering setup (cost not an issue)? Why? I’m lucky that I work at a place like Doctor Wu’s - the gear collection there is so solid, I’m never at a loss for good sounds. We just got a Bricasti M7 reverb that I’m dying to dig into... everything I’ve heard through it sounds amazing. - Do you use guitar pedals for mixing? Not really. I'll fool around with pedal chains to get a good sound during recording, but I tend to stick with plugins at home or the outboard at Doctor Wu's for mixing. - With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (DIY recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how has the landscape changed for studios/sound engineers? Any predictions for what we'll be seeing in the next few years in this industry? A lot of my recordings have been made in living rooms, practice spaces and other non-studio environments. It can be inspiring to work like that, and often the only way to make things happen on a budget. It’s awesome that gear is so cheap and widely available now, and I’m a big proponent of doing things yourself. But it seems as though there’s been a backlash against that cheap digital sound that’s so prevalent in modern home recordings. People are wanting more out of the sound of their records. Budgets are still tight, but I think there’s a lot you can do based on your recording process to get a cool sound. My hope is that internet streaming reaches a more sustainable royalty structure in the next few years. More and more, it’s becoming the way people listen to music, and it should be monetized in a way to reflect that. Once artists and labels are making more money off their recordings, they’ll spend more money to make them. - What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording/sound engineering process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Honestly, I think the most rewarding aspects are the challenges. I’m a very process oriented engineer, and I truly believe you learn the most through experimentation. I made a decision early on to try something new on every session... it might suck, but it could also be your new favorite thing. I love a challenge - whether it’s only 8 tracks on a tape or a mobile setup in a cabin, it will make you think differently about your sounds. - What advice would you give to a musician who wants to start a career as an engineer/producer? Get some decent recording gear used for cheap. Experiment with your own band on your own time. Offer to record your friends’ bands for cheap, or for free, or barter (I’ve got yoga lessons, gear repaired, and a music video made in exchange for recordings). Do some live sound to get your chops up and meet new bands. Learn and take care of the technical aspects first so you can stop worrying about them. Be a judicious editor - if it doesn’t serve a purpose in a mix, it’s not worth keeping. Use less reverb. And have fun!!

		Sunglasses Gear: Roland SP-555
		" ...With a sampler, I can place a grand piano part I recorded in Georgia and still use the sounds…stuff we physically can’t play live"

  Blending the complex harmonies of The Beach Boys with the gritty aesthetics of the new millennium's bedroom pop, Sunglasses add a new chapter to the Brooklyn DIY scene - which they recently embraced after moving from Savannah, GA. Whereas most current Brooklyn bands have a tendency to flirt with the decadent, self-indulgent atmospheres of the East Coast and European bands of the '60s and '70s, the duo's debut full length "Wildlife" is a collection of sunny and eclectic pop songs whose melodies quite unexpectedly flirt with jazz and lounge without sounding like either. The background is a kaleidoscopic accumulation of sounds that could be described as brilliantly organized chaos - a production style we also appreciated on Foxygen's latest record, and that can be traced back to the Beck-Animal Collective "influenceology tree" - but a chaos that works with the upbeat songwriting to create a super-fun party atmosphere. - How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? Samuel: All home - If you used a studio, what would you record there and what would you record by yourself and why? Samuel: If in a studio I would utilize things that I don’t have at home like some sort of piano or organ or track drums. We did all the recording in different bedrooms in something like 5 different states. We didn’t have an option to record anywhere else than at home. Eventually we converted my lake house in the North Georgia woods into a studio and did most there. More freedom and no restrictions... which is not always a good thing. That’s part of the reason why Smile never got released, which was a major influence on this album and that's funny because Wildlife easily could've not been released. - What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home Samuel : Depends. The iPhone is really inspiring because you can get your ideas down really fast. I have a whole series of iPhone recordings that has been fun going back and finding half songs and ideas I completely forgot and finishing them into full ideas. I also have been recording on those Tascam 8-tracks too, I forget the model, it’s the digital new one. Brady: My DX7, P6, 606 and the guitar, which I just picked up this year. - What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why? Brady: I really can’t think of any at the moment. I’m pretty set on what little I have. And still haven’t used the machines to their full potential. It’s easy to get lost when you have a lot of toys. Samuel: One? That’s hard. I don’t know. I want the Pitchfactor pedal. I want a piano. - Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it’s the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? Samuel: Who knows? If we had a producer it would make my life a lot easier. Jon Brion. But for Sunglasses I don’t know. Brian Eno probably. like I mentioned we both have already self-produced solo albums. Sunglasses really chewed up a lot of our time. I doubt I want to go through that any time soon. Brady: I’m self-producing my solo project. If I had the opportunity for someone to help produce my music, I would reach out to Daniel Ash. - Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them. Samuel: We use computer effects and pedals. We have lots of pedals. Depending on what sound you're talking about. I don’t think we use any effects/pedals others haven’t. For guitar usual reverb, a little delay chorus, maybe tremolo, then certain times distortion which is from the Zvex fuzz factory pedal on the album. - Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? Brady: Not particularly any style but my own. Having been experimenting with recording for a while now, I am familiar with how to obtain the sound and style I hear in my head. Employing very many different techniques. Samuel: I’m a classic psychedelic pop kinda guy. I always start kinda in the process of Brian Wilson and Phil Spector recording-wise…double tracking most if not all instruments. You know then we sprinkle little bit of ATL rap or lounge or noise or jazz or surf, etc. It always starts with a pop song though. Well-produced pop songs have some sort of structure that you can follow then add your own flavor to. The recording and producing follows after I’ve written the song -Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? Samuel: It’s a group effort in terms of sound choices but I write the songs and perform most the instruments. Then we add/mix from there. -Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? Samuel: Not really. We have very close friends and family we’ve been sharing the album with for years now. They have been overly encouraging and supportive and vocal about the finished product. My older brother, Clay, has always been a great source of brutal honesty. Live, we are still searching for the best way to present these songs. - What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? Samuel : For Wildlife: The Beatles, Beck, Gorillaz, Beach Boys, Outkast, Brian Eno, and Animal collective. Sunglasses is a project that allowed me to kinda throw it all together. I learned a lot from recording this album and took notes from a lot of people I respect. The kind of album we made can be linked to those people, especially Beck, Gorillaz and Animal Collective. Brady: Again, our influences have changed drastically from the creation of Wildlife. But those influences opened the doors to other influences, which may or may not have touched us in different ways. - Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show? Both? Neither? Samuel: Sunglasses is a recording project. Live is like hashing it out trying to figure how to translate it with two people. But we did test these songs on the road for a while, so a little bit of both. Also, we have different versions we like to play live ‘cuz we get bored with these songs, ‘cuz to us, they are very old. - Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage?  Samuel: For Sunglasses, a sampler. Couldn’t do it without it. We used to use a computer, but that sucks. I’d still use a computer, but not how we used to. Latency, anyone? The worst. With a sampler, I can place a grand piano part I recorded in Georgia and still use the sounds…stuff we physically can’t play live. I have the 404 and we also use the 555 which is way better I think. But I always take a new instrument up and fit into an intro or something. Like harmonica or melodica. - With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.? Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? Brady: Sam mostly takes care of everything and he has friends help us when needed. But I would say there is very little effort put in to the image. I find that kind of shit to be bogus. Samuel: We have a 24 hour team working around the clock that directly consults our image...kinda but not really. Once again, just friends -- roommate takes our photos. We kinda see what works. Sometimes it’s hard with all that stuff and unnatural. I have started my own label, Golden Chow Records which has a Facebook/Tumblr/store/etc. and I got some help w the programming and HTML. In terms of artwork, I do most of it but I have so many talented friends. It’s hard not to always get opinions on whatever we’re making and we definitely collaborate. - What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Samuel: The style we kinda chose or fell into for Wildlife takes a long time to get right, or try to anyway. We were mixing for like a year. So that’s no fun. Getting the idea is always fun. Hearing the idea after a long time away is fun and sometimes not. a creative project can be a burden and a blessing mostly at the same time. The goal is to reach as many people as possible and hopefully be able to listen to it later and not wanna kill yourself. Brady: The most challenging thing is just getting through it. With all the different takes and production. It takes time. And when you don’t feel inspired, you don’t want to work on it. The only rewarding aspects is learning how to get it done faster, not fucking up and hearing something that’s close to the ever potentially finished product.    

		Celestial Shore's Gear: Peavey Amp
		" I guess I like the Peavey amp because it’s really loud and dumb, and it works if you kick it real hard.  "

Looking for a change of scenery to work on a new project, multi-instrumentalist Sam Owens left Brooklyn for the west coast and what he describes as his “beachy sanctuary”. Setting up in Los Angeles, the result of months of work was California Eden, a dazzling four track set of pretty harmonies, shimmering guitar licks and touches of experimentation that owes much to the sun-kissed city it was recorded in. With friends filling out the sound, Owen’s EP was released under the moniker of Celestial Shore, and as a fully-functioning band, the group are gathering pace, playing several shows and preparing to release their first album. How did you end up recording out in West Hollywood and did it influence the sound of the music? Sam Owens: After spending a good deal of time in the northeast we figured that California would offer us a sort of beachy sanctuary to get a project together, so we made arrangements to meet out there one way or another. I was able to get an internship with Blue microphones and spent about 5 months working in their studio. After a couple months I started bringing mics home more frequently, and would record either sitting in my living room or in our practice space in South LA. It was just Max [Almero], our friend Alec [Pombriant], myself and the taco trucks. LA became an incredibly frustrating place to exist, but I suppose it was hard to keep California out of the sound. It sure is a beautiful country. Your vocals are reminiscent of The Beach Boys. Is that something you picked up out there or would you say they've always been an influence? SO: My parents gave me Pet Sounds with my first walkman in kindergarten, so I grew up with that sound in my ears, but Alec and I listened to a ton of Brian Wilson when we were driving. We spent a lot of time in vehicles.  Do you find self producing an essential part of the process or would you ever consider working under the guidance of another producer? SO: We've spoken in favor of having someone get involved, but at the moment we're working on our first full length by ourselves and are tickled in doing so. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? We're transitioning. We don't have nice mics anymore, so we snuck into a friend’s studio to record drums for the full length. The rest will be done in apartments, hallways, attics, stairwells, etc. Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? I suppose we try to avoid doing the same thing twice in the while attempting to get the most sound from the performance as we can.  Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? I guess I like the Peavey amp because it’s really loud and dumb, and it works if you kick it real hard. With bands doing more of everything themselves these days and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band ? We pretty much rely on the bandcamp page for web presence, but I think we'll have more going on in 2012. What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Mixing. We obsess over it and without the proper equipment and environment its challenging to say the least. The ability to put our sound and love into a brain is the best feeling. I can't wait to put out this full length.

		EULA's Gear : Tascam 424
		" I am obsessed with my 4-track (Tascam Portastudio 424)"

After releasing a steady run of EPs throughout the last couple years, EULA decided to go full-length and self-released Maurice Narcisse in 2011.  It was on many “Best of 2011” album lists.  Opening up for Mission of Burma at Music Hall of Williamsburg in February 2012 was another highlight for the band. At the time of this interview, the band was excited about doing another EP. We caught up with Alyse to see what she had to say about the band's recording process. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio?  I [Alyse, Lead singer/guitarist of EULA) do all of my demos at home.  I basically record demos to show to my band, on the quick and cheap, then we re-work the songs to make them lush EULA landscapes. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home?  I am obsessed with my 4-track cassette recorder .  It's a Tascam Portastudio 424 piped into a Lexicon Lambda. It’s like a warm, fuzzy blanket that’s been with you since childhood.  I’ve recorded all of my demos since I was a teenager on that thing.  Hasn’t given me any problems either.   It’s easy to use and records rather well.   I also have a Mac of course.  For recording software, sometimes I’ll use Cubase or Logic, but recently I’ve been using Garageband. If you use a studio, what do you record there and what do you record by yourself and why? We record all “releasable” material at a studio.  I like to take the recording pressure off of me and focus on the performance.  It’s luxurious to have someone else working the knobs and getting the correct levels, etc. However, I always brief my engineers beforehand that I am very hands-on in the control room, lots of ideas and visions for the correct sounds I want, and it’s usually not a problem at all. What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why?  I do wish that I had more tracks to record on, so I would say an 8-track would be very sweet. Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it’s the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? The next time we hit the studio it will be to record an EP.  We will be producing it.  I feel that the three of us in EULA have an immense amount of creativity when it comes to sounds and mood we want to convey, so I’m pretty confident in our producing abilities.  However, we’d love to work with someone like David Byrne or Fred Schneider to produce our next full-length.  That’d be incredible. Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them.  I am all about analog when recording.  I am not a gear head, so my go-to pedals are minimal but they mean very much to me – my Boss BD-2 Blues Driver for distortion, and my Boss DD-3 Digital Delay for effect. Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? When I listen to a rock record, I want to feel like the band is in the same room as me.  I want the recording to capture the energy of the music.  This is what we strive for as a post-punk-noise-rock band – when you listen to our recordings, I want it to feel like we are playing next to you in the living room.  It’s live, its kinetic, its delightful.  I prefer recording all instruments in one room, all at once, more live than sectioned-off, just because it feels more organic and natural.  I am not against overdubbing, but I like to keep it to a minimum.  As for vocals, I prefer singing out of a PA (and micing the PA), it gives a live & natural effect. Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? The three of us in EULA determine everything – we are pretty democratic in that sense.  Sometimes I turn into Tyrant mode when we are working on a particular song of mine, but I’m always nice and considerate about it. However, when it comes down to it – I will fight til death to get my point/sound across. Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? We recorded our debut LP Maurice Narcisse with William Readey and Matthew Thomas of Fuzzy Rainbow Studios in New Haven, CT.   The two of them took us under their recording wing and pushed our sonic landscapes into uncharted territory – it felt good to think out of the box on some tracks. There are a few electronic beat-driven tracks on Maurice (which we are not used to doing!), so the recordings were more slick and produced.  However, the title track “Dirty Hands”, as well as “Maurice Narcisse” and “Texas Stampede” were recorded much more dirtily and raw, exactly what we wanted.  Then the last track, “Hollow Cave”, was done in one intimate take because it is a very intimate song. Shout out to those boys, they’re ridiculously talented and a joy to work with.  As far as live sound goes, that is all EULA.  We’ve perfected it over the years and take pride in it. What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? I am a huuuuge PJ Harvey fan so her work with Steve Albini is at the top of my list.  The way he captured her raw power on Rid of Me was just incredible.  I always strive for rawness and capturing that live kinetic energy in our music.  But then there is the opposite side of the spectrum, someone like Nigel Godrich or Brian Deck that can make beautiful lush sounding recordings. Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show?  Both?  Neither? Live performance for me is first and foremost.  Writing a song in your bedroom then playing it out LIVE is the most beautiful and rewarding feeling.  Next is capturing that live sound onto a recording for people to listen to – so yes the live show absolutely informs the recording process. Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? My Fender DeVille guitar amp paired with my BOSS blues driver and digital delay pedals have become my “sound”.  I always prefer a heady tube amp because it pairs so nicely with my spastic guitar style of playing.  Like peanut butter and raspberry jelly.

With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.?  Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? We do everything ourselves.  From the records we produce to the clothes I wear onstage to the website and record design – all of if is EULA.  However, we love to collaborate with other artists.  We have some really great photographer and videographer friends that we’ve done photo and video work with, and its an amazing experience to work with these great minds toward a common goal of artistic deliciousness. What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? The most challenging aspect of recording is doing the multiple takes – if we don’t capture something on the first take, I have a hard time doing take after take after take… it begins to sound forced and unnatural.  So, we step away for an hour, work on something else, then try again.  The most rewarding aspect is capturing that beautiful sound that you are striving for.  For a mood/sound to originate in your brain then become concrete on tape . . . it’s amazing.

		Stone Cold Fox's Gear :      Apogee Duet 2
		" I've started stripping down my home setup to a bare bones Pro Tools set up with an Apogee Duet 2"

There are some records you bring along for a hike through your day, and a precious few that grab you by the hand and lead you down their own path for the time it takes to listen through. For new(ish) group Stone Cold Fox, 'The Young EP' possesses such a power. From the moment you'll hear Kevin Olken Henthorn's screaming tenor over the hook in opener 'Pictures,' you'll be in it for the album's duration. Like folksy powerhouses Arcade Fire and local wunderkids The Freelance Whales, this duo's energy sneaks up from behind and overtakes you, and pretty soon you're covered in sweat and have forgotten once again to do the dishes. We had a chat with Kevin and Ariel to discuss their recording process. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio?  Ariel: We do all of our demos and pre-production at home and then record in a studio. I find investing the time and effort preparing in pre-production makes for a more enjoyable recording experience once you get into the studio with a better final product. If you use a studio, what do you record there and what do you record by yourself and why?  Ariel: Depending on budget, we'll do some of the guitar, vocal, bass tracks in a project studio or at home, but we will always invest in a fully equipped studio with a good sounding live room for drums. For this record, we recorded everything in the studio. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home?  Kevin: We have a Violet Amethyst microphone that I really dig. As far as guitars go I usually go with my Gibson Studio Les Paul for the home studio recordings. Ariel: I've started stripping down my home setup to a bare bones Pro Tools set up with an Apogee Duet 2. I find that with plugins I can pretty much accomplish what I need to and still find inspiring sounds. What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why? Ariel: A small Neve console like a Melbourne or a sidecar for tracking and summing. Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it's the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? Kevin: In the past, Ariel has done all the producing and engineering. We worked with Joel Hamilton for "Seventeen" because we really wanted to get a new take on the song. I think our next record will be a mix of both. We absolutely loved working with Joel and it was an amazing experience, but it really depends song by song. Ariel: I enjoy doing a lot of the production, it helps with budgeting and also sometimes it's easier just to do things yourself when you know how you want it. There are things when working with a producer such as experience and a different angle of objectivity that cannot be imitated or DIY. Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them? Ariel: I think our sound comes from the songwriting and arrangements more than effects. Our sounds are not too experimental so we tend to stick with pretty traditional stuff, though I am a big fan of Sound Toys Decapitator, I tend to use it a lot while tracking and mixing. I enjoy the saturation it gives the signal and helps give a transparent in-the-box recording some character. A lot of times I prefer plugins over pedals or effects, it's faster and more convenient during the demo and songwriting process and also easily recallable. Waves GTR gets a lot of use for it's amp simulation and stomp boxes. During the recording process, we'll go with the real stuff. Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? Ariel: I don't have a specific recording style that I go for. I studied production in school and have done internships where I've had the pleasure of sitting in on Steve Albini sessions to sessions with Flood producing and James Brown engineering. That combined with my own trial and errors and habits I've developed, my recording style and techniques are a collective of all that I've soaked in being around many different engineers and producers with varying styles and backgrounds. There are some things you learn that just work and some that won't. You'll never go wrong with a 57 on a snare. Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? K- If Ariel is producing it he will really direct that outcome, but it is always a lot of back and forth. Ariel and I tend to disagree a lot, which is actually great because by doing so we realize what the song needs and what it doesn't need. In a situation with an outside producer though, Ariel and I may do that process at the demo level, but the final say goes to the producer. Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? K- Not really. A: We are pretty self sufficient but we always love hearing criticism and feedback from our close friends and family about out demo's, unreleased versions of recordings, and our live show. What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? Ariel: Radiohead. Kevin and I both draw heavy influences from them in songwriting and arrangement but their recordings are also amazing. A lot of the classics such as the creativity and pioneering in Beatles recordings, the clarity and beauty in Dark Side of the Moon, and Zeppelin drum sounds are all great recording influences. Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show? Both? Neither? K- It really depends on the song. For our last EP, The Young, the recording process totally dictated our live show because we had not even formed a full band yet. We built our live sound around our recordings. But there are other songs that we have been playing live as a band for awhile now and by doing so it has totally determined the outcome of the recordings. We recently record a song called "Know Myself" at Converse's Rubber Track Studio in Brooklyn and I found that because we had been playing it live for so long it limited our creative outlook on it because we were unable to see it with a fresh lens. I personally love to take a new song and at least get it in demo form immediately so we can really craft and perfect it before bringing it to live performance. Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? Ariel: I use Apple MainStage for my live rig. It is extremely useful and convenient, I can fully customize patches and pull samples from the recordings to use in our live set. I lets me have unlimited sounds without having to gig with a couple different keyboards. However, I would love to have the luxury to one day gig with my Juno 60. With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.? Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? K- We do the vast majority of these things ourselves. We are lucky in the fact that we all come from different backgrounds. I was a film major in school so I tend to take care of things on that end. We also have a handful of friends that are amazing photographers. A- I do a large amount of the miscellaneous graphic design for the web, show posters, etc. I enjoy doing design and typography as a hobby so it's pleasant and useful to be able to do some of that for the band. We'll get outside help on our bigger, more important design jobs. I also do a lot of our social media and oversee general image and branding. What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Ariel: The preproduction is the most challenging part, because you have no idea what you're doing yet. Once that's all done everything is in context and recording is enjoyable. The most rewarding part is when you're printing the final mix.  

		The Babies' Gear: Tascam DP-008
		" Kevin and I both have Tascam DP-008s that we use when recording on our own. "

The Babies, who are a bit of a "super band" consisting of key members of both The Vivian Girls (Singer/Guitarist-Cassie Ramone) and Woods (Bassist-Kevin Morby), seem to have polished up their sound this time around with their 2012 sophomore release "Our House on the Hill". Cassie and Kevin took some time to answer a few questions we had about their recording process. Here's what they had to say: How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? Our latest record was recorded in a nice studio. Our first album was technically recorded at Kevin's house, but it was a studio-like setup, recorded by Kevin's bandmate in Woods, Jarvis Taveniere. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home?  Kevin and I both have Tascam DP-008s that we use when recording on our own.

	Backwords' Gear: CAD Equitek E-100
	" I was never a mic expert, but these 90's CADS are fairly cheap, sound clean and a little vintage, and have done the trick on so many Backwords recordings. "

Our friends at The Deli NYC are big fans Backwords' chilled and poli-instrumental approach to psych-folk-pop, and we also appreciate their not too lo-fi recordings (we feel like this "ultra-lo-fi" thing is getting a little out of hand here in NYC... it's time to make things sound decent!). Mixing old timey music with gentle psychedelic pop influences reminiscent of Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, this band creates soothing musing - but weirdly so, in a lo key, unassuming, almost bucolic kind of way. We asked them our usual questions about recording. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio?  In 2007, I (Brian Russ) started recording tracks on a borrowed laptop using the first edition of Garageband and the built in Apple iBook microphone to capture every instrument or vocal.  After getting about 5 or 6 songs down piece by piece, I started a "Backwords" Myspace page (remember Myspace?!) and circulated the music among friends and musicians.  A couple of us started jamming on the tunes - and before we knew it - we decided - let's get ourselves in a "real" studio and do some versions of these + other songs.  The band was formed in Brooklyn, but all of it's original members were from Philadelphia.  And a couple of us literally lived in Philly at the time as well - so we often went back and forth splitting our rehearsal time and playing shows in both towns equally. But the first thing we ever did as a band was record and album.  This was done in 7 around-the-clock sweaty August days and nights at our friend Jared's house in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Jared had transformed his bedroom into a pretty legit recording space.  When it came time to sleep he moved some amps out of the way each night and pulled down a mattress that leaned against the wall.  We only took breaks for hoagies and the occasional VHS viewing that week.  This wild session turned into our first album "Factory Angels." About a year later, after having some shows under our belt, we followed that up with an EP recorded again at Jared's Philly studio/bedroom, called "The Buffalo Still Roam." Then some members of the bands went their separate ways, and we kind of lost our strong Philly connection, so we decided - since we live in Brooklyn - let's start recording in Brooklyn.  Over the years, being music weirdos, we all amassed a modest collection of vintage mics, toys, pedals, gear and instruments.  We only needed a few missing pieces to built our somewhat low-budget but nifty little recording studio here in our home in Lefferts Gardens.  We call it Campers' Rule Records - and have since recorded a bunch of friends bands besides our own. So our last two albums "Quilt" and "By the Neck" were completely recorded here at Campers' Rule Records.  The major advantage here was being able to take our time and experiment with different sounds and ideas as much as possible.  We were able to start incorporating non-traditional instrumentation and arrangements - started throwing banjos, accordions, Casio beats, violins and other bells in whistles into the songs.  Since there was no real "clock" to be watching there was no reason not to try anything. Possibly even more key to our sound was having the freedom to really pick apart the vocals and getting some really interesting harmony parts down bit-by-bit.  It really takes us a while to figure out who will be singing what - we'll often say, "let's do this part like a Beach Boys harmony," or "let's do this like the Ronettes or something" - but we really don't have a clue what that means musically - so we just experiment until the harmonies feel right.  Recording at home has been great for that. So up until this point, Backwords has always been a "home recording" band.  What's interesting here though is - we've just decided we're not going to do it like that anymore. In August we booked some time at a more pro music studio (5D Studios in Sunset Park) and worked with a dedicated non-band-member engineer/mixer, Babi Pal.  We're totally excited about this because we've often been pegged as "lo-fi" (which we like!) but we're looking to sort of clean up the sound, and really focus primarily on being musicians  who play instruments this time around. If you use a studio, what do you record there and what do you record by yourself and why? We did these August recordings almost completely live allowing for some real bleed-in between all the instruments and room mics.  Over the next few months, we'll be recording some overdub DI tracks outside of the studio in our our home to really add that psychedelic element to the songs.  We figure a DI signal on a Reason synth, Nord or Korg is going to practically sound the same in any environment.  But all drums, bass, guitars and vocals have been done in the studio this time around. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home? I started using early model made-in-the-USA CAD microphones from the 90s mainly because I was finding them pretty easily on Craigslist and Ebay.  I feel in love with their versatility and the Equitek E-200 in particular I've used for so many different applications - all of our vocals are recorded on it, I used it to mic guitar amps.  I've set it up as a room mic, recorded acoustic guitars, violins and all of it came out sounding really natural with a nice overall balance between high and low end sounds.  I was never an expert on microphones, but these 90's CADS are fairly cheap, sound clean, a little vintage, and have done the trick on so many Backwords recordings. I also use an original CAD Equitek E-100 - really great on the kick drum (something I've recently discovered) but - this mic uses internal 9 volt batteries and stopped working on me recently.  I tried troubleshooting it myself, then reached out to CAD (something that wasn't easy) and finally the dude told me he can't offer any help on their older gear and couldn't even recommend a licensed repair tech in the NYC area… so that was a little weird… Also, we like to light a lot of sage while recording - maybe that smokiness comes out in our tunes?  I'll bet the mics pick that up.   What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why? Always wished I could afford/acquire a really old tube driven vocal preamp.  Or maybe a modern rendition like the Manely 40MP Mono Tube Preamp.  Something to really spice up the old human voice!     Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it’s the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? Luckily we just got to work a bit with our good friend Babi at 5D Studios in Sunset Park.  Babi has a nice understanding of Backwords and what we're setting out to do musically.  Whenever this next album is finished - he's going to be the most important factor in the overall sound of it. Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them. When we recorded back in Philly with Jared, he swore by the Nuendo software and had tons of plugins and effects that he would pull up and throw on stuff.  When we started recording on our own, I swore by Garageband - and to be honest on our last two recordings - there are cases where I chose a DI guitar running through a "fake" digital Garageband amp over mic-ing a real amp.  I've use Garageband effects to their fullest - everything from the built in compressors, to the reverbs and overdrives.  A lot of people think you can't really do much with Garageband or that it sounds too digital, but there is plenty of tweaking that can be done on the stock effects and you can get into some weird zones where you're not sure how you just got that effect to do what it just did and it's super cool. People sometimes tell us that our recordings sound really natural and organic - but when I think about it, there's tons of crappy stock digital Garageband effects on everything - so I'm not sure how we achieved that! Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? I like to fully demo a song on my own before showing it to, and then recording it, with the band.  If I write a song, I tend to sit down with it and let it stew for a while, figure out all the basic skeletons in terms of rhythm section, arrangements, layers as well as get a few interesting instrumental things going.  Luckily, I've had the luxury of just sitting at any and every instrument here at our little studio and fully demoing out every piece of a song. After sharing these demos with everyone - we all pick them apart and everyone chimes in with their thoughts and new ideas - then we rehearse them a bunch, everyone adds their unique voice and then start recording. Tim Pioppo, our bass player, also writes songs in the band - and his style is a bit different.  He'll come to us with a basic idea, and we'll all work  it out together and develop an arrangement by playing it over and over on the spot. Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? We pretty much have been doing this all ourselves.  I personally have produced/mixed our last two albums - so their sound is as close as to what I hear in my head as I've ever been able to get on a recording, I guess.  We'll see how different things sound now that we've stepped out of the basement for this next one... Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound? Our buddy Will Pollard used to stealth tape our live shows - in the vein of Grateful Dead live bootlegs and stuff - that was pretty cool - although we never wanted to listen to them. What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? When Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out and the subsequent film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart - I really thought - yeah, these guys are doing this right - this is the way to record.  Have your own gear, your own space - and allow yourself the time to really let songs reach their full potential.  A lot of songs on that album are just simple folk progressions - but the arrangements are so cool.  There's a part where Jeff Tweedy says something like, we try to erase as much guitar from each song as we possibly can and allow for other instruments to take over - and I've always kept that in mind.  Too much guitar can ruin songs - especially when there is an opportunity to really play with dynamics in the studio.  Also, I can't tell you how many Phil Spector, George Martin, and the making of Pet Sounds videos and Youtube clips I've watched at this point. Lastly - wanted to say that we've been really inspired by some of the late 60s early 70s Neil Young and Crazy Horse recordings - such as Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and Tonight's the Night.  A couple of us recently read the Neil biography Shakey - man, he did some wacky stuff - like would only record on full moons, or make everyone wear sunglasses and record in the dark, or even force people to play instruments they didn't know how to play.  Love all of it. It's also fun to watch the making of The Dark Side of the Moon.  It seems as if those epic Glimore solos are just one take out of millions that he probably threw away.  Could that be possible?   Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show?  Both?  Neither? This has always been a hard one to figure out.  There are things on the recordings you'll never get live out of us.  And there's something special about the direction a live show can go that you'll never hear on one of our recordings, we like to think. Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? We like the stage to smell nice - so our drummer John always lights incense - unless told not to by the venue (which sometimes happens). With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.?  Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? Well - in the history of our existence we've done a lot of things on our own like - sown together banners with our logo on them - designed album artwork and posters, screen-printed our own t-shirts, ran our own web, Facebook, Bandcamp and all that - but that said, we try to cultivate a collection of artists and friends as much as we can. Our friend Brad Haubrich - an amazing artist out of Philly - designed at least something on every one of our 4 releases, whether it be the front and back cover, the inside art, the CD itself or any and all of the above. Our friend Jenelle Campion (who the band is inadvertently named after) actually designed and sowed the quilt (complete with eagle in mid-flight) you see on the front of our record Quilt.  She also stitched each song title for the back cover. Jim Chupka has designed posters, stickers, and took many a photo of the band. Ali Maggy, Ben Johnson and Kenny Abdo have all directed multiple music videos. Christine Rath has contributed some significant artwork to the band and continues to help out. Basically we reach out to our artist friends all the time for a little help - and over the years they have been so kind with contributing to the Backwords vibe.  We love them all and wish we could employ them with a steady salary!  Or at least take them out to tacos and beers once a month! What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of the recording process? On the flipside, what aspects are the most rewarding? Recording music is one of the most amazing things in the world to me.  I love every part of the process.  From the tedious volume slider, to the 100th different mic placement - it's such a huge undertaking with a result you kind of have no idea what will finally sound like.  Your whole mind, body and soul gets maxed out.  It's really far out - like taking acid or going on a backpacking trip through the Amazon.  The whole thing is a challenge and new problems come up the further you get into it - and I think that's why we love it.  It's just a magical way to explore everything a human being is capable of doing - then put that together with a group of friends and it all multiplies by billions.  

		Foxygen's Gear: Drum Lamps
		" We like old stuff, guitars, rollerblades, stuff like that. I drum on groovy old lamps sometimes. "

A bit of advice: If you've just listened to the first track off Foxygen's debut LP 'Take The Kids Off Broadway' and are a bit puzzled, don't worry! That's just the band shifting your brain cells around to prepare you for what comes next. 'Make it Known' makes Ariel Pink's 'Hold On' sound halfhearted... hell, this song could be our new anthem if we're not careful. But that's probably not what they had in mind. A lot of this duo's music feels entirely off the cuff, even while sounding like a lot of time was spent on these tracks. Occupying that historical space somewhere between hippie psychedelia like 13th Floor Elevators, and glam rock like Roxy Music, it's hard to tell what era this music exists in. Frankly, this is a band that can't seem to make up their mind about much of anything, and it's probably for the best. The twin vocals of songwriting team Sam France and Jonathan Rado seem to switch genre entirely mid-verse or mid-hook, going from a tumult of horns and organs to jangly guitar and back again. Leader-of-the-pack motorcycle rock n' roll gives way to Shirelles fanfare and Beach Boy anthem, all fronted by something close to Mick Jagger... it's retrolicious, through and through. If all this sounds looney tunes, well... it kinda is. But maybe I'm just being old-fashioned. As Foxygen says themselves: "How could I love someone if I'm not willing to change?" Bedroom production aside, this is the clearest representation of something new I've heard in quite some time. I have to ask: How does your writing process work, especially when you both live across the country from one another... Are you composing while sequestered in your places across the country, or does the music come together as a group? SF:  We recorded Take The Kids Off Broadway when we were living together in New York. We share a psychic vision of the album, I make up the title, we think of the album cover and go from there. JR:  A lot has been made of us being a "bicoastal" band but the truth is that we're not doing a Postal Service thing or anything. We live in different places, but we always record and play in the same place. We're both on the west coast right now. Monocoastal. Is every sound I'm hearing recorded live, or do you incorporate samples too? SF: We record all the stuff, there may have been a few Charles Manson jams that we sampled but I cant remember if that made the cut. JR: Oh, they're in there. Are you interested in recording at a regular studio, or are you dedicated to a lower fidelity? JR: I wouldn't say we're dedicated to a lower fidelity, either, Take The Kids Off Broadway was supposed to be a really clean album - like an ELO album or something. We did that to the best of our abilities. We just didn't really know what we were doing. How much of your recording is done at home versus in the studio? SF: TTKOB was recorded in our apartment in Queens. On four tracks and laptops. JR: I don't like the idea of a studio with the glass windows and stuff, you know? except Abbey Road, it would be cool to record there, I guess. What are the pieces of equipment that you find particularly inspiring when recording at home? (Please mention the brand and model name and say why you like it) SF: Eh, ask Rado. We like old stuff, guitars, rollerblades, stuff like that. I drum on groovy old lamps sometimes. JR: We had this cool old string synth called a PAIA Stringz n Thingz- it was a like a build-it-yourself thing from the 70's. It's on almost every song in some capacity. it's broken now. the top register shorted out. What one piece of hardware/software would you most like to add to your recording setup (cost not an issue)? Why? JR:  I'd like to get some old Neumanns and a nice 24 track Studermachine. A really nice McCartney II set up. SF: I would like to get some older computers. It'd be nice to have a land telephone line, and intercom systems for me and Rado to communicate throughout the house or whatever. JR: Our dream studio's kind of like a submarine. Do you expect your next record to be self-produced, or would you like to work with a producer? If it’s the latter, who would you most like to produce your band, and why? JR: We're gonna do the next one ourselves and then the one after that will be produced by Richard Swift. Do you use rack effects or guitar pedals to forge your own sound? If you do, please list the ones you use the most and let us know why you love them. JR. All that we had on Broadway was an echo pedal. The rest was straight into tape or straight into computer or whatever. We have more stuff now. Now we have a real space echo and some nice reverbs and stuff. Do you have a particular recording style that you aim for? What techniques do you employ to recreate it? JR: I'm not sure. I just heard that song "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart today for the first time in a while. I really like how that song sounds. I think it would be cool to do a song like that. Who determines the direction and style of your recordings? JR: Both of us. We've been doing this for a long time. We don't even really talk that much when we record anymore. Is there a person outside the band that's been important in perfecting your recorded or live sound?  JR: Our friend Luke Suzumoto is a genius artist and has always kind of been around in some capacity while we've recorded. He's doing our next album cover. I don't know if he's affected our sound at all, but it just seems wrong without Luke around. My girlfriend Jackie Cohen sings on broadway and shes played with us live a few times, and we love it when she sings with us. Our friends in the bands Crumbs and Holy Komodo play in our live band. Earlier on, the band Tessas Interstellar Eclipse was like a brother band to us. Check out their MySpace. What other artists would you say have had the biggest influence in your approach to recording? Why? JR: Richard Swift, Fleetwood Mac, King Tubby, the Kinks. SF: And Brian Eno. Beatles. Would you say that your live show informs your recording process or that your recording process informs your live show?  Both?  Neither? JR: We're trying to work out a set thats just me and Sam on old organs and drum machines like Suicide. Is there a piece of equipment that you find particularly useful on stage? (Please mention the brand and model name and say why you like it) JR: I have a guitar that I really like, I think it's a Fender. SF: That sounds like an asshole thing to say. Rado has a children's electric guitar from the 50's. Actually maybe that's true that he doesn't know the brand. Talking about "gear" is funny. JR: It is funny. I was kidding. I know it's a Fender. With bands doing more of everything themselves these days (recording, performing, self-promoting, etc.) and the evermore multimedia nature of the world, how much effort do you put into the visual component of your band - fashion, styling, photography, graphic/web design, etc.?  Do you do these things yourself or is there someone that the band works with? JR: We always did the art. We put out a version of TTKOB on our label Breakfast Horse & it had a cover we made. Swift drew the picture on the new cover of TTKOB for Jag. They didn't like our old cover but they liked it for the back cover. That's the brakes. The new one's based on a photo that our friend Angel took. SF: I handle the fashion, we definitely don't have a stylist but I would be down in some capacity. JR: Is it cool if I start wearing cowboy hats? - by Nancy Kuo