Over the years, I've been lucky enough to have been a part of the recording process of many local bands. Some bands come in with a skeleton of their material and they flesh it out as a band in the studio, some bands relinquish all trust in me to guide along their tones and arrangements, and some bands come in just simply needing me to hit "record" for them. Regardless of the mission at hand, it's always a learning experience for me.
Brain Cave
(Mike Bellis - Guitar/Vocals, Matt Ducey- Drums, Josh Snyder - Bass/Vocals)
Bands like Brain Cave are a great example of a band that does all the work for me. They've been rehearsing the songs for months, arranging all their pedals and adjusting their tones just right, and are eager for the first step of the album process to begin. It creates a trust in the work flow that allows both sides to be more engulfed in the sometimes tedious process.
The first time I got to work with these guys they were releasing a few songs for an EP, "Weight To Relax." Everyone was on time, excited, and full of ideas. I instantly got the feeling that these guys respected each other personally and musically. We worked quickly and worked hard on those EP's. It feels we've all come so far since then. As serious as we took those previous sessions a few years back, it seems like child's play compared to working on this full length.
This full length was a big deal for everyone. I never take it lightly when a band returns to do another session, and doing two EP's was an honor enough. Then I was told that Jonathan Nuñez of Torche would be handling the mixing and it brought a level of pressure and excitement that I honestly have never felt before. This was a big chunk of important music to these now friends of mine, being handed off to someone everyone involved looked up to greatly. Time for us to be put to the test!
Ducey and I brought all of our secret weapons to the table, listed them all out, and started planning which mics would go where and why. We had a very detailed reference list from Jonathan. We ended up with a blend of all three of our ideas for things before tracking. Ducey has a clear vision on what he wants and sometimes that can create some temporarily tense moments, but it always come from a good heart with the end result in mind. It's always important to keep an open mind when aiming for new sounds and specific results, which luckily everyone has. Some techniques that may work every time for one thing, may be the downfall to another. Keeping all of that in mind, we got levels quite quickly and started tracking the following day.
One of the key elements I saw to help this record along was taking our time. Seeing things to their logical closure point. I promised these guys 100% of my studio space and schedule to make this a comfortable project. That and a table full of snacks every session ensures we can continue to respect not just each other, but the music itself.
Each session we make great progress. Each song has at least 16 tracks of guitar and almost as many for bass as well. There always seem to be that one song, or one verse that trips someone up somewhere but with all the layering and tracking we're doing, it hasn't even remotely slowed anyone down. The vibe with these guys is a genuinely cool blend of hilarious and hard working. I'm always looking forward to driving out there on session days.
So keep your eyes peeled for this full length in the next few months here. We've got one or two more vocal sessions and then we're sending that bulky folder over to Jonathan. Then it's his problem to mix and we can go back to the snacks.
Be sure to follow and download all of their current material on their various social media platforms:
- Novak
