3/13/11 - IPR Studios

Studio Diary - Tony (3/13/11)

This was the second weekend in a row that by happy circumstance I was able to book a lot of time in studio 4 at IPR. Anthony was there and Brandon was able to be there this time, too. Unfortunately, Dustin was working again. So we missed him again.

The day started with Brandon laying down some bass on "On the Sidewalk." This was my first time recording bass, so it was kind of an experimental day. I had spoken with my buddy Collin a couple days earlier and we came up with some ideas for bass mic setup and such. So I employed some of those ideas and had fun with it. Brandon came in and knocked it out of the park like a pro. We got all the bugs out and did a few takes and called it good on that tune.

After taking a brief break to go pee, we reconvened in 4 and Anthony taught Brandon the chords and structure of "Piper." Because, though the other members of the band had previously played the song incessantly, it hasn't been played for years, meaning Brandon had never even heard it. But Anthony laid it out for him and asked him he accepted the mission put before him. Not surprisingly, he said yes.

After a few practice runs, he got the feel for the tune, and added his own flava to it as well. He put some licks and fills that we would not have thought of into the tune. He really helped to make a juvenile and monotonous song a bit more interesting and enjoyable. So to those of you reading that were with us in the old days, this song is coming back (at least in recorded form) and it's better than it was before.

We wrapped on bass recording and I set up the room for vocal takes, since Anthony did not get a chance to track vocals on "Piper" last week. As usual, Anthony was very consistent in his vocal and double vocal tracking. It didn't take too long to lock it down. It went so well that we finished up all we wanted to finish with two hours to spare. The dudes left, I cleaned up and worked on some school work.

All that's left on these tracks are guitars by Dustin on both songs and some background vocals by me on "Piper."

It's coming along. I love doing this stuff, and I have ideas for more songs to work on in future sessions. If you, the reader, have any suggestions for songs of ours you'd like to hear recorded, suggest them either in the comments below or on Junebug's Facebook profile.

...tony...

 

3/6/11 - IPR Studios

Studio Diary - Tony (3/6/11)

So begins a new chapter in this storied history of ours. Here's the thing: Junebug has so much material, old and new. Now that there are TWO members of the band (Dustin and Tony) that are capable of running recording sessions, there is no reason not to record our stuff. The way I (tony) see it, there should never be a time from here on out that we don't have something in production. So we decided to start.

As you may or may not know, we recorded our first studio album Share at the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis. It just so happens that now I am a student at IPR and have access to the studios. So why not take advantage of that? I'm going to be in the studios anyway, recording stuff, so I might as well use it to Junebug's advantage, y'know?

We came in to record a couple songs. As you know, Anthony is a very concept-driven person when it comes to albums, and these are songs that may not have a place on any upcoming albums. These are intended to be ancillary to any albums we put out. They're simply online releases for our fans. But these songs serve two purposes: 1.) I (as a new producer/engineer) personally want to put them out, and 2.) we want to have a semi-regular flow of content even between our regular long-play albums.

So my buddy Collin Crawford and I booked studio 7 at IPR for the afternoon and by happy circumstance, we were able to book studio 4 for the evening. I set up my drums and Collin and I set up the mics as we had planned them to be set up. I told Anthony to arrive a little later than our initial scheduled time so that we had a chance to get good drum sounds without wasting his time. It was only Anthony and me today. Dustin had to work and Brandon's sister came to town last-minute. But no matter. We could easily get preliminary tracks with just him and me, with Collin's help running the session while I sat behind the drums.

If you're not yet familiar with our "new" song "On the Sidewalk," you may be familiar with a similar song from Share. Basically, we're doing a cover of one of our own songs, "Chosen Ones," just in a different style. Think of Paul Simon on the beach, and you might have an idea of how it will sound.

We got the drums done first, while we got scratch tracks of Anthony's guitar and vocal. It's a simple drum part, with a stripped down kit as you can see in the photo above. I got what I needed in three takes.

Next, we tore down the kit and reconfigured the room to record Anthony's acoustic guitar. He got it in about three takes as well. Pretty quick work. We grabbed some vocals from Anthony and some background vocals from me, and it was an afternoon.

But the day wasn't over, since our studio 4 time was just beginning. We trotted on over, and since we had already gotten everything form "On the Sidewalk" that we could get from the two of us, we wanted to do something else. We had free studio time, after all. You might as well use it. Anthony and I were trying to figure out what to lay down, and I recalled a conversation earlier in the day. I had asked Anthony what songs he might want to put out for this "flow of content" idea. He said he definitely wanted to do "Piper" sometime. It's a song from the old Junebug days. We played it at our first show. But by tonight, we hadn't played it for several years.

That changed tonight, however.

After sitting for years on the shelf, getting dusty, we pulled "Piper" down and decided breathe some life back into her. Collin and I got a drum mic setup going and Collin set up Anthony's guitar amp and a scratch vocal mic. We recorded live, at the same time, which is pretty appropriate for this song. It's kind of a dirty, gritty, twangy, surfy kind of thing. So it fit.

We got all the drum and guitar takes we needed. We figured we'd get vocals for that tune, but we were having technical issues and Anthony had to get going anyway. So then we actually did call it a night.

Well, for Junebug stuff anyway. Collin and I stuck around to work on stuff for school since we had the studio time. As it turned out, I was at IPR, in the studio, from 1:00 p.m. until about 2:30 a.m. It was a long day, but it was productive and great.

Junebug is officially back in the studio. And now I hope we never leave.

...tony...