Great Magnet at SharkBite studios

We went into the studio on Saturday with the goal of laying down 3 more songs. After a hefty breakfast at Nation's, we cruised down to Sharkbite studios to meet our recording engineers Adam S. and Adam M. The studio is pro and very well laid out. Legend has it that the monstrous mixing board was used to record Steely Dan's Aja album as well as mix tracks on Pink Floyd's The Wall. Yowsa.

We loaded in and got mic'd up. Jose's drums got the full treatment, with mics on every piece of his kit, including one room mic that captured the live essence. Ollie's and my amp were run into 4x12 speaker cabinets placed in isolation booths and covered by two mics each. Martin's bass went direct in to the board through a tube DI box.

We got our tones and started rolling. First up was The Lesson. We all played together in the big live room, and then went back for vocal and guitar solo overdubs later. We pretty much nailed it in three takes, and then continued on to Groove and By Your Side. Time between songs was minimal thanks in part to very subtle changes in amp tone; there wasn't much to adjust as far as our instruments went.

After recording as a group, we all shuffled into the control room as the Adams set up the vocal mic, complete with pop filter screen, in the big room. They played back The Lesson as Ollie sang the lead vocal lines. We watched from behind the double-paned glass. He dubbed over himself on the chorus to thicken it up.

I was next and headed in to sing lead on Groove and By Your Side. Jose came in after me and sang back up on Groove, followed by Ollie singing backup on By Your Side. Relieved that we were done with vocals, I started to prepare for my guitar solos.

I played solos on all three songs. Live, I stick with a few rough patterns, but recorded, I had to be consistent and precise. I dragged my Rectoverb into the control room and grinded through all three solos. It was not the most historical moment in guitar history, but I was pleased with the final outcome.

We wrapped things up and headed out into the night. The next step is to truck back up to Santa Rosa for final mixdown and last-minute overdubs. It was a good day.

We're rolling...

We are finally heading back into the studio this weekend to record a couple of more songs and touch up some existing tracks. This time we will be at SharkBite Studios in Oakland, with Adam of Great Magnet as our engineer.

We are becoming accustomed to the recording process, and realizing each time the huge disparities between playing live and laying down tracks. Somewhere in there lies the balance- the fine line between sounding too raw or too sterile. The trick is to maintain the energy of a live show while exhibiting the precision and timing of a studio session.

The process itself can be a little nerve-wracking, but we love every minute of it. It's like everything else that looks easy until you try to do it yourself. One more rehearsal, and we are ready to put it on wax!