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<\/p>\nThis “reassuring psych-folk aggregation” featured in issue #53. Here’s JOE BANKS\u00a0full interview the piece was based on<\/b><\/p>\n
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Shindig!<\/strong><\/em>: The album has a real “live” sound to it \u2013 how much of it was recorded live in the studio?<\/p>\n Noel<\/strong>: \u00a0Yeah, good ears! It was recorded almost entirely live in a tiny studio tracking room. We crammed in, did our best to point our amps at different corners of the room to manage bleed and stuff (didn\u2019t really work) and banged out the songs in a weekend. We had been rehearsing all together in a room about the same size so it seemed to make the most sense to give it a go in that \u201clive\u201d format for visual cues for changes, etc. Some of the songs were still a bit loose by the time we hit the studio. Meg recorded all of her vocals after the fact. We couldn\u2019t have pulled that off in the live room. Plus, it gave her the time and space to build some really nice harmonies that we\u2019d obviously never even heard prior. It was an exciting building process. There were very few instrument overdubs and when they do pop up on the record, I think they\u2019re pretty transparent and their intention clear. I were allowed access to best of both worlds by preserving the live energy of the way the group plays together while being also able to give Meg the time and space to focus and experiment with vocals.<\/p>\n Shindig!<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0How important is improvisation and the ambience of the space you\u2019re recording in?<\/p>\n Noel<\/strong>: (I think I might be misunderstanding the question but it seems like two questions here, bear with me\u2026) A good majority of the album\u2019s songs were born out of 20 minute improvisations that we would go back and listen to and try to pick parts from. Most of the solo sections were left pretty wide open. A lot of that improv was solidified by the recording process. \u00a0After listening back over and over again and choosing one take over another, some of the looser\/improv parts become more concrete and and part of the identity of the song. Every guitar solo Charlie and I played in the studio was drastically different take-to-take. Some of those stuck after the mixing process and some of them remain as pure improv sections for the guitars. One of the core concepts of the group is to make opportunities for the guitars to rise up and scorch everything to dust at.<\/p>\n As far as the space we\u2019re recording in, I don\u2019t think that concerns us much. Even if we had the luxury of recording in a huge studio, we probably would have set up standing a few feet a part from each other to keep the energy alive.<\/p>\n Shindig!<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0Are all songs group compositions or does each one have a lead writer?<\/p>\n Noel<\/strong>: \u00a0Yeah, they\u2019re all group compositions. There might be a song or two where I brought most all of the parts in and they remained relatively intact but they would sound nothing like the record had they not gone through our collaborative process. Nobody writes parts for anyone else to play. Sometimes I would bring in something that I thought was a verse section but was missing a chorus. Often times that verse would be suggested as a chorus and then someone else would come up with the verse, turning the whole idea on its head. \u00a0I\u2019m sure this is how lots of records are made. Some songs were probably us cramming two people\u2019s different ideas and some improv piece into song and taking it from there. Honestly, when all is said and done, it\u2019s hard for me to even discern where all the parts even came from. The process took a lot of rehearsal taping, notes exchanges, and being open to and trusting each other\u2019s arrangement suggestions. We were working on our own timeline until someone asked us to play live. Until then, we had a lot of time to experiment and come at a list of ideas from a lot of different angles.<\/p>\n Shindig!<\/strong><\/em>:\u00a0Meg, how much of a contrast is your role as both drummer and singer in HO to what you were doing with Espers?<\/p>\n Meg<\/strong>: The volume and instrumentation is really different, but I definitely was in a time keeper role in Espers. Because I played so often in alternating thumb lead style, I had a really strong playing relationship with Otto and Ben (two of my favorite drummers!) that was more typical to being in a rhythm section. There was so, so much going on and push and pull in the instrumentation, that I learned to separate singing from the bigger picture of timing and forward movement from playing with the Espers gang.<\/p>\n My drumming technique is so rudimentary, that when I’m playing with Heron Oblivion I can really focus on just voice and time. It’s more visceral and exciting that way… like sports!<\/p>\n