HOW FAR:
Got into Maple Sound Studio yesterday with the guys from Somewhere In Between. I couldn't have asked for a more incredible or smoother experience then that. I've never felt that any other band had more potential to be successful than these guys. Everyone showed up relatively on time and we started working as soon as everyone was there. Started working on How Far first and in the beginning of all of this, we were all under the impression that we were just mixing a demo track for MySpace, but after we were done, I think we all agreed and realized that we'd just made an incredible track for a potential self-released EP.
I started out by adding drum samples and tweaking drum sounds while CJ prepped the rest of the song, by converting the guitars and vocals so we could work on them. The samples really helped fill up the space that the drums seemed to be missing from the initial tracking (they were tracked in a garage, but you'll never be able to tell). Danny (ex-Name Taken) is an incredible drummer and the timing, feel, and dynamics of this song were well written. But there was so much more that would make this day unbelievable.
The bass and guitars didn't have much work to be done to them because the tones that were recorded by CJ were phenomenal. And he did it all with his Les Paul and a Pod. CJ, Jay, & Jeff work realy well together with their guitar work and songwriting. So we moved onto the vocals after we'd established a pretty good instrumental mix.
Matt "One-Liner" Reyes has an incredible vocal presence. Its uncanny. When I started mixing the vocals, I soloed his parts and the way he wrote all the melodies and harmonies had enough force to drive the song by itself. After all was said and done, we were all impressed with the way the song was coming along. The best part about the production and mixing process with these guys, besides the fact that the jokes, pizza, beer and good times were a' flowin', was that everyone was contributing to the ideas and we ended up with a really good solid first mix. We'll have to tweak and adjust a bit, but I'm very excited about working with this band.
-Newton