Get Warmer

Biography

This record was written over the period of six months in Athens, Georgia. There's a lot of firsts in this one: it's the first time a record has been solely based around a specific story arc in one location, it's the first time we've used live drums for a whole record, it's the first time a record has been demo'd and then re-recorded, it's the first time we used NO programmed synthesizers (all parts were played live, mostly analog) and it's also the first time anyone else has been involved with t...

This record was written over the period of six months in Athens, Georgia. There's a lot of firsts in this one: it's the first time a record has been solely based around a specific story arc in one location, it's the first time we've used live drums for a whole record, it's the first time a record has been demo'd and then re-recorded, it's the first time we used NO programmed synthesizers (all parts were played live, mostly analog) and it's also the first time anyone else has been involved with the recording process: mainly Joel Hatstat working the long long hot hot days of Bomb recording with me. The recording process for a lot of these songs I think was fuuuun and I'll go into a little more detail about below. However, something that I tried really hard to do on this one was keep things extremely specific (songs about moving into new houses, washing dishes, riding bikes) but at the same time ATTEMPTING to use those specific situations to express huge life issues and emotional distresses. This record for me is a lot about escapism, depression, addiction, social, physical and financial problems but ultimately I think it's about positivity. I'm pretty sure people other than me take little shit, read into it and have that shape the way they view the world. This record is about accepting that and at least not reading too much into THAT problem. We recorded this album in chronological order, labeled "Bomb 1" through "Bomb 11." When we stepped into the studio and got drums EQ'd, set up and everything, Brady picked up drumsticks and played Bomb 1 perfect on his first try. We were all confused and said "uh... you wanna do another take?" to which he said "uh... yeah, sure, why not?" His next take was also perfect so we were like "uh... we think that was right on? what do you think?" and he said "yeah... i think it was too?" This set the tone for the drum sessions; Brady went on to record twelve songs in five hours, many first takes. After all of which we said "yeah? alright! next!" We tracked the drums, key bass, piano, organ and wurlitzer at the Bakery in Athens, GA which was a bonafide REAL recording studio. It was fun to have a room with a bunch of cool stuff I've never seen before that we could use on the record. The "Kee Bass" in Bomb 2 was a one note pure booty bass synthesizer that looked kinda like an accordion. Andy Baker even let us taken out one of the analog Moogs to record on our own. MOST of the record was tracked at the Goblin Campground which was immediately renamed the Sweat Zone once the intense heat of May in Georgia crept up on us. The GC/SZ was an air-condition free art/warehouse space where Joel had been recording bands. We had been moving at a comfortable pace through April, planning on getting the album released in July by ourselves, however in April we got a call from Asian Man letting us know that they'd be into releasing the CD/vinyl and that our cutoff date would be May 31st if we wanted it out by the original time. After several text messages between Joel and I (including "fuck it" "why not" "yeah" "no sweat" and "timelord is on your side") we started REALLY digging in in May. Joel and I both had food service jobs (Joel a cook, me a dishwasher), girlfriends and scrabble addictions so every day in May was very very very long: it would usually start out with a game of scrabble at the coffee shop (why would we want to start early?) or joel cooking in the morning, setting up the computer, recording and mixing in a 100-degree-plus warehouse, working 'til 1 or 2 am, having about ten minutes for girlfriend time and then back into it the next morning. When Joel would work at night, I would record at my house. When I would work at night, Joel would mix. The final mixing, recording and mastering took place IMMEDIATELY before we left for a month-long tour in June; I was actually at Chase Park Transduction as Chotto Ghetto was picking up the keg for our tour kickoff show (which was, oddly enough, at the Sweat Zone.) The FUN part of the record started when Rick Johnson called me up and asked me if he could play bass on the record. I said yes of course, but Rick eventually realized he wouldn't be able to get to Athens to record in time. Once he started recording at his house in Michigan, we realized "fuck it. let's see if everyone wants to do this!" Sean McCabe got John and Mike (both ex-ASOBers and current Bombers) to record his trombone and mandolin in various bedrooms and bathrooms and Neil Callaghan recorded stuff in his log cabin in the wilderness that I guess still had high speed internet. We also tried to get everyone we could in Athens in on it; all of We Versus the Shark, friends from Cinemechanica, Subversivo and Garbage Island, friends n girlfriends and my personal favorite Ben from the bike shop next door from the studio (myspace.com/bens_bikes). So it was like a big party that no one really wants to go to, but once you look back on it, it really WAS a fun party! Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.