The Recording of "Last Solid Ground"
Well, phase one of recording, that is. We actually laid down most of the basic tracks at one location, captured in the photos below, and then finished a lot of guitars, vocals, percussion, and some other stuff at a completely different location for phase two. All of it going down under the direction of Justin Farley, producer extraordinaire. In fact, the first "studio" you see below was actually Justin's old house in which we sprawled out into almost every main level room and the entire basement to find the best sound and location for the tracking of each instrument. Sometimes the whole house would rumble while drums or an overdriven amp played out at the perfect volume - loud. It's a good thing Justin's immediate neighbor was an elderly woman with virtually no hearing left or I'm assuming Davenport's Finest would have paid us a few visits. The house truly was a great location to record with a more relaxed vibe and pace. It even inspired us beyond the music and provided the CD packaging cover art and all the photos. So here it is - a partial glimpse at the recording of "Last Solid Ground"...



Jason in the "control room" (Justin's dining room) listening back.


Jason found a tracking sweet spot in the kitchen near the top of the basement stairs.


Producer Justin Farley, our noise co-conspirator.


Justin hookin' shit up.


Meet Gracie, Justin's "assistant". She was always encouraging even after a bad take.


Getting sounds in the "drum room" (Justin's bedroom).


Ryan has the brushes out so I believe this would be tracking the song "Am I Awake".


Tom shaping some tone for the big ol' Gretsch.


More of Tom's tone shaping machines.


Justin and Tom listening back.


Dan in the "studio lounge" (Justin's living room) keeping the fingers loose.


Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.


Dan really seemed to fall in love with his Tele during this recording and used it a lot.


Tom waiting for a playback in the "vocal booth" (corner room in Justin's basement).

THE END
Well, not the end of the recording as we finished the rest at another location, but this concluded our time at the house. The next location was a slightly more conventional studio but nothing will ever quite equal our experience here. Good times, indeed.

All photos by Dan Videtich except photos of Dan Videtich by Ryan Koning.