The First Week
So it’s the last day of our first week, and here’s the update:
The picks make me think of sugary cereal.
We had a crazy first three days. There was a crazy amount of singing (for Tasha), lots of hot tea, tons of cough drops…
We tracked piano and guitar together, right off the bat, as well as several vocal takes for each song. We may redo vocals later, but this process is pretty different than anything we’ve done before. It’s a lot to dive into when you’re first beginning the record, but after the first week there’s just so much done already. And a great foundation for each tune, for the other musicians over the next couple weeks.
We were joined this week by Max, a very kind high school student from England who assisted in the studio this week. (And who makes a mean cup of coffee.) We’re sending him off tomorrow, so safe travels Max! We hope you got all the Reese’s you could handle. And that all the screaming ladies you met will instant message you. 
We also did a fair amount of rewriting this week. A few songs are in new keys, and the difference in sound/feel is fascinating. There were new lyrics to be written, plenty of re-arranging, and general experimenting.
There’s one song in particular that I thought was going to be the death of me. We wanted to include it on the record but it needed…something. So there were many post-studio and early-morning hours I spent poring (obsessing) over the lyrics and staring blankly at the keyboard at the apartment, so worried that nothing good would come.
I think something good finally came, like five minutes before we began recording the song. Seriously. Although by the time this happened I felt like I didn’t know anymore which way was up when it came to that tune. So I’m taking Justin’s and Malcolm’s word for it right now. 
Keyboard playing excitement!
But a lot of things in this process, especially in this first week, do start with a kind of blind faith in Malcolm’s ideas. Given his history, we knew going into this that the faith would be well-placed. It’s hilariously confusing at times, but you get a little bit into the tune and think, “Oh. OOOOOooh. I seeeee.”
What’s fun now is that we’re listening back a lot yesterday and today. Malcolm’s playing bass these couple days, so we’re getting to listen a lot more, and we’re getting to see how good his ideas are.
So. We have the weekend free to catch up on some sleep, think through musical ideas (things like extra instruments, background vocals, etc), and maybe hike a nearby trail.
On Monday, our drummer will join us… The very fine Josh Seurkamp. (We have no small amount of excitement about this.) Josh is so great at bringing songs to life, so we can’t wait to hear what happens when he and Malcolm get together…
We have some ideas for more fan love songs, and we need to get some video of the studio up… So there be more coming to you soon!
Thank you for being a part of this with us. Please let us know if there’s anything in particular you want to see, hear, know… We’re so close to this project that it’s difficult for us to know what’s worth sharing; what’s curious, weird, interesting, unclear, etc… So fill us in. We’ll see what we can do!
Tags: 2009, Amp, Ellery, First Week, Keyboards, Malcolm Burn, Organ, Recording, Studio
This is awesome guys! Thanks so much for sharing. I always LOVE getting the “back story” on how things come together, it just makes everything richer. So getting your new album will be even more amazing knowing so much about what went into making it. Thank you for sharing your journey.