SPELLCASTER Studio Diary – Part 1

We departed Portland, OR and headed for beautiful Oakland, CA at 6:00 AM on Friday, January 15th. The drive down south was everything you’d expect – beautiful snowy landscapes in the Mt. Shasta area, and a whole lot of barren highway. We stopped at a few of I-5’s finest gas stations, including one with poop-smeared port-a-potty as a bathroom, and another where a friendly police officer pointed us in the direction of the hot sauce. Cory was drunk on beer and tequila the entire time (as is tradition), but luckily he didn’t spray his pee everywhere like he has during road trips in the past.

We arrived at Colin’s parents’ house in the Bernal Heights area of San Francisco around 7 or 8 PM. Everyone was pretty tired at this point, so we loaded our gear in and hit the sheets. I usually sleep on the couch upstairs at Colin’s parents’ (the Vranimansion as we like to call it), but for this occasion it was decided that a grown-ass man occupying the entire living room would be too much an inconvenience. Instead, I had an incredibly awesome temporary room made for me in the downstairs parlor, complete with an air mattress, library of books, and a fireplace. The situation ruled and I felt completely inspired the entire time. Thanks Vranizans!

We had a couple of days off in San Francisco before hitting the studio in Oakland on Monday.

SPELLCASTER Studio Day 1

We loaded our gear in around 11:00 AM on Monday, January 18th and got ourselves prepared for the week of work. I immediately found the coffee and made myself a cup (I was later told that we would consume over $150 in coffee that week).

The first couple days would be dedicated entirely to tracking Colin’s drums. Drums really are the most important part of an album – they’re the foundation of everything, thus it’s only fitting that they should be given the most care. After about 3 or 4 hours of setup, we got lunch and prepared to start tracking. Cory, Gabe, Colin and I setup our gear and began laying down our parts. Zack Ohren (our engineer and producer – I should mention him at some point) dialed in a killer rough mix, and this made us all very excited. Zack proved to be an awesome guy to work with, and we were really happy with our decision to go with him. We’ve worked with some extremely talented engineers in the past, but Zack’s ear and no-bullshit demeanor was a breath of fresh air.

“The first part of that was good, but the rest was complete garbage. You can do it better.” We’d get very used to hearing Zack say that over the next week. No bullshit, just straight to the point. It could be a little harsh sometimes, but then when Zack said something was good, we knew it was good.

SPELLCASTER Studio Day 2

Day two was more of day one, minus the setup. We finished laying down the tracks for Colin’s drums and Zack started to do a little bit of editing and dialing in of the drum tones. Cory and I ate some really good Mexican food made by an Arabic gentlemen slinging tacos out of a food truck down the street. It felt as though we didn’t get much done, but Zack was making constant progress while we ate burritos and I drank copious amounts of coffee.

SPELLCASTER Studio Day 3

We didn’t even have to go into the studio on Wednesday, January 20th. Zack spent the entire day editing drums, so there was nothing for us to do. I stayed at Vranimansion playing guitar while the rest of the guys went out sight seeing around San Francisco. I did eventually take a walk to a music store to buy a set of strings for Colin’s Dad’s 1967 Fender Telecaster. I restrung and set that thing up for him. Man, that guitar ruled! I really enjoyed playing it. There is certainly a massive mojo factor in those old Fender’s.

We’d begin tracking rhythm guitars the next day! That’s the part you’re all waiting for, so stay tuned.