So I’m headed into the studio next week for a week-long recording session with The WAX. I can’t help but think back to my first recording experience with my little high-school rock band.
It must have been 1995. I was just starting to find out about real electronic music at the time so I would have been listening primarily to the grungey rock sound of that era: Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins and of course Canada’s own Treble Charger.
We recorded at this dank little studio in the basement of a strip mall in Orleans, Ontario (suburb of Ottawa) over the course of a couple nights. I remember that the owner was in a Doors tribute band and had the biggest drum kit I’d ever seen.
We recorded everything live off the floor to ADAT and overdubbed vox. No click tracks or computers involved. A far cry from the way things are generally done today.
As I recall I don’t think we ever actually released the album, although I’m sure there are still a few copies floating around on tape. If you happen to have one please either destroy it or send it to me, hehe.
Anyway, I was ultimately kicked out of the band because my songs were too “easy listening”. Not all that much different than today, I guess 😉 I can listen to and enjoy the heavy stuff but when it comes to writing I naturally gravitate towards music with depth and emotion.
I chose today’s throwback because I specifically remember writing a song with the same rhythm as the verse… though with different chords, I think (/hope). They say imitation is the best form of flattery, anyway.
From Treble Charger’s “Self-Title” c. 1995: