The Party Faithful
Mercury Lounge
8.24.09
all pictures courtesy of albert cheung photography. for more of albert's photog brilliance, click here
the past few weeks for The Party Faithful have been a whirlwind of a dream for me, musically speaking. we've been in the recording studio laying down tracks for 2 of our songs, and the talent that surrounds me is....crazy. from our producer to our recording engineer to all of my band mates, there is some kind of musical chemistry that cannot be articulated, yet clearly manifests itself in the music that is created.
it's a bright saturday morning on our first day of recording. we drive to newkirk studios owned by the prodigy (and our amazing recording engineer) that is Ben Rice. first of all, i never thought i'd ever step foot in a recording studio. next thing i know, i'm wearing headphones and recording my keyboard parts in isolation while the rest of the crew is in another room listening and recording every note. they talk to me through the headphones, ("ssssick, well played. let's have one more take" or "let's try this...") it's just so professional and encouraging that even if i do make a mistake, it's quite alright and we just do another take. it's like acting, really. you get a few chances until you get it right. time is money, but that just makes your efforts all the more worthwhile and meaningful.
then it's time to record vocals. it was kind of a big day for me, to lay down both keyboard and vocal parts...but i was ready for it...too excited, really. the whole process was blissful, and having the right mics and right amps make ALL the difference in the world. when things are Right, everything just falls into place, effortlessly. when i hear the 'final' production, before going into mastering, i am simply amazed. is that us??
what i learned most from the sessions was that sounds may translate differently from one room to the next, depending on the gear. while i was recording, our producer, ian, had to find a brand new sound for my keyboard part in Salvador; in our rehearsal space, and even at gigs, the saxophone sound was perfect. but in the recording studio, it was nothing but annoying and, well, 'cheap'...ian came to the rescue. (phew).
for the sake of being in lala land any longer than i have, without bursting my own fantasy bubble, i'll just note that this recording experience is just the beginning of what The Party Faithful can achieve. how lucky am i for this opportunity. As Rihanna would sing, "please don't stop the music...."
