Stilts share the realities of recording an album
Blog by Roanne Wood under Recording & Production
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Recording an album is a massive deal for any band. Not only are you putting your months of hard work and songwriting to the test but you also have to consider the important factors of time equals money, taking days off work and using your weekends up. Not all of us have a paid year off to focus on writing songs, followed by a year in a fancy studio - also paid. So it’s ideal to make sure you’re fully prepared and have a rough time schedule and budget to stick to.
We spoke to Stilts, psychedelic grunge quartet from Leeds who are currently recording their debut album at Suff Studio with engineer Matt Heaps.
Not every band loves recording but Stilts differ, “We all love recording and we simply just wanted to make a full album. We decided that 2015 was going to be the year we did.” Stilts have released various singles and EPs so they are accustomed to the recording environment. They have been recording their album since the summer and tell us “it was very hot…we were reduced to our underpants.”
Stilts claim engineer Matt to be their fifth member, having recorded everything they have ever done. They have a shared history together from being Matt’s first recorded band. Matt is a one man operation and has built his studio up from the ground. “I started with a small interface and one microphone, hired some gear in for recording drums and took it from there. I was recording in the basement of my mum’s hairdressers when it was closed. For the past 5 years I’ve put everything I earn back into the studio.”
For Stilts it was an easy decision on who and where to record with: “We love recording with Matt, he understands us and what we want. We have grown together over the years and it just feels right to work with him.”
The recording costs are being split four ways between the band members. “There are definitely better and smarter ways to raise money, but we don’t possess the intelligence or patience to do so.” This is probably the most tedious aspect of recording but, of course, it wouldn’t be possible without having the money to fund it. Saving money from merch sales and any profits from gigs would be an ideal way of putting money towards recording, leaving the rest of the cost to be split amongst the band. Some bands even turn to crowdfunding for a way of raising money to record. For this to be worth your while you will need a decent following, beyond family and friends, and make sure you offer something special for the fans who do donate.
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The two primary ways of recording are live and separate. Live usually consists of playing the songs ‘live’ as a band and then overdubbing vocals at the end. Separate is the opposite, different parts are recorded separately so once the drums are done, the bass may be next and so on. Matt says: “On the whole, separate multi-tracking tends to be less stressful and the results are more polished. This is my preferred method of working.” Stilts chose to record separate: “We love recording this way. We love building up layers and experimenting with sounds. We add a lot of new parts for guitar and vocals this way. We believe that recordings don’t have to be tied down to what you can only do live. When you see a band live you have the full experience visually, audibly and personally.”Stilts claim that the guitars are taking the most time to complete…whether this says something about guitarists is up to you. “The drums were all done in one weekend and so was the bass.” They put it down to swapping between amps, pedals and guitars and ensuring they both have tones that complement one another well. They definitely aren’t playing with pedals all day… An average studio day is around 10 hours. The morale within the studio stays on a high and this is down to “…lots of tea and coffee, the chippy down the road and playing with the odd instruments lying around the studio and annoying Matt.”
Stilts are currently focused on the now, they are not necessarily thinking of what they are going to do with the album once it is complete. The main focus is getting the recording spot on and having a finished product they are extremely happy with, even if it takes until this time next year to complete.
Ideally they would love to have the album released on a label: “It could easily reach a wider audience that way. We feel we’d be limiting ourselves if we did it DIY.” A physical release will be preferred: “CD, vinyl and digital. Vinyl would be the best, but it’s very expensive to have vinyl pressed so it’s something we’ll discuss post recording.”
Stilts’ advice to bands thinking about going in and recording is pretty simple, “Just make sure you’re happy with the songs as they are. They obviously can’t be changed once they’re recorded and it can be very frustrating to write a song, record it and then later decide you don’t like it. It’s vital to know what you aim to achieve.”
In terms of deciding on a studio and engineer, Matt’s advice is to “Shop around and pick the sound YOU want, not the price, popularity of the producer or the fancy gear they have. Guitars and basses should be set up professionally to ensure intonation is perfect and drummers should change their skins before a session.”
Not every band is in the situation of being on a personal level with the engineer, so Stilts can enjoy a more laid back approach to recording with Matt, without taking advantage. You want to enjoy your time in the studio, and hope that the engineer is down to earth and easy to get on with, but you also need to think of what you want your outcome to be. Messing around for the whole session will only cost you more money. Engineers usually offer deals for regular customers so make a good impression.
“The best part of recording is getting to hear the songs we’ve written in a fully fleshed out and realised manner. When we wrote the songs in a practice room, we had a general idea how we thought they might sound but Matt has completely exceeded any high expectations we had and really excelled at making an album that sounds extremely ‘us’, yet very professional. Working with Matt is a treat, I imagine he cherishes the 10 hour days he spends with us.”
Catch Stilts playing with Heck (formerly Baby Godzilla) on Saturday 14th November at Sanctuary Rock Bar, Burnley and keep up to date with their album recording progress here:
Tags
stilts, album recording advice, recording studio, studio recording advice, suff studio, matt heaps, band recording tips
