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All photos on this page were taken by Josh Bains. (See "The
Artwork".)
The theater at Cal State San Bernardino, where "Colton Avenue"
was recorded.
We recorded the album in three days in the Summer of 1998 at Cal
State San Bernardino, with Matt Pearson - Ross' cousin - at the helm.
Since the school year was over, a few members had already left town and
gone home - and one had even graduated - and so they had to fly out or
trek many hours by automobile to get out here. We had the luxury
of working with eight tracks this time out (which turned into a bit of
a curse once overdubbing began. More on that later). Our debut
album "That Album!" had been recorded with a "stereo pair," which meant
we stood in an arc and set up two mics in front of us at either end of
the arc. I think there may have also been one mic in the middle for
solos. For the "Colton Avenue" sessions, each voice part had its
own microphone - which meant two to three people on a mic - with me having
my very own so that I could "lead" the group while we recorded. Soloists
were also mic'd seperately, away from the group. Occasionally, pieces
necessitated other members having their own solo mics as well, such as
Ross' antics in "International House Of Shoes," which vary wildly in dynamic
levels. It's my recollection that, for "Shoes," we placed Ross -
the master of high decibels - on the stage while the rest of us performed
in the pit, to ensure a healthy seperation.
Taking a break from recording, with engineer Matt Pearson (standing in the center). |
Ross inadvertantly makes a "kissy-face" while singing. |
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Additionally, both Ryan and myself had been experimenting with the art of vocal percussion, and so a few of the songs in our repertoire featured that. We knew that this was going to play a fairly sizable part in the new album and, sound-wise, was going to be one of the key elements that would set it apart from its predecessor "That Album!" Most of the percussion parts you hear on the album were recorded live with the group, with the percussionist on his own mic. But one or two of the more complicated percussion parts were overdubbed during post-production.
Our first session was a trifle disappointing, as we struggled to become acclimated to singing spread out from one another. We didn't find our footing until the end of this session - though we managed to nail "Tips For Teens" in one take - and didn't really hit our stride until well into day two. The sessions were all in the evening and would usually run pretty late, and the last "panic" session had some members such as Ryan staying until the wee hours of the morning to complete overdubs (something like 6 a.m.), since he had to fly home the next day. Some of the songs fell together extremely quick, such as the aforementioned "Tips For Teens." Most of the tracks we did two or three takes of, just in case. Others we attempted in the first session but had to return to later because of their complexity, such as the labrynthine "Living For You." The art of studio recording can be very fickle. I recall doing a few wholly disheartening passes at "View That Holy City" on the first day, only to have us return to it on the third day and achieve an incredible take in just one pass. This of course is the one you hear on the record.
An alternate group shot from the sessions:
