Record of the week #1- Above becomes below by wild eyes

     I couldn't think of a more awesome album to kick off this Record of the Week project with than Wild Eyes' Above Becomes Below. I love this record. Released in 2014 on Heavy Psych Sounds, Above Becomes Below has an authentic feel that I don't think anyone could argue with. And who wouldn't want to work with a band that describes themselves as "Blue Cheer kidnaps Tina Turner and ties her to the tracks of the Grand Funk Railroad"?? Wild Eyes (which includes Janiece Gonzalez on vocals, Carson 

​Binks on bass, Chris Corona on guitar, and Ben Richardson on drums) has mastered their sound and we put a lot of thought into gear selection to accomplish this album, which paid off.
   For me, part of what made this album unique is how we all talked about recording it. The band sounds like they are out of a 70's time warp and they are big on all analog recording. So I did some research and found this really cool guy named Roger, who owns Golden Gate Recording (in SF), and we all went down to check out his spot. Outside were junkies and hookers, and inside there was a beautiful gear palace. It was straight out of the past. It was perfect.
     Trying to keep the vibe of analog but the timeframe of the 21st century, I said fuck tape and we got a 24ch AD/DA rig (with a big thank you to my hero, Zach Phillips of FreqLab Recording, you saved my ass homie!) and tracked to hi res Apogee converters. This was a tough call to make since GGR was equipped with two gorgeous Studer A827's, but we were on a mission. I utilized the racks of dream gear and captured it with the best converts we could get. Once we finished tracking, I dumped it to an Otari MTR 90 MKIII 24 track and mixed it on an SSL to an ATR 102 1/2" deck. So this record was bound to sound old. 
     Overall, this was a really fun session with a group of really awesome folks. I love the challenge of matching studios and gear to a project and Wild Eyes gave me a great one. Golden Gate Recording was a treasure chest of audio goodies, much of which was a real treat to work with. 

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