Dear legion,
Recordings and finishing up for the next album are in full swing! Two weeks ago we were in the big studio to record drums and the week after for vocals.
In this post I’ll take you through the drum recordings.
Kevin and I met up on Sunday to begin our journey to the big studio. A roughly 3 hour drive later we arrived at our destination ready to load in and rig up the drums for the next day’s work that lay ahead of us.
Setup went quick and painless, as you can see Kevin was happy to be there.
You might recognize this place from when we recorded the We Stand United single as we are again working with Thomas "Plec" Johansson at the legendary Studio Bohus 🤘
We got ourselves settled in and got ready for bed. It’s a lot of work to record, and you have to be ready to handle certain challenges you might not be used to.
(All photos from this point are taken by Hannes Van Dahl)
10am Kevin sat in the drum room and Thomas and I in the control room.
Early on it dawned upon me that this was going to be a challenge. This was Kevin’s first time recording an entire album in a real studio. Sure we did the single before but that’s nothing compared to this beast.
You see, it’s not easy to be in the recording studio. It’s not all shits and giggles. The pressure is high and it’s vastly different from playing live on stage. And for someone who is not used to this environment it’s way more pressure than for someone who has done it a couple of times.
It’s not this glamorous thing where you try out different ideas as if nothing is determined and fool around. This is the moment to perform!
Preparation is key to nail a studio recording, and being Kevin's first real time in the studio it became clear that this part was underestimated. Note that I am not trying to be cruel or anything, just giving you actual facts about how it really is to be in the studio, no sugar coating and no sob stories - only real stuff. Let's keep going to see how this is solved!
I noticed Kevin wasn’t feeling to good about not performing and nailing the stuff as required and that he felt very guilty about it. Luckily I do know all drum parts almost by heart since I’ve arranged them, and my focus is to get this done.
Here my friends, is where the one in the roll of producer needs to keep a leveled head and guide the performer instead of just amplifying the negativity.
Yes, it was rough, it was going to take more time than expected and it certainly was a challenge. But we were there to record a kick ass album! Let’s make it happen!
We spent a total of 5 days in the studio, Kevin, Thomas and me. An additional day for only Thomas to piece together stuff and round off sharp edges.More days than we wanted to, but we got it done. Studio time is expensive, this is where Patreon really makes a huge difference for us. Yes, we are on a label, but our deal does not include them giving us bags of money for videos, studio time or advancements of any kind. We chose to have it like this so we own all, no one can tell us we NEED to sound a certain way or that we NEED to release new material every year (btw this often means other songwriters are in on the process to speed up everything). No, we pay and decide all - This way YOU get the ELEINE songs you deserve. Without anyone outside of the core moving the sound in a direction that we don't want and without unrealistic release windows leading to watered down versions of what we want to give you.
Never forget that you, regardless of tier, help out in making more of ELEINE's music coming out. Thank you for your support and for believing in us, this is nothing we take for granted and are very grateful for everything.
We wanted to document this studio visit, and this time without doing that ourselves.Shortly before the recording session Madeleine reached out to a friend of ours and asked if he was up for taking shots during these session. It was a big yes from him, and this friend is none other than Hannes Van Dahl. Yes, the Hannes Van Dahl drummer of Sabaton!
Hannes is Kevin's big drum hero and he had no idea Hannes was coming to do this. A nice pick me up in the immense pressure and challenges for this album recoding.
Hannes is a very kind human and turns out him and I could geek out on cameras. Amazing photographer beyond being one helluva drummer.
Here you see the main hall, behind the glass is the control room and to the right beyond the wall is the drum room.
Oscar (guy in cap....not Kevin tho, that's Kevin) And Thomas bought Studio Bohus when it was on the brink of not existing anymore due to illness of the previous owner and no one to really pick up the pieces after that. In this main hall bands such ABBA and Satus Quo has recorded their material making this a legendary studio. The state of it is not great at the moment because over the years and declining activity this hall was rented out to other businesses that tore down the interior, removing music history in the process. A damn shame but Oscar & Thomas are rebuilding it to it's former glory and beyond. I can tell you there is a huge difference from when we recorded We Stand United until now.
Oh, fun fact! The guitars for "Rockin' All Over The World" were recorded in the shitter. Literally! The acoustics were great so they plopped an amplifier and a microphone in there. Tadaaaa Platinum records!
Many great bands from today also record in this studio (not in the main hall for obvious reasons, but we did an exception...more on that in part II 😉 ), bands such as The Haunted and The Halo Effect to name a few.
Oh yes, I asked a while back on social media if anyone could guess who owned the big mix table in the control room. Many guesses, no one got it.LUCASFILM AND SKYWALKER SOUND!!!! They mixed Episode one on this bad boy, and probably a lot more. CRAZY!!! I've been hiding Star Wars references in our orchestrations for years, and now I get to do that with it being put through this table!!! GAAAAH! I CAN FEEL THE FOOOOOORCE!
Ok nerd boy moment over. Back to serious.
What can we draw from this post and session.Even though things may get really rough and challenging, it is of highest importance to get the job done and having fun whilst doing it without the seriousness of the situation being buried under silliness and lack of responsibility. It was a humbling experience for Kevin, but I am sure he grew from it.Studio time is hard, if you're well prepared it's easier but still hard. It's not this romanticized thing where you enter the studio, hear the song for the first time and just play what you feel like. All that is absolute bullshit.Every beat is placed with intent, each strike of the cymbal and each fill has a meaning. At least in our music.I hope you enjoyed this read!Stay tuned for part II 🤟Much love 🖤/Rikard