Interew with Derek Cann - published in the "Beat of Travel" webzine
Derek:
In the Youth Lagoon Recording diaries, you recount the recording of The Year of Hibernation as a fairly quick and painless process where the “magic” just sort of happened in early takes, yet you started the session with a great deal of reservation about recording a “lO-FI” album. Was there a settling in period or did the recording sessions flow organically? (if you can elaborate and talk about chemistry, setbacks, sort of set the vibe of the session)
Jeremy:
This was probably one of the easiest recording experiences I've had in terms of things just falling into place naturally and comfortably. Fortunately, we demoed all of the songs at my place months ahead of time, so I was actually able to plan out all the little technical details, like how we should capture and layer various key elements of the music and where we would record them. Having these type of things mapped out ahead of time really helps to prevent restricting the creative flow of the musical aspects of the process. I was indeed nervous about the Lo-Fi aesthetic, mainly because I was feeling self conscience about things sounding as if I didn't know what I was doing. Initially Trevor and I had ideas that were surprisingly counter-opposite from one another - Trevor wanting some things far more Lo-Fi and verbed out than what I was comfortable with and me wanting more upfront and Hi-Fi elements in the mix. But, our contrasting opinions seemed to really balance out as we found a common ground on nearly everything. Trevor and I have been working together on various projects over the last few years, so we were already quite comfortable with how each other works - we're not afraid of trying out stupid ideas or letting each other know when something really sucks. It's one of those sort of relationships where I can see where he's coming from without the need of explanations. We had to trust one another and trust the more artistic and less mainstream direction, as it felt right for the music. I was often so captivated by the music that I would forget that we were even making a record.
Derek:
As hype built around the release of the YL album it seemed like everyone was promoting it as a self recorded product that Trevor recorded alone in his bedroom. As the engineer and co-producer on the project, how did this false hype and lack of credit affect you?
Jeremy:
I was kind of oblivious to this until a friend of mine emailed me a quote he had copied from Pitchfork, stating, "sounds way too epic to be the work of one dude in his bedroom." At first I wasn't too sure what to think. I began overanalyzing it in my mind, "wow, they think it sounds epic - wait a minute, would they still like it if they knew it wasn't done in a bedroom? Oh no, maybe if they knew that I engineered it, they'd say that it sounded too bedroomy or that I was a terrible choice for an engineer - oh no!!!" As you might expect, I easily felt a little confused and disheartened after reading a hand full of similar articles, so I just quit reading them altogether, as to not dwell on it. It seemed the best thing to do was keep quiet, try to shrug it off, and wait for the release - soon enough there'd be people staring at the credits with puzzled looks on their faces. This did however inspire me start a blog about the recording process, which I held off until after the release. Also, being the great friend that Trevor is, he himself had made several attempts to set the record strait anyway.
Insert from previous interview with Trevor Powers:
From Youth Lagoon’s Facebook: “ATTN: I've been trying to make this clear for months in interviews, but to those who still don't know, this album wasn't recorded in my bedroom, but at a close friend's house. I wrote all the songs and crafted them in my bedroom. But the album was recorded at my good friend Jeremy Park's home studio. He is a dear friend of mine and an excellent engineer ♥” **************************
Derek:
Seattle is a great music city, how does living and working in Seattle compare with a lesser known scene like Boise, or more specifically Nampa, ID? Are you still working with anyone from Seattle? (an obvious moment to plug and link in those multiple projects, I will hide the links behind Play buttons so we can add as many as would like)
Jeremy:
As funny as it may seem, things picked up quite a bit for me since moving back to the Boise area. I find that there's amazing talent everywhere, and it doesn't matter too much where you live. You just have to make little changes here and there, educate bands on the process, and learn to adapt. The major difference that I've noticed about working in a smaller city, is that there are less bands willing to invest in their sound, initially, in terms of good studio choices and mixing hours. I'm not saying ALL bands, I'm just saying that I run into more of that here than I did while living in Seattle. One thing that I do miss is having tons of studio options. You could easily track basics in a studio with an amazing live room, bring vocals to a simple studio with a nice pre and silent booth, and then schedule another studio for super verby auxiliary percussion and gang vocals. Here, you'll most likely track everything in one studio that you like. Oddly enough, most local bands that I work with can rarely afford commercial studio time, so this really pushes me to get creative and find simple alternatives to those limitations, like bringing my gear off site to rooms that make sense for specific aspects of the recording. All in all, I'm excited about the future of Boise music - there's been a blast of really rad bands in this area.
Although the Boise scene has kept me pretty busy, I have kept ongoing relationships with a few Seattle artists. I recently finished mixing 17 songs for The Torn ACLs - their LP "Make a Break, Make a Move" should be available soon. It was engineered by the bands very own front man and multi-instrumentalist, William Cremin and mastered by TW Walsh (Sufjan Stevens, Pedro the Lion, Drums). I also started mixing an album for Roaming Herds of Buffalo, a Seattle based super group (IMO) composed of Scott Roots and Neal Flaherty of Skeleton's with Flesh on Them, William Cremin of the Torn ACLs, and Jared Fiechtner of Stencil, all of which are bands that I've made records with. From what I understand, Scott started this project some time ago by writing and demoing all of the songs, and he later teamed up with Neal and William, who helped with more arrangements and instrumentation. Scott got in touch with me a few months back, asking if I'd be interested in joining the RHOB team as the mixing/postproduction guy - of course I said YES. Needless to say, this is going to be a very exciting record for all of us!
http://soundcloud.com/parkaudio/cruiser-ep-sampler-v-2
http://soundcloud.com/parkaudio/the-torn-acls-make-a-break
http://soundcloud.com/parkaudio/skeletons-with-flesh-on-them
http://soundcloud.com/parkaudio/stencil
Derek:
You are a singer and multi-instrumentalist, do you have plans to release your own original music?
Jeremy:
One of the initial reasons I even became fascinated with audio production was the whole idea of being able to produce and release something of my own that I could be proud of. Unfortunately those plans have always taken a back seat due to my focus on projects that actually pay the bills - so to speak. It's just that after working 10 strait hours on a record, it's so hard to open up my own music and invest more hours trying to be creative. I tend to get lazy with my own stuff and cut a lot of corners when I have more important projects to work on. However, I recently dug up about 8 demo tracks that I've managed to work on between projects over the last few years, and I was like, "dang, I really need to do something with these!" Over my last little break I decided to narrow down the list to about 4 songs plus a cover song, which I plan to produce and release sometime after the new year. I'll most likely just put it up for download on my website and ask for sympathy donations ;)
http://soundcloud.com/parkaudio/swingtown-cover
Derek:
Has the explosion of the Youth Lagoon debut presented any major changes or opportunities in your career?
Jeremy:
Up until recently, I don't think many people even knew that I worked on the record. So to be quite honest, nothing has really changed all that much. I have made a few sweet contacts here and there, but I guess as the saying goes, "only time will tell", right?
Derek:
You have some pretty serious gear for a “home” studio. Why did you choose to keep the studio in a small residential setting rather than build out a traditional studio? Do you have any plans to move into a larger commercial space in the future?
Jeremy:
I've had my fair share of day dreams about having a commercial studio, but after a few years of freelancing and talking with various studio owners about the stresses and setbacks with all that, it just seems like something I'm not ready to dive into. Plus, I really enjoy all the freedoms associated with recording specific elements in various studios (budget permitting) and then mixing in the comfort my own personal space. It's also more cost effective for the bands that I work with anyway, as they get more of my time and spend less on studio costs. I firmly believe that the amount of time, thought, and love you invest in a project has far greater worth than a multi-million dollar studio if you have time restraints. I have a pretty decent sounding mixing environment (a bonus room with vaulted ceilings) equipped with some nice outboard gear and an HD system - that's all that I really need for now.
Derek:
(this is a quick bonus question that you don’t have to answer)
Are there any developing artists that you are specifically interested in working with?
Jeremy:
I wouldn't consider these to be developing artists, per say, but I've been interested in a few local indie groups recently, including The Very Most, A Seasonal Disguise, and Spondee. I'm usually pretty shy about approaching bands that are already established, but I'm hoping to eventually cross paths with these cats in some way down the road.