Harmless Noise
A music blog from Ireland.
A music blog from Ireland.
(No Ratings Yet)A first for Harmless Noise – a studio recording and tour diary! I’ve always enjoyed reading these (check out this new European tour diary by Last Days of 1984 for We Are Noise) because there’s no doubt that for bands, taking the show on the road is a big adventure.
This first entry documents the band’s preparations as they ready for a jaunt to play a rake of shows in Chicago but Autumn Owls are no strangers to touring; the real excitement here is recording their debut album, four years after the release of the first EP Insomnia Lodge. In the time since, their intuitive indie-rock songs have seen the band fare well here on the home circuit. The latest offering from Autumn Owls is a new single Acrobatics of a Patchwork Heart which you can download on a name-your-price basis from Bandcamp. If you’d like to hear more songs, you can listen to their Soundcloud tracks via the player tab below (sticking out of the bottom of the page). Read on for the first instalment from the band, via bassist Adam Browne….
Autumn Owls US Recording Holiday
Part 1: Mental and Electrical Preparations
Welcome to the first post in our special guest blog series for Harmless Noise. In a few days time we leave for Chicago to make our debut full-length album with ace producer Brian Deck. We chose Brian because of his sterling work on albums such as The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse and Roots & Crowns by Califone. We were excited by the sonic wizardry and experimental sounds oozing from these recordings and when Brian agreed to work with us we were over the moon (and Antarctica. Sorry.). We finalized our recording schedule a couple of months ago and since then we’ve been busy refining the album track list and ironing out the kinks. Our time in the studio is extremely short compared to the period it took for these songs to gestate (2+ years), so we’re aware of the speed at which we will have to work. Over the last few weeks we’ve been going over every song making sure we all know what to play, when to play it and how to re-create the particular sound in the studio. Brian has also been in constant contact with us via Skype and has made suggestions about things he wants us to work on with the songs. That’s kept us busy, trying out new ideas for songs we hadn’t already pursued. We won’t have all our studio equipment with us so it’s going to be an exciting challenge to re-create these sounds with all the gear at Engine and Soma studios in Chicago.
Our schedule between recording sessions is also filling up fast as the time approaches. Our manager Brian McKinney is based in Chicago so he has hooked us up with some shows and interviews in our off time from recording. We arrive on Wednesday evening (25 April) and have booked in a four-hour rehearsal on Thursday afternoon (ahead of our shows at Cal’s on Friday and Reggie’s on Saturday); mainly to ensure our European effects pedals work with US plugs; fingers crossed! We use a lot of effects pedals, so making sure these work in the US was vital. I think we spent a whole day talking about voltages and amps and what plugs will work etc. etc. Luckily our drummer Will is a dab hand with that stuff (they always are, drummers) so he made sure we all have the correct equipment and an adequate supply of white t-shirts. Did we mention the white t-shirt obsession yet? You’ll see.
We’d love to play lots more but recording takes priority over gigs this time. We’re investing all of our own money into this project so we want to make sure nothing interferes with recording. The next time we head back to the States hopefully we’ll have a ton of shows to play… a record deal, lots of money, new guitars… ultimate power?
Mixed in with feeling nervous, anxious – stressed if you can believe that – is a feeling of excitement that something is finally happening for us, something we’ve waited a lifetime to achieve and can just about touch. Thanks for reading. We’ll check in about once a week with exclusive pictures, videos and more.
Cheers,
Autumn Owls
You can get more information, song downloads and more on our website www.autumnowls.com.
April 27 – Fearless Radio Interview/Performance, 3pm
April 27 – Cal’s Liquors, 8pm
April 28 – Epitonic Saki Session, w/ Big Science, 4pm (FREE)
April 28 – Reggie’s, w/ Like Pioneers & Brontosaurs, 8pm
May 6 – Chica-Go-Go, Live Show Taping, 3-6pm
May 14 – Martyr’s, 8pm
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