What does any band need to be studio ready? I’m sure every band brings the obvious as HHR does; A group of handsome, well groomed, excellent mannered, well spoken fellows that are ready to rock! Or in some instances roll if the circumstances present themselves. Prepare as we do songs and arias that elicit emotions that could tantalize the Dali Lama himself.
Musicians I’m here to tell you, music and manners are not enough as I have learned; there are other contingencies to be prepared for. Recording musicians…learn from us. Hot Hot Robot feels it is important for bands to familiarize themselves with some studio recording fundamentals.
Make sure everyone in your band has access to a calendar, this way they can confer that other important events are not scheduled to coincide with said recording. Band members should also be granted access to some sort of time keeping device; as a side note your band may want to use a military 24 hour option of time keeping rather than the civilian 12 hour.
Prepare yourself for lots of pizza and Chinese takeout. These simple carbohydrates often combat the paranoia associated with recording; that sickly feeling of being judged in a fishbowl. These feelings may include systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts and feelings which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others.
Be at ease, you are not paranoid; your band mates are more than likely actually doing, thinking and saying the things you are paranoid about. Don’t be afraid of phrases such as “awesome, but we’ll fix it or ‘bury it’ in the mix”. You may be as elated by such quips as, “it was tolerable”. Singers don’t worry about the lyrics. The song has never been recorded before; there are no “right” lyrics. It is incidental that your band may have been rehearsing a song for months with lyrical content “they” thought went a certain way. Think about it, WTF do they know about it actually? While recording vocals substituting “band recognized” lyrics with the filthiest words, thoughts, and expressions just because you may have forgotten the lyrics “they” may have grown accustomed to hearing is just laziness and inflexibility on your bands part. Don’t let them stifle your creative talent and verbose nature when it comes to your capacity to animate vulgarities. These so called “vulgarities” have made many comedic artists rich beyond their wildest dreams anyways. Think your band plus Sam Kinison and Lenny Bruce. Hot Hot Robot is very kid centric when it comes to our recording style. Baby bots are always more than welcome. As reported from inside source we’ll call “Megan”, make sure you never let your bass player pack the diaper bag, because they do not know the difference between four and seven diapers. For future reference “I thought there we’re seven in there” is not an acceptable response or solution. Enjoy your time in the studio, it is a blast! Take it serious, but not to serious! On a side note, make sure you shut off your stove burners while blogging. c.
Comments