Nah, not really. It seems ideal to me, you find someone who's made a bunch of records and really digs the band. Ok, it might take two straight weeks of work but you're a BAND right? Call outta? the day gig & tell the family you're off to make a rekkid then blow town!RuudUnit wrote:I've been having some conversations with some of the more well-known folks on our list (no we have't decided yet...) and to be honest it gives me the willies a little bit. The biggest factor is money. If we wanna work with some of these people, they're asking for weeks, which works out in the 10,000 range (way over budget).
But the other factor is our own readiness. I have a lot of faith in my band, but in some ways it feels like its something for which we're uprepared. Like we need to pay our dues a bit more. Hard to explain....
I guess in a sense I'm wary of working with a producer/engineer who is vastly more well-known than we are. That seems like an inversion of the proper relationship to me.
I deal with this kind of thing all the time and yah, you need a certain amount of capital to make a "real" record...but two of the biggest variables in determining the possible outcome of any record...?time vs. money?...are 110% related and fairly easy to shuffle around & manipulate in ways that won?t cripple the project.
There are about a bajillion ways to split up the different phases of making a record, and depending on how its split you could burn a $1000 a day or a $1000 a week. Where's the best place to spend the money? It depends on what 'ya wanna' do & how you go about getting it done. Do you want/need to make the record in a few days or can it be more spread out? What level of ?polish? are you looking for? I could also liken it to building a house. Do they want the 12 bedroom pad with marble but have a budget for a 3 bedroom ranch? Well maybe I can slide ?em into a 4-story two-bedroom with a decent backyard.
Beyond that don?t forget to allocate enough fundage for everything; Studio time for tracking basics, tape & hard drives, plenty of extra strings & drum heads/sticks etc. BEFORE you get to the studio, equipment repairs (is that amp supposed to be belching smoke???), maybe some rentals (new amp?) like a snake or microphones for overdubs back in the rehearsal space. How about a few days of mixing followed by mastering? That?s a couple three grand right? Don?t forget about artwork, duplication & all the other stuff like the FedEx bills, maybe a photographer and there?s always food & gas?funny how those go together isn?t it? Most of all these things have variable costs so it?s just a matter of spreading it around in the right amounts so you don?t come up short in the home stretch. Hopefully the person you pick will have enough experience that they can guide you through the process without turning up the ?suck?.
There?s an ancient saying that I?ve sorta found to be true; ?It?s when we feel the least bit sure that we?re often about take the biggest leaps forward?. If you?re not entirely sure that you?ve paid your dues, then you need to be 110% sure that the next record you make has every chance of you giving a shot at paying ?em. That?s the good stuff?MTV tours & crazy chicks!
Peace,
