The Big Decision

We've had a lot of discussion about what we want this record to be. Some aspects have developed organically as we've compiled the songs and chosen which topics to write about. Some are still being discussed. Before it becomes old news, I think it's time to discuss a major decision we made that has crept in pretty slowly.

The initial vision for this record was two-fold: record it at home, yet make it much better in production value than the previous CD. This began to create problems as we found it difficult to do both, and this ultimately led to a discussion of whether to record it in a proper studio. With money being the biggest factor, we first envisioned recording in different studios, wherever we could get it done on the cheap or maybe even free. Then we'd include some other tunes recorded at home and make the record that way.

This led to more problems. How long do we want to spend making this record? How much money do we sink into recording equipment? Can we produce results that live up to our high expectations? The more we thought about it, the more we've realized that we want to record this record in a proper studio and have it made the way we want it. The con to this decision is cost, and we're exploring options on how to raise the money. The pro is that we can all map out some time, get together and hammer out a record in a live setting in much less time. It also can now reflect the fact that we're very well-rehearsed, which it never really could have if we'd recorded everything one instrument at a time. We hope to produce an even more energetic product as a result.

It will lose some of the "DIY" aspects that we were hoping for, which also serves for a great excuse if it doesn't turn out as well as we want it. It also opens up the question of how much we should market this CD and if we should do a for-real pressing and distribution of it if we're going to sink all that money into recording it.

We're 90% sure of which studio we're going to use, and I'll save that announcement for later once it's set it stone. The prospect of being in the studio within the next four weeks and committing as much as half the record to tape is exciting to me. Although coming up with the money poses a new problem, it is overshadowed by the building excitement over the record that has been amplified by a new experience in a studio.