J Mascis

The Crystal Ballroom, in Portland, OR, suddenly fell silent as J Mascis, shuffled on stage in a parka and a purple scarf. After an extended lunch break, Mascis arrived to do the soundcheck before the show started. Mascis slowly picks up his guitar as Mike Watt grabs for his bass — as soon as he has the guitar in his hands, Mascis starts soloing. The once silent room is filled with the sound that makes Mascis a rock icon. Starting out with Dinosaur Jr, Mascis has recorded at Fort Apache, Electric Ladyland, and Dreamland among others. He has also collected his own gear over time and has recorded his past two solo albums in his home studio, Bob's Place, named after his dog that patrols the studio — whether or not you are recording. As Mascis finishes up the soundcheck, I realized that the cotton I had stuck in my ears was a little red from bleeding. This was my introduction to Mascis.

How and why did you make the transition from being a big guitar gear guy to a recording geek?

I think it was just from freaking out on spending so much money sitting in a studio not doing anything and staring out the window and realizing it's like a thousand dollars to sit on this couch and stare out the window.

How did Bob's Place get put together? Did you buy your gear all at once or over time?

At first I bought a house and then I started buying stuff. I had a couple things like some API graphic EQs I bought. I had Roland SRV 2000 reverb that I liked to use on the snare drum — those were my first two things I had. But when I got the house I decided that I should get some gear and start recording there. I never thought I would have a recording studio. It's like having your office at home — it always seemed like a bad idea, but then I realized that I couldn't deal with studios anymore and paying that much money and stuff. So I bought the 24-track machine that was the big thing to buy. I bought a couple of more things like mic pres and stuff.

Did you learn from the engineers at Fort Apache or did you talk to Kevin Shields to learn to record?

I still haven't learned how to engineer, but I picked up a lot, mostly from John Agnello I guess. 

So you were never interested in the recording studio? Asking engineers what does that button do?

Yeah, sure. I realized that I liked some things along the way. With the first things I bought I realized that I like the API graphic things. They are the only EQ that I can relate to — it's like move the levers. 

So did you do a day in the studio as background research for when you played the engineer in Grace of My Heart?

No. [laughs] I just kind of drew on my past experiences with engineers. I spotted a few fuck-ups they had in there. Like one time they had all these stupid '80s drum sets in the studio, and '70s Fender amps.

You mentioned the API EQs. Are there any other pieces of gear that you would classify as a favorite or a must-have when you record?

I dig the Telefunken v76 mic pre. I use that thing for vocals, guitar, and toms. It's the coolest, heaviest mic pre I've heard. Definitely not transparent, an audio word I hate. If it doesn't have a sound why would I wanna use it. I like the Distressor a lot — it's my favorite compressor I think. I like the Distressor because it's not clean. It's like half fuzz box, half compressor. I like certain microphones. I hate recording acoustic guitars with anything but a ribbon mic. I was really happy when I discovered that one day because I always hated every acoustic guitar sound I would get. Suddenly, I think at Dreamland, I was there and I was going through all these mics and pulled out a [RCA] 77 or something and suddenly it sounded so much more normal. I never understood why the acoustic never sounded like an acoustic guitar. I was happy to discover the ribbon mic. I use those a lot.

What's your stance on the digital versus analog controversy?

Well I prefer analog definitely, but I have a DA-88 because I can sync it up to the 24-track and get a few more tracks.

Ever worked with Pro Tools?

Yeah, Tim O'Heir brought Pro Tools to my house. I've done a couple of things with it. Some other kids were there mixing with Pro Tools at my house. I don't know — it doesn't seem any fun to me to record into a computer. There's no joy in turning the knobs or seeing the tape turn around.

Do you record as loud as you play live?

I don't record as loud — especially Kevin would freak out if it was too loud. I don't have much isolation and you can really hear what's going on the tape so I'd mostly use a Tweed Deluxe to record, or this Vox amp that's kind of like an AC-15.

Does Bob have free range of the studio? Have you ever had any complications because of that?

Oh yeah. Bob does some producing from time to time. There are a lot of times when he's walking around on the floor or unplugs something from time to time.

Do you try to go back and erase those sounds?

No, I like it. It's sounds pretty cool. There's this one B-side that you can hear it really well. The piano track is just really compressed and you can hear him walking around.

Do you have favorite sounding albums? Producers? Engineers?

Yeah, I really like Humble Pie's Smoking. I always thought that album sounded great. I like that Black Crowes' Amorica record — the way it sounded, that's why I wanted to work with Jack Joseph Puig at some point. I thought it sounded interesting.

How did More Light come about? Live tracks or piece by piece?

It's mostly drums first and then building upon that.

How many musicians appeared on it?

Kevin plays a few things. Bob Pollard sings on a couple of songs. Other than that it's all me pretty much.

Do you have any set ways you place mics or do you try to experiment with mics?

I mess around a little bit, but now I'm kind of set in the ways where I think it sounds good in my house on my set.

Have you tried out another recording techniques, getting natural reverb or anything?

I've put different mics throughout my house. In my living room, there are different levels. I can put mics in different parts of my house. It's not super- live, but I can get pretty good sound. I'm semi- conservative. I've tried a lot stuff in the past and now I just want to capture the sounds [rather] than create some sounds with the mics.

Were you happy that Experience Music Project bought your first guitar?

I was happy I guess. I didn't use it too much anymore.

Did any of that money to start your studio?

Yeah. I used some money to buy a half-track machine to mix to.

Did you start out with a 4-track as a kid just to mess around?

I had a 4-track for Dinosaur, but I didn't use it too much. It was a cassette. I kind of used it on Bug to teach everybody the songs. I did all the drums, bass, and guitar on a 4-track tape for the others to learn off of.

Did you upgrade to 8, 16-track before getting the 24-track?

I pretty much... Well I bought the DA-88 before the 24- track. I didn't use it much — maybe a couple of times to record live things. Then I got the 24-track.

Is most of your equipment in working order or did you buy used stuff that you are having problems with?

It's kind of half and half. It's working pretty well but. I got a lot of new stuff that's old stuff. Or new API stuff — that's pretty good. I have some old stuff that breaks all the time.

Do you know electronics?

No I can't fix anything. I don't have the patience for that kind of thing.

Is Bob's Place going to go commercial?

Well I have had some friends record there, but I don't know. People I don't know — I'm sure I don't want them running around my house. But I want more people to use it because I have a lot of stuff now and it's pretty good. I was happy with the way the record came out.

What board do you have?

It's API. It's a monitor section that was in a really big API board that somebody pulled out and made into a board. It's really small — smaller than a Mackie. It's 32x2 with 8 sends and a pan control. It doesn't have any EQs or mic pres in it, but it sounds pretty good.

Any secret effects on More Light ?

We have weird guitar sounds. We had a guitar synth and put it through different pedals to get weird sounds on the leads and stuff.

The leads tend to alternate from being very prominent in the song and then to being buried deep in the mix. Was this conscious?

I'm sure it's conscious if it's in the back, because it's vocals I want to be up front or something. Usually though, I have the leads pretty loud.

Were there any complications while making this album?

Well shit's always breaking of course. That's what studios are all about. The half-track thing started making really weird loud, grinding noises. I always get freaked that something's blowing up while you are using it. The half-track thing was probably the most fucked up. I don't think it's audible. The concern was, "Will it make it through the next mix?"

Have you started record another album?

Yeah. I started recording another album. We have seven or eight tracks and a few vocals.

Do you take anything on the road for when inspiration hits?

I have a thirty dollar Panasonic cassette recorder where I record most of my song ideas.

How was Bob's Place utilized for Dinosaur Jr's Hand it Over ?

We started out doing drums at Bearsville Studios, then we decided to the drums at home, I bought a few more mics. Did half the drums at home and then mixed it at Electric Ladyland. It was 48-track and I never heard the two tapes together — I just recorded. I didn't have anyway to bus things together and I had a lot of drum tracks. So I had like 16 tracks of drums. I would make a slave reel with the DA-88 so I had two reels of 24 tracks and I had never heard them together. That was interesting when we mixed, to see that they actually hooked up and it worked out.

In the process of mixing or mastering have you had any other engineers complain about the sound quality of the stuff you recorded?

Complaining? Well it depends on who they are. If they are complainers, sometimes...

Do you get offended by that?

Uh, offended? Usually not offended. I do the best I can at the time with whatever I'm working on.

Do you have any good studio horror stories?

Just shit breaking. At Electric Lady it rained on the 24- track once when we were mixing. When the A&R man came in to listen to a mix and the 2-track started going really slow, warbly and weird. I think it was his vibe, voodoo thing. Shit's just always blowing up in studios — there's so many things to break.

Good experiences?

Um, I don't know. I liked recording at Dreamland. It's like a big church. I always felt that was a cool place to record, I had a good time. I especially like singing in there because it has that big church sound. They have everything. It's pretty much like a rich guy's pet studio. It's got everything: timpani, 50 snare drums, a gazillion mics.

Do you like recording at home, the fact that you can work at your pace or do you keep yourself on a schedule?

I try to keep a schedule. It's easier for me to work that way. To have an engineer come over at a certain time. I like to record mostly from noon to five, which is weird for a lot of people. It's not like a rock and roll time or something.

Any complaints from your neighbors?

I don't know my neighbors too well — kind of isolated — but I'm sure they can hear it sometimes.

Any advice for those who are beginning to record?

It's not like rocket science. Just trust your ears. You can hear as well as anyone else what sounds good and what doesn't. Just given the chance to listen to all these different things, you can tell why people like Neves better than SSLs. It's not that hard to figure it out if you hear them both in front of you — it's pretty obvious what sounds better. And don't get intimidated by stupid engineers, cause it's not like their ears are better than yours. Everybody knows what they want to hear. Just trust that you know what you want.

What other albums have you produced or engineered at Bob's place or anywhere else?

I produced Firehose. I produced some other stuff but I don't like to get that involved.

It's not like another career option for you?

I don't know. Maybe. I would like to try again, because I haven't done it for a long time. I didn't dig it too much. I did some stuff with the Breeders and Buffalo Tom. I've just started to try to engineer a little bit when people come over. I'm always surprised when it works, but I never know. I always assume that nothing's going to work when I start plugging stuff in. But I just transferred my friend's 24-track tape to the DA-88 and compressed it a little and it was exciting that it actually worked. I think it's fun to engineer. I would like to learn more about it. I think it's a lost art or becoming a lost art. It seems really hard and people don't really give it enough props. I'm certainly not a good engineer. I think that computer stuff and sampling all the sounds so that you don't have to get any good sounds, it makes people really lazy. Maybe after I understand analog, I will branch into the digital stuff, but I don't feel like I would need it for much. I don't want to fix the drums tracks. My mind isn't expansive enough to think about all the weird things I could do with Pro Tools. I like limitations, it helps me do stuff. With Pro Tools it's so endless it's kind of crippling for me.

Did you take recommendations from other people when you put together the equipment for Bob's Place?

It was mostly stuff that I had used at other studios and I liked, so I picked it up. Some other things I would buy because I liked the way it looked. I have always been obsessed with the Universal Audio 175 compressor. I just think it looks awesome, I don't particularly care what it sounds like because I just like the knobs and stuff. I think it must be cool.

Have you helped out Kevin Shields the way he has helped you?

No, I've never helped him out. I recorded over at his house — Hand It Over was partially recorded over there. I went over to England and for More Light he came over here. That was pretty cool.

Last words of wisdom?

I dunno.