What were the first records that made you aware of the recording process?
C: The Jellyfishbabies! They made a record when we were still in high school.
J: They had a record out by 11th grade. I just remember being so impressed. It was expensive to put out a record back then [1985].
C: They recorded it at Centre For Art Tapes in Halifax, Nova Scotia [www.centreforarttapes.ca]. We ended up recording there too. Jay and I were in a band before Sloan called Kearny Lake Road.
J: That was our first real experience in a studio. It wasn't super high fidelity.
What was your first experience that brought the recording process into focus?
C: Well, I remember that it made my vocals sound awesome when doubled. That was an eye opener. Prior to that I felt really smart when I started planning out what I was going to do ahead of time. Going from 4-track to a real studio was a sad process of going from feeling like I knew how to do everything to feeling like I didn't know how to do anything. I really appreciate the professionals involved. I know enough to realize that they really know what they're doing.
J: We did the Kearny Lake Road recording at Centre For Art Tapes. We did the second one in Chris' basement with a 4-track. We thought the 4-track stuff sounded better than the first record, even though it sounded rougher. It made me realize that you can make something cool, even at home.
C: I would say this is well before we ever touched a compressor or a limiter. We just used the natural compression of the 4-track.
J: But not knowing what made it sound good. Not having the concept of "this is compressed."
What 4-track did you use?
C: I had a Tascam with six inputs. I had another 4-track prior to that though. It was stolen out of a car. For better or worse, the next record was done in an actual studio with a guy who loved reverb. Naturally there was a lot of reverb on that album!
J: It was done in 1989, in Fredericton, at Reel North Recording. It was in someone's home — a guy named Lloyd Hanson. He was in cahoots with a label called DTK, who wanted to put out our record. A guy named Peter Rowan, and his wife Dawn ran DTK. Peter went on to co-manage Sloan in the early days, and he also worked with Eric's Trip.
C: The record we made with Lloyd sounded slicker. J: We wanted to use reverb to sound like Fugazi's [13 Songs]. He was like, "Yeah, I can make you sound just like that." Of course it didn't. Those Fugazi records were so huge sounding, and we were recording in a tiny room that was dead. I like dead rooms now, but at the time we wanted that huge sound and digital reverb wasn't the same thing. That was a good learning experience.
What was the best recording experience you've ever had?
C: The last record [Never Hear the End of It]. We're still working on the new one [Parallel Play] and that's going well too.
J: We set up our practice space to record. Now we have no time constraints. We can experiment with drum sounds. If we waste an afternoon, who cares?
C: I'd much rather have [more] time than fidelity. Another good experience was making our first record, Smeared. We felt like we were a part of something big happening. Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine were making records that we loved. We felt they probably had influences similar to ours. Our next record, Twice Removed, seemed like it was going to be exciting. We had major label money and we were in New York City, but I hated the whole process. I hated receiving the money up front for a product we were supposed to create to make people happy. I hated working with [producer] Jim Rondinelli. New York was great but everything was so expensive. I wanted to live cheap so we could actually make a little money. Everybody kept saying, "It's someone else's money. Just spend it!" Even now I have a hard time getting my head around that concept. Growing up I was taught to save money. I loved hardcore, Dischord, SST and the indie aesthetic. Spending money wildly made no sense. There were numerous guitars and pieces of gear around. I'm not a fan of that kind of excess. I was just happy using my own bass. Some people can make the best of the situation where they have everything they want. I prefer to make the best of the situation I'm given.
J: Henry Hirsch [Tape Op #56] was involved with that studio though.
C: He was definitely a fan of old recordings and vintage gear. Jay and I were really into Plastic Ono Band at the time. We were insistent, "We wanna make that!" Henry said, "If you want to make that record here's what you have to do: You guys all have to play together, in the small room, not the big one." Jim Rondinelli was losing his mind. He was saying, "No! Don't listen to that guy!" We ended up only doing one song that way. We didn't actually record with Henry, but after his speech we recorded "I Can Feel It". Patrick has always been pissed that we kept the take where Andrew's hi-hat clasp comes undone. . I think it was the first take, actually. He always wished we had redone it. Henry was great. He called Eddie Kramer [Tape Op #24] to ask how he got that bass drum sound on Led Zeppelin III. Kramer was nonplussed, "Leave me alone. It was a mastering mistake!"
A good experience during an otherwise bad one?
