This issue's guest End Rant, "Industry Standard," by my pal Garrett Haines, led me to recall a session and album from nearly two decades ago. John Vecchiarelli was a busy, gigging musician around town, and had previously released a great record called Tiny Rooms. When he approached me to produce and record his follow-up album, he asked if he could use one reel of 2-inch tape and track multiple songs parallel to each other,
using only 4 or 8 tracks per song while carefully leaving open tracks between the songs as buffers. It was hilarious, kind of like playing a game of Tetris, but we made it work as his music was beautiful and austere. We kept that ethos throughout the entire recording process, even when there were drums, in which case I'd use a simple stereo mic and nothing else to capture them. I had a really great time making the record, and forged what felt like the beginning of a friendship, though many events in both our lives would soon lead us on different paths.