What took you to SF, and what brought you back to Austin?
Two years ago I was buying a studio here in Austin and the deal fell through. I had just been out in San Francisco to do John [Vanderslice]'s record. We hit it off and when I told him the deal was going south he invited me out to work at Tiny Telephone. I had also met my future wife, Angie, when I was out there and I wanted to be with her, too. It was hard for me 'cause I have a daughter here and I realized pretty early on that I didn't want to be living so far from her. I spent the last year trying to get back here and dragged Angie back with me. It's all worked out great so far. It's good to be back, I love Austin.
What do you bring to a session, what is your approach?
I like the band making the best record they can make but I also like very stylish records — records that turn your head. I think that it is more than great sounds and great performances. I think the producer has a lot to do with getting great performances but I'm not the kind of producer that has anything to do with writing. I write my own stuff and occasionally I have helped bands with a lyric or something, but as a rule I try and stay out of that. I like records that sound real distinctive and gutsy, that take chances. My view of that has changed over the years, but there are records I thought that of 20 years ago and I still think that of.
Which ones?
Bowie's Ziggy Stardust — most of The Beatles stuff, especially Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's — Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones. Those are some of the old ones. I like a lot of newer records, too.
Any you want to name?
Lately it's been Grandaddy — I've been totally diggin on them. I think mostly for the songwriting. Lucinda Williams, one of the best songwriters ever. Her Car Wheels on Gravel Road is a tremendous-sounding record.
Yeah, the sound of her voice with those songs is a really nice match.
Her voice had never been strong to me and it is totally strong on that record. You might even make a case that the songs on Lucinda Williams are better, but Car Wheels... you have to listen to it, you have to check out what she's doing.
Is there a format you prefer to record with?
Definitely analog. I've used workstations real often, but you really need to be careful with them. I don't know if you want to get into the debate. I like the example of Lynyrd Skynrd for some reason. If you listen to their records you hear a band playing together, they're playing great, and it totally invites you to come to the party and listen. I think a lot of the digital stuff — you can look at it and it's pretty but you don't have any emotional interaction with it. I think format has something to do with that and the way bands are being recorded has something to do with that. It really is more interesting to me if you hear people playing with each other — it's more like music.
I think there might be a generational learning curve. Perhaps it'll be the kids who grow up with the tools who really can make the most of them.
It's odd, I'm getting older and I'm always asking myself, "Is this just me getting older or are records really not as exciting as they used to be?" Then something will come along, like the Lucinda Williams record or the Grandaddy record, and I will get excited about it... so I know it's not just me. I think part of it, too, is that the manipulation of sound is taking the place of songwriting. That will definitely bug me. I am into songs. There are guys in that format who can write great, like Beck, and I really like that Gorillaz record, but a lot of times it sounds like, "Hey, check out this new sound we've tweezed."
I recently upgraded my home studio to a higher quality 8-track, analog set-up. Before I did I had a lot of people try to convince me to go digital and I noticed something odd about the language they used. It was often based around what could be done to sounds, rather than about the songs or music.
I think it remains to be seen what is going to be done with it. I'm going to get a MOTU system. I'm gonna be working on my own record. I hope that it will end up on analog but I know that a lot of it will be recorded at my house on a computer. There is no doubt about the convenience of it — and it's fun to play on computers. A pretty realized version of what can be done with the technology is what Fat Boy Slim is doing — just really fucked-up break-beat things, real wild juxtapositions. The Dust Brothers do that too, kind of outrageous sounds and outrageous rhythms. The machines are allowing them to do that, the machines are providing that power for this hyper-reality — and I'm way into that. But I would still much rather hear Marvin Gaye singing "What's Goin' On". If you have a choice, which one are you gonna pick? I kind of have that issue with it, but I think you're right that there's a lot to be exploited and there are people who will be virtuosos in ways we don't know.
Any gear you are particularly fond of?
Well, I'm fond of my gear. Most of the engineers I know have some stuff at their studio and they get to know it really well. I think that's the best way to go. After awhile you know what mic sounds good for certain situations. I believe that matters a lot more than what brand it is. Once you get to a certain [quality] level that's true, you need to have stuff that sounds good. Then after that it's how well you know it, how well you know what to do with it. My stuff: a couple of Neve preamp/EQs, 1066s — couple of 1176s — a Massenberg 8200 — couple of dbx 160XTs — an LA3A — Neumann U87 — SM7 — AT 4033 — SM57 — I loved using the U67 at Tiny Telephone, that is a beautiful mic. That's most of the stuff that I have.
Any messy studio stories you can share?
One of my favorite records that never came out — I won't mention any names. It came time to do the lead vocals and this guy was so drunk he literally could not stand up at the mic, he would just fall down. Two people held him up under each arm and I was thinking, "Oh my god, this is gonna suck." And we rolled the tape and kept it rolling because all the songs were in a row and he wasn't gonna last for long. He did all of them just fantastic.
Straight through, one take?
[laughs] Yes.
And it never came out?
It never came out, great record. He was a great guy, too. I've definitely had a lot of technical difficulties. At Tiny Telephone the Ampex had a tendency to go down. We'd get everything set up, record the first take, everybody'd be excited and in the control room for playback. I'd hit play and it would die. "Okay, see you tomorrow."
Is Tiny Telephone still around?
