You've been doing some fly-in sessions too. Do bands have a budget for that? I assume the budget isn't huge with a band like Yob. They have to fly you out, put you up for 10 days...
It's still total punk rock. I sleep on Mike's [Scheidt, Yob frontman] couch. I ended up doing two records when I flew out there, and the bands split the airfare.
Do you mix in those rooms, or are you going home to mix? For me, mixing in a familiar location is really important.
No, I'm mixing at home. It would be hard for me to mix like that.
So when you're tracking in some room you've never been in before, do you make a lot of commitments to tape? Or do you just try to get solid basics and hash it out in the mix when you get home?
I pretty much try to get it all sorted out while the band's there — when I leave it's pretty much ready. It's just a matter of a few balance issues, a little bit of EQ. I don't EQ a lot in mix. I do EQ quite a bit to tape, but I try to avoid it as much as possible during mixdown. Mixing is my least favorite process. I love the interaction with bands. I love talking about music. To me, the absolute most important thing in a recording situation is the vibe and making sure the band is happy. It doesn't matter what microphone I use; if the vocalist isn't comfortable or doesn't like what he's hearing, it's not gonna be good. It's not going to sound good and it's not gonna be a good performance. So, to me, it's trying to make everything sound as awesome as it can up front. I want to get the band really excited; that's how you're gonna make a great record. If the band is into it, it's going to be awesome.
Do you find that your sounds sometimes have to suffer in the name of keeping things exciting and keeping things moving?
