• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

FEATURE SCISSOR SISTERS RECORDING THE AT 36 It’s Babydaddy’s 30th birthday. Normally Discoball Jazzfest, no less, hinting at the this is a time to relax with friends and family, band’s utterly promiscuous (ab)use of zillions and take stock of existential questions to do of different musical influences, ranging from with life, growing up, and everything, but all disco to soul to music hall to prog rock and this is far from the American’s mind. Instead, even, indeed, jazz (Pink Floyd, Meatloaf, he’s standing in a rehearsal room somewhere David Bowie, The Beatles, Bee Gees, Andrew in London, speaking loudly into a mobile Lloyd Webber, and Abba, eat your hearts telephone, desperately trying to keep his head out). The band is utterly and wilfully blind to together while ignoring incessant interruptions notions of what’s musically cool, and delights from noisy trains and humans. The latter are in concocting musical collages verging on the mostly urging him to get off the phone and pastiche. join the rest of the Scissor Sisters, who are eager to begin their rehearsal. INSPIRED PASTICHE The Scissor Sisters waded into the ‘difficult For 26 heroic minutes Babydaddy manages second album’ with the help of some of their to ward off these powerful distractions, and heroes. “We did a session with Elton John in sticks to the job at hand, which is to talk Las Vegas,” recalls Babydaddy, “and out of to AT. Under normal circumstances this is that came the track Intermission. A month not too overwhelming a challenge, but these later he came to our studio, and with him on are not normal circumstances. Right at this piano and me on guitar we messed around and moment the Scissor Sisters are arguably one recorded the basis for I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’. of the hottest acts in the world, thanks to It was amazingly quick to work with him – a their new album, Ta-Dah, the follow-up to very immediate process. Music is coming out their eponymous debut, one of the best-selling of him all the time. And he’s clearly very used The Scissor Sisters’ first albums of 2004. to performing and then having other people album was recorded and But Babydaddy is clearly in his element when put the production together afterwards. I Don’t talking about writing and recording the band’s Feel Like Dancin’ was very important to us, mixed in a home studio, and music. He’s quick off the mark, explaining his because we really wanted to have a breakdance sold three million copies. reasons for wanting to do the interview, despite song on the album, and once we had it, we felt the distractions. “I am interested in people like, ‘now the ballads and the straight up rock The second album Ta-Dah knowing that this is possible for anyone,” he tracks also have a reason to be there’.” combines that DIY ethic hollers down the telephone, trying to make As far as the rock tracks are concerned, while himself heard above the din. “You don’t need not quite the same as working with David with some no-holds-barred expensive tools to make this happen!” Bowie himself, The Scissor Sister’s core songwriting duo, Babydaddy and singer Jake vintage richness. AT talks to MESSING AROUND the Scissors’ technical geezer, Babydaddy, aka Scott Hoffman, is expressing Shears also enlisted the services of regular Bowie guitarist Carlos Alomar. Together Babydaddy, and engineer Dan his pride in the fact that Scissor Sisters, the band’s first album, was recorded and the trio wrote the songs Lights and Paul Grech-Marguerat to learn mixed almost entirely from his studio flat in McCartney. “We’d been friends with Carlos for a while,” remarks Babydaddy, “and we more. Manhattan, on a collection of Logic/G5-based gear that’s unlikely to particularly impress the like the idea of bringing people in to see what inspiration hits us.” Text: Paul Tingen average AT reader. Three and a half million album sales later, the band’s bassist, guitarist, “Generally how we write,” adds Babydaddy, main song writer and tech-head, gleefully “is Jake and I messing around with drum announces that he has done it again: Ta-Dah beats, maybe a bass line or piano line. Very is largely written, programmed, and recorded often we loop stuff to give us a template. by him, using almost the same collection of We don’t use other people’s loops, although budget kit. we do feel it’s okay to just use sounds, and However, this time ’round there are a few sometimes that can add a gritty vibe that will crucial differences. “Initially we continued inspire something. We usually build up a where we’d left off with the first album, and foundation, getting good grooves, or a good began working in my apartment,” explains chord progression that we may loop without Babydaddy. “We wrote a couple of songs there, any drums at all. But it will give us an idea one of which, Might Tell You Tonight, ended of where to go with the melodies and the up on the new album. But it was getting too structure of the song. much for me to wake up in the same place as Babydaddy constructs his drum loops in where we were working. I was like, ‘Okay, Native Instruments’ Battery, from within we’ve been on the road for a year and a half, Logic. Diving into a description of the tools and I deserve to have my life back’. So we of his trade he manages – while continuing found a rental space nearby that was already to raise his voice – to come up with a fairly sound-proofed and had two small live rooms, comprehensive list (see box item one). “I have which is more than we ever had or needed. We no interest in ProTools,” he bellowed. “I like moved everything from my apartment in there, gear that’s ready to go and accessible. Logic is so technically the setup wasn’t very different what I started on, and I’ve used it for a long at all, it was just set in a quieter and more time. When you use ProTools you’re kind comfortable space.” of stuck in that world, but with Logic you The Scissor Sisters christened their new studio have so many options. For instance, I can use the soundcard I want: we had the MOTU AT 37 828MkII in our studio, and we also used the The Scissor Sister’s first album sounds good MOTU 24 I/O during the recordings. We set enough on CD, albeit a little flat, but on Logic to 24-bit/44.1k – I’m not sure whether the iTunes format the band appears to be 24-bit gives me a better sound, but I thought playing in a cardboard box. While Grech, that since we had the ability, we might as well understandably, won’t criticise the sound of do it.” the first album – three million plus sales are In addition to the presence of Logic, the most hard to argue with – he agrees that the aim of notable aspect of the Scissor Sisters’ setup is Ta-Dah was to expand the band’s sound. “The its plethora of plug-ins, including many soft first album is brilliant for what it is, with a synths, which they use for the most part in very stripped down feel of a bunch of people preference to real instruments. According to making an electronic record. With the new Babydaddy, this reflects the Scissor Sisters’ record the idea was to maintain the electronic ethos of juxtaposing opposing musical feel, but to take it a step further, and add depth styles and sounds, while the ‘plastic’ aspect and warmth by having more real instruments. “ I’m interested in the of some soft-synths perfectly embodies the That’s why I suggested that we record all the challenge of making band’s tendency towards pastiche and kitsch. live stuff at Sear Sound, a really good studio with good rooms, a lot of vintage microphones, imperfect recreations sound “Pastiche can mean thievery,” reckons the songwriter, “but I love it when the word is great analogue gear, and a Neve desk.” amazing… I’m not convinced used to describe a particular combination of While the analogue aspect of the recording that spending more money instruments, sounds, and inspirations. For at Sear Sound was relatively straightforward, instance, the idea of putting an acoustic guitar a major problem resulted from the decision makes things sound better” next to a Minimoog emulator is fascinating to keep the entire project in Logic. “My to me. A real Moog would probably sound preferred way of working,” says Grech- amazing, but I’m not sure it would sound Marguerat, “would have been to record all audibly worse than what I’m using right now.” the programming in Logic as audio, and then “I’m interested in the challenge of making create a master document in ProTools to work imperfect recreations sound amazing,” with, because I find ’Tools easier to deal with Babydaddy elaborates. “I’m not convinced when it comes to mixing and audio editing. that spending more money makes things But they wanted to keep everything in Logic, sound better. There are times when we feel it’s because they were still writing and recording proper to spend money hiring string players and wanted to be able to continue adding and and things like that, but even then we try to changing things, even while I was still mixing.

Load more

  5

Copy Link