PHOSPHENE COMPLETES LP AT ECLIPSE
Phosphene
C
hicago-based heavy alt-rockers
Phosphene took a step-by-step
approach to recording their new
album Any Last Words at ECLIPSE STUDIOS in Normal, IL, deciding that being an
online singles band wasn't enough, taking
the plunge to make a long-player after
recording their first look tracks. IE caught
up with lead vocalist Jeni Imparato to give
us the backstory: "Recording started for
the album in mid-2013 as the band played
with the idea of consistently releasing singles instead of a full length album. As time
went on, we continued to write music and
in November, we reconsidered (the singles
approach) and decided to release a full
length album. After three separate sessions
in the studio (3 months apart), our last,
week long trek in the studio was in early
December when we recorded our final
addition of songs to the album.
36 illinoisentertainer.com january 2014
Imparato and Phosphene (Andrew,
Drums; Joey, Guitar; Michael, Bass),
assembled as refugees from their former
projects, which gave them a little more life
experience and wisdom putting together
the record. "Coming from other bands, we
had an idea of what things failed in the
past and what ideas might have a chance
at surviving. Just like everything else in
life, we learn from our mistakes as well as
the mistakes of others. Same goes for the
life of a band. The downside to music is
what may have done well in the past, may
not do well in the present. So like we said,
we 'think' we know what sort of routes to
take this time. Luckily, we all knew each
other while we were in different bands so
we went into this project (Phosphene) with
set expectations of what direction this
band planned to take, the commitment
level needed, the financial backing that
would be put into it and of course the
cohesiveness of everyone's role in bettering the band. Truly, our past bands are the
reason we are so focused and driven as a
unit. Gauging from the amount of things
we have accomplished in just 7 months
and the growth of our awesome supporters, we feel that we have set the bar to a
high enough standard that pushes us to
excel past limitations that stand in the way
of our goals. We have all played the 'game'
so to speak in our last projects, so now that
we all learned the rules and hardships in
our past bands, we focused Phosphene on
our 'players'. The biggest lesson you learn
from being in a bands is if everyone in
your band doesn't have a common respect
for each other, mutual goals/interests, and
good communication/mediating skills
then it will very rarely blossom. All of us in
Phosphene are very much a family and
that, I believe, is what sets this band apart
from all of our former projects."
Working with a defined studio budget,
Imparato and the band had the majority of
their material ready before they let the
"tape" roll. "For the most part, all of the
songs were written prior to visiting the
studio. Maybe an ending to a song or a certain piece of the song was rearranged or
altered while in studio due to the creativeness
and
knowledge
from
our
producer/engineer Erik Nelson. We have
always tried to make going to the studio
fun (and not feared), especially knowing
that we will be engaged in numerous 10 to
14 hour days. We try to go into the studio
as well prepared as we can, so we still have
time to enjoy the finer things of trekking to
a studio for a week - like band bonding
time, laughs, eating nothing but fast-food,
and enjoying the accommodations of the
hotel. We do however, have our hidden
gem of a hotel with an indoor pool. We are
all from Chicago so going to
Bloomington/Normal Illinois is a pretty
long drive and we like to think of it as a
work vacation not just work."
And how did producer/engineer
Nelson help them make the record they
wanted? "We're very proud of the work
Erik has put into our music. He is very
well rounded in his knowledge of all
instruments and he is also very accredited
in the music industry. He helped all of us
push out of our 'comfortable ways' of writing and taught us to explore new styles.
We branched out a lot in all of our songs to
really give a good variety of ourselves to
our fans. Each song on our album has a little added ingredient to give it something
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