PHOTO : EDWARD POND
KEVIN HEARN
Force ] vocals are done on that 44 . And I ’ m not sure if you notice , but the vocal that ’ s on ‘ Man Made Lake ,’ it ’ s just so warm and so cool and pulls you right in … I think once [ Ed ] heard that vocal sound , and I had it coming out of the speakers and he sounded like God , I think that made him emotionally come out and it was amazing . I don ’ t think they ’ ve ever made any recordings that have been that heartfelt .”
In that vein , I of course had to ask about the rest of the vocal chain , and Howard dropped a bombshell . “ This is my secret , and I ’ m going to give it away to you , and you ’ re going to print it ,” he jokes . “ But my secret is , I do nothing .” He explains that for preamps , he uses the BL99 from Burlington , ON-based designer GP2 . “ They ’ re API 312 cards that have been customized . If you go buy an API , it sounds good . But what I did is , I changed all the components to all goldpin components , and all of the best resistors and op amps and all that stuff . So , it ’ s the best money can buy and they ’ re super warm and punchy . I ’ ve got 24 of them , and those 24 go analog in on the RADAR , and the RADAR converts to digital , and I use it like a tape recorder . And I don ’ t use any compression ; I just use the microphone as a tool . If I want distance , they stand back . If I want them close , they ’ ve got to sing softly right on top of it , and you just get this sound . It ’ s my secret weapon . But other than that , like with drums and all that stuff , they just come back sounding so amazing .”
On the topic of drums , Howard says his starting point for good sounds is the right kit , which may seem obvious , but sometimes great sounds come from unexpected instruments . “ I ’ ve got this crazy drum set , like an old Pearl from the ‘ 70s , and when you play it , it sounds like shit . But when you record it , the punch I get out of this shitty-sounding drum , everybody ’ s jaw just drops when they hear it .” He explains that for kick in particular , he likes to employ a pairing of an AKG D12 with a Coles 4038 ribbon mic placed about a foot and a half back from the drum .
“ He ’ s the king of mixing and matching ,” Stewart says of Howard . “ He really likes to switch things up ; he ’ s truly an experimenter when it comes to the studio . On the song ‘ Big Back Yard ,’ he has this bass drum , an old parade drum from the 1920s that he really enjoys using and so I definitely played that , which gives [ the song ] this kind of like , super funky sounding vibe to the whole thing . He also like swapping out different snares and things like that . I think we stuck with the same toms a lot of the time , although I ended up using my Ayotte toms occasionally , as well , along with my Sonors .”
The Sonor toms he mentions also were the basis of what I found to be one of the coolest tones on the record , the massive , billowing tom sounds on “ The National Park ,” penned by Hearn . “ Those are my
Sonor toms and I kind of tuned them down a bit , then I put these pieces of almost like a burlap material that muffles them , but you still get some resonance . Then we just added some effects on it , some echo , and they sounded like that coming out of the headphones .” These toms are also augmented by a very unique little percussion loop that Hearn programmed with an Elektron drum machine .
To echo Stewart ’ s point about hearing these entrancing sounds as he played them , Howard also emphasizes the importance of playback during sessions . “ I usually have a really great playback system ; when I play it back , I try to impress them with the volume , and I ’ ve got an 18-inch sub , so the kick drum hits you right in the chest , and the snare just snaps ; I want it to sound like a record when I play it back . I ’ m always in mix mode .”
In bass world , perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the process for Creeggan was getting to borrow and use Geddy Lee ’ s personal Moog Taurus pedals . “ That was an out-of-body experience . On ‘ Big Back Yard ’ I was actually playing bass and the Taurus pedals at the same time , so it was this wild experience of almost being an organ player !” He also proudly shares that the final bass take used on “ Here Together ” was from the very first band take , which was performed while he was singing at the same time .
Creeggan also enjoyed playing a host of different basses on the record , including his personal upright bass known affectionately as “ Grandma ,” a Hofner Violin Bass , an F Bass handcrafted in Hamilton , ON , a Fender Precision Bass purchased from Pat Rush , as well as a Sadowsky , among others .
“ It ’ s funny , a lot of the songs have had kind of a new light shone on them because of the pandemic , but they were all written before it happened ,” says Creeggan . “ The record was started just before the pandemic , and we finished , sort of , in June [ 2020 ] when things kind of opened up . We were responding to the pandemic life , in a way , as we were recording it .” As for the songs themselves , there really is something for everybody here , and it really speaks to the musicality of the band , and the fact that they ’ re more or less just a group of guys passing instruments around and doing whatever they want rather than occupying certain “ roles ,” so to speak .
In classic BNL style , songwriting and lead vocal duties are split across the record , making it quite a fun journey as the varying perspectives and voices really keep things interesting from song to song . While Robertson ’ s eight songs comprise the bulk of the LP , keyboardist / guitarist Kevin Hearn penned and sang four songs for the album , while Creeggan wrote and sang a pair — “ Here Together ,” an intimate piece about the importance of constantly acknowledging the love for those close to you , and the strutting jazz-infused banger
TYLER STEWART
PHOTO : EDWARD POND
40 PROFESSIONAL SOUND