guy I know who can make that work.” It had been six years since we’ d worked together, and it was such a blast to reunite.
We recorded the bedrock of the album for six days at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, North Carolina. The band was so good— James Duke, Jeremy Radio, Al Sergel, Jesse Proctor, Leo“ Spaceman” Solis. Those sessions were engineered by“ Knotty”— Aaron Knott— and were recorded live on the floor.
From Echo Mountain, John Mark and I took the songs back to my studio( Aevum Studio) in East Tennessee. For several months, we went through the process of deconstructing and reconstructing some songs, while others we just let live in their“ live on the floor” state. Overdubs were minimal on some, and then other songs were re-recorded from the ground up. I’ ve said this before, but John Mark is wild to work with. Both of us are always refusing to settle, and we are both pushing each other for our best work, and deepest creative ideas. I love working with him. And when you work on a John Mark record, the record actually works on you.
I produced this album, engineered some, played quite a bit on it as well. Guitars, keys, even some drums. It’ s not about the record being“ good” or“ great”… It just has to be“ right”. And sometimes finding the right thing takes a lot of time. I’ m thankful for John Mark and his relentless pursuit of making a“ no compromise, no“ B-sides” album.
[ WM ] The feel of this new record is terrific. It’ s drenched with authenticity. What song or two stick out the most to you?
[ Gabriel ] Thanks, Bruce! I’ m glad you like it! I had always dreamed of doing a John Mark record“ live on the floor”— meaning, the whole band and vocalist are tracking together live in the studio, instead of tracking one instrument at a time. I felt we might capture a different side of John Mark if we recorded the album that way— and I believe we did! Two standout tracks are“ Back to the Garden” and“ Anyone Else.”
“ Back to the Garden” is all live on the floor, no comping, no edits to the vocal. Just such a pure Bob Dylan-esque performance. He’ s playing acoustic and singing at the same time, and there’ s also a lot of band bleed in his mic. So classic!
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