Hold Still is the final product of 3+ years of work; punctuated by terrorist attacks, financial woes, extreme travel, a city-ordered eviction, and multiple residence changes.
It began in November 2000 with a 13 song demo recorded at my apartment in Jersey City, N.J. and the recruiting of a group of friends who would help bring the final product to life: Nashville based producer and engineer, Marc Lacuesta; Boston based engineer and former band-mate Will Kennedy; bassist Jon Hindmarsh; and Josh Florian, former band-mate and a brilliant drummer.
The idea was to complete the tracking of 11 songs during three days over Memorial Day weekend in May 2001. It was an ambitious plan (to say the least) that would require intense rehearsal. So in April of 2001, Jon took a train from Boston to NYC and we drove to Baltimore to meet with Josh. Rehearsing in his parent's garage with a single light bulb hanging above, no room to move, and a small amp as a PA, we played the songs together for the first time. It was an inauspicious beginning to a project that would see many such moments.
Knowing that the abbreviated tracking schedule required more rehearsal time, the three of us met again in Boston for three days of intense run-throughs. Rather than make Josh take two trips from Baltimore, we decided to practice 8 hours a day during the 3 days immediately preceeding our tracking session. Adding to the stress of an already high-pressure situation was the crack-house ambience of the now closed Music Complex rehearsal space. In those graffiti-covered hallways, the sound of “Hold Still” began to take shape.
The sessions took place at Rear Window Studios in Brookline, MA. Despite the ludicrous rehearsal and recording schedule, a malfunctioning studio, and owner-imposed late-night noise restrictions, the hard work paid off. Over three days drums, bass, piano, and some guitar tracks for 11 songs were successfully recorded to 24-track analog tape. Marc flew up from Nashville to take the production reigns while Will manned the engineer’s post. Some songs took many (many) takes (Disappearer, 13 Weeks); some took just one (Universe of Me, Scaffolding). The constant fuel of doughnuts, coffee, and tasteless jokes pulled us through. The songs were transferred to hard drive for future work and the team disassembled. Most notably, Josh left for Los Angeles to take a job at the Mastering Lab.
Over that summer, Will spent his weekends either busing or driving from Boston to Jersey City to help record the guitar tracks. A variety of recording venues were used depending on the circumstances (what was free). Guitars for Collide, Universe of Me, Cynic, and Blistering were recorded after hours at a voice-over studio in Manhattan called Full House. Trigger, Nights for Days, and Disappearer were recorded at my apartment in Jersey City using a Marshall stack I’d borrowed from a guy in Queens. Things were going smoothly until the World Trade Center, which played prominently in our Manhattan skyline view, was destroyed on Sept. 11th.
During the next month of insanity, Jessica (my future wife) and I decided to move to Boston. We quit our jobs, packed up, and moved to Jamaica Plain, MA. In the midst of the worst job market in decades, I started a business as a freelance audio editor. Work on the album slowed due to lack of funds and the inability to record in our small apartment.
Seemingly coming to the rescue a few months later in October, Marc hooked me up with some free studio time for vocal tracking. He was an engineer at Quad Studios in Nashville and was able to use “down time” there for his projects. In preparation, Will and I did a 24 hour session at Wellspring Sound in Acton, MA to finish recording guitars for Scaffolding and Desensitized. The next day, having not slept more than an hour in three nights (one while recording, two suffering from anxiety), I flew to Nashville. Over three coffee soaked days Marc and I barreled through most of the material and my soft vocal tissues.
Two months later in December, Jess and I drove down to Nashville where we met Will and Marc to take advantage of five days of free mix time between Christmas and New Year's at Quad. An assembly line was set-up. Marc, Jess, and I would record vocals for a song in one studio. Upon completion, the song would be transferred from a computer to a 48-track tape machine. Will, working in a second studio would then mix the song while Marc and I began work on vocals for the next song. It was an unreasonable situation that resulted in near disaster. Only two out of the six mixes completed during this period made the final cut (Collide and Nights for Days), and our friendships were severely strained for quite some time.
Two down, nine to go!
Depressed, broke, and estranged from my friends, work ceased for nine months until September of 2002 when I flew to Nashville to mix with Marc at Club 703; a studio built in a shed in the back yard of Eric Silver's house. Eric is best known for having co-written "Without You," by the Dixie Chicks. He was going to be away and kindly offered his room to us. The plan was to mix Desensitized, Universe of Me, and Scaffolding in two days. It's a great little studio and it was a lot of fun to work there.
We finished Desensitized the first day, but on day two Eric's beloved greyhound escaped. Marc and I spent the rest of the day searching for a lightning-fast grey dog…at dusk…in the rain. Marc didn't want to have his working relationship with Eric soured by the loss of his dog during our session. Luckily someone found it and called greyhound rescue. Face was saved, but only one song out of three was mixed.
Three down, eight to go!
Meanwhile, back in Boston…Jess and I moved yet again (the 3rd time in 18 months.) After extricating ourselves from our less-than-ideal earlier Boston living situations, we had settled into a loft space sublet in Dorchester after a full month of cleaning and fixing.
Then on February 14th, 2003 we were evacuated because police found propane, fertilizer, oil, gasoline, and 400 barrels of unknown chemicals stored in the adjoining warehouse. Unbeknownst to us (in addition to thousands of building and fire code violations) the building was not zoned for residential occupancy. We had fifteen minutes to grab some things and leave the premises. Fortunately, Will had a spare room for us and our two ferrets for those ten days of homelessness. During a blizzard that eventually dumped two feet of snow on the Boston area, we found a new apartment in Cambridge. We were only allowed back into the old building for a few hours each day so we spent the next two weeks slowly moving everything out by making daily trips with our minivan.
During those tumultuous last weeks of February, strings were arranged and recorded at Wellspring Sound. Will had tracked a scholarship demo for a violinist at Harvard named Szuhwa Wu; a Julliard graduate getting her master’s degree. In return for Will’s free demo recording, Szuhwa offered to play on my album. She in turn recruited Harvard cellist Ethan Gray. Four pairs of chairs were set up in the studio. After each take, the players would move to a different set of chairs to record the next part. When combined, the multiple takes would sound like a full ensemble. This was done for both Blistering and Disappearer. Szuhwa soon left to study violin on full-scholarship with a world renowned teacher in Switzerland.
That summer, Will and I worked at his apartment. We alternated between tracking my album and The Memory Effect EP. Vocals for 13 Weeks were completed. My freelance business was taking off and funds were becoming more available. That July, Marc and I mixed Universe of Me, Scaffolding, and Cynic at Quad Studio B (where Neil Young's "Harvest" was recorded.) The rest of the summer was spent preparing for my and Jess's wedding, which took place on September 20th. Tracking was completed in November with a trip to Q-Division in Somerville, MA (where Surfer Rosa was recorded). Chris Hobbick of The So and So's banged out the live drums for Trigger and I strained out vocals for Purple Fingers.
Six down, five to go!
The third and final round of Nashville mix sessions came during January of of the next year. Marc, Will, and I mixed the final five songs over four days at Quad. This was eerily reminiscent of the same disastrous scenario we’d endured in late 2001, but since then talent had gone up, egos had gone down, and there were no vocals to finish, the environment was much more relaxed and productive. All five mixes were a success. Incidentally, The Memory Effect’s "Before You Begin" was mixed during the two days prior to "Hold Still’s” completion.
Eleven down, zero to go!
The final touches were added on May 24th at Yes, Master! Studios in Nashville, TN where Jim DeMain lent his mastering magic to the record. Ten disparate songs went in, one great album came out (Purple Fingers was cut to improve the flow of the album.) The artwork was then assembled by Jess and I and on June 27th 2004, “Hold Still” was released to the public with a performance at TT The Bear’s Place in Cambridge, MA.
The final tally:
• 9 musicians
• 7 recording studios
• 4 cities
• 4 residence changes
• 3 years
• 1 marriage
• 1 eviction
• 400 barrels of chemicals
What does it all add up to? One great rock album. Enjoy!
-Tim
