So which one of your children are your favorites? Essentially, that’s what we were initially thinking when deciding which songs to record. But we changed our approach to consider how best our songs might present when grouped together, the way people used to listen to a record, a whole side at a time.

Over the course of an evening we whittled our choices down to 12 tunes, each of us picking the four songs we definitely wanted on the album. There was some overlap but enough “spread” that we were all content with our choices…except…what about “Nothing You Need?” Each of us figured that someone else would surely pick the first song we learned together so why waste the vote? OK, we can’t not record that one. So then there were 13.

We already had two songs in the can and had become familiar with the studio. As long as we knew how we wanted to present each song going into it, there was no reason why things ought not run smoothly. We scheduled one long weekend in January and another in February, then, set to the task of practicing the shit out of each song. Our goal was to perform as much as we could live, together, only overdubbing the vocals and added guitar riffs (and one spectacular tambourine part). Keeping it simple was easy because we were limited to 8 track (with drums taking up two of them).

You’ll notice some “gang vocals” and harmonies that, given limited track availability, we were forced to record at the same time onto one track. This might have driven Mark a little batty as we worked to get individual voice volumes well balanced. Given the height differential between Brian and Julie, at one point, Julie was standing atop a milk crate and nearly tipped over, giving Mark a bit of a start.

In the end, no one lost an eye and we came away with thirteen tracks that we’re very excited about!

Thirteen is our new lucky number!