Interview: Ian & Jay Pellicci, Engineer Brothers (Part 2)
March 13, 2009
Ian and Jay Pellicci, San Francisco recording engineers and brothers, have worked on tons of great local projects including Deerhoof’s latest album Offend Maggie. We were interested in what they do as engineers, how they got started, and their upcoming projects. We got a chance to ask them about all of these things in an interview a couple weeks ago at The Bay Bridged Studio. This is the second of two parts to this interview; click here to read part one. This interview has been edited for length.
TBB: How difficult is time management? Is time management and the idea of the ticking clock one of the biggest challenges [in a recording project]?
JP: It is, and I think that any band that hasn’t actually been in a recording studio before, always underestimates how much time that it’s going to take. And they don’t realize that the setup time, depending on the arrangement of the band, can take up a huge chunk of the day. And on top of that, almost anybody that I know that’s either been in the studio and recorded a lot or is an engineer knows that things always take twice as long as you think they’re going to take.
IP: Beyond that, no matter how much time you book, you use every last second, and you usually end up going late into the night on the very last day.
JP: You inevitably find a way to use every last bit of time. And the thing that I’ve found is that a lot of bands that want to record a couple of song or an album, they’ll book like two days or something like that. When I first started, from both my lack of experience and the band having never recorded before, it’s like, “Alright, this is going to be a crazy two days, let’s just give it a shot.†You can get stuff done, but realistically I’ve been in the situation so many times where a band will want to book three days to record a record or to do a certain amount of songs. I try to be pretty upfront with people and tell them that I don’t think three days is going to be enough, if we totally hustle we might be able to get through all this stuff, we probably won’t be able to mix blah blah blah. Usually I’m more on the optimistic side because who wants to spend a million dollars on recording a record?
Related Posts:
Dame Satan and more, Saturday at Amnesia
March 13, 2009
“Ghost Dance” by Dame Satan. Music Video from Ghost Mansion on Vimeo.
If you’re looking for good music and good beers this Saturday, San Francisco’s Dame Satan bring their psych-folk-rock to Amnesia, where they’ll be joined by the dream pop sounds of Kings & Queens and the acoustic fare of Casual Fog. Both of those projects come to town from the ever-fertile Nevada City scene. 9pm, $7.
DameSatan_Suffrin_Daughter.mp3
Dame Satan – “Suffering Daughter” (from Beaches & Bridges)
KQ_Slow_Motion.mp3
Kings & Queens – “Slow Motion”
Related Posts:
A Little Bit Acoustic, A Whole Lotta Rock – Telegraphics, Bhi Bhiman, Stone Foxes and Strangefeather @ Red Devil Lounge
March 13, 2009
It had been a while since my last visit to the Red Devil Lounge, the last time being a stop in to check out a friend of a friend in a 90s cover band. My experience this time couldn’t be more different from my previous one. Being a little worn out from a long week, I started off the evening with one of the house specials, the Starfucker, a double rockstar and vodka. Getting the boost I needed I was ready to take on an evening of some blues-rock, 70s throwback sound.
Kicking off the evening were my East Bay brethren, Telegraphics. Nate Witherbee, guitar and lead vox, forewarned us of what was about to ensue – “a night of music unbeknownst to anyone before [us].” I would find out that the guys had only been together about a week, but you’d never have guessed if they hadn’t spilled the beans. Telegraphics are one of those bands you can’t really pin down. They’re all over the map in a catchy, controlled manner. They list their influences as everybody from John Scofield to RHCP to D’Angelo. My ears caught a bit of the Talking Heads merged with the Mad Caddies. Whoever you choose to compare these guys to, the crowd was definitely digging it. Hoots and hollers, claps and fist pumps – it was a pretty packed house for an opener and Telegraphics handled it quite well.
It soon became apparent that the the glue in the band wasn’t the frontman, but rather Greg Waters on lead guitar and sax. Dude has chops. I don’t know how else to put it. The guy can play and you can tell he’s put in his time out at the woodshed. [More...]
Related Posts:
Weekend Picks: March 12th-15th
March 12, 2009
Our weekly picks for some great live local music.
Thursday:
- Hell on Heels tour, featuring: Von Iva, Semi Precious Weapons (Bklyn) and Killola (LA) at Red Devil Lounge. 9pm, $12.
- Viva Voce (Portland), Rafter (SD) and We Is Shore Dedicated (cd release) at Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10 adv/$12 door.
- Say Hi (Seattle), Telekinesis (Seattle), Built For The Sea and Anderson (Amsterdam) at Bottom of the Hill. 8:30 pm, $12, all ages.
- The Have Mercys, Schande and The Pickup Pattern at The Uptown. 9pm, free.
- Bitesize, Ex-Boyfriends and Control-R at The Eagle. 9pm, $?.
- The Union Trade, The Pack AD (BC) and Winter’s Fall at Retox Lounge. 9pm, $5.
Friday:
- My Disco (Australia), Hawnay Troof and Jonesin’ at Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.
Related Posts:
The Lonelyhearts, The Botticellis @ Daytrotter
March 11, 2009
TableByTheWindow.mp3
The Botticellis – “Table by the Window” (from The Botticellis 7″)
Good news for The Lonelyhearts and The Botticellis, both of whom were recently featured on Daytrotter. The Lonelyhearts perform songs off of their last two albums, while The Botts’ second session offers two album tracks, a new one and the A-side of their self-titled 7″ (released last year on Bellevue Records). The Botticellis are now heading down to SXSW on that Antenna Farm tour we mentioned Monday.
Related Posts:
Sleepy Sun: on tour, 10″ and full length releases forthcoming
March 11, 2009
Fresh off a headlining performance at Noise Pop, SF psych-rockers Sleepy Sun are gearing up for the release of their debut full length Embrace on ATP/Recordings, the label offshoot of the prestigious All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival. The album is in stores and online in May, but will be preceded by a limited edition 10″ single featuring two album tracks (“New Age” and “Lord”) on March 16th. Or as the label says, “One side ace hypnotic psychedelic drone rock, then flip for Sleepy Sun’s take on classic Gospel Americana with added fairy dust and weirdness.” Take a listen to the A-side below.
sleepy-sun-new-age.mp3
Sleepy Sun – “New Age”
Click below for full dates for the band’s current Midwest/Canadian tour, featuring several SXSW performances.
Related Posts:
Kid Mud: Reworkings and Remixes
March 11, 2009
This%20Way%20is%20Safe.mp3
Kid Mud – “This Way is Safe”
New and Used Records artist Kid Mud is releasing a free new EP one track at a time this week over at the N&UR blog. A sequel to Mud’s 2008 debut EP, Birds Have Moved In: Reworkings and Remixes collects one new song and four remixes, including a couple from the Kid himself. That new song, “This Way is Safe,” is posted above, and finds Mud concocting quite an enjoyable electro-acoustic ballad.
Kid Mud’s at the Hotel Utah this Saturday, March 14th. He’ll be opening for Great Northern and O + S. The show’s at 9pm, is $10 and is 21+.
Related Posts:
Episode 154: Dizzy Balloon
March 10, 2009
Stream the episode:
This week’s podcast features rock-pop quintet Dizzy Balloon, a group who established a name for themselves at a quick pace when their three song demo began receiving substantial radio airplay a few years ago. Back then, the band was known as Panda and its members were still high school students in Piedmont, but their penchant for catchy, engaging melodies was already undeniable. Now out of high school and taking time off from college to give the band a serious run, the guys have continued to gain momentum with a self-titled debut album under their new name late last year. In December, they won a competitive battle of the bands that enabled them to open Live 105′s Not So Silent Night show.
So it’s onward and upward for Dizzy Balloon, but the band doesn’t appear to have lost sight of what matters most: delivering frenetic live shows that win new fans, shows that capitalize on the chemistry of a group of long-time friends doing what they truly enjoy. The band cites The Beatles and Queen as early influences that all of the members shared in common, and that Queen element shines through in the theatrical component to the band’s bigger, dancey alt-rockers. They’re equally skilled at more nuanced pop fare too, and for all the talk of fun, have proven themselves as formidable and highly promising songwriters.
