On The Record: skinpin
on January 22nd, 2012Sydney outfit skinpin released their debut album ‘Shifting Sands‘ late last year and continue to support it on the stage. This Friday night they’ll do just that at The Sando in Newtown with Hy-Test, Nunchukka Superfly, and TTTDC (ex-Wicked City). We caught up with guitarist / vocalist Rickards to tell us a little about the album via our On The Record questions. Expand this post to check out his answers whilst streaming the album in full.
Tell us about the release title.
The album is called Shifting Sands. It comes from the song ‘Howl’. In the song I (Rickards: Vocals/Guitars) sing, “shifting these sands with a fine toothed comb” and when we were doing vocals Jorge (Bass/Vocals) said he thought he saw a lyric that could be a title.
Tell us about the artwork.
The cicada is a logo for the band. Originally drawn by my father to show our love of white noise, anyway it’s on all our artwork and when it came time to do the art for the album. Jorge thought lets just make it really sparse like Flipper’s Generic album or the Germs record.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
It’s been released as a gatefold booklet cd and also digital download in pretty much any format you could want.
Who will it be released through, and when?
We’ve released it ourselves through bandcamp and it’s available now. You can get it [Here]
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We recorded at Megaphon Studios. Our producer has a working relationship there. They have a big room and friendly atmosphere so it was all good.
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
Jonboy Rock, It was mainly because of the work he’d done with the Hard Ons. They have always been a great band but their records never really captured the excitement of them live. So when I heard the records he’d done with them and how great they sounded it was a no brainer.
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
We just wrote a bunch of songs and then sifted through them to see what flowed together as a whole. Our agenda has always been to just to write good songs.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
No
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Slightly, I’d talked to Jonboy about the Jesus and Mary Chain and way they seem to mould distortion for their songs and how sometimes cymbals can sound like smashing glass and that all over raw sound without sounding like crap.
How long did it take to record?
It only took 3 days because we couldn’t afford to hire the studio for any longer.
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
We set up all in the same room like a rehearsal but with the amps in different rooms and recorded the bass and drums together. Then we did the guitars on top of that base and then ended with the vocals.
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
It was different to some demos we’d done before where the producer thinks they know what your sound is and actually try to change it for the better of the record, regardless of what you actually want.
Any guests involved? if so, who… and what did they do?
No guests but there are 2 previous skinpin drummers on the record so we could call them that.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
It was all our normal gear we play with all the time, no extras at all.
Any memorable studio moments?
The 3rd day was the final day we had the studio and we were running late as we’d spent too much time on the bass and drums. I ended up doing 11 guitar tracks and 17 vocals in one day. That’s just the base too, most tracks had at least 3 guitars on them and same with the vocals. Even now when I see Jonboy out and about he tells me he’s never seen anything like that before. So that’s a bit of badge of honour but I was wrecked after it and can guarantee I’ll never do it again.
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
We actually recorded another 7 tracks that didn’t make the album. Most we’ll re-record and release in the future but a couple of them will see the light untouched from that session.
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
I always like playing “You Don’t Mean” live; it’s so catchy and “Surprise” just because it gives me a chance to breathe normally.
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
It’s our 1st album and as 1st albums go I think we did a pretty good job.
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As mentioned, you can grab the album online now, or at a show from the band, you can next catch them at The Sando in Newtown this Friday 27th January.
For more information, visit their page [Here].
