Last week pop punk outfit Versus The World released their second full length album ‘Drink. Sing. Live. Love‘. The band, made up of Mike Davenport (The Ataris), Chris Flippin (Lagwagon) and Donald & Bryan of Crooks and Liars play a style that brings the mind back to the 90′s, with a nice modern touch as well. An album well worth checking out. To find out more about it, Donald from the band answered our On The Record questions this week. Expand this post to take a read and give the tracks a listen.
Tell us about the release title.
We named the record ‘Drink. Sing. Live. Love.’ It’s a common thread through out the record. It speaks to our out look as well. We actually wanted to leave it self titled, until we wrote we were alive.
Tell us about the artwork.
Daniel Charlson designed the album art work. He’s our drummers brother, he did some engineering for the record too. We were looking at a number of different ideas, but his picture just spoke to us. Once we saw it we knew that was the cover.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
We’re releasing some preorder bundles where you can get the digi-pack cd with a shirt, cozie, poster, patch and stuff. We are also pressing 500 on yellow vinyl, or you can get it through iTunes as well.
Who will it be released through, and when?
Here in the USA & Japan, Viking Funeral will be releasing the record. In Europe it’s Concrete Jungle, and 3Wise in Australia. So we’ve got a pretty good team of people behind us! The record came out August 3rd in Australia.
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We chose to record the drums at Playback Studio and the guitars + vocals at Orange Whip. Both in Santa Barbara. It was nice to record at home, we really took our time on the record. We felt creative, instead of rushed.
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
We used Thom Flowers. He’s worked on records from all of our previous bands and did the last record. We work really well with him. Ian MacGregor backed him up and his ear is amazing. We’ll work with them again I’m sure.
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
Not really, I wanted to write alot of different types of songs. I knew what I didn’t want to do, that’s it though.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
I’ve been listening to alot of old rock and roll. Roy orbison, Willie, just oldies really. I like that you know where the song structure is going but it doesn’t matter that it’s predictable. The vocals get you there. It’s a very vocal driven record.
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Our drummer has the ear. He knew what drum tones he wanted, he brought a list of reference records. I tend to like the more raw sounding albums. But all in all we didnt want it to sound overly produced.
How long did it take to record?
We recorded it in two shifts. We first went in with plans of recording an E.P. but through out the recording process I kept writing songs. We decided it had been too long since we’d put a record out so we had to do a proper full length. So we finished recording the 6 songs we’d had completed and then went back and worked on the new songs. All in all it took 2 years from when we started writing songs to having the record come out.
Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
Pretty standard I’m sure, after we write and demo songs and get them to where were happy with them we go into the studio and start tracking. Drums and bass first, then guitars and vocals. We use pro tools, nothing fancy. We made sure this time we found a drum room we were happy with.
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
We had alot more time with the songs on this record. That was nice. The last record I’m pretty sure we just recorded everything that we knew.
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
We had our friend Lindsey Waldon come sing on the last track ‘We Were Alive’, and had a lot of our friends come in and sing the chorus of ‘A Fond Farewell’.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
I’d been playing a Shiva for a while and recorded with that but this time around I bought an Orange Rockerverb and Chris found a killer JCM 800, they pretty much dominated the guitar tones on this album.
Any memorable studio moments?
The vibe was really mellow. We recorded in our home town so we would just roll in out of bed, work on songs together, drink beer, work on more songs and go home and go to bed. It was so natural It’s hard to describe. I think the only way it could’ve been more laid back would be if we had a home studio.
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
Yeah, there were some b-sides. The Euro and Australian releases get two extra songs, but there were a couple that didn’t make the cut. Who knows, we’ve taken some time away from them so with some work the could become songs.
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
We still haven’t played ‘Angry February’ yet. I love singing that song.
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
I love these songs. I think we’ve grown as musicians and we really know who Versus The World is as a band.
Anything else you want to say or tell us about the release?
Please check out the album!
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VERSUS THE WORLD – Drink. Sing. Live. Love
In stores now via 3Wise Records / Sony Music
Order your copy online [Here]
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