@grantwalkersound

10 months ago

So I got to help out a little on "Because of the Times". I was an intern at Blackbird studios at the time and Ethan Johns wanted a few extra hands to help set up and get the session rolling. I was a big fan of Ethan and of KOL, so I felt really lucky to get to be the volunteer. I got to set up microphones, and help twist a few knobs (when told)... but I wasn't even the "assistant engineer". That was Lowell Reynolds who basically helped build that studio. The band was in the studio for two months. I remember they didn't work on weekends, but kept the studio booked. They'd later do a bunch of additional sessions at Ethan's studio. Though I only officially worked two full days on the record, I did do a lot of runs for them and had conversations struck up in the lounges and what not. I witnessed a few disagreements on the direction of the record. The big debate was whether to record the tracks live as a band without a click track the way they had always done, or if they should lock in and play to a click. I believe it was Nathan and Caleb who were in disagreement. Ethan settled the debate by saying the album would likely be a mixture of the two and they should try each song both ways to see what best serves the song. What I can tell you is that there was a distinct intention to shift the sound, but they internally also did not want to abandon their roots. And you hear that on some of the more grungier songs on that record. The first song tracked was "On Call" and I got to witness that entire tracking session. It was really cool watching them do their thing through the glass of Studio D. Somewhere I believe I have a diary with all of the mic placements, FX pedals used (they had it written on a white board), and what not. The band spent countless hours smoking weed and playing wall ball. I also got to smoke with a few of them on 4/20 as well... It was a fun time.

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