Thrice: Making A Pro Record At Home

One of my favorite bands of the last few years has been Thrice. This southern California rock quartet has come a long way from the hard and heavy scene to, more recently, a fusion of melodic blues rock with a raw epic twist. I’ve written briefly about them before regarding their recent move to self recording at home rather than doing the big studio thing.

Via Derrick Austinson Photography Flickr

Last year they released their most recent self-produced album Beggars. For the last two albums they have setup a studio in their guitarists house, brought in their gear, and simply jammed, written, and recorded new music. In this video interview, Riley (drummer) talks about the benefits of recording at home and how it has helped them make better music.

Some things to take away from this:

• You’ll notice he mentions them still having a deadline. Despite the incredible amount of flexibility when recording at home, Thrice new they needed deadlines to actually come out with an album. Having some boundaries in place definitely create more productivity without stealing your creativity.
• Despite their years of major label studio experience, they took the time to experiment with mic placement. There is no right or wrong way to mic something. The goal is to free yourself of “rules” and “methods” so you can actually listen with your ears, try something out, and adjust as necessary. Sound is so complex, that each mic choice, placement, room, instrument, player, and song combination is totally unique.
• They were constantly writing and demoing respectively. Despite them having that one guy in the band who is the main recording guy, Riley mentioned them each demoing songs at home, bringing the tracks in to the studio and writing/arranging from there. That being said, I believe every musician should have a basic home studio, even if you aren’t the main engineer in your band. It helps you write and be creative.