EAMONN AIKEN ::BASTILLE

Bellflur at, no, not Inner Ear, but Bastille. Tracking from their recent album “12 Vagrant Monologues from the Last Living Star.” Video by Rick Barrett. Er, no, Rich Bernett. NAMES MATTER, RICH. 

Fire & the Wheel tracking “Blow Darts” - a single in a day @ Bastille. Video by Jay Carroll @ Hi.Go. 

Vermilions, 2010. Jeremy cuts lead guitars through a wall of amplifiers and fuzzboxes. We set up all the amps ahead of time and would call out through talkback where we wanted to switch to as a means of saving time and because frankly it looked great. A moment of studio opulence gets everyone a little more stoked for the next couple takes.

Vermilions, from “Car Sick.” Jazzmaster + ES-130 through the amp-wall.

(I did not mix this record; clip is taken from my unmastered reference mixes during recording.)

Bellflur kitchen sink percussion (as pictured previously,) performed by Mike Smirnoff. U87 on noodle pot, 414B-ULS on cheese grater/tea kettle, CMV563 underneath the floor tom.

Avatar Studios, NYC. I don’t expect to be back there anytime soon. Stating the obvious, but what incredible rooms.

Father President, 2009. Forced minimalism, totally fun.

Father President, “Christian Lovers,” 2009. First recording on the 8 track machine, mixed on a 9 channel Yamaha PM1000. Mid-fi looseness; I’m a sucker for it. Track the vocals through the Space Echo, tune the guitars to “C,” crush the mic amps, sum the drums and live with it. Just have a good time.

My wife is cool.

Carlos & Pedro, Bellflur, “The Ghosts of Handsome Skin.” Not shown: Tom, making ricochet trick shots with an airsoft pistol at Carlos’ expense.

Tracksheets, Bellflur, “The Ghosts of Handsome Skin.”

Pedro on the spinnet piano; Hundred Hundred, “Ghosts of Handsome Skin.”

Noise! Lights! & Bellflur, “The Ghosts of Handsome Skin,” a collaborative series of recordings, text, and visual media.

Carlos and Shannon during live tracking; Bellflur, “The Ghosts of Handsome Skin.”