PRODUCER | ENGINEER | MIXER

This was a seminal album for me in reapproaching working in the studio after I had a few years away from my time with Brad Wood.

The studio was in the basement of a four-story manor house in northwest Paris called La Frette. The most driving creative force in the creation of the album was that Leslie wanted all the players set up in the living room of the main floor with no isolation and no headphones. She would sing through an amp and we would record all the songs live off the floor (including final vocals). Because of the nature of the amp and lack of iso, the players' dynamics had to be completely reactive to Leslie's vocal performance, and that was the biggest factor in shaping the tone of the album.

 

Renaud Letang (co-producer) and I would live in the basement and be responsible for all sound, and Gonzales (other co-producer), Leslie, and band would live in the living room and be responsible for all music. We didn't use click on much (if anything) and any comping we did editing transient to transient of full takes of songs ala tape editing.

 

I had to leave La Frette the second to last day while we were working on "Brandy Alexander" to go to my grandfather's funeral, but we reconvened in Toronto at The Woodshed to finish overdubs and record harp and BGVs on "Honey Honey", as well as "Past In Present". I flew back in forth in between Feist's summer tour dates in Canada to try to be at the mix sessions at Ferber in Paris with Renaud, which ultimately proved futile due to my jetlag and Renaud being just generally great on his own... I could be wrong, but I think "Feel It All" was re-recorded during one of these sessions... "1234" was edited, rearranged, and finished by Ben Mink in Vancouver.