Interview with a Wizard (Part 2)
The second half of our interview with Don Farwell, owner of Earwig Studio
Read Part 1 of our interview here.
What are some of the most memorable projects you’ve worked on or artists you’ve worked with throughout your career and why?
Way back in the late 90’s, when I worked at Bear Creek, I was fortunate enough to be assistant engineer on some great records and worked beside many outstanding engineers and producers. It’s funny, if you’ve worked with me in the last 10 years, you’ve probably heard me tell stories about the Foo Fighters and/or Ginger Baker Trio. It was an exciting time and I could name drop forever!
Since opening Earwig 10 years ago, I’ve worked with hundreds of local musicians. One of my favorite things about that is to be a hub in the local music scene. There is no shortage of brilliant music happening in Seattle and I get to be part of that. Musicians have to work so hard to finally be ready to go into the studio. They work tirelessly to make room in their lives for music and I get to come in and help capture the vision. I never get tired of that process. It’s the most satisfying feeling to help musicians exceed their expectations in the studio. And I get to see the side of them that they want to be the most, if that makes sense!
I know I’m dodging the question in a way. But the honest truth is that I’d have a real hard time pinpointing just a handful of projects. There have been so many!
What are some tips you can offer bands that are getting ready to record? What can they do to better prepare for the studio?
Practice. Practice until you are sick to death of the songs. Then run it again. Trust me.
Record yourselves prior (iPhone at practice if fine) and listen back as a group. Don’t be surprised by what others are actually playing when you are in the studio. This happens a lot: “THAT is what you are playing?”
Practice exactly how you want to record. If you are the singer, but also play guitar, it will screw others up if you decide to not sing during recording. If you want to focus on the guitar part, make sure your rehearsals reflect that. If you change something that others are used to having for cues, problems will happen.
If you can afford to do it, get your instruments setup prior to a recording. Badly intonated guitars are common and a huge bummer. Huge bummer I say! Some drummers aren’t into drum tuning. Cool. Get new heads and hire a drum tech if possible. I can do it in a pinch, but it’s a waste of time to have me drum tech. I know people who can tech drums for cheap. It’s worth it.
Write all your parts before the recording session. Sounds obvious, but it’s a common occurrence for people to want to write parts in the studio (backing vocals, percussion, etc). We are all on a budget. Keep your eye on the ball and stay focused. It’s very easy to waste time/money this way.
Do you currently see more artists interested in recording full-length albums, EPs, or singles these days?
Mostly EPs. I’m excited by how many people are still interested in recording full-length albums though. They are exponentially harder to do. To get 10-12 songs to work well together is an art form all itself! Lately I hear more people interested in the idea of singles. They are easier to complete and you can release material more often. I’m not a marketing guy though. I’m lucky that my day to day doesn’t usually involve trying to please anyone beyond the artist. I don’t care at all if someone will buy a song. I’m interested in making the artist happy.
How do you really feel about using a click track during recording? Do you have a preference, with or without?
If you go back to the question about tips for bands, I would say this falls under “practice exactly how you want to record”. I just quoted myself (lame)! Seriously though, if you want to record to a click, just make sure you’ve practiced that way. It will bring to light things you haven’t thought of before and you might have to make a map of changing tempos and meter. I’m completely against trying a click to solve a perceived problem in the studio. It won’t work. Click gets a bad rap mainly because of this. The notion that click tracks make music sound robotic is incorrect. But if you aren’t used to it, you will play like a robot.
As time goes on, I think I gravitate towards no click as a personal preference. I don’t have a strong feeling either way, but I tend to enjoy the human quality of tempo ebb and flow. It’s okay to speed up, within reason, as long as it sounds intentional.
If a career in music was off the table, what profession would you pursue?
I would love to be a part of filmmaking. I have a growing interest in that field.
To contact Don, please email don@earwigstudio.com