{"id":150511,"date":"2015-02-09T14:16:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T19:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frederickplaylist.com\/?p=150511"},"modified":"2015-02-09T14:16:28","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T19:16:28","slug":"a-day-in-the-studio-with-seaknuckle-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2015\/02\/09\/a-day-in-the-studio-with-seaknuckle-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day In The Studio With Seaknuckle (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: The following is part one of a three part series that is part of Seaknuckle Week here at Frederick Playlist. All three parts will run in this week’s 72 Hours as one single story, though Frederick Playlist is the only place you can find all the videos to accompany the writing. We will be publishing two videos with each post. Today’s videos feature the band running through pre-production on one of their songs (above), as well as\u00a0the band’s collective opinion on the movie “American Sniper” (below).\u00a0Seaknuckle\u00a0will be performing at Cafe Nola on Friday to commemorate the digital release of their EP, “Nailed It.”\u00a0We will also be there\u00a0as part of our effort to spread the word about our upcoming Frederick Music Showcase<\/a>. For now, though, behold part one of our three-part series chronicling a day in the life of Seaknuckle.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWere you on the click the whole time?\u201d Jonathan Phelps, the lead singer for Seaknuckle, asks his drummer, Colin Shultzaberger, as the final lingering notes of their song escape into silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost,\u201d Shultzaberger responds in his typical modest tone. \u201cI lost it a little in the middle part.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the kinds of exchanges\u00a0the Frederick indie\/post-rock quartet have more often than not these days. For months now, they\u2019ve been reserving their weekends for work at Maryland Mix and Master<\/a>, a basement studio in Monrovia\u00a0run by Myles Vlachos, who himself has become the de facto fifth member of Seaknuckle, adding suggestions to their songs and helping guide them through the always-rigorous process of recording an album.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s barely noon, and the guys have a lofty goal for the day: track drums and bass for two songs. Before laying down the performances that will be heard on the record, however, the group repeatedly runs through whichever song they are about to record. They do it to get the tempos just right (hence the aforementioned click-track debate). They do it to make sure their instruments will sound exactly the way they are intended to sound. They do it to better their chance at achieving an impossibility: perfection.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s odd, considering how part of the band\u2019s genius is its imperfection. Spend a day with them and you\u2019ll see why. Rarely is a breath wasted without an accompanying joke, a joke often hilariously inappropriate and unequivocally offbeat. By the time this final bit of pre-production for the day\u2019s work comes around, Phelps estimates he\u2019s cracking his fourth or fifth can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Bassist Matt Dabson is donning the same type of hat Cousin Eddie wore in \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation,\u201d all the while expressing his intense un-ironic lifelong passion for professional wrestling.<\/p>\n

When I assume my position in a tiny hallway of the performance area as they rehearse, the following exchange occurs:<\/p>\n

Phelps: \u201cWould you like anything to drink?\u201d<\/p>\n

Me: \u201cNo, I\u2019m good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps: \u201cCoffee?\u201d<\/p>\n

Me: \u201cNo, thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps: \u201cWater?\u201d<\/p>\n

Me: \u201cReally, I\u2019m OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelps: \u201cPoison?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mindless, predictable quip, but it lands as solid as the drums Shultzaberger plays. The singer\u2019s face is straight and nobody really laughs. The tone with which he speaks goes beyond deadpan, making me wonder if A) he might somehow own a vile of poison and B) he\u2019s the kind of person who might actually try to poison me. In hindsight, it\u2019s hilarious. In real time, it plays like a threat.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s clear that there will be no time for poisoning anybody today. There is work to get done, and the bulk of the songs that will be on their album are almost completed. The home stretch for the recording process is within sight. Despite their ability to be seriously unserious, the vibe in the room is very much workmanlike.<\/p>\n

Or, well, that is until a discussion about the album title breaks out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really know how to Instagram or anything like that,\u201d Dabson explains between takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait!\u201d Phelps interrupts. \u201cThat\u2019s what we can call the album: \u2018Instant Grammy!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Everybody in the room laughs. A lot. And within seconds, you can hear the click track echo through the headphones, one last try at perfection creeping its way back into each band member\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: The following is part one of a three part series that is part of Seaknuckle Week here at Frederick Playlist. All three parts will run in this week’s 72…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-150511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-seaknuckle-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}