Hey Brad Wood -- Care to talk about Liz Phair recording?

Hey, yeah.

Love that stuff, and love to hear more about it!

Best, Marcel

Terry- I worked on Liz' 1st 3 records, so which one do you want to start with? Hurry up, as I can't be sure how long my memory will last...

Ha, what did you say again?

Oh yeah, records...

How about first things first...

Can you talk a bit about how you got started with Liz, where she came from, how you recorded the first one (before there was success and money to do it with, I assume), and how it actually turned into a music biz phenom, thereby leading to the later records?

Thanks!

Sorry, slow on the draw here.

How did the lo-fi-ness of the debut come about?  Did you deliberately hold that up as an aesthetic, or did it just seem like the best way to capture what was going on for the artist at the time? 

That sort of thing is very fashionable right now but was much less so than.  Did you have any fear (as I often do today) of the record being perceived as 'poorly engineered' when you chose from the lo-fi sonic palette? 

Were you a GBV fan at the time?

Thanks!

Best, Marcel

I was introduced to Liz in October 1991 in Chicago by John Henderson, who ran the label that was intending to release her record. The three of us had a relatively unsuccessful series of sessions at my studio (Idful Music Corp.) and things ground to a halt by the end of that year. In Feb. of 1992, I contacted Liz about trying to record something- anything- and the song "Fuck and Run" was the happy result. Over the next 6 months or so, we recorded whenever our schedules permitted and when she had 9 songs ready, Liz started looking for a label to help finish and pay for the record. John Henderson suggested Matador Records, I called, then Liz called, then a cassette was mailed to them, then a 2-page faxed contract was sent to the studio, and we began to focus in earnest on what became Exile In Guyville. By then, Casey Rice had started working at Idful Music and his contributions on guitar were greatly appreciated. The decision to make the record a response to The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street was entirely Liz' and I was thrilled to try to emulate sonic aspects of that record- one of my all-time favorite albums. I also was a huge fan of Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend record and found a lot of inspiration and courage to commit to a smaller, drier drum sound based on how amazing that record turned out. I don't for a second think that Exile In Guyville is lo-fidelity in any way. The microphones we used were/are the best the available (U47's, U67's, 367's, 47fets, C37's, Altec 29A's, etc...), the reverb was tube EMT plate, the delays tape, and the recording format was a robust analog. When the remastered Exile on Main Street came out last year, I did a tentative A/B comparison with the remastered Exile In Guyville and the sonic comparison still works for me. I am damn proud of that record- as an effective introduction to a new artist with a lot on her mind, as a fun journey into a time and place (indie rock Chicago circa 1991) and as an 18-song double album that has no filler or time-wasting vignettes. The day we finished sequencing the mixes and preparing it to be sent to Roger Seibel for mastering, I think we all knew we had done something special. I am relieved to see that it still has some relevance these days and I will always be grateful to Liz for sticking with me during that long year-plus of recording. 

Wow, thanks for sharing that, Brad.

Honestly, I didn't really understand until now that the response to the original 'Exile' extended to the sonics.  I knew about the obvious references, but I'll have to go back and listen again in light of that.  That's a major lightbulb moment in itself.

I think that record is extremely relevant today.  I heard 6'1" a few months ago at a party, and I remember thinking how it sounded like the record that so many 'hip' people are trying to make right now, but can't quite equal in terms of authenticity.  Perhaps the term 'lo-fi' is a poor characterization (although it's the one everyone uses right now), especially on an engineering forum, but the lack of slickness or artifice is something that I find much harder to achieve than the polish that many people seem to expect from a 'recording studio' experience. 

Love to hear more about the more general industry questions that Terry posed, too.

Thanks again.

Best, Marcel

That record floored me.
Thanks.

I listened to that one SO much ____  I always wondered like a dork (not that it matters)  If Exile and the First Veruca Salt record were mixed on the Elan at idful..   (think we might be neighbors now Brad)

But Yeah what Leo said

j

EIG was mixed on the trusty old Tascam M520 console (which I still have in storage) and Veruca Salt's record was mixed on the then-brand new Neotek Elan. I have to be honest and say that I never really learned to love that Elan and I can hardly remember it now, it had so little character. One of these days, I'd like to restore that M520 and see what she'll do... As for the more general music biz aspect of Liz' success, all I know is that some key music journalists fell in love with the record and championed it. It was fun to watch it happen- city by city the local music weeklies would write reviews of the record and call the studio to reach Liz or myself. It seemed fairly organic and not orchestrated. We all were pretty inept/naive about promotion and we all laughed a lot at the allegations that Liz was a manufactured phenomenon. Would that we could... 

^^What they said^^

Thanks for that record. It was an island in the sea of garbage in the early 90's. Shot to the heart of a LOT of my friends and colleagues, and started career paths of a few gal musicians I know who worshipped Liz and that album...

I listened to that one SO much ____  

-seedyunderbelly

I still do!  I love that album.  My two daughters (3 1/2 and 2 1/2) like her too.  Although they've only seen the family friendly edits of her more recent singles on YouTube.  They both want to play "rock and roll guitar like Liz Phair".

I've just stumbled on Whip-smart and I love this record.
I notice now that it was partly tracked at Compass point. What a treat !

Brad you seem to have been playing quite a bit on that one

Cheers y'all !

Seb

Seb- We did indeed record the vocals and some guitars at Compass Point. That was some great fun... 

Great fun having you as well.

How is Casey doing?

He seemed like quite a player, and quite a guy.

Casey has lived in Melbourne, Australia for about 10 years and is recording at his studio there. 

Casey has lived in Melbourne, Australia for about 10 years and is recording at his studio there. 

-brad_wood

Nice! Good for Casey!

I'm in frequent contact with Casey and he's still at it working with Aussie bands like The Dirty Three.  I've tried to get him signed up here, but forums are not really his thing.  I'll pass on your regards, Terry.
 
Brad, I guess Casey liked that Elan more than you because he managed to find one down there for his place. 

Where is his studio based in melbourne and what is it called?

Thanks

Big Liz fan. Thanks for those records. Big fan of the Altec's as well. Thanks for reminding me I need to use them more. Have two refurbed here.