Brutal Youth

chrispick · 2nd February 2007, 08:41 PM

First off, thanks a lot for volunteering your knowledge on this site. I really admire your work. Apparently, that sentiment's shared by many others.

I could pick your brain about a myriad of tracks you've worked on, but I'll narrow the focus to a few: "Sulky Girl" and "13 Steps Lead Down" off E.C.'s "Brutal Youth."

Both tracks have such unique guitar, bass and drum tracks. For instance, the snare timbre on "Sulky Girl" is tremendous. In fact, the textures are both tracks are beautiful.

What tracking techniques were employed? Any unique instrumental or recording gear (sure sounds that way)?

chrispick · 3rd February 2007, 02:33 AM

Oops! How embarrassing! Credit confusion -- please disregard the last question and accept my apology. I feel like a heel.

I'm very sorry.

If you'll allow, let's try "Mighty Like A Rose," an album I like just as much.

Anything you'd like to say about tracking that album? It's a very layered, orchestrated pop ablum, yes? How did you tackle balancing such a sonically conplex album? Any unique tricks employed?

Kevin Killen · 3rd February 2007, 02:57 AM

Chrispick,

No problem, its fun to try and remember all this stuff so thanks for asking!

On Brutal Youth I was responsible for "Kinder Murder" and "20% Amnesia".

Elvis and I had just finshed The Juliet Letters a few months earlier but it was unreleased when EC called me over to London to try ideas for a new band record. We went into this eight track studio called Pathway and recorded in very tight quarters and the two best tracks from that session were the one's mentioned above. We relocated to "The Church" studios where JL was recorded and experimented some more. EC wanted to make a really abrasive sounding record and I questioned whether I was the right person to execute it. I sensed he was a tad insecure about the release of The Juliet Letters (which is a stunning piece of work by this remarkable talent), akin to Blood and Chocolate after King of America.

We both agreed that Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake were the right combo but the irony is that I have read many reviews that has cited "Murder and Amnesia" as the two most raucous tracks on the album.

I guess somehow I talked myself out of a gig..... !

KK

chrispick · 3rd February 2007, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Killen

Chrispick,

No problem, its fun to try and remember all this stuff so thanks for asking!

On Brutal Youth I was responsible for "Kinder Murder" and "20% Amnesia".

Elvis and I had just finshed The Juliet Letters a few months earlier but it was unreleased when EC called me over to London to try ideas for a new band record. We went into this eight track studio called Pathway and recorded in very tight quarters and the two best tracks from that session were the one's mentioned above. We relocated to "The Church" studios where JL was recorded and experimented some more. EC wanted to make a really abrasive sounding record and I questioned whether I was the right person to execute it. I sensed he was a tad insecure about the release of The Juliet Letters (which is a stunning piece of work by this remarkable talent), akin to Blood and Chocolate after King of America.

We both agreed that Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake were the right combo but the irony is that I have read many reviews that has cited "Murder and Amnesia" as the two most raucous tracks on the album.

I guess somehow I talked myself out of a gig..... !

KK

Thanks for answering!

Well, I love the guitar sounds in "Kinder Murder" (one of my favorite EC lyrics, by the way). Abrasive is a good adjective. Care to comment on how those tones were achieved?

And yeah, aside: "Juliet Letters" is one of my favorite albums of all time. Compositionally, lyrically, ambitiously, sonically. Top notch.

Kevin Killen · 3rd February 2007, 08:29 PM

Those tones were literally achieved by placing a Fender Delux in a concrete room and turning up the amp. I believe I used a 57 and a U87 straight to tape. The room was small so the reflections were intense !!!!!!

Oh one other thing, it was recorded on a funky 8 track..... don't ask

Kevin

seaneldon · 3rd February 2007, 10:01 PM

20% amnesia is one of the best recorded examples of rock music. ever. way awesome on that, my brother.

very underrated album all together.

Kevin Killen · 4th February 2007, 04:42 AM

Chrispick,

I have one funny story about "Might Like A Rose".

The opening song on the album, "The Other side of Summer" EC wanted it to have that Spector wall of sound. I think it is fairly well documentated how Phil did that but it is hard to emulate. We tried a number of different approaches and we stumbled upon this one. We tracked drums , 2 basses, two guitars and 3 keyboard players all to multitrack at Ocean Way's studio 1. The console was a modified Neve 8078.

It was a pretty great sound and everyone seemed happy enough. The next morning during playback I could see that Elvis was not convinced, he really liked it but something was missing, it was almost two perfect. So somebody suggested we play along again with the track, double all the performances.

I was running out of tracks and I did not want to slow down the process by having another multitrack machine brought in and alligned. We quickly ran the board mix to a dat, set it up to play through the foldback and the studio playback speakers and recorded a whole new performance. It took a few moments to get the balance right but you should have seen the smile on EC's face when he heard THAT playback.

PURE JOY.......... now that is a reason to make music.

Check it out and see if you can hear the band on band recording !!

Kevin

jz63 · 7th February 2007, 01:02 PM

Kevin

Do remember what guitars EC used on Kinder Murder? Also, does he seem to favor certain gutars over others when it comes to the studio?

Kevin Killen · 7th February 2007, 10:46 PM

JZ63,

I do not remember that one but I suspect it was a Fender or gibson of some sort.

It was dark down there and not much room......

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2nd February 2007, 08:41 PM	#1
chrispick Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: So. Cal. Posts: 955	Brutal Youth First off, thanks a lot for volunteering your knowledge on this site. I really admire your work. Apparently, that sentiment's shared by many others. I could pick your brain about a myriad of tracks you've worked on, but I'll narrow the focus to a few: "Sulky Girl" and "13 Steps Lead Down" off E.C.'s "Brutal Youth." Both tracks have such unique guitar, bass and drum tracks. For instance, the snare timbre on "Sulky Girl" is tremendous. In fact, the textures are both tracks are beautiful. What tracking techniques were employed? Any unique instrumental or recording gear (sure sounds that way)?

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3rd February 2007, 02:33 AM	#2
chrispick Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: So. Cal. Posts: 955	Oops! How embarrassing! Credit confusion -- please disregard the last question and accept my apology. I feel like a heel. I'm very sorry. If you'll allow, let's try "Mighty Like A Rose," an album I like just as much. Anything you'd like to say about tracking that album? It's a very layered, orchestrated pop ablum, yes? How did you tackle balancing such a sonically conplex album? Any unique tricks employed?

3rd February 2007, 02:57 AM	#3
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Chrispick, No problem, its fun to try and remember all this stuff so thanks for asking! On Brutal Youth I was responsible for "Kinder Murder" and "20% Amnesia". Elvis and I had just finshed The Juliet Letters a few months earlier but it was unreleased when EC called me over to London to try ideas for a new band record. We went into this eight track studio called Pathway and recorded in very tight quarters and the two best tracks from that session were the one's mentioned above. We relocated to "The Church" studios where JL was recorded and experimented some more. EC wanted to make a really abrasive sounding record and I questioned whether I was the right person to execute it. I sensed he was a tad insecure about the release of The Juliet Letters (which is a stunning piece of work by this remarkable talent), akin to Blood and Chocolate after King of America. We both agreed that Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake were the right combo but the irony is that I have read many reviews that has cited "Murder and Amnesia" as the two most raucous tracks on the album. I guess somehow I talked myself out of a gig..... ! KK

3rd February 2007, 08:29 PM	#5
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Those tones were literally achieved by placing a Fender Delux in a concrete room and turning up the amp. I believe I used a 57 and a U87 straight to tape. The room was small so the reflections were intense !!!!!! Oh one other thing, it was recorded on a funky 8 track..... don't ask Kevin

3rd February 2007, 10:01 PM	#6
seaneldon Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Foxboro, MA Posts: 2,104	20% amnesia is one of the best recorded examples of rock music. ever. way awesome on that, my brother. very underrated album all together.

4th February 2007, 04:42 AM	#7
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	Chrispick, I have one funny story about "Might Like A Rose". The opening song on the album, "The Other side of Summer" EC wanted it to have that Spector wall of sound. I think it is fairly well documentated how Phil did that but it is hard to emulate. We tried a number of different approaches and we stumbled upon this one. We tracked drums , 2 basses, two guitars and 3 keyboard players all to multitrack at Ocean Way's studio 1. The console was a modified Neve 8078. It was a pretty great sound and everyone seemed happy enough. The next morning during playback I could see that Elvis was not convinced, he really liked it but something was missing, it was almost two perfect. So somebody suggested we play along again with the track, double all the performances. I was running out of tracks and I did not want to slow down the process by having another multitrack machine brought in and alligned. We quickly ran the board mix to a dat, set it up to play through the foldback and the studio playback speakers and recorded a whole new performance. It took a few moments to get the balance right but you should have seen the smile on EC's face when he heard THAT playback. PURE JOY.......... now that is a reason to make music. Check it out and see if you can hear the band on band recording !! Kevin

7th February 2007, 01:02 PM	#8
jz63 Gear interested Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 1	Kevin Do remember what guitars EC used on Kinder Murder? Also, does he seem to favor certain gutars over others when it comes to the studio?

7th February 2007, 10:46 PM	#9
Kevin Killen engineer / producer / mixer Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 312	JZ63, I do not remember that one but I suspect it was a Fender or gibson of some sort. It was dark down there and not much room......