THICK OIL, day fifteen - The City On Film [Bob Nanna]

"Today will prove to be short and very sweet with the charming Bob Nanna of Hey Mercedes fame recording under the moniker, City On Film. Lance plays chauffer, picking up myself and Bob and driving across town to the factory. The ride gives me a chance to get acquainted with Bob, as we have never met. He proves to be chatty, and well, hysterical. The ride seems short and we all head up the stairs to the recording space to begin a quiet, and short session."
Thus begins the fifteenth in a series of journal entries by THICK Records kingpin Billy Spunke documenting his label's newest compilation, "OIL". To read the full entry, click on READ MORE, to see pictures from the sessions click here, and keep coming back here every day for the latest installment.

But wait, that's not all! I sent two cub reporters, Megan and Katie, to the session to get a different perspective. Read their entry below, as well.

[Billy Spunke's version]

Today will prove to be short and very sweet with the charming Bob Nanna of Hey Mercedes fame recording under the moniker, City On Film. Lance plays chauffer, picking up myself and Bob and driving across town to the factory. The ride gives me a chance to get acquainted with Bob, as we have never met. He proves to be chatty, and well, hysterical. The ride seems short and we all head up the stairs to the recording space to begin a quiet, and short session.

This will be the first time we have seen a drum machine during Oil. Bob brings up the beat, which is way, way down tempo, and utilizing only the kick, snare and high hat sounds. We decide to record the drum machine in stereo using two tracks and in an instant we are tracking guitar. At first we have trouble capturing a clean sound, due to the fact that Bob is playing extremely quiet, and the boomy room sound creates feedback. We have to turn him to face a makeshift corner made of cardboard boxes. This does the trick, but still we have trouble avoiding the ambient noise, of the train, highway and flight paths. This usually has not been a problem seeing most of the songs are LOUD, but Bob’s song is quiet as a mouse. He puts down two separate finger plucked guitar parts. I am immediately hearing this song as a closer, as it seems a bit melancholic and appropriate to end the Oil Collection, but who knows at this point. The vocals go just as smooth as the guitars and the drum buddy. Bob delivers the vocal very slowly and quietly. At one point, I have to bend my ear to hear the vocal.

The session is done remarkably fast, and I am gone with the sun still shining. This is a first. One last session to go. It will be Lances turn to show us what he can do behind a drum kit with Bitchy. I can’t believe the tracking is almost over. After the Bitchy session we will take a break and then move into mixing. We expect to send the Oil Collection to mastering in late October, and then release the sucker on February 10th.

[Megan and Katie's version]

First, we should paint you a picture of what exactly this place looked like. The floors are dusty and wooden. The ceiling is bare with exposed beams. Various porno mags are scattered about the recording room amongst the equipment. A soft breeze blows leaves in through the open windows. To separate the drum and bass section from the guitar area, cardboard boxes filled with empty oil containers are stacked. The lighting is sparse, with only sunlight and a few halogen lamps. There's constant background noise, from sirens to trains, to strange little noises that nobody can quite identify. As the recording session goes on, the sounds of the area add to the ambiance of the session. The breeze adds a soothing effect to an already heartbreaking song. Bob had laid out the drum tracks on a drum machine that he recently purchased. While the track was recording, Bob sat in the corner strumming his guitar along. The song sounded amazing. That’s honestly the only word to describe it. The melody is soft, the vocals full of emotion. Choice lyrics from the song include, "just sit there, staring wearily, thinking aloud, wish that I could love like that…" Honestly, I don’t know if Katie and I will be able to hold out to hear this song again. The acoustic sound worked perfectly and the recording session was over in under three hours.

The whole experience was a positive one. We were a bit nervous going into it, just because obviously we had no idea what to expect… and as journalists we could be considered "the enemy." Nothing could’ve been further from the truth, the guys at Thick Records were totally rad and you definitely won’t be disappointed when you hear what Bob Nanna’s got cooked up for this comp.