Here is the Synesthesia scoop on Dash Hounds' "EFT" (which I've am thrilled to have already heard so stay tuned for the full posting next month)
1. Could you please explain the origins of Dash
Hounds? Did you already have the idea in mind as Modern Mod was ending?
Originally, I had started writing some songs that I didn’t feel would be a good fit for Modern Mod and thought that it might be a nice opportunity for me to put together a solo project so I could have an outlet for singing and playing guitar. I had been talking with Brendan about that idea and asked him if he’d be interested in helping me with that by backing me on drums, and the more we talked about it, we realized that becoming a duo would be even better. I can come up with a million verses and choruses but can’t finish one to save my life, and he hadn’t written any songs from the start but is the master at arranging and completing them so it was perfect. So as Modern Mod was ending, we decided to try it out by writing a song (“Idee Fixe”) for my friend’s short film, and that ended up to be our first single!
Originally, I had started writing some songs that I didn’t feel would be a good fit for Modern Mod and thought that it might be a nice opportunity for me to put together a solo project so I could have an outlet for singing and playing guitar. I had been talking with Brendan about that idea and asked him if he’d be interested in helping me with that by backing me on drums, and the more we talked about it, we realized that becoming a duo would be even better. I can come up with a million verses and choruses but can’t finish one to save my life, and he hadn’t written any songs from the start but is the master at arranging and completing them so it was perfect. So as Modern Mod was ending, we decided to try it out by writing a song (“Idee Fixe”) for my friend’s short film, and that ended up to be our first single!
2. What has been fascinating for me was to see the band perform for the very first time last October and then again, months later on Record Store Day and hear how Dash Hounds had evolved. Do you feel that you have been formulating the concept or the identity of the band or what it could be over this period?
We booked our first show before we really had any material and took that as a push to become ready, so at that point we just played the first four songs we had written together. Over time, as we jammed and wrote more, we got a better sense of what our sound was when we came together and what to highlight. I’d say we still have more figuring out to do, but then again we always strive to evolve and push our creativity. We’ve also played with quite a few different people live, and every one of them has had an impact on our writing and performance, and I love that this band has become pretty much a huge collaboration project because of that.
We booked our first show before we really had any material and took that as a push to become ready, so at that point we just played the first four songs we had written together. Over time, as we jammed and wrote more, we got a better sense of what our sound was when we came together and what to highlight. I’d say we still have more figuring out to do, but then again we always strive to evolve and push our creativity. We’ve also played with quite a few different people live, and every one of them has had an impact on our writing and performance, and I love that this band has become pretty much a huge collaboration project because of that.
3. How was the songwriting process for you both?
Every song on our EP had a pretty drastically different writing process. “Weekend” started as an old, complete song of mine that we played as Modern Mod for a while but neither of us felt it was as good as it could be, so Brendan came up with the idea of switching between 4/4 and 6/8 and then it pretty immediately came together. We also played “Yes I Front” for a while as Modern Mod too, but Brendan and I wrote that one together in probably a few hours. “Pudding” was one that we had briefly jammed on at practice with Tom (Teslik of Pollinators) and Sam (Galligan of Post Social) on drums and bass, respectively, and Brendan took it and arranged the whole thing.
Every song on our EP had a pretty drastically different writing process. “Weekend” started as an old, complete song of mine that we played as Modern Mod for a while but neither of us felt it was as good as it could be, so Brendan came up with the idea of switching between 4/4 and 6/8 and then it pretty immediately came together. We also played “Yes I Front” for a while as Modern Mod too, but Brendan and I wrote that one together in probably a few hours. “Pudding” was one that we had briefly jammed on at practice with Tom (Teslik of Pollinators) and Sam (Galligan of Post Social) on drums and bass, respectively, and Brendan took it and arranged the whole thing.
“Dreamboy” and “Clover” were the two most recent songs
we wrote, and Tom, Sam, Brendan, and I wrote those together, both of which
started as tiny ideas of mine that we expanded on by jamming. That’s been the
most effective way of writing for us, but even when we have a song completed,
it goes through countless little changes every time we run it in practice or at
a show. New ways to tweak it or happy accidents that end up to become keepers
happen all the time and I’m glad we’ve had the time to let these songs evolve
before we recorded the final product.
4. Are you and Brendan the only ones performing
on the EP or is it the full live band?
Before we started recording, we came up with a plan with our friend Zach Guyette, who recorded and mixed the EP for us, that we wanted to use this as an opportunity to really experiment with sounds and recording techniques and such. With that, we had Brendan record all of the drum parts in a really open live room setting, and Tom Teslik, who played drums and collaborated with us for quite a while, recorded all the same parts in a dead room. I believe we determined that the dead room just didn’t work for recording drums so it’s just Brendan drumming on the EP but we intended on using a little bit of both, and really appreciate that the both of them tried that out because it was a worthwhile experiment I’d say. Brendan and I played all of the guitar parts, and I did all the vocals. Sam took two of the songs on bass -the ones he wrote the bass lines for- and I recorded the other 3. So it was almost completely us two for the entire EP but Tom and Sam did record with us and collaborated with us on all of these songs.
Before we started recording, we came up with a plan with our friend Zach Guyette, who recorded and mixed the EP for us, that we wanted to use this as an opportunity to really experiment with sounds and recording techniques and such. With that, we had Brendan record all of the drum parts in a really open live room setting, and Tom Teslik, who played drums and collaborated with us for quite a while, recorded all the same parts in a dead room. I believe we determined that the dead room just didn’t work for recording drums so it’s just Brendan drumming on the EP but we intended on using a little bit of both, and really appreciate that the both of them tried that out because it was a worthwhile experiment I’d say. Brendan and I played all of the guitar parts, and I did all the vocals. Sam took two of the songs on bass -the ones he wrote the bass lines for- and I recorded the other 3. So it was almost completely us two for the entire EP but Tom and Sam did record with us and collaborated with us on all of these songs.
5. Would you like to explain the EP’s title?
It’s a cute little story! Brendan and I have long had a fondness for newts, and a few months ago when we were visiting his grandpa in Vermont, we saw a tiny orange newt. His grandpa explained to us that it was in the stage of its life in which it’s called an “eft.” We liked the word enough to make it the EP title.
It’s a cute little story! Brendan and I have long had a fondness for newts, and a few months ago when we were visiting his grandpa in Vermont, we saw a tiny orange newt. His grandpa explained to us that it was in the stage of its life in which it’s called an “eft.” We liked the word enough to make it the EP title.
6. How was the recording process? What was the easiest/hardest songs to record?
The recording process was spread out over several months and hopped from place to place, starting and ending with percussion in my basement. We recorded bass and guitar at MMI and at Brendan’s house, most of the drums at MMI, and all of the vocals at MMI and Zach’s house. We wanted to experiment with weird recording techniques and sounds that we never would know if they’d work until we tried them. Some pretty odd things ended up working out and this has given the EP a lot of its character.
The recording process was spread out over several months and hopped from place to place, starting and ending with percussion in my basement. We recorded bass and guitar at MMI and at Brendan’s house, most of the drums at MMI, and all of the vocals at MMI and Zach’s house. We wanted to experiment with weird recording techniques and sounds that we never would know if they’d work until we tried them. Some pretty odd things ended up working out and this has given the EP a lot of its character.
Our opening
track, “Dreamboy,” was personally the most challenging song to record. Vocally
it jumps around a lot and I struggled for the longest time with liking the way
I sang it. The ending of the song was arranged towards the end of the mixing
process. It started as an idea of Brendan’s, just to create this huge, wide
wall of sound with twinkly guitars for the outro. We recorded a bunch of little
ideas in the studio on the last day of recording and it was a bit of a
challenge putting that all together in a way that made sense and everything
could work together, and that song is already a bit of a rollercoaster. “Pudding”
was a breeze to record. I think it only took us a few takes for all of the
guitar tracks, probably only one or two for the drums, and Sam is amazing and
only needed one take for bass (he did that with the other song he recorded for
us as well, it’s unreal,) and vocals were a cinch because I only had 4 lines to
sing and they’re drenched in a massive reverb. The part that took the longest
was recording pedal noise for the end, so we got to have a lot of fun with that
one.
7. How are you feeling now that it is completed?
Relieved, but mostly excited for what’s to come next. Excited for people to hear it and to know what we’re about. Excited for our first LP (but I won’t get ahead of myself)!
Relieved, but mostly excited for what’s to come next. Excited for people to hear it and to know what we’re about. Excited for our first LP (but I won’t get ahead of myself)!
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