Straight to vinyl. That's something that's a little...definitely different.
Something I never even thought existed, honestly.
It's just a little nerve racking thinking that it's gonna be one take.
I can't wait. It sounds like it'll be incredible.
So we're essentially making a record
right on the spot, literally a record. Once it's recorded, once it's performed,
it's set in stone. And what you hear on these records is exactly what happened on the floor.
So what we're doing is we're bypassing the multi-tracking process. We're taking those eight microphones,
bringing them into the board and then immediately bringing them out of the console and it goes
straight to something called a lathe. What a lathe is, it's a machine that cuts a lacquer
and a lacquer is your thing you press to make vinyl.
There'll never be a more charismatic way to record anything...period.
It's...it's really lush and it's art, to watch it and
to play it.
[door bell sound]
I was watching a show and they were talking about some of the first hip-hop
songs. And what is it, Sugar Hill Gang, like, one of the first songs they did, it's like
a fourteen minute song, like, all one take.
A-F-R-O: I'm good. I'm chillin'. Kevin, I gotta give you a hug, man. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
I didn't even know that was a thing, like, people did that.
Kevin: Yeah, they're just working up the tune now. So –
Oh, word, word. [Music playing]
A-F-R-O's here. Yo, what's up, man? What's up man?
What's up, NGHTMRE? Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you.
Today was the first time I really
actually been able to interact with him and hangout with him, a super nice guy and
good vibes, good energy. He can rap to anything, apparently.
[A-F-R-O rapping]
Working with good people makes
the best music for sure.
When I first heard him, it was electronic music
and it was something very different
that wasn't my style, that I wasn't used to.
[loud EDM Music]
So I walked in and I'm, like, "It's a live band." I was, like, "Yeah, it's
game time. Game time."
I love live music. Live music, you can feel the soul. You can feel the soul
through the speakers. Everybody contributing.
Everybody has something to contribute from their soul.
To be able to come in here and rehearse with musicians who really know their stuff
and we can bounce ideas off of each other is just incredible.
I see all my favorite rappers and producers
in those big studios with the speakers, it looks incredible. So I never...
I never thought I'd be in something like this.
Kevin: This was originally Sound City Studios.
Over the years, I'd say, some of the more notable records are Tom Petty's "Damn
The Torpedoes," Nirvana's "Nevermind," the first Rage record, Cheap Trick's worked here,
Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash...
Evil Kenevil made a record here. That was kinda cool.
The list goes on and on. For the most part, we kept the original design and shape of all
the rooms. The sonic integrity of the studio is the same.
So I don't think it's going to be
that different than what you experienced yesterday. Obviously, it's a different room. It's going
to be a little dryer, but I would love to get the room volume level as low as possible.
So obviously playback, um, the lighter you can play, but without losing intensity.
We'll run through until you guys are completely comfortable with what you're doing.
I don't want to discourage improvisation, but I would get - everybody get their part and
stick to it every time so these guys know exactly what to expect.
From there...I don't know, sounds good.
NGHTMRE: Cool.
Can we grab a little acappella from you just to hear a level?
Yeah. Yeah, no doubt.
[rapping] Smooth groove steadily tune heavy never refuse plenty of
soothing amusing music melodies. It's a NGHTMRE and AFRO fight fair in battle. It's a way to chill fire...
Should we give him some top end?
[A-F-R-O rapping]
There it is. Should we do full band and see what it sounds like?
[band starts playing]
So on this particular section,
everybody's jumping on it really hard, like, somebody's gotta leave space.
Kevin: We need to create some definition in that...
I love the energy of it, going double time, but as a group, you guys got
to figure out who's going. Like, everybody's jumping on right now.
You have to really be on your toes
and really know what you're doing and really have a vision of what you're going for.
Yeah, I was going to say, can we just try one without...where it's just
bass and then do the call and response thing for the second eight?
You want to give us eight, and then we'll – Yeah
Kevin: Because knowing that you have to get it right,
right there, there's no turning back, there's no fixing, there's no any of that stuff.
Like, whatever the note is, middle
up, middle and then down on the second one.
I just gotta mute it because even if you just did, like, boom, boom, boom, boom,
like, you know what I mean?
Kevin: Do you guys mind if we run it once more?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I didn't even get to do the third one yet.
[band starts playing, A-F-R-O rapping]
NGHTMRE: Should we start over?
Yeah, definitely one more, yeah.
[A-F-R-O rapping]
Kevin: Because you're not multi-tracking,
you're not mixing later, you're going straight to this lacquer and it just has a very unique,
specific sound. But I think the bigger effect is what it does to the musicians and the people
performing. And when you're kind of put on the spot right there and it's live, there's
a certain amount of energy and angst and nervousness that happens and I actually think it's really
good for the music. I think direct to disc brings that energy back into the recordings.
All right, everybody quiet in the room.
This is the audio start...
...and the audio start will be there.
[music starts]
[band and music kick up, A-F-R-O raps]
Kevin: The engineer who's performing the
console, if you will, is doing exactly that. He's working it like an instrument and it's
as much of a performance as what's going on in the room with the instruments themselves.
Len: The engineer is going to send a certain level. If something happens and they exceed it,
it could blow a fuse because it's very sensitive to displacement because you're taking
audio and turning it into mechanical energy.
What?
What happened?
Kevin: All this stuff has to happen perfectly
for the record to come out the way you want. It's pretty intense.
[band music fading out]
Cool. How did everybody feel in here?
It felt good to me.
Good to me...Cool.
[NGHTMRE sighs]
[record static] That's the best sound right there...The drop.
Ya'll made room, right? Right there, bud.
NGHTMRE: I came in here with the song on
my laptop and now we're expanding it. [record starts playing]
>> NGHTMRE: I don't even know what to expect. Like, I'm excited to hear what it sounds like.
That's why these places are so infamous, because it gives it that character that you can't
get anywhere else.
[A-F-R-O rapping starts]
>> A-F-R-O: Everybody everywhere coming in and just comes as one - makes this song.
But without this guy it wouldn't sound the same. Without this guy, it wouldn't sound the same.
So when everybody gets together, it sounds incredible.
[song playing]
Yeah! [applause]
It was awesome, dude.
NGHTMRE: Thank you, brother man. Bring it in.
Heart to heart. So good. I had such a great time.
You guys killed it.