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The Joint Chiefs
The Joint Chiefs, And Still We Kill
Green Metal Music • 2005
Synopsis by Jay O’Keeffe
Artist Profile
Unlike most small town ne’er-do-wells who relocate from logging towns locked in the confines of an island, the Joint Chiefs have enjoyed a meteoric rise up the Vancouver Metal scene.
Forged from the same brutal steel as Slayer, The Joint Chiefs play a brand of metal that infuses social commentary with edgy, aggressive music — Powerful, party music for the politically conscious.
Session Notes
And Still We Kill was an album in the making for over a year. The journey was pock marked with false starts, self-doubts and the usual pitfalls of no-budget recordings.
The initial sessions began in January of 2004 with the band heading into the studio under the helm of the very capable producer / engineer Who Else (Whose vast body of work I largely admire). The initial session was a disaster: too much beer, too many broads and way too much bravado left the recording in disarray. The band was ill-prepared for the studio and as the reality of the situation took hold, the sessions quickly spiraled into a drunken madcap comedy of errors in the truest sense of the term. Unfortunately no one was laughing.
In the weeks that followed the group attempted to do over dubs, all which yielded less than satisfactory results. In consultation with Who Else, the group decided to consider the initial recordings as “pre-production” sessions. The band spent the next couple of months refining and rehearsing the material until studio availability and personal schedules would allow the recording to resume in late spring.
During the second session the band was better prepared, however Hoss, the bass player could not make many of the sessions which meant Wigs had to lay down a heavy groove to thin air. This would have tremendous ramifications later in the recording.
After an initial round of editing the band proceeded to layer the overdubs upon the newly recorded drum tracks. Tracking continued over the balance of summer and well into the fall when it became apparent that a couple of the drum tracks could use further refinements. Who Else’s schedule was very busy at the time and both he and the band approached me to assist with the edits.
As Wigs had played his tracks without Hoss, their interplay and dynamics were largely obscured, that was one of the elements that we looked to enhance in the edits. Also tempo matching between takes was also needed. I began re-editing the drums as my schedule would permit and the band was very happy with the results.
After “tweaking” the first couple of songs, the group decided to have all of the drum edits refined. This would mean that a lot of the bass and all of the guitar tracks would need to be rerecorded.
Who Else’s hectic schedule precluded his continuing to work on the project so the duty fell to me to teach Dentor the basics of recording so that tracking could continue. During the subsequent months and through many sessions of trial and error, Dentor became rather proficient at recording and his electrical engineering degree served him well in understanding some of the more complex principles involved.
As often as my time would permit I would help with the overdubs, coaching the lads on different performance techniques and encouraging them to be far more adventurous in terms of track layering and orchestration.
The band as a whole were great students, responding well to suggestions and critique. They were also willing to take a lot of chances musically in a genre that is often uptight. Collectively the band’s ear became more fully developed. As the overdubs become more intricate, the group was able to musically enhance the material in ways that they had never expected. Subtleties and nuances abound as both Dentor and Hoss could augment the refined drum tracks with new rhythmic and melodic interplay.
Wigs, who often felt like the whipping boy during the recording (as he unfairly bore the brunt of fury when frustrations within the bed tracks arose) realized as the tracking progressed how much of the backbone he is to the music and the more steadily he plays, the more powerful the music.
Dentor and Hoss also developed musically over those numerous months. They began to hear potential within their songs, as they became more engrossed in the details, the punchier and heavier the music became. When I saw the group perform live for the second time just after recording, it was easy to hear how much better, tighter, faster, and heavier the group had become – they are no longer big fish from a very small pond but well on their way to something greater.
Space and subdivisions define the album, the grooves and aggression occur in the space between the notes. As the band learned how to lock in tighter, they were able to create tension by emphasizing the subdivisions of meter. They also learned the importance of musical juxtaposition, that contrasting texture creates greater drama, speed and sonic depth to a recording. The music developed a context that moved well beyond merely keeping time and framing chords as a back drop to the word’s.
Initially the group tended to pound out the tempo and ignored what happened between the snare beats, but as the music became more refined, syncopations and counter rhythms came to the front, creating complex textures helping the album become a more refined and musically mature final product.
In the process we were very conscious of not making the music sound over produced, pitch perfect and shine like the chrome of mirror polished mainstream metal. It was important that the group’s raw and aggressive personality remain. The guy’s personalities needed to be reflected in the tracks, and we also tried to capture the group’s dynamic live presence.
I did a lot of critical listening prior to commencing the mixes and in conjunction with the band, developed a design aesthetic that best reflected the material as recorded and the group’s ideals and tastes. Still, the final mix for the record was initially a bit of a challenge for me, having worked so long in sonically eccentric genres it was unusual to return to a more conservative approach to mixing a record. Meat and Potatoes as opposed to pate foie gras, we settled on liver with favre beans and a light Chianti.
My first mixes were far to “heavy” as I tried to mix the album like a live concert. But after conversations with Shocore’s Terry Murray and producer Steven Drake, I modified the mixes and made the rhythm section take a bit of a back seat to the guitars as well as lighten up the sub-sonics.
The mixes sound simple but in reality are incredibly complex. Subtle cross fades between the many layers of guitars and vocals, very intricate changes in drum effects and constant shifts in the stereo positioning of all the instruments help give the mixes an undulating reptilian twitch of sonic textures.
It is easy to say in retrospect that the whole process was fun, but in reality it challenged the band’s dedication to craft and commitment each other. The group teetered on the brink of implosion as frustrations and delays made tempers flare. But all will admit in hindsight the final results were well worth the time invested as the record far exceeds the band’s expectations.
Album Credits
Produced by The Joint Chiefs & Jay O'Keeffe
Engineered by Jay O’Keeffe, Dentor & Who Else
Mixed and Edited by Jay O'Keeffe
Recorded at Profile Studios
Recording Format: Protools HD 24/96
Musicians
Dentor: Guitars and vocals;
Hoss: Bass and vocals;
Wigs: Drums and vocals
Reviews
"ASWK is an analog treat in a world of squeaky & pristine mega-mart metal releases, the thick riffs and twiddly-fiddly all handled by just one super-able guitar (usually), instead of a Pro-Tooled wall of millions." Bertrand, Nerve Magazine-October 2005
Dentor mischievously grins while laying down some rhythm tracks in studio B. He is playing a zombie puke green Washburn “Dimebag Darryl” through a Marshall Valvestate VS100 to a 4 x 10 cab. We are closing micing the cab using an AKG 535, AKG D112, Sennhieser 421 and the good old trusty Shure SM 57.
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Text © 2005 Jay O’Keeffe
