Melbourne post-hardcore band Gladstone recently released and launched their new ‘Cold Bones‘ EP.
You can pick up a copy of the EP online [Here]. It was produced and mixed by Gareth Leach and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audioseige.
To find out more about the EP, the band answered our On The Record questions. Take a read below whilst listening to the tracks.
Keep an eye on their page [Here] for more updates and upcoming shows as they get announced.
Steve went to the snow last year and due to an unfortunate string of events (booze, liquor and shady deals) found himself naked and alone on a ski lift. He sent Lucas a message about having a cold boner and it went from there. The bullshit story is that it’s a follow on concept from the first EP “Bear Bones” and all of our releases will some how be joined together by the journey of a bear through a cosmic wilderness.
Tell us about the artwork.
This is an easy question. Our artist is a fine fellow based in South Africa that goes by the name of Christie Du Toit. Funny thing is, we originally thought “he” was a “she” based in London. Our old guitarist found some of he/she’s art at a drum and bass gig in England and hunted he / she down online to do the art on “Bear Bones” and now “Cold Bones. Legend of an artist and an all round great bloke. We gave him the concept and he came out with this bloody ripper of a piece in weeks.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
The limited edition “performed by” first pressing of “Cold Bones” will be release digitally (Bandcamp / Spotify / everywhere else) and in digipack. We really like the look of digipack casing and it’s silly not to release digitally in this day and age. Shit if you’re nice we may look into doing a limited release on Betamax in the not to distant future.
Who will it be released through, and when?
The sucker will already be out by the time you chumps are reading this so go out and by a copy to keep old mate Chong in new righty whiteys and shady bathroom items.
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
It was cheap as fuck and that’s where our main man Gareth Leech works out’ve. But seriously, The Song Lounge is a tin shed out in the burbs of sunny Melbourne and all though she may not look like much, I don’t think we could’ve achieved what we have anywhere else.
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
So Alexisonfire released these little documentaries on YouTube prior to the release of their limited edition little money makers and in these little documentaries they frequently refer to a gentleman by the name of Juice. Juice is the 6th member. He’s their producer, confidant and father figure. Gareth is our Juice. He brought the best out in all of us, and years of experience in renowned studios and Bands aside, he’s part of the family.
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
I don’t believe we ever have a clear direction in mind. We’ve been around for a couple of years now (not long in the scheme of things), but we’re still finding our style. All we know is that a song has to have groove, harmony and a shit load of energy. Very rarely will you find dead air in a song, playing to silence being one of our weakest points.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
Not particularly no. We all listen to a lot of varying styles in music, and all though you may find some strong links between us and our natural ancestors, we still somehow find a way to blend all of our influences, past and present, into a cognitive paste. Chuck the toaster on kids, here’s some fresh Gladdypastes.
Were there any albums you were referencing in the studio to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
Sure were! Reference albums included Alexisonfire’s “Watch Out”, Thrice’s “The Artist in the Ambulance” and Letlive’s “Fake History”. Gareth also insisted on smashing out a few rounds with Pantera’s “Far Beyond Driven” to get himself psyched up for the more intense moments.
How long did you spend in the studio recording?
1 for guitars, 1 for Drums, 1 for bass and 2 for vocals so 5 mother fucking days of sweaty brutality. It wasn’t really that brutal, we all get along too well. We kind’ve just sat around listening to each other and raiding the bakery down the road for cans of V and Quiche. Boy gee could I go a Quiche. Why isn’t there a question about Quiche in here? Pie-ists.
Well this is a boring question. Standard tracking for everything we did plus dual tracking in parts that needed beefing up. We managed to knock everything over in the deadlines we set ourselves which was both very surprising and rewarding. Gareth had us all on a fairly tight leash. Here’s a fun fact- all of the vocals on the opening track “Great White Buffalo” were recorded in one take. It was meant to be a guide, but turned out well enough to be the final product.
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
Our first EP “Bear Bones” was recorded in the standard tracking method, but almost everything was multi tracked, something we later found to be fairly unnecessary. Also there’s the fact that it all took place in Steves bedroom, not a proper studio, which you can hear a world of difference between.
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
We had a few mates come in and help do gang vocals on a few songs. Most of them being from other local bands, but we didn’t have anyone do specific parts of songs. A collaboration like that is something I’d be very keen on doing in the future, but we have so many diverse and used voices in this band already, so it seems unnecessary at this stage.
When it comes do naming the tracks, is there any particular approach or process to it all?
Most of our songs start out with a number (the order we’ve written the songs in), then they receive a working title. Working titles have ranged from “throat herp” alluding to the fact that singing it makes you feel like you have a STI in your throat, not that we ever have, to Hendo, the name of a dear friend of ours. Hendo is still called Hendo amongst ourselves. The actual song titles generally come from the song lyrics themselves, or something linked to the subject matter of the song.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
For any double tracking done, Bob and Michael used a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier 1960A. Otherwise we put a shaker on the end of the title track, “Cold Bones”. Bob was fairly worried the whole time how we’d pull it off live…
Any memorable studio moments?
Well, there’s a few. We rewrote the vocals for the end of both Cold Bones and Pride Fighter at the eleventh hour, both fairly tense moments but both for the better.
Gareth keeping incense and candles everywhere at all times like the hippy he is.
A biker thinking Bob was onto his cook house next door. Good hood.
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
All 5 tracks were picked prior to us walking into the studio.
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
Most of these songs we had already been playing for some time. It was just about getting them recorded and out there for those that couldn’t get to a show and those that could to take a piece of us home with them.
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
While “Bear Bones” had some great tracks on it that we still love and play to this day, “Cold Bones” is miles ahead in comparison. It’s bigger, it’s tougher and it shows how much more thought and time we put into our craft since our first release. I hope one day we’ll be able to say the same thing about this release, we are constantly striving to better ourselves on and off stage.
Anything else you want to say or about the release?
Get out and find it, try it on for size. If you dig it, we hope to see you at a show. Because that’s what all of this is for really, playing shows and making friends.
Party on!
1. Great White Buffalo
2. Cold Bones
3. Hyacinth Thrash
4. Why We Fight
5. Pride Fighter
