The Decline will release their new EP ‘Can I Borrow A Feeling?‘ this Friday via Pee Records. The EP has begun shipping, so order now and it should arrive before the release date. You can sort yourself out [Here]. This week Pat from the band tells us about the release via our On The Record questions. Expand this post to check out his answers, as well as the band’s tour dates next month to launch the EP.
Tell us about the release title.
The title of our new EP is a blatant rip off of the glorious audio tape “Can I Borrow a Feeling?” written by Kirk Van Houten (Milhouse’s dad). Sorry Kirk, we’ll lend you a jar of love.
Tell us about the artwork.
Well most of our past album covers have involved some kind of joke (Vultures debating over the crucified christ like he was the last chip in the bowl at a party on “Are You Going to Eat That?”), so it only seemed natural to have someone literally borrowing a feeling. Fox from Nancy Vandal and X Ray Studios drew us a rad picture of one of our most beardedest friends having his heart ripped out by a mega-babe.
What format/s will it be released on and how will it be packaged?
In CD Format in a 4 panel digipack, and digitally!
Who will it be released through, and when?
PEE Records, April 18th, or Good Friday for all of you who’ve heard the word or the lord. (Pretty fitting, it’s got a song about slow bleaching of Christ on it, Michael Jackson style)
Tell us about the studio and why you chose to record there?
We did the EP at Electric City in North Freo, with Sam Christopher Allen. We chose to do it there because Sam co-owns it with our friend Adam Round (Who recorded Eat That for us 3 years ago), and we heard how awesome Sam made our friends/housemates/lovers FAIM sound when he recorded with them, so there was really no question. Aaaand we mixed and mastered it with Jay Maas (from Defeater) at Getaway Recording, because Harry said so and you should know to never question your drummer.
Tell us about the producer / engineer and why you chose to record with them?
Well I can’t lie, any man who can hold a screwdriver in his beard is fine by me.
Did you go into the writing process with a clear direction in mind?
We picked the best 5 songs out of what we’ve been mucking around with since we started writing again after Eat That came out. I wrote 4 of them, and Dan wrote 1, bit of a weird split, cause it’s usually about 60/40. I tried to make the songs sound like they’d developed since the last record, so half of them are heaps more technical, while the others are stripped back a heap and focus more on the big choruses.
Were you listening to anything in particular during the writing / recording process that influenced the songs at all?
My favourite songs ever are Kiss Me, by Sixpence None the Richer, and Bathwater by No Doubt, so you tell me? Oh, and Natalie Imbruglia’s timeless classic; Torn.
Were there any albums you were referencing to aim for a certain type of sound production wise?
I can’t speak for the others totally, but I pinched my guitar sounds from Frenzal Rhomb’s Smoko at the Pet Food Factory, and Bad Religion’s True North. I know Dan showed Sam the bass sound he used on our last record, and Harry picked Jay Maas to mix and master cause he’s a big fan of his work, and he wanted it to sound a bit heavier.
How long did you spend in the studio recording?
We spent 8 days, and we were there late into the night most of them! (Sorry Sam)
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Tell us a little about the recording process the band used?
We always do it this way: Harry and I demo all the songs at home, we play scratch guitars first, then bass and leads, then I sing at them and Harry drums at them. So we already have a working demo with the tempo set and stuff. New ideas come into it after that, so they get changed up a bit with Dan and Nate’s input, Dan starts thinking about harmonies and Nate demos a solo. Then when it’s studio time, Harry drums to the click track we made, we get all the tracks down on drums and get them ready for guitars to go on. Then we play rhythm guitars on all of them, then my leads, then Dan does bass, then time for Nate’s real solo’s, and Dan and I do lead vocals, back-ups and harmonies. Then we shower it in autotune to cover up the fact I can’t done sing any good and it’s get sent far away to be mixed and mastered. Then it comes back sounding pretty tops and we spend about a week arguing amongst the four of us about what minute, meticulous, fucking tedious changes we wanna make and then it gets mastered once we all finally agree. This is the way we’ve always done it, at blasting room, or with Adam Round last time. A certain member from a semi-well-known Aussie band once told me we were doing it all wrong cause “You sposed to record bass before guitars!”, but it’s working so far!
Was this any different to previous processes you have used?
On our past records we were pretty slack in the demoing phase at the beginning, but that’s about it
Any guests involved? if so, who.. and what did they do?
We ran a fundraiser campaign to help us cover the recording cost. It was a huge success and the whole thing was totally fan-funded. One of the rewards we offered was for pledgers to sing gang vocals with us on the record, so we had about 35 people in the studio singing back-ups and choruses with us, pretty rad! It was all our guitarist Nate-dawg’s idea, so I should probably give all the credit to him.
Any particular equipment outside your usual live gear used in the process?
Live Nathan and I play Peavey JSXs and Marshall DSL50 JCM2000s, and we used an old School JMP on this record!
Any memorable studio moments?
On the first day of tracking, Harry was doing a drum take for one of the songs. Meanwhile, on the internet, the timetable for Perth’s Soundwave Fest got announced and we were surprisingly on it! In the middle of the day too. That was pretty memorable. We’d known there was a chance we were getting on it, but were never 100% til we saw the poster, fucking stoked.
Any additional tracks recorded that didn’t make the cut but may see the light of day sometime?
Not this time, but we’ll be hitting the studio again very shortly for something Pete from Pee Rec is throwing together.
What track/s are you most looking forward to playing live?
Treasure Island was a Sausage Fest, Yahweh or the Highway and Cool Kids Can’t Die!
How would you compare the final product to previous releases?
I’m really happy with it, I really love how my guitar sounds on this one. Harry thinks it sounds better, which is a big call cause I never thought we’d beat our last record.
Anything else you want to say or about the release?
I hope everyone likes it as much as I do! I’ve been itching to get back in the studio and put something new out for the better part of two years. Or Here’s your appetizer, main course coming at the end of the year. Pick whichever you think is funnier!
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THE DECLINE – ‘Can I Borrow A Feeling?‘
Available April 18th on Pee Records.
Order your copy now [Here].
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THE DECLINE
MAY
2nd – Crowbar, Brisbane [18+] w/ The Hardaches, Goon On The Rocks, Epics, No Trust.
3rd – Valve Bar, Sydney [18+] w/ Chris Duke and The Royals, Local Resident Failure, Faux Effects.
4th – Magpies Club, Canberra [Lic/AA] w/ The Hardaches, Revellers, Kang, No Assumption, Office Jerk, Jack Livingston.
5th – Rad Bar & Cafe, Wollongong [18+] w/ Pat Decline (acoustic), Val (Steel City Allstars), Nerdlinger, The Acid Monkeys.
7th – The Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood [18+] w/ Wolfpack, Speech Patterns, Foxtrot.
8th – The Reverence Hotel, Footscray [18+] w/ Initials, Take Your Own, Speech Patterns.
9th – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart [18+] w/ Knife Hands, Speech Patterns.
10th – Crown and Anchor, Adelaide [18+] w/ The Hardaches, The Spatchcocks.
16th – Rosemount Hotel, Perth [18+] w/ The Novocaines, Tired Lion, Sail On! Sail On! & Being Beta.
—> Tickets available at the door.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
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