"Escape from LA" by Matt Kivel. This amazing record is out in the world today. @mattkivel came to me with these songs several years ago. As I recall, he had already recorded drums, bass and some placeholder guitars but the canvas was essentially blank. And large (there were a loooooot of songs). Matt had a vision, but like most artistic endeavors, discovering that vision was a matter of trial and error, adding and removing. We worked on this thing for at least a year, maybe two? Matt lead the creative charge - he was tireless - and I followed along (sometimes begrudgingly) pushing buttons, pointing microphones at things and people, offering opinions and playing some guitar. At some point we agreed it was done. We mixed the record (another herculean task) and then… it sat on a hard drive. Time passed like it does and eventually Matt found home for the record. 

When @driscoll_james was mastering the record he mentioned how he was drawn into the story Matt was telling. Being bogged down in the out-of-order details of the production I had never stepped back and assessed it as a whole. I revisited it and was amazed at what we had put together. Once Matt had sequenced the songs, the focus tightened and I could really feel what we had captured. The sounds and approaches felt fresh and alive. I found myself asking “how did we do this?” I felt like I was listening to a record that a trusted friend had recommended. 

All in all, worth the effort. Find yourself a nice, mellow evening and enjoy this on headphones.