GTA: But it’s more experimental with you—you don’t go into the studio with a preconceived idea of what something’s supposed to sound like?
SL: Yeah, I go into the studio with an idea of the kind of record that I want to make, of the direction that I want that single to go in. I have ideas about using maybe a vocal or an idea of a sort of break that I want to be in the track, or an idea of the kind of rythym that I want in the drums. But as far as the sounds are concerned, I have an idea of how I want it to sound, but you never know exactly those particular sounds, because sometimes you might have an idea of, “I want this kind of sound in this record,” but trying to find that sound you come across something else, and then you’re like, “No forget that! This is better!” So you, know, it’s really just opened doors.
GTA: And in terms of vocalists—you just happened to mention vocals—have you been working with vocalists more?
SL: We’ve done a single which is not finished yet called “Blue Star High,” which me and Pete both wrote the lyrics to. We haven’t found a singer for it yet. We’ve both sung the melody into the microphone—which was quite hilarious! [Laughs.]
GTA: You going to be spinning that one tonight? [Laughs.]
SL: We sounded like two drowning cats! Actually, Pete’s got a good voice, to be fair. I, on the other hand, do not have a good voice at all! But we both sort of, like, had to sing the melody into the single to get the lyrics, to get the vocals, to get the words, the lyrics to the song. But we haven’t found a singer for it yet. You know, we’re just—there are lot of good vocalists out there; it’s just finding the right one to fit the song, to fit the track.
GTA: Do you usually audition vocalists for these kinds of things? Or do they come to you?
SL: We audition vocalists. Presently, with this single “Blue Star High,” we’re just sending out demo versions with Pete Lormier’s actual voice singing the songs and also an instrumental, and getting them to send us back their a cappella of the actual song, to see which one sounds right.
GTA: About how many different tracks do you produce at the same time? Do you usually just work on one and finish it, or do you have like five that you’re working on at the same time?
SL: No, one at a time—Jesus, yeah! Definitely one at at time. Sometimes, in the studio you can spend—on one of the singles that we did, called “Lost,” it took us 10 hours to do it, and it’s—I’m really happy with the way it sounds, very chuff with the way it turned out. On the other hand, you can be in the studio for two weeks trying to finish a single. But I’d never do more than one at once, because that way—you just offset your mind from where you want to go with a track. You’d lose your direction in that particular single.