{"id":11166,"date":"2016-07-22T05:30:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T09:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11166"},"modified":"2016-07-13T09:24:07","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T13:24:07","slug":"david-bazan-just-like-the-record-almost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/22\/david-bazan-just-like-the-record-almost\/","title":{"rendered":"David Bazan: Just Like the Record, Almost"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe wanted to make a record<\/i>.\u201d That may sound like the most obvious of statements for a recording artist to make, but David Bazan<\/strong> is trying to convey a deeper meaning when he says it. For him, a record is more than simply a collection of the last dozen or so songs he’s written; it’s a cohesive, sonically- and thematically linked work. Blanco<\/i> is just such a record, and Bazan will perform that record \u2013 along with other tunes from his back catalog of various projects \u2013 on dates on his current tour.<\/p>\n

The songs on Blanco<\/i> began their life as part of Bazan Monthly<\/i>, a direct-to-fans project that the multi-instrumentalist began in 2014. Subscribers received a new song once a month. Bazan says that ambitious project was pretty demanding: \u201cEvery month I had to turn in 2 songs for immediate release on the first of the next month.\u201d After that two-year project came to a close, Bazan and his producer\/collaborator Yuuki Mathews went though the collection with a goal of selecting tracks for a proper album.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Photo by Ivan Agerton<\/p><\/div>\n

But the album would be more than a best-of of the Bazan Monthly<\/i> tracks. \u201cIt happened in a pretty organic way,\u201d Bazan says. \u201cBut it’s only in hindsight that I can make sense of the basic theme.\u201d Bazan and Mathews each made a list of the ten songs they thought would work together sound- and production-wise.<\/p>\n

In the end, some very good songs didn’t make the cut. \u201cWe compiled songs that we felt fit the best and made a complete record,\u201d Bazan says. \u201cI really wanted a song called ‘Impermanent Record’ to be on the album, but it didn’t fit tonally or thematically.\u201d Once the songs were chosen, Bazan went back and remixed a few, occasionally adding instrumentation or vocals. \u201cThe way that the monthly project went, we were right up against the deadline every time. So some of it was that we just wanted another crack at a remix.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTranslating the record to a solo live show has been kind of a squirrely process,\u201d Bazan admits. \u201cI had started preparation for the trip \u2013 and even a couple early shows on the tour \u2013 playing some synthesizers and drum triggers and things. And by 2 or 3 shows in, I realized, ‘That’s a good idea, but it’s not quite right.’ So I just migrated back over to the electric guitar, and now it’s really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n