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Some of the most innovative and creative recording artists \u2014 Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and Brian Wilson chief among them \u2014 have used the recording studio as an instrument. But in the case of Bay Area band Terry Gross, the studio can be said to have created the band.<\/p>\n
Multi-instrumentalist Phil Manley is a member of post-rock trio Trans Am, and bassist Donny Newenhouse is an executive director at KQED. But the two musicians are also producers, audio engineers, and co-owners of El Studio, located in the northwest corner of Bayview-Hunters Point. And their idiosyncratically-named trio (with engineer and drummer Phil Becker) grew out of their work there. The band\u2019s debut album, Soft Opening<\/i>, will be released January 29.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonny and I started the studio in early 2014,\u201d Manley says. \u201cPhil [Becker] and Donny had a band with a record out on Alternative Tentacles, but that just sort of disintegrated. They still wanted to play, so the three of us started jamming informally \u2013 just fucking around, really \u2013 at El Studio.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the three musicians sensed a chemistry developing, so those sporadic sessions soon gave way to regular ones. \u201cAnd because we were in the studio,\u201d Manley explains, \u201cwe were recording everything.\u201d While El Studio features both analog and digital setups, the near-nonexistent expense associated with digital recording makes it the method of choice for Terry Gross. \u201cPlus,\u201d Manley says, only half-joking, \u201cwe don\u2019t have the tape stock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the material on Soft Opening<\/i> has been around quite a while; \u201cWorm Gear,\u201d for example, comes from a 2015 jam. Once a song has been fully developed and refined, the trio switches to analog tape to record a finished version. \u201cBecause then we know the song\u2019s length, and we kind of know what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Manley says.<\/p>\n
Manley says that El Studio specializes in \u201cloud rock bands,\u201d but the facility doesn\u2019t limit itself to one genre. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a really big \u2018live\u2019 room,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich is kind of unusual these days. I\u2019ve [recorded] a 13-piece band; I\u2019ve recorded the Stanford drumline.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Because of the pandemic, El Studio was shut down for most of the summer. But recent upgrades to its HVAC system mean that the studio is once again a hive of activity. \u201cThe air is really moving through the building, so it\u2019s much safer for people to record here now,\u201d Manley says. \u201cWe established and implemented strict safety protocols, including contact tracing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pandemic also forced Terry Gross into a hiatus. \u201cWe took a really long break,\u201d Manley says. But rehearsals started back up when the studio reopened. \u201cIt\u2019s only three of us in the studio, so we can stand far apart. We\u2019re all masked up and taking breaks regularly outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Terry Gross\u2019 sound is best described as big<\/i>. The trio\u2019s aesthetic is rooted in improvisation. \u201cEverything that we\u2019ve released has come out of something that was totally improvised and in-the-moment,\u201d Manley says, sometimes \u201cwith slight adjustments and arranging.\u201d Some recorded pieces, he notes, are first-take studio performances, with only the lyrics overdubbed later.<\/p>\n
Unlike Hendrix and Miles, when it comes to Terry Gross, Manley thinks of the studio as a tool, not an instrument. \u201cThere are times when we have a little fun with some studio trickery, but by and large, our approach is pretty straightforward. We\u2019re just trying to capture the power of the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while the songs grow out of improv, these skilled recording engineers don\u2019t shy away from engaging in some post-production cut-and-paste of the sort that Miles Davis and producer Teo Macero employed in the making of Bitches Brew<\/i> and Jack Johnson<\/i>. Newenhouse notes that in its original form, the album side-long track \u201c\u2019Space Voyage Mission\u2019 was 48 minutes long.\u201d he says. So the band went back to the tape afterward and spliced out sections. \u201cIf someone ate shit,\u201d Manley laughs, \u201cwe\u2019d cut that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The abstract character inherent in Terry Gross\u2019 music is nicely offset by a commitment to \u2013 if not quite pop music values \u2013 a focus on melody. In the case of \u201cSpace Voyage Mission,\u201d the trio, led by drummer Becker seated at the editing console, whittled away at the lengthy recording. \u201cThere were these really stark core elements that clearly felt like a song,\u201d Newenhouse says. \u201cAnd then all of a sudden, there was a good feeling to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what happens to the pieces that end up on the cutting floor? Might they get used in a future song? \u201cThat\u2019s a great question,\u201d Newenhouse says. \u201cI\u2019ve never listened back to those parts.\u201d Manley chimes in: \u201cI would say, probably not.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In any event, Terry Gross easily amassed enough solid material for the three-track Soft Opening<\/i>, with a run time of nearly 39 minutes. Those marathon studio sessions tend to bear creative fruit. Newenhouse provides a bit more description of how it happens: \u201cWe\u2019ll be like, \u2018That\u2019s pretty awesome. Let\u2019s learn that part and make it into a song.\u2019 Then it\u2019s, \u2018You know, I can hear some vocals here. I can hear this over here<\/i>.\u2019 It\u2019s a really organic process.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so organic, in fact, that advance preparation is virtually unknown. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s been one time in five years when somebody came in and said,\u2019Hey! I got a riff!,\u2019\u201d says Newenhouse. \u201cIt\u2019s very much the product of the three of us playing,\u201d Manley agrees.<\/p>\n
Much of Soft Opening<\/i> was actually recorded before the pandemic struck, so the songs have been performed live on stage. \u201cThat\u2019s been the funniest, craziest part of the whole project,\u201d Newenhouse says with a laugh. \u201cWe had to learn \u2018Space Voyage Mission\u2019 all over again, in its 19-minute form!\u201d<\/p>\n
Even since live music hit the pause button, Terry Gross has remained busy. Before releasing Soft Opening<\/i>, the band initiated a \u201cstay at home\u201d series of digital releases. Taken together, those tracks \u2014 \u201cSpicy Legato,\u201d \u201cQuarantine Dream,\u201d \u201cMushroom Waltz,\u201d \u201cRough Window\u201d and \u201cFull Disclosure\u201d \u2014 easily add up to at least another album\u2019s worth of material.<\/p>\n
So \u2026 about the band name. When they got together, Newenhouse says that the three musicians thought, \u201cWell, we\u2019re increasing our chances we-don\u2019t-know-how-many-fold of getting interviewed on WHYY in Philadelphia!\u201d<\/p>\n
Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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