| One reason for the Dt’s sojourn north is to record at Calgary’s fabled Budget Ape basement studio, where mix-master Al (last name withheld upon request) has perfected the art of punishing rock ’n’ roll mixes. Although he modestly says the reason Crider and Co. are coming north to record is "because it’s free," he will concede that he’s developed a sound of his own – one drawn from rock’s primal past.
"That in-the-red vocal that’s on most of ’em is straight from Little Richard. If you listen to any of his stuff, it’s done cheap and nasty.
"Technically speaking, it was probably done with great-sounding gear and then they just abused it to the point where it... sounded good.
"You take a good clean singing voice and put it over a barrage of shit and it sticks out like a sore thumb."
Although the intention is to log some quality Ape time, Crider identifies both parties’ hard-scrabble ways as a potential obstacle to recording.
"I’ve always loved the sound that (Al’s) gotten out of Budget Ape,"he says. "We went up there with the Mono Men a couple of times with plans to record, but Al passed out in the bathtub. It wasn’t just him – we were all pretty fucked up. So we’re hoping this time around we’ll get something on tape at least." |
