Producers Carson Slovak, Grant McFarland, and Rivers of Nihil guitarist Brody Uttley join us for a discussion about their work together.
Carson, Grant, and Brody worked together on multiple Rivers of Nihil albums, the latest being Where Owls Know My Name. The guys talk about why this has proven to be such a solid team, the unique workflow and techniques they’ve developed, and how they handled some of the many curveballs on this album. And despite a few quick detours into everything from aviation to AI along the way– but somehow, it all ends up coming back to what ties them together: the music.
“Even if AI gets to the point where it can create music on the level that a human being can, I feel like it’ll always be pulling from examples that were created by humans. Because I think no matter how far down the line we get with AI, you’re probably not going to be able to simulate something like childhood trauma, the loss of a loved one, or a divorce.” – Brody Uttley
ON THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:
7:33 – Carson getting to fly on the Concord and a brief discussion on aviation
11:42 – Space movies, soundtracks, and musical scores being reused in film and television
22:10 – How Carson, Brody, and grant all ended up meeting and how long they’ve known each other
28:13 – Learning from others and figuring out how to mature along the way
34:16 – Getting to work with Erik Rutan of Morbid Angel and being completely unprepared in the studio
43:20 – What Brody changed up with guitar tuning, how different picks matter when you’re in the studio versus playing live, and how one person’s playing won’t always get the same tone as someone else’s
56:25 – Whether or not computers getting close to figuring out creativity
1:05::33 – How many people they are comfortable having around when they’re in the studio and how to take suggestions from others
1:16:12 – The way music sounds and how adding lyrics can feel like it dumbs it down creatively at times or make it feel a little mundane
1:17:37 – How mundane grocery shopping is and which sparkling water is the best
1:23:46 – Incorporating saxophone into their music and how they handled the mix for it
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