A Conversation with Thousands’ Kristian Garrard & Luke Bergman – HuffPost 5.2.11

Mike Ragogna: Kristian and Luke, how did you meet?

Kristian Garrard: We met while studying music at the University of Washington. We had a few mutual friends and started playing together about 5 years ago and had an immediate connection. We wrote a lot of songs and kept working on our sound for about three years before deciding we had refined our sound enough to record an album.

MR: Why did you record your music, basically, without technicians?

KG: We never had any label backing us in the beginning stages of recording this album, and that being the case, we didn’t have any money. Recording ourselves was the cheapest way to get the record done. Instead of going for a really polished studio sound, we decided to record with only one microphone, to capture the songs like a pair of ears would, if you were sitting right in front of us.

Luke Bergman: We were both really into a Mt. Eerie album called Lost Wisdom at the time which was recorded with just one microphone.

MR: What is it about outdoor recording that enhances or gets added to your recordings?

KG: We didn’t add anything, per se, but rather, recorded the album outdoors. Since we were only using a portable battery-powered recorder, there was no reason to stay in any one location. So, we traveled around Washington and Oregon, searching out spots that were inspiring and were quiet enough to play in without too many distractions.

MR: How do you compose your songs, do you have a different method for that as well?

KG: For the melodic part of the song, we try to write using parts that use thick and sometimes unconventional harmony. The vocal and guitar lines tend to be intertwined and contrary more than parallel.

LB: We don’t strive to use a method that’s different for the sake of being different, we just arrange things the way we hear them. We are into all sorts of types of music that creep into our writing process.

MR: Did you find the songs evolving differently once you started your organic recording process?

LB: Not really. We recorded them basically exactly how we play them live. There are very few parts that are improvised on the spot. We do a lot of work fine-tuning our songs and developing them before we even start performing them, so the songs are pretty evolved already by that point.

MR: Which songs were the most challenging to record due to the location?

LB: The ones we recorded in the silo were difficult just because it was so cold in there and both of us have bad circulation. We would struggle through a couple takes and then put gloves on and swing our arms around for a while before trying to do it again. There was one time I remember having to watch my left hand through a song to make sure my fingers were in the right place because I couldn’t feel them. It’s our fault for recording in the winter in a natural refrigerator. That was pretty much the only struggle though. We had to hike for a while a couple times, but that was fun.

MR: Would you advise others to take this same organic approach?

LB: Sure, if it suits the music. I don’t want to put engineers out of business or anything, but I like the sound of field recordings. I like hearing weird noises in the background. It gives the music a dimension where you can imagine the place where it was played. I also like really produced studio albums with lots of overdubbing and stuff. Either approach can work depending on what the music calls for.

MR: Will there be anything unique about your touring relative to the album’s recording process?

LB: We’re trying to find quiet, intimate places to play. The music comes across the best when all the subtleties can come through.

KG: We’re getting used to playing our songs amplified at a louder volume to allow us to play to occasionally noisy rooms though.

MR: After having already been through the experience, what advice would you have for other artists who want to take an organic approach as you did?

LB: The more takes you do, the more you have to listen through.

MR: What advice, in general, would you have for new artists?

LB: Take chances, do wild stuff. Don’t worry about getting good reviews when you’re coming up with things.