SUSTAINS

Sustains combine classic songs with face-melting audio. I asked the Californian musician behind this - Alex Gramajo - how he makes his music:

Is Sustains just you?

For the most part, yes. However, I’ve had excellent input on certain songs from people that came into my life, who i give much credit for

How do you get that ultra fuzzy electric guitar sound?

Distortion pedal, Sustain knob 100%, direct line into recording console, Channel Gain 100%. It’s just deep fried guitar

What guitars, amps do you use?

MIJ Fender Mustang, 1995 i think, with a mini humbucker at the bridge. I’ve gone through a few amps, I absolutely enjoy solid state 100 watt combos, Crate, Peavy, Yamaha, or Roland do it for me. Hell, give me a Line 6 Spider, I’ll rock it

What is your distortion pedal of choice?

Big Muff

Do you saturate everything on your recordings ie drums and vocals to make them extra fuzzy?

I try to record drums as clear as possible to pierce through that jungle of noise. Same goes for vocals. As for guitars and bass, i just like to play around with the levels

Who plays drums on your recordings?

When the homie Joe wasn’t on the track, it would be me.

Where do you record?

At home. I’ve gone to studios, but I didn’t feel comfortable. Too much pressure 

What do you record on?

It used to be a Tascam cassette 4 track i picked up from craigslist during high school. Later, i got a Fostex digital 16 track, thats where i got a lot done. I’m not a fan of using computer interfaces or DAW’s for Sustains. I prefer physical knobs and faders in front of me. That’s just the way I grew up.

How did you get your drum sound?

I never use more than 4 microphones for a kit. One for snare/hi hat/crash, another just for the kick, another for ride/floor tom, and maybe one more if i need middle toms or  ambience. Then i pan them out as if the listener is sitting on the drummer’s throne

How long does it usually take you to record a song?

Well it really varies. For example, I’ve spontaneously written and recorded songs, like Coronary, in a few hours. But if I’m really trying to cook, i would do hundreds of takes for one song, let it simmer for months, then come back to it, add more layers, and mess around with the mixes

Any reason why Chase the Wind was digital only and not on iTunes?

I should have given it a proper release. Some record labels were flirting with it, but it fell through. I just ended up releasing it myself, instead of shelving it. I thought it sounded good

What’s the story behind the Chase the Wind artwork?

It’s just Richard Hell’s Blank Generation, but backwards. I wanted to feel like a rocker and i like blue denim on blue. Shout out to the homie Gus for shooting it

Do you play live much? If so, where, and who is in your band?

Not often. When we played, so many people would fill in, while living far away from each other, sometimes having no practice before a show. It was a logistical nightmare. Sustains has gone from 5 members, to 4, to 3, to 2, to 1. Real slacker rock

Some Chase the Wind tracks like Dancing Shadows almost have a 1970s glam songwriting style. Is this just my mind playing tricks on me or do you like music from that era?

I like that era very much. On that track, i was going for T. Rex and early power pop, most specifically The Nerves

Is the car noise at the start of Royal Pine real?

Haha yeah it’s real. I was revving my truck. The song is really just an open love letter to my truck, “Royal Pine” is the scent of the air freshener tree. Man, i really do like driving that thing with no destination, the freedom and romance of it. As for the engine revving in the song, i got that idea from Phil Cordell’s (aka Dan the Banjo Man) Everything Will Rhyme

Nice duelling lead guitars on Heavy Metal Dream. Was there a different pedal used on these?

There were a couple solos on that track, the first solo is the one i did, the other my friend Adrian did. He did use another pedal, maybe the OCD pedal, but I’m not certain

What reverb do you use on things like the lead guitar of Caged Hearts II?

I used the reverb built into my recording console, it was probably a hall reverb. I don’t own any reverb pedals

What organ did you use on Golden Halo?

I think it was a 70s style tone on the Yamaha PSR E313

The sound of Razor Apple is brutal. How did you achieve it?

Distorted bass and guitar, cranked the digital gain on my recording console, and boosted high mid and treble. I like to make it sound sour and spicy

How do you minimize bleed from drum overheads on songs like Book Fair?

I gradually adjust the EQ and volume until it sounds balanced in comparison with the other instruments. But to be honest, i have more trouble with drums being too quiet than too loud. 

Do you record to a click?

No, it’s all natural. If there’s a minor tempo drift, i just leave it in. If i need to queue another instrument, i just keep count with a palm mute on the guitar and edit it out later

Nice one-note piano on God Damn. Is is a real piano?

No, its the Yamaha PSR keyboard. The one note piano jingle is straight out of I Wanna Be Your Dog

What is that weird synth sound on Dissonance?

It was a sound I programmed on the microkorg. I liked the glitchyness of it. It was hardly playable. I had to do a lot of takes for that because the key velocity was random and would not stroke the notes that i needed

What drum machine did you use on songs like Land of Hurt?

I did not use a drum machine. I was hitting the keys of the Yamaha PSR in real time with a drum kit preset

Do you enjoy record everything yourself, or would you prefer someone else to handle stuff like engineering?

Maybe i just don’t communicate well enough the ideas i go for to engineers, but I prefer to do it on my own

Do you have a process for mixing your songs, such as drums first?

Guitars first, sometimes bass, it’s what gives the songs the principle feeling. Then i drum along to the tracks. When i mix i really like to use the stereo channels and pan out the instruments very wide

How do you master your music, any key plugins? 

After i mix a song on the console, i bounce it onto a computer. I mainly just use rudimentary limiter plugins to get it loud and thick before it starts to clip over 0 Db’s. I don’t have any specific ones to recommend, whatever’s free

What music are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a side project and aim to release a video album on VHS. It’s mixed genre, but there’s gonna be a lot of house, techno, trip hop, boom bap. That sort of stuff. I do have some Sustains ideas, but it’s on the back burner for now. I’ve been doing Sustains for like 10 years, i want to explore other things

How did Hidden Bay come to release your Sick Ones record?

They just randomly hit me up and asked if they could do my next release, i said i was down. A few months later, i sent them the tracks. Big love. Check out their catalog. Shout out to Manon

Ever tried sending your music to Teenage Fanclub? I think that they'd love it

Never lol. If i ever tried to send music, it wouldn’t be TFC. It would probably be Brad Laner from Medicine. That dude is a mad scientist 

Best and worst things about living in LA?

Best thing, the open mic at the Comedy Store. Worst thing, the rush hour

Can you surf?

Nope

Best Wipers album?

Youth of America

Dinosaurs or aliens?

Aliens for sure

MISTY COAST

Been listening to Misty Coast for a couple of years now. The Norwegian band create kaleidoscopic sound-bombs that make the universe a bit more interesting. So I asked them how they do this:

Let’s start with an easy question, who plays in Misty Coast and what do you do?

Richard: Misty Coast is Linn Frøkedal and Richard Myklebust. When we’re writing and recording we play most instruments between us. When we’re playing live we’re a quartet, and Kim Åge Furuhaug (Orions Belte) has been our drummer since the start, and he also plays on all our albums. On our right wing we’ve had Linns talented big sister Anne Lise (I Was a King, Frøkedal & Familien) on vocals, keys and guitar. Since she just became a mum we’re super happy that Norwegian indie pop queen, Silja Sol, will join us for the Nevereverending tour. 

What guitars and basses do you use for live and recording?

Richard: For the live performances Linn plays her Rickenbacker bass and I use my Fender Jazzmaster and a modded Jag. When we're recording we use whatever we have at home or at hand. On our latest album we’ve also used Fender Strat, Danelectro 12-string, a Gretsch, Hofner bass, an old mandoline and Yamaha reface synthesisers (YC, CS, CP). 

What amps do you play through?

Richard: I love Fender amps. A Super Reverb or something similar is the preferred weapon. 

Linn: I used to be very picky, and would get disappointed if I did not get a “fridge” ampeg (810). Nowadays I can play on almost everything, as long as it’s powerful enough to carry my fuzz pedals. 

Any special pedals that Misty Coast wouldn’t be able to survive without?

Richard: The Line 6 DL4 has been my trusted friend for years. It’s a multi-delay (now also with reverb for the DL4 MKII) but also a looper. Super versatile. A good friend of ours, Daniel Thornhill, is making some awesome fuzz pedals (and more) under the name Fjord Fuzz. Right now Linn has a Freia on her board and I’ve got the Fenris. We have most of his pedals, and they are all great! 

Linn: We both always have a RAT on our boards. I can’t survive without my Turbo edition. I also use chorus a lot, and would probably not last long without one. I now have a Mad Professor Electric Blue Chorus. We've been extensively using Death by Audio pedals, and I'm particularly fond of the very wild Fuzz War. On one memorable occasion in Trondheim, it caused a bunch of glasses in the bar to tumble from their shelves and shatter.

Richard: I have recently fallen in love with the AC Noises Respira, a multi-tremolo pedal with a shimmer reverb in front. Not sure if I could survive without this one either.

Before you record a song, do you jam it out as a band with a drummer?

Richard: Most of the time we record to a drum machine beat. And not being drummers can make the programmed beat odd, and sometimes difficult to do on real drums with only two hands. Kim Åge is a great drummer, and a hero when it comes to interpreting our drum ideas. 

Linn: We actually create all our music while recording. So our songs usually only exist as a guitar riff or a bass line before we start tracking. And then our drummer is usually the last to be recorded. This is actually a very weird way of doing things, but it works for us. 

Most of your songs are quite dense with lots of tracks and weird noises. How many tracks on average do you have per song?

Linn: It's less tracks than you might think. Before drums (who tend to be all separate mics) I would say that it’s probably an average of 10-15 tracks. We hate working with a lot of tracks and mess, so we always delete a lot on the way. The first time we worked with producer Matias Tellez, he actually laughed when he opened our session for “Strange Girl”. He couldn’t believe all the noise we had created on only 7 tracks. 

Do you find it hard to recreate a studio recording as a live band?

Richard: Not really. You just have to make some hard decisions on what is important for the overall sound. And sometimes learn how to play 2 or 3 of the guitar tracks at the same time. 

We also believe that the live experience shouldn't be the exact same as the recordings anyway. If so, you could just stay at home and listen to the album. The live experience should feel different, closer, louder, more real, and you also have the opportunity for a visual adventure. 

Do you have any requirements for recording vocals? i.e. standing up/sat down, lots of reverb, eyes closed, candles, facing north-east etc…?

Linn: Haha, not really. I tend to sit down and sing into a hot Roede condenser microphone placed on the dinner table. Sometimes our squeaky, old chairs disturb the recordings - or even our neighbour leaving the building - cause the microphone picks up so much. On some of our songs you can actually hear Richard doing the dishes in the background on my vocal tracks. Richard tends to be standing up while singing (often on his tiptoes to reach the highest notes) and we usually record his voice with a classic SM7. 

Loophole is one of my favourite Misty Coast songs. I love the stuttering drums on it. Was this recorded to a click or is it actually slowing down, and was it hard to play against?

Linn: This is one of our favourite songs to play live! I think we actually recorded ‘Loophole’ based on a very simple finger played beat on the drum machine app DM1 on Richard’s iphone. Later on Kim Åge added these super cool, laid back drums. He must have played along to the beat, cause I’m pretty sure we had no click recording the DM1 and the tempo settings in the session must have been completely off.  

How do you get that cool fuzzy bass tone, especially on songs like Strange Girl?

Linn: Ooo, I think we used the Death by Audio’s Fuzz War on this one. My Rickenbacker bass sounds so amazing by itself, and it works perfectly with fuzz, so it does a lot of the work. 

While your recordings sound quite complex, songs like Little Sister sound like classic pop songs. How long does it usually take to write the basics of a song like this?

Linn: I think the classic pop songs are the quickest ones to write. They tend to make sense straight away, and it’s like the arrangement is screaming for that particular vocal melody. I guess deep down I’m a pop head. 

I like the way that the chorus from Berlin Zoo comes out of nowhere, how did you write this song?

Linn: We were actually writing and recording this song while we had an artist residency in Berlin. We’d been passing the Berlin Zoo a few times, and I created this story in my head. The chorus came naturally, and is just us playing with melodies, both in the guitars and in the vocals. At first I tried to sing this song, but it ended up being too sweet. Richard’s voice was a perfect fit.

I love the starkness of the vocals on Galaxy, was it weird to do this without the usual FX?

Linn: We initially recorded this with quite a lot of effects, but then Matias Tellez turned it upside down in the mix and made the vocals sound near and fragile. I think it works very well, and it contrasts with the theme of the song. 

The guitars on the intro of In A Million Years remind me of Brian Eno’s 1970s stuff. How did you get this fuzzy murky sound and it is a bass or an electric guitar?

Richard: The guitar sound is absolutely inspired by Here Comes the Warm Jets! It’s a guitar straight into Emil Nikolaisens mixer in his Malabar studio. Pushed to extreme distortion. 

What’s making that weird swoop-y sound on Do You Still Remember Me?

Richard: Oscillating the Roland sh-2000.

Your new album was recorded in a few different places. What was your favourite and why?

Linn: My favourite location was the island Utsira. This beautiful place is located 11 miles off the west coast of Norway, far out in the North Sea. While taking a break from the Oslo city life, in a place so windy - but still so quiet - we really got to focus on creating music (and fishing!). Most days we catched our own dinner from the sea, and in the mornings we woke up to bells ringing from sheep passing by the bedroom window. At night time we sneaked into the lighthouse, and watched the sunset from the top of the tower. 

How do you get that Flaming Lips-y strings sound on The End of the Beginning?

Richard: A Yamaha Reface CS through a shitload of pedals!

New tracks like The Crossing and Breathe sound like they have less vocal reverb compared to your earlier stuff. Was this a conscious decision?

Richard: I guess we felt like creating the feeling that Linn whispered into your ears. 

Linn: I think vocal reverb works best if it’s not full on all the time. I love the effect when everything suddenly dries up, and I think this also makes the very dreamy, airy parts have more impact.

The bass on Brainchild almost sounds like a cello part. Can either of you play classical instruments?

Richard: Well spotted! It's actually a guitar. At one point when we were creating "Nevereverending," I got the idea to make the guitar sound like other instruments. On "Brainchild," I ran the guitar through a Digiverb with a hard gate on a long reverb, which gave it a cello-like feeling. If you listen to the end of "Hi Goodbye," you'll find an attempt to create brass instruments. None of us play classical instruments, except piano, but we tried to play a real cello on "Take Off/Mess Up."

Have you scrapped any songs mid-recording because they weren’t working?

Richard: All the time! But sometimes we take it up again some weeks later and love it. 

Do all studios in Norway have beautiful wooden architecture that overlooks the sea or a fjord, or is that my misconception?

Richard: Hehe, most of them are in 1000 year old stave churches. 

Linn: ooo, that would be exotic! There are lots of studios overlooking the fjords, but you also find some hidden gems in basements with no windows.  

If Misty Coast could only record or play live, which would it be?

Richard: That’s a very difficult dilemma. I guess I would choose to record. But we LOVE playing live! 

Linn: I would also have to pick to write music and record. 

If you had to add a musician from past or present to become a permanent third member to Misty Coast, who would they be?

Richard: Ringo - great drummer and wonderfully chilled human. 

Linn: Trish Keenan! She’s one of my favourite musicians of all time, and it’s a tragedy that she died so young.

Would you rather do a million interviews or a million photoshoots?

Richard: Interviews

Linn: Agreed!

You can only get one thing on your rider for the rest of your musical career, what would it be?

Richard: Dinner

Linn: I can be scary to hang around if I’m not fed. 

Tea or coffee?

Richard: Coffee

Linn: Same. (Preferably light roast)

Thanks!

Linn: Thank you for a very nice and different interview, giving us the chance to go a bit more nerdy than usual!

Photos by Arne Frøkedal, Johanne Nyborg and Misty Coast