‘New Album’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest release. Up next is Miles Calder, who has just put out his debut solo album Autopilot Life.
When/where was the new album recorded?
It was almost all recorded over a year from late 2017 to late 2018 bit by bit, in so many different spaces around Wellington. I recorded the last song on the album at home in 2019 long after the others had been mixed. The drums and bass were recorded at The Surgery studio in Wellington with Lee Prebble (Phoenix Foundation, Jed Parsons etc) who we love working with. I then recorded all my guitar, piano and vocals at home, which was many different homes/housesits while I didn’t have a permanent place after a big breakup. The other guys’ guitars, keys and bass were recorded at all of our houses, mostly by me. I would take minimal recording gear to the band members’ house and record them in short sessions. Chris also did a bunch of great guitar recording by himself.
Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
The guys who play as my live band were very involved. Nick George (drums) and Steve Moodie (bass) were always sounding boards for the songs in their writing/early stages. The album was produced by us three and Chris Armour (guitars), with all of us working on song structures, arrangement/instrument ideas. Chris and Dayle Jellyman (synths, electric piano) really influenced the sound of the record, adding so much atmosphere and some really beautiful flourishes. Lee Prebble also mixed the album and added some great treatments so had a big effect on its sound.
How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
The songs were written over a few years, mostly whenever I found myself with an instrument at hand, and time. I also do a lot of voice recordings on my phone when walking around, and a few of the tunes started as melodic ideas I hummed into my phone. The first songs started to be written when I was nearing the end of a year living overseas in New York and then Geneva (‘Take Me Back to How It Was’ and ‘Lake Geneva’ both started in Geneva). Most of the songs were written in the lead up to a break up of a long term relationship. If I’d actually examined my own lyrics I would’ve had the realisation that I wasn’t on the right path sooner. It’s a break-up album in genesis but I think it also got to something more universal in the snapping out of autopilot. ‘Autopilot’ is pretty self explanatory: Being stuck in just going through the motions… numb, scrolling, day jobs, stale relationships, routine, comfort, mindless entertainment. And the album is written from the gradual waking up from living an unexamined life.
Were you going for a different sound/approach on this album?
When writing this album I let the songs fall out more than force them. And the lyrics feel much more in my own conversational voice than anything I’ve done before. I had also taken to the piano and electric guitar and a lot of the songs were written on these. I had always been confined to acoustic guitar, but I definitely rode the edge of my ability/comfort-zone for the piano and my parts of electric guitar on this album. I think you come up with heaps of pure, simple ideas that way… not clouded by virtuosity. I love the piano ballads like ‘Autopilot Life’ and ‘Greener Grass’. And I could express the feeling of a song in whole new ways, like guitar solos on ‘Take Me Back to How It Was’ and ‘Hold A Grudge’. Also recording the album in iterative layers was new and very deliberate. It meant there was time to step back, consider what was missing, and very deliberately arrange in that way. A bit like a painting. Sound-wise, my listening has definitely changed over the last few years, with deeper dives on a lot of late 60s, early 70s psychedelic rock like Beatles and Pink Floyd and others, as well as a bunch of current indie folkers like Kevin Morby, Jonathan Wilson, Damien Jurado, Richard Swift, Andy Shauf. I think overall we shot for the core of the tunes being vintage and familiar but dressed up with some less expected elements that give a bit of edge and atmosphere, like synth, electric guitars and effects.
Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
So much! We are all such gear nerds. This was my first proper dive into using synths, but the guru Dayle Jellyman could make them sound so sweet. His Roland Juno really gave tunes like ‘Autopilot Life’ and ‘Hold a Grudge”s outro so much colour, not to mention the solo at the end of ‘Greener Grass’. Dayle’s Wurlitzer electric piano also felt like a must have and created so much vibe on tracks like ‘Take Me Back to How It Was’ and ‘Hold a Grudge’. The gnarly lead guitar tone on ‘Hold a Grudge’ was from this peculiar fuzz pedal called the Fender Blender. I basically played the guitar while Chris played the pedal. Chris and I borrowed a precious 1963 Fender Strat which we recorded the lead for ‘Take Me Back to How It Was’ and ‘Lost in a Dream on’. It was so nice and slinky. Steve and Nick’s vintage basses and drums really let us get that warm and familiar rhythm section sound, especially Steve’s Hofner Beatles bass.
Is there a particular single/track that you feel captures the essence of the album?
The title track ‘Autopilot Life’ is the anchor point for the album’s theme and sound palette I think. All of the parts in this song work together so well: synth, lead electric, piano and the bass and drums holding it down. I love playing this one. Most of the songs relate to living an unexamined life and this tune is the moment of realisation. The floating feel of this song is like the ignorance-is-bliss waking dream state with the vocals crying out from under it. Also, ‘Lost in a Dream’ is a weird little half-song, but it sort of takes you on a tour of the album’s sound, which made it seem cool to have as the first track.
Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
Vinyl! For the first time ever, my songs are on vinyl and it feels really awesome. We printed some with Holiday Records in Auckland and they’re beautiful. It really sounds different on vinyl than digital, and the album flows very well as a two-sider. Also CDs which look and sound very nice. We’ve included a bunch of extra photos and liner notes on the vinyl and CD for the people who get those. Thoroughly recommend supporting your local record stores, or else grab one from our Bandcamp. It’s of course on Spotify and Apple Music etc.
Are you working on a video/videos for any of the songs? Are you doing any gigs or promotion for its release?
We made videos for the three singles ‘Take Me Back to How It Was’, ‘Lake Geneva’ and ‘Bad for Me’, mostly with Nick George filming and some simple concepts. For the title track, we put out a video of us playing RNZ Live. We are touring the album around NZ starting April with the Wellington show June 4th at Meow. Tickets from Banished Music.