O'Brother In the Studio: Candy, Chips & Klondike Bars Are Crucial Recording Tools

Atlanta’s O’Brother draw from an eclectic mix of influences like Radiohead, the Melvins and Queens of the Stone Age, but manage to create a compelling cohesive sound all their own, thanks, in part, to the three-guitar attack of Tanner Merrit, Johnny Dang and Jordan McGhin. O'Brother's sophomore album Disillusion is out now.

It might sound pretentious, but our goal with creating Disillusion was to make something musically perfect. Or at least close to it. To break boundaries and truly create something original. The writing process honestly flew by.

Last summer we stayed at a church in Newnan, GA called, Ecclesia, for two weeks and wrote a good two/thirds of Disillusion. It really helped to simply be isolated and together for those two weeks of writing. To eat, sleep and breath new music. The rest we wrote at Michael's house in Lawrenceville. The real fun began in January of this year when we stayed In Long Island, NY for a month to record the record with Mike Sapone.

Watch O'Brother perform 'Disillusion' live:

I think being in one place for a solid month, just us five and Sapone, was key in the recording process. It definitely helped to keep us focused on what we were doing and focused on making the album we wanted to make. Being home has plenty of distractions and it helped being across the country. Having an almost endless supply of pedals and amp options was also incredible. To have hours to perfect the sound we were going for on each individual song was amazing. Definitely like Christmas morning for us every day, in a sense.

Another amazing trick of Sapone's was that every time tensions rose or disagreements happened, food would appear. He always somehow found a way to calm everyone's nerves with bagels, candy, chips, Klondike bars, cake etc...pretty clever of him looking back on it. We seriously couldn't have asked for a better producer to work with. It was a truly amazing and unique experience for which I am forever grateful. Disillusion has most-definitely grown us as a band and family and we cannot wait to see what people think when they hear it.

Photo by Alex Gibbs

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