AND A LITTLE BIT MORE....AN HORSE

Where did you record this record, who did you record with and when?

Damon and I recorded the first five songs in December 07 at Applewood Studio with an Australian producer called Magoo. Applewood is an old church in the bush. It's spooky. We recorded the second five songs also at Applewood but this time in July 08. It was still cold and spooky. Howard Redekopp mixed the record in Vancouver. Each morning for two weeks Damon and I were emailed mixes. We had to listen and send our comments back over to Canada by about 9am each morning. The mixing process was awesome. It was strange not being in the studio but it worked out well.

What is the songwriting process like for you two?

I (as in Kate) bring in a song to the practice room. We usually muck around with it and I also give Damon a copy on CD. We both go home and think about it. We talk about it. Think some more. Then we head back into the practice room and arrange it.

How involved was Sara in your recording process?

I gave Sara the first five songs Damon and I recorded in December when she was on tour in Australia. Damon and I had finished them the day T&S played their show in Brisbane. I gave them both a copy of five unmixed songs. They both liked it and asked us to tour in the spring with them in the US. This blew us away. We went on tour and I guess Sara got to hear our whole set a fair bit live. We talked about the songs a little bit on the road with her. Damon and I returned to Australia and Sara suggested we go back into the studio as soon as possible and record more songs to add to the first five. She suggested what to record and really encouraged us to pretty much stick to what we had done the first time because she liked how they turned out. We headed into the studio and the whole time we were in there she was very encouraging. Kind of like a motivational speaker! haha. We would send her what we had done and she would tell us what she thought. It was amazing to have her on board. I feel like sometimes I get really lost in what I am doing because I hear it all the time and the songs change slightly and evolve. Someone on the outside can hear these changes more easily. So SKQ would say this song is dragging you guys need to speed it up, it doesn't feel right. Damon and I would be like...really?? Holy holy, I thought we were playing it too fast. Then we would go back and listen to old shows and realize she was spot on. Goldie at mom & pop also helped us out a lot with this too. He would listen to our songs and would make suggestions that I think were very visceral. His and Sara's suggestions were invaluable because they were listening with fresh ears.

When it came to mixing the whole album, SKQ talked Howard Redekop into mixing us in Vancouver. I think she took our record to his studio and played it to him and basically threatened him with violence if he didn't do it. I may have/she may have embellished that slightly! So Howard mixed the record and every morning over a 2 week period Damon and I would wake up to a new mix in our inbox. We would listen to it and talk about it together and email our thoughts back to Howard (usually before 8:30am!). Sara and Goldie were also instrumental in this! Howard would send the mixes to us, SKQ and Goldie. We would all listen and make comments. It was a really different way to mix for Damon and I (and probably Goldie and Sara). It was awesome again to have these guys involved. They helped us when we I felt I was getting lost. Fresh ears!!!! Sara helped us with some arrangements and hooks during the mixing. She was gold I tell you!

There is an aesthetic to An Horse..... explain a little bit....

We do our own artwork in so far as we decide who is involved but we don't physically do it. We are really lucky to know some amazing visual artists here in Australia who really like the music we make. We really love their art, so we have this awesome symbiotic relationship. Like when Alien and Predator breed in Alien V Predator 2. Our friend Celeste Potter does pretty much all our artwork. I feel for the poor girl because I asked her to use another close friends painting (Laith McGregor) for the front cover of our ep - Not Really Scared. I had promised Laith or rather made Laith promise me I could use his work for an album I would one day make. So I did. Celeste told me she hated using standard fonts and asked if we would mind if she made up her own fonts and use my handwriting on top of Laith's work. We thought that would be awesome. It was. We asked Celeste if she would be keen to design a shirt. She said she would prefer to design three. We said of course. We got a lot of awesome feedback about the artwork and asked Celeste if she would be interested in doing our album artwork. She said she had been waiting for us to ask her so she could do everything this time around. Anyway, she is amazing. She basically does anything we ask from our gear stencils to our merch sign...this is probably because we can barely write legibly.

What are your backgrounds before the record shop?

Before the record shop I went to university and tutored at university in media/journalism. I started a law degree but dropped out to work at the record store. My Dad was really pleased about this....haha I also worked in a bookstore.

Damon worked in a pet shop. He got bitten by a rat. He also worked for a ticket company selling tickets to shows. He got to see a heap of good shows. We both ditched our jobs when we started working in the record store because it was too much fun. We both played in other bands before An Horse. We would go to see shows after work and talk about starting a band together. We did that for about a year before we actually entered a practice room together.

How did you hook up with mom & pop music?

Our last show on the spring Tegan and Sara tour was in NYC. Before we played, Sara introduced us to Michael Goldstone. We met a lot of people that night and didn't really know who he was. Sara told us he was the guy who signed them. After the show Goldie asked if we wanted to meet for a chat the next day. Damon and I thought it would be cool because we didn't really know anyone in NYC. It was pretty funny.... He said we were cheap dates. We are, but Damon and I were just so wiped out from the tour we couldn't even eat.

We walked away from the meeting and started talking about a band we wanted to see that night in NYC. Then we both went silent and I said to Damon...did Michael just say he worked with Silversun Pickups and had a meeting with Jay-Z? Damon said yeah. I said woah...awesome. Michael told us at that meeting he was starting a label but he didn't really know what the structure of it was yet etc. He stayed in touch with us and we signed. So the long and the short of it is, Sara Quin introduced us to Michael. Thankfully Michael liked our songs. And we liked Michael.

What other common interests do you share?

Apart from music? Damon and I both like coffee and donuts for breakfast. We ate that pretty much every morning for a couple years at the record store. Now we eat it on tour. It is obviously nutritious. When I tell people we eat this a lot they tell me it's probably not a good idea.   We both have an extensive knowledge of the film Duel. It is amazing. Man vs. Truck. Who would have thought it would be so suspenseful. Oh yeah, we both love automatic car washes, eating food other people have cooked for us, newspapers and touring.

Favorite toothpaste?

I like Colgate Total mainly because my dentist gives me truckloads for free. Damon also likes this because he never remembers toothpaste on tour, so he uses mine.