I don't remember every detail from this recording session, as it was several years (and several computers) ago, and i didn't take the detailed notes that i eventually learned to. Most of the stuff i had to piece together by checking the recording files. I DO remember that we basically cranked out this demo from setting up the drumkit to packaging 200 CD-Rs in just over a week.

At this point, Lowfive had only played a handful of shows (two?) under the current name. Our little boys of No Conform parted ways in September of 2000, only to reconvene as slightly older boys in December with a modified agenda. Spring semester of 2001 saw the threesome (in this incarnation the band was just Gabe, Chuck and Matt) all heading to the same school, meaning the new band could get some material together. DEMOLICIOUS was the record of that material.

We'd also never done a proper "studio"-ish recording of the band yet. All of the No Conform recordings were live into a computer, or live from a camcorder, so we really had no clue what we were getting into. I DO distinctly remember reading the entirety of The Musicians Guide to Home Recording in preparation! I'd also purchased some microphone cables and some cheap dynamic mics for the project. We used Gabe's computer to record (mine had crashed at the end of the spring semester), and borrowed the rest of the equipment we needed from the church where we recorded the majority of the tracks.

I don't remember any particular difficulties in the recording process... quite the contrary actually! Because we were in a church, we naturally got a great drum sound. Unfortunately, we were recording direct in to a computer, so we just got a stereo mix, which, likely due to our inexperience, had wayyyy to much cymbal. Our choice to record all of the other instruments direct in (from solid state amps, no less) was another brilliant example of our naiveté. I also forgot to mention that we had no multi-track audio software, so everything was recorded and mixed in SOUND FORGE 4.5! Also, considering that the band had only played 2 shows, and that Gabe never really sang in practice, most of the songs hadn't really found their singing voice yet. I remember Gabe could only make it through about a half hour without killing his throat for a day, so we didn't have much opportunity for retakes. He did consume an entire 3-liter bottle of cola during the process though!

So tracking took about 5 days, with drums on Day1, drums & guitars on Day2, more guitars on Day3, bass on Day4, and vocals on Day5. Everything was done in the church, except chuck's bass parts, which might have been done in the practice space over at Deprez's house. All in all, we did the 7 tracks for the demo, and 3 cover songs. "Mixing" was completed on the 17th (although it was little more than just layering all of the tracks on top of each other in SoundForge!). We spent all of the next day and night at Chuck's house with several computers burning 200 copies onto CD-R (keep in mind... this was back in the day of 2x and 4x drives!). I designed the label on chuck's computer, printed a copy, and we used the photocopier at the church to run off copies of the labels in the middle of the night. A 5am finish came just in time to take off into Canada for the May Rally show for which the demo was (shoddily!) produced. Basically i only slept like 3 times this week, working during the days, and pulling all-nighters for mixing and burning.

close journal ↑

01. Sheathen	03:40
02. Full Effect	02:43
03. Count Me Out	03:13
04. Overcome	04:06
05. A Perfect Disguise	04:02
06. End	04:16
07. 2 Hold U	07:20
TOTAL	29:20