EQ Magazine - February 2009 - (Page 10)

PUNCH IN Low vs Diamond (left to right): Jon Pancoast, Anthony Polcino, Lucas Field, Tad Moore, and Howie Diamond. THE POWER OF SONG Low vs Diamond Concentrates Its Varied Influences to Deliver a Deep and Euphoric Work B Y L I LY M O AY E R I “Listen to this,” says Lucas Field, vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter for Los Angeles-based Low vs Diamond. Sitting on the stairs leading to his front door on a balmy summer afternoon, Field is pulling up song after song on his Apple MacBook loaded with Logic Express 8. Some are demos that ended up on the quintet’s self-titled debut, the destinations of others are yet to be determined. His excitement borders on attention deficit disorder, as he is so distracted by the various styles—R&B to pop to rock to Motown and beyond—that inspire him. Fortunately, Field had producers Stacy Jones and Bill Lefler to focus his energy into the diverse, well-crafted work that is Low Vs Diamond [Red Ink]. “Those guys really helped us out,” says Field. “They made us think about songwriting more than production. They would say things like: ‘Why do you have this bridge here? It doesn’t really tie the song together the way that you think it does.’ I also learned how important harmonies are, and how they must come in and out at the right time.” Field typically demos ideas on his own before taking them to the rest of the band (drummer Howie Diamond, keyboardist Tad Moore, guitarist Anthony Polcino, and bassist Jon Pancoast), at which point the material is expanded by recording new arrangements in a rehearsal space. The group usually makes sure that whatever it does in the studio can also be done live, and, sometimes, parts from the rehearsal sessions appear on the final album. “I pride myself that my guitar setup is really simple,” explains Polcino about Low vs Diamond’s livevibe-in-the-studio approach. “My guitars are plugged straight in an amp, and then doubled up. I have about four standard tones that I use—clean, gritty, distorted or overdriven, and effected with a tremolo pedal or a delay pedal.” As the songs became tighter during the recording process, the band also took control of the studio itself— even to the point of setting up microphones and tracking their own overdubs and touchups. “It’s essential that whatever technology we use to make our records that it doesn’t get in the way of us just being ourselves,” says Polcino. 10 EQ FEBRUARY 2009 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - February 2009

EQ Magazine - February 2009 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Dave Cooley Low vs. Diamond Hank Williams III Travis Franz Ferdinand Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Apple Logic Pro 8 Cakewalk Sonar Near-Field Monitor Roundup Gadgets &�Goodies Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - February 2009

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