“We’ve done some recordings but never an album and this one we wanted to get right and have sounding really good. In the past we’ve had fairly dynamic recordings that I’m really proud of, but I couldn’t ever imagine anyone putting it on their stereo and listening to it. But I can see people listening to this one, which is nice.”
Despite their elevated studio confidence, Cue admits that it’s not exactly a breeze to capture the contributions of all seven-members on record.
“We’ve got about ten or twelve instruments that we perform live with and recording even more, so it’s always tricky to know how to segment the recording process. We did a session live and then the horns and additional instruments on top. It takes a lot of time; there’s 50-odd tracks on every song on pro-tools, which is a lot to juggle around.”
In order to manage their wayward proclivity the Barons enlisted Australian producer Matt Voigt. Cue explains that Voigt’s past studio successes prompted them to seek him out.
“We were brainstorming producers and were like, ‘Alright, what local albums do we really love?’ Funnily enough it was some albums by The Nation Blue. I really loved the sounds so we looked up who engineered their albums and had a look at Matt’s resume and it’s pretty off the chain. He’s worked with Cat Power and Augie March and a ridiculous string of great Australian bands. He was our first and only choice really. We didn’t get as far as a plan B.”
One of the greatest assets of any good producer is the ability to tactfully intervene without appearing nasty. A producer’s job is to get more out of the musicians than they would settle for themselves and Cue stresses the value of Voigt’s expert mediation.
“Matt is obviously someone who has been working with bands for years and years because he is the king of diplomacy. I am always impressed at how he can just suggest – not demand, but suggest – ‘maybe just one more take for the history books, then we’ll move on to something else.’ He’s very good at settling disputes without us even realising he’s voicing his opinion.”
When Barons of Tang play at the Northcote Social Club this weekend it will be the last time founding member and vocalist/ accordion player Carlos Parraga appears with the band. Parraga is present on the album but it was recorded with the understanding he’d be leaving once it was done. His departure inevitably marks a new phase for Barons of Tang and Cue acknowledges the change in dynamic will require some adjustment.
“We’ve been doing a bunch of shows without Carlos over the last few months and they’ve been going really well. But certainly musically it is a big change for us and we’re just working through that at the moment.”
The gig will celebrate Carlos’ contribution to the band over the years as well as showcasing songs from the forthcoming record, which is expected to be released mid-year.
“We get to play a bunch of material that probably hasn’t been played in Melbourne at all yet. I daresay it’s going to be a crazy party,” enthuses Cue.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
