Was this record a bit of an emotional purge then?
Oh yeah, totally. I came back from Chicago feeling so good. It’s so cathartic.
Steve Albini has such an entrenched legacy in music (as a musician in Big Black and Shellac, and as an engineer for the likes of Nirvana, Fugazi and too many to mention), was any part of recording with him intimidating?
We definitely prepped a lot more before we got to the studio. We took it very seriously. We demoed stuff more than we have in the past. I think it helped to push us out of our comfort zone. I was scared at first, but that can breed creativity. And going away was good. I’d never gone away for a recording. I’d be in the studio 12 hours, I didn’t even stay with the boys because they would go out at night. I didn’t want to lose my voice, so I would go home to my friend’s house, watch one Netflix show, go to sleep, then do it again.
Was working with Albini a longterm goal achieved?
Yes. Especially for Kevin, so we really wanted to make it happen. I definitely felt like the first couple of days, it was very business. Like ‘Hello, yes, I am checking the mics.’ And by day two, three, finally, he started opening up to us because we were just silly and having fun in there. After that, [Albini] would just tell us funny stories about recording, and how he met his wife, and his cat. He was just super nice.
How long were you in the studio?
Five days. We did all the music and vocals in three days. And we mixed with [Albini] for two days.