From Mike Hansen:

Day 7: We’ve moved on to starting Lance’s lead parts. Finding tones for this proved to be no simple task. It’s a goal for me as a part of this band to be as transparent with whoever is kind enough to read this, so with that in mind I’d like to be honest about something….at one point, we had a Mesa Boogie triple rectifier dialed in. Not to worry though. We didn’t use it. We’re simply not metal enough. Lance pretty much blew through these and we couldn’t be more stoked at this point because little things like this really help the songs sound more full. 

Day 8: Trying to find out what exactly makes a record sound like “a record” is something we’ve had a lot of fun exploring. We’re trying to find new tones that blend well with our rhythm and lead tracks and add some 3rd guitars to parts so they sound huge. We’ve been throwing around ideas about other things to add to the record that might help with the fullness of it all as well. It’s really nice to have the time in the studio to play around with these ideas. 

Day 9: Vocals. YAY! This part is always extremely awesome because it really starts to bring out the mood of the songs. Even though I care about drumming a whole lot, vocals are always the “make or break” aspect of a band for me. Luckily, Jerry is a super talented dude who always throws his heart into this stuff. Without that dude, I don’t think I’d enjoy playing in Pentimento as much as I do. He’s on a steady diet of trying to get 3 songs done a day. 

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Pentimento are hard at work in the studio recording their debut full-length with producer Jay Zubricky. The band has been great to PropertyOfZack in the past, so we’re stoked to be doing a Behind The Booth feature with Pentimento to keep fans updated from the studio. Check out the first extensive update from drummer Mike Hansen below!

From Mike Hansen:

We’ve been touring non-stop since August of 2011 to support our debut EP on Panic Records called Wrecked. Since then, we’ve completed 3 east coast/midwest runs, a full-US tour, and then within about a week (which instead of spending at home with our families and friends, or working since our bank accounts are hilarious…We spent playing 4 acoustic shows)…jumped on a plane to spend two weeks touring Europe all with countless shows in between. As soon as we touched down, we got to work on finishing a new record. We’ve been writing these songs since we wrapped production on Wrecked in April of 2011, and it feels SO good to have the opportunity to work so closely on them during practice, as well as in the studio. In any other situation, this would be about the time I tore my eyes out of my face and fed them to an animal that I made up in my head. But for some strange reason, I’m completely in love with the fact that we have the chance to be this busy as Pentimento. Through all the time spent in a van, or 12x15 room hashing out parts of songs, or in a studio for hours on end…mistake after painstakingly frustrating mistake…we’re all still best friends. The fact that this is my life is something that I’ll cherish forever, no matter where Pentimento takes us. 

Day 1: Stepping into GCR Studios for the 3rd time within a year is blowing my mind. I can’t believe we’re here working on a full length record less than a year after our first EP was tracked, not to mention less than half that before we came in to track the songs for the split with Young English. Being able to work in a place that we’ve come to hold close to us like a second home, and also to be able to work with engineer, and good friend Jay Zubricky is a dream come true. Having this full length on the tips of our tongue at the same time that we’ll be releasing new music is a pretty cool experience. Jay was cool enough to clear his schedule early so we could set up and get some tuning done with before the actual recording session began. We set up, tuned drums, and talked about how I needed to hear the sounds particularly during production so that I could FEEL them. Maybe I’m bias, but when I think of the way drums sound recorded, i need there to be whatever that spark is that makes you want to bob your head, or tap your foot, or put your fist through a wall. 

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