Recording Notes:

The name of the "album", 1846, was some sort of reference to a time notation on the master tape during the recording sessions. I can't recall anything more than that about it.

At the end of the song "So She Says", it sounds like we mixed in a piano. Jamie has informed me that this sound was made by his strumming open chords on one of the Gibson electrics. It sounded like a piano, so we kept the track.

Our engineer/producer at Full Moon Studios was Mark Cooper Smith who was the drummer in the Athens band The Squalls. Notably, they were in the early Athens GA music documentary, Athens GA “Inside/Out” which also featured REM. Jamie recalls that we drove Mark home one day and asked him to take us to Peter Buck’s house. He did not oblige. I would eventually meet all the guys from REM during the years I attended UGA in Athens, but that's another story...and not a very exciting one either.

Equipment:

Jamie played several guitars:

A 1981 Gibson ES-347 semi-solid body electric.

A 1991 Fender Mexican Strat (Mexicaster!).

He played my 1974 Gibson SG on Wild Mountain Blossom.

A Martin D-17 Accoustic, which he had borrowed from his cousin.

James used several effects peddles, including a Dunlop crybaby wah, Dunlop Rotovibe, and a Tubeworks distortion pedal.

I (Eric) played several guitars:

A 1974 Gibson SG

A Gison Les Paul Studio (Not sure what year. It was new, so probably early 90's).

I'm not sure if I had my cream Fender Squire at this point (which I still have), but maybe.

A Guild accoustic guitar. Not sure of the model.

Syid played his red Ibanez bass. In both recording sessions I belive his bass went directly into the board and then it was fed back to us via the headphones.

Amplification:

James played through a 1979 Fender twin tube amp.

I believe that by this time I was playing through my VOX AC30...an incredible amp which I still have.

Drums:

Stuart was playing his original blue Pearl set from high school.

Memories:

During the Full Moon sessions, we stayed at the cabin on the farm that James' parents owned a short drive away in Madison, GA. Lots of good memories of that.

As mentioned above, we recorded these songs at 2 studios...Sounds Incredible Studios and Full Moon Studios. I don't recall Sounds Incredible being a particularly fun experience. It was very dark and the guy who ran it wasn't very professional (which probably explains why they aren't around anymore). The Full Moon sessions were much more fun and productive. For starters, it was a great studio with an incredibly talented and professional staff. Secondly, since we stayed at James' parents farm during the sessions it was just the band and nobody else, which allowed for a much more relaxed and productive environment...or at least that's how i remember it.

Toward the middle/end of the song "Fly", you can hear a set of backing vocals behind my vocals. I have a vivid memory of all 4 of us surrounding a hanging Neumann microphone recording those backing tracks. Lots of fun.

I have a vivid memory of Stuart recording the "egg shaker" track on the song "That". Sorta like "more cowbell" before SNL made it famous. :-)

We paid Full Moon Studios $600 to record these 7 songs, which at the time was a lot of money...especially since we were in high school. The same recording would probably run $2,000 or so if done today.

Like most bands in a studio, I remember having a lot of arguments over who knows what. As is typical, those arguments seem silly in retrospect and what really matters is that the songs sound pretty good 17 years later....except for that awful singer. For some reaosn I was under the impression that I could sing...a dillusion which was later found to be caused by a build of carbon monoxide in my basement. ;)