issue 36 working_Layout 1 10/2/2013 10:44 PM Page 7
‘just play one show with us and
see how it goes.’ Well, he played
that one show and has been with
us ever since. Jamie is just a monster on the bass.”
Conniption Fits have three
CDs to its credit, including 2006’s
Airplane Rides, 2009’s Heaping
Helping of Perspective and their
most recent release, 2012’s
Friends with Benefits & Cash. “We
always want to keep trying something new,” Stevens said. “Each
album starts out as a collection of
two or three ideas and then we just
go from there. The first album was
a bunch of my songs - fully
recorded by myself - then we replaced my crappy drumming with
Shawn's great drumming and then
added the bass and a guitar or
two.
“The second album (Heaping
Helping of Perspective) was done
in more of a "live" fashion - no click
track was used and there were
minimal overdubs. It’s defiantly
less polished than our other releases and I don't think I'd do an
album that way again. The songs
are certainly good, but I just prefer
a little more shine on the tracks.
Now, our third and current album
(Friends with Benefits & Cash) is
my favorite so far, as it sounds like
a major label release.”
Friends with Benefits & Cash
was recorded in Blanchard’s home
studio, produced by Blanchard,
himself, and mastered by Andre
Maquera at West Street Digital
Studio in Fairfield, Vermont. “We finally got the sound and production
the way we wanted it and it features some really good song writing!” The CD packaging is also
top-notch, featuring great photos,
liner notes and a nice tri-fold CD
case.
Songs from the new release
are also picking up airplay across
the country, including radio stations in San Francisco, Richmond,
Va., Lake Forest, Ill., St. Charles,
Mo., Oxford, Ill., and Staten Island,
NY just to name a few. Also, the
song “May Day” will be on every
single Delta Airlines flight starting
in January… exciting stuff!
The band is looking to carry
this new found momentum into the
next release, which is already in
the works. “Our next CD is going
more towards a harder, riff-based
rock album, but we never really
know for sure until we jump in to
the project. I've got a bunch of
demo tracks already put together… so I do have some idea of
the sound, but often times we tend
to take a left turn once we get to
recording.”
Continued on page 19
Friday, Oct. 4th- Turn it Loose
Saturday, Oct. 5thFriday, Oct. 11th- Resistor
Saturday, Oct. 12th- Popfarmers
Friday, Oct. 18th- The Nines
Saturday, Oct. 19th- Floyd Patterson Band
Friday, Oct. 25th- InClover
Saturday, Oct. 26th- The Ticket