Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My name is Joast.
In the summer of 2007 I was the bass player in a band.
That band broke up.
And a few months after that, my girlfriend and I broke up.
We were going to live together, but it didn’t work out.
So I moved into my parents’ basement.
And I started writing songs, on my 4-track recorder.
And a few songs became many songs.
Eventually I ended up with 25 songs
and I started sending them to people.
I sent them to Todd Burke in LA and he loved them...
...and invited me to come to LA and record them.
In the beginning I was full of doubt.
’Should I go?’ ‘Of course I should go!’
And that’s how Transatlantic Hope was born.
This is the 4-track recorder that I used
to record all the songs.
I didn’t want any distraction whatsoever. No emails.
I just wanted to focus on the music.
And keep it as simple and as pure as possible.
The 4-track is perfect for that.
So. Everybody has to buy a 4-track recorder.
If you want to make beautiful songs.
Or ugly songs.
This is the microphone that I used for the 4-track recorder.
It’s from the Czech Republic, "Tesla".
That’s a brand name from the Communist era...
and I think it’s from the 50’s or the 60’s.
My girlfriend at the time,
the girl that the songs on the album are written about,
she brought it back from the Czech Republic for me.
And I used it for recording all the vocals on the demos.
It’s so cool because it’s so simple,
it’s just a cable that you plug into the 4-track recorder,
and it sounds rotten right away...
that’s what you want, a rough sound.
After a few months
I had recorded a lot of songs
and I felt like making an album again,
but I had to do it in my own way,
and I would pay for everything myself
so that I wouldn’t have to make any concessions.
I started sending demos around to people I knew,
and I was really curious about how they would react.
I also sent them to Todd Burke, a producer from LA.
He was really moved by the songs
and he wanted to record an album with me.
So that was amazing.
He said that he had some friends
that would also like to record with us and were willing to help out.
Those friends were Joey Waronker and Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
They were members of Beck’s band for years.
I listened to the album ‘Sea Change’ again and again. For inspiration.
and also to get an idea of what we were going to do with the album.
It sounded incredible,
and that just made me extra nervous, of course, to go to LA.
So in January, 2009, I flew to LA and I knew nothing.
I had no idea if it was real,
if everything I was promised was really going to happen.
I had already paid for the studio,
and I had rented a room via Craigslist.
I moved in with 2 actors in Hollywood.
I was always scared of flying,
but in January 2009 I flew to LA alone
and I met Todd Burke, I really did.
Then we started working at Grandmaster Recorders studios.
That’s where I met Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Joey Waronker.
Everyone was working hard to make the most beautiful song,
the most beautiful recording ever.
This is it, finally, the album it’s become.
Transatlantic Hope.
And I’m really proud that it’s also out on vinyl.
I mean, I’ve made CD’s before,
but vinyl, man...that’s what it’s all about.
That you can just take it, and,
well, people think it’s crazy to do vinyl,
you can just digitalize everything,
but this to me is the real deal,
this is what it’s all about. the black magic.
My goal has always been just to make a good album.
And commercially...
well, that’s depends on what people think.
I hope that people really enjoy it,
and can get something out of the songs,
and find some common ground in them.
Love is universal.
I just hope that people really like it.
Translation by Buffi Duberman