We had a chance for a quick chat with indie rock band American Authors recently about the importance of storage while touring and recording in the studio.
SeagateCreative: You guys have spent a lot of time on the road the past year, how do you guys use technology, and more specifically, hard drives when touring?
American Authors: We use laptops and portable hard drives on the road for running synths and a click to play live. We keep all of our tracks, synths, programs, live tracks, song ideas, etc. on hard drives.
SeagateCreative: While in the studio, walk us through the steps you take to record music.
American Authors: There are a lot of different ways to record and write a song. We may just program a beat then start writing a song around that or we just play with acoustic guitars and piano to write a song.
We then record a scratch track and try to finish the song. If the song doesn’t get finished we bounce down what we have to an MP3 and every one takes it home and works on the song by themselves and we see what we can come up with.
SeagateCreative: When you look for a collaborator to help on a project, how do you hope they help in the creative process?
American Authors: If we bring anyone into our songwriting or recording process we want someone that can think of or do something we would never think of.
SeagateCreative: Which piece of gear is your favorite for sparking creativity?
American Authors: Everyone in the band has different things they love to write on like Zac’s is an acoustic guitar. Matt loves to work on Logic Pro and piano. James likes working on banjo and piano, and Dave on Ableton or a synth.
SeagateCreative: How has your choice of gear evolved since you first started in music?
American Authors: We are much more open and understanding how important it is to keep trying new gear and keep evolving with the times.
Follow American Authors on these social channels:
Official Site
Facebook
Twitter
Another good post on your blog, keep up good work!