Audio Dojo

**Audio Dojo** is a blog website. They did an interview with Titanic Sinclair on December 19th, 2012.

## Interview

Titanic Sinclair is the very embodiment of what I’m trying to teach here on Audio Dojo. He made his solo record Thick Jello with little more than a computer, a $25 mixer, and an SM58. He lives in Los Angeles, but you can hear his Michigan roots in the music. The result is catchy, emotional, and raw. Listen to this track and then read what he had to say about it all:

Audio Dojo:
This record was two years in the making for you. Is that a product of a perfectionist personality?

Titanic Sinclair:
This album was unlike anything I’ve ever done before musically. It took over two years to make, but it wasn’t because I kept tinkering around with the tracks to make them perfect. 99.9% of the time that went into it was listening back and second guessing myself about releasing it. I never intended to drop it publicly, but over the course of that two year period I ended up with eleven songs that felt completely natural together. They were all made on the same rinky dink little mixing board and I used most of the same drum sounds and soft synths. Most of my attention goes towards my other project, Mars Argo, so these just kind of piled up on their own over time.

AD:
Do you own a lot of mics? What are your go-to microphones?

TS:
I actually only own two mics: a Shure SM58 and an old Shure 849. I didn’t even use the 849 on this record… I’m not entirely certain why. The SM58 is my go-to out of necessity. I used to be a big gear nut, but I sold everything and turned into a bit of a minimalist. It was fun to challenge myself by giving such extreme limitations. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work in some huge fancy studios on other projects and it just made me realize that it doesn’t matter what gear you have if the song isn’t good. Just go on YouTube and watch some of these people demoing vintage Neumann microphones. Most of the time, the singer who is demonstrating it just sucks and bastardizes the purpose of the mic in the first place.

AD:
Totally. I love that you just used the 58. It’s such an underrated mic. So, you spend a lot of time writing and perfecting the material before you start tracking?

TS:
I actually almost always record it as I am writing it. I’ll typically start out with the guitar and a quick drum loop and just listen over and over as I write the lyrics. As a matter of fact, the only song on the album that wasn’t recorded the day it was written is “Weightless Egos.”

AD:
Were the drums live or programed or both? If they are programed, I”m really impressed! What are you using?

TS:
The drums were done entirely from samples in Logic. I used the built-in Logic “brush” kit for some of the songs. I really like the way that kit sounds all smashed. Most of the drums were done in Kontakt using Native Instruments samples. I did a lot of air drumming to figure out how I wanted the rhythms to go. Then it was a matter of editing the velocities to make it sound as real as I could. I know that drummers will probably be able to tell it’s programmed, but it’s close enough that the average listener can get lost in it.

AD:
How much formal recording training do you have? Did you just learn from being in studios?

TS:
I have absolutely no formal training in music production. I started tinkering around with Logic in 2009 when I recorded an album called “Technology is a Dead Bird” with Mars Argo. I totally fell in love. I’ve been editing videos since I was a little kid, so the idea of working on a timeline translated wonderfully. I just learned on YouTube and forums as I went along. That record did relatively well and got the attention of a pretty huge rock producer, so I literally went from knowing nothing in a bedroom to recording in a multi-million dollar studio within a matter of months. It had everything you could ever imagine. That whole experience was both exciting and disenchanting… I was spoiled. I learned a LOT just being around the studio and paying attention. I learned that I hate Pro Tools within a matter of minutes.

AD:
Hahaha, yes. Me too. Do you go crazy in the mixing stage or are you a mix-as-you-go kind of producer?

TS:
I definitely mix as I go… I almost feel like I have to. There is something to be said for guys who track everything and do one big mix at the end. I have some friends who do it that way and their mixes sound insane. I think I go for vibe more than a slick/pristine mix. I think if I had some better monitors and a good interface I would take more time to mix appropriately, but this whole record was done pretty rough around the edges so I kept a lot of mistakes in there and learned to be happy with it.

AD:
Do you oversee much of the production with your other band, Mars Argo?

TS:
I’ve produced everything so far with Mars Argo. We have a new single coming out in a few weeks that was produced by a guy who was nominated for a bunch of Grammys, so it should be interesting to see how people receive it. I’m so used to the DIY thing that it’s weird to be releasing such a slick sounding track. It’s weird to have someone else put their “stamp” on one of your projects, but it’s humbling to have an industry giant doing the stamping.

Get the record at http://titanicsinclair.bandcamp.com/
## Gallery

Titanic Sinclair's workspace for Thick Jello.
## Trivia

* The interview was initially deleted, but has since been recovered.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121225160440/http://www.audiodojo.com:80/titanic-sinclair-thick-jello/