the dried cocoon of promise

by bbob

Photos courtesy of Lunarin

At the brink of their debut release, The Chrysalis, Lunarin (http://www.lunarin.com) has never seemed so confident and fulfilled. Aging Youth sits down with the hatched triplet, Linda Ong (LJO), Y (Y) and Loo Eng Teck (ET) and talk about how the sound was created and how all talk of the album will eventually lead to booze. The trio will be launching their debut album, The Chrysalis, at The Substation Guinness Theatre on Saturday 7 January 2006.

Last time we interviewed you fellas, you were still searching for a studio to record The Chrysalis. Now the album's done and drinks' been spilled. Why did you all eventually choose to record at Ah Boy's (K.K. Wong) TNT Studios?

LJO : We initially got caught up with the whole "we-gotta-find-a-state-of-the-art-studio" idea, so we shopped around and despaired because we were so lost. Finally the Muse came, sat us down and said to us, "You guys have to follow your heart. You don't need Pro-Tools to make this work. You need a collaborator, a partner-in-crime." It just so happened that we were working with Ah Boy on the demos for the songs around that time. It had been ages since we last worked with him and he was just so happy to see us and excited about our material that we decided that we would follow our heart.

Y : I think we chose Ah Boy because he has a no-nonsense attitude when he works. Having worked with numerous hardcore and metal bands, he is the best person to capture our energy. Plus, he always goes the extra mile to get the tone that we want.

ET : Ah Boy is passionate about his work and it has really shown in our recording process. I would have to say that it was only through his enthusiasm that we managed to coax our sound out for the recording. Also, while we would like to say that no expense was spared, all indie bands work within a budget and it was only through Ah Boy's accommodating spirit that we were able to work these songs out within our budget. Truth be told, he gave us a truly attractive package deal for the recording and even threw in a few extras just to be sure this was an album we would all be proud of.

Eng Teck told me that Ah Boy was really accommodating during the whole recording process. He also gave me an expression to match. What has been Ah Boy's input for this album, other than being the engineer and doing the mix?

LJO : I think he was wearing the shoes of co-producer as well. The sound of the album is largely his vision. He determined the guitar and bass tones, told us whether a drum take was good or bad, and helped prep me for my vocal takes. He went to great lengths to preserve the Lunarin sound by ensuring that we sounded like a band – no overwhelming vocals or blaring guitars that cover up the other instruments. And yes, if you can't hear the kick drums, then something's horribly wrong!

Y : He helped me understand that heaviness does not come from turning up all the knobs to '11'. There were times when he backed off the mids on my guitars when they clashed with some frequencies from the bass.

ET : We have all benefited from the experience that Ah Boy has recording bands in Singapore – the man is a veteran! He is always focused during sessions even when we are not! This has gone a great distance in ensuring the quality of our sound. When we get a bad take, he's never hesitant about telling us so and it's precisely this kind of discourse every band needs to have with their engineer to hone their sound and improve. With the benefit of hindsight, I honestly cannot imagine having recorded anywhere else.

I heard from some little birds that the recording and mixing stages were fraught with emotional exchanges amongst the band members. Honestly, were there a fair amount of group hugs exchanged?

LJO : More like slugfests! I forget the number of times I was that close to poking the guys' eyes with a pitchfork! But I suppose that's how things work when all three of us are producers. At the end of the day, Y and ET are still two of my favourite people.

Y : You know when they say, "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? We had one too many cooks the last time, and the broth was all screwed up. Now we have one less cook and the broth is just right. Yeah. But, sometimes we still feel like smacking one another in the faces with them pots and pans.

ET : (laughs) Yeah man, we all hugged and kissed and wept everyday...

Linda, other than the litres of honey and Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa consumed for recording your vocals, how has the vocal recording experience been for you?

LJO : I don't smoke anymore. But it hasn’t helped very much. Vocals are the hardest to record. I am not a gifted singer and I need to work doubly hard to make sure I sing in tune and get my resonance right. Then of course there is the issue of emoting for every song. Good Lord, I almost died. You have no idea the number of demons I summoned and the number of archetypes I invoked for this album. It was draining, tiring, stressful and absolutely horrible.

What kind of feel were you going for in the vocals department?

LJO : I realized very early on that vocals are nothing more than just another instrument. It should (ideally) complement the drums, bass and guitars in telling the story. So what I did was I would adopt a different persona for every song so that the song itself becomes its own being. So, throughout the album I am many things - I could be the narrator, the sinner, the saint, the virgin, the prostitute or just the fly on the wall. As far as the songs are concerned, Linda Ong the human being does not exist. Whether or not my efforts are apparent to the listener, however, remains to be seen.

How did you choose to record and process the bass signal? DI all the way?

LJO : My bass signal was split. One DI and the other through the cab for bite. During mixing, we would play around with the two, depending on the song.

Y, how did you get those sounds on the album? Are we hearing the sound of all your stomp boxes or just those fingers?

Y : My primary guitar for the album is a 2003 Gibson Les Paul Classic. I did track two songs with my 1993 Gibson Les Paul Studio, but it didn’t sound as thick as the Classic. I ended up re-doing the tracks with the Classic. For the intro to 'The Chrysalis', I used a 1999 Fender Jaguar Reissue. You can hear the nuances of a Jaguar, along with the fret buzz. It's not the best tone, but it fits the part for that song.

The clean tracks are mostly recorded straight-into-the-amp. For some songs, I used a BOSS CS-2 or an Electro Harmonix Small Clone for slight chorusing. For the distorted tracks, I run my signal into the Tech21 Tri A.C. To clean up the sound a bit and to add more clarity to the tone, we use an Ibanez Tubescreamer before the Tri A.C. For a few solos, I played thru a BOSS DM-3 analogue delay.

Was there any kind of exotic miking done on the amps? Sixteen condensers on one amp or something?

Y : Most of the songs are double-tracked with one track going into a Marshall Slash Signature Series JCM and the other into a Fender Bassman Head. Some of the songs like 'Dry' and 'The Tower' were triple-tracked with one additional track recorded through a Peavey Triple XXX Head.

We pretty much stuck to the standard rule for miking up a 4x12" cabinet. Two SM57s from the front; one directly at the centre of the cone and one slightly off-axis.

I got the different tones by playing around with the settings on the Tri A.C. and the amps. The settings on the Tubescreamer were untouched throughout the whole recording session.

Eng Teck, did you replicate exactly your 'live' drumming for the album? Were there any 'bonus snare hits' we should watch out for in the album?

ET : Hehe, truth be told, I'm no genius on the drums and my stroking has always been quite imprecise. So yes, there were some 'bonus snare hits'. We (aka Ah Boy) did some cleaning up but we did not want to stray too far from our live sound so if you just listen carefully...

I heard a story about an ex-drummer from a hard playin' local funk band who spent half a day going through his cymbals collection just to get "the right sound" for his recording. Were there similar obsessive tales for you?

ET : Nope, I'm only particular during our live sets because we have to be alive to the fact that we are a 3-piece outfit and we need a nice sustain and decay for our live performances. As for recording, I used the cymbals that Ah Boy had and I have no complaints. Bottomline, I feel that getting the right engineer is the main priority. You can use the best cymbals but if the sound doesn't get recorded right, it would be a futile exercise.

The mastering was done at Oasis Mastering in the USA. Why the choice of Eddy Schreyer for the job?

LJO : Because he mastered A Perfect Circle's Mer de Noms and Tool's Salival.

Y : Eddy did a couple of album with great guitar tones on them. I especially love the tones on Anthrax's Sound of White Noise (1993). He also mastered Alice in Chains' Facelift, Korn's debut album and couple of The Offspring's albums that I liked a lot.

ET : Erm, cos of the above.

I heard the mastering was quite a quick job that lasted no more than half a day. What were the lessons learnt from Eddy about the recording and mix?

LJO : It lasted slightly less than 5 hours. The first thing he told me was that it hardly rains in California. The second thing he told me was that only 3 things determine whether the mix is good or bad – lows, mids and highs – and that so long as all 3 are balanced you will have a great sounding record. To that end, he thought all our mixes were good as they were consistent but he pointed out 'Medusa', 'Ariel' and 'Silverpiece' as our best mixes. As he worked on our songs, he told me he liked the fact that Ah Boy wasn't afraid to mix the guitars and drums upfront so that we sounded like a band. He told me he has always liked mixes where the vocals are "climbing out". Finally, he complained to me that there were too many sushi joints springing up all over LA. He then proceeded to ask me what my favourite food was. I told him it was sushi.

The Lunarin sound seems heavily influenced by Tool / Perfect Circle, with a touch of Celtic tragedy. How much is the sound of The Chrysalis a product of these influences and at the same time, where do these influences end?

LJO : Yes, all of the above. We are huge Tool and A Perfect Circle fans so I suppose the comparisons are inevitable. I have always held a fascination for Celtic mythology, art and music. If I could learn to speak Gaelic, I would! So yes, that too. But that is just the surface. The core and essence of the songs are essentially us and that is something untouched by any external influences.

Y : I am currently influenced by Adam Jones as far as guitar playing is concerned. But I grew up listening to a healthy dose of metal, and some of these influences definitely show up on the record. Zakk Wylde is responsible for all the artificial harmonics. On the mellow side, I am influenced by players like Billy Corgan and The Edge. Listen to the album and spot the Pumpkins chord in action on one of the songs.

ET : We are all fans of Tool and A Perfect Circle! We love the feel of their songs and that is a defining influence for me. However, our inspiration for the songs comes from the Muse so we can't really steer the songs in any contrived directions. Bearing that in mind, I'd like to think the songs in The Chrysalis have remained true to their original inspiration.

Compared to your 'live' sets, the vocals on The Chrysalis are definitely more intricate and interwoven quite breathlessly. One gets a good sense of this with 'Dry', as well as the boys' contributions on 'The Tower' and 'The Chrysalis'. Was it deliberate for the vocal department to be more than that of your 'live' sets when these songs were written?

LJO : Yes it was. The problem with us is that we have always been a live band first and a studio band second. So when we stepped into the studio to record these songs, I was mindful of the fact that most of our target audience would already have heard live renditions of the songs already. I know for a fact that there have been bootleg versions of our shows being circulated around so we’re talking about tackling an audience who already have a preconceived idea how the songs should sound. So that was tricky. I didn't want to just give people studio versions of songs they already knew - I wanted to give them a proper "album version" of the songs instead. I've always been a big fan of Kate Bush, Tori Amos and the Cocteau Twins so the idea of coming up with various counter-melodies have always fascinated me. So I locked myself up in my room together with all the songs for a couple of months before we did vocals and reworked entire melodies.

The only song I had to leave intact was 'Silverpiece' because she gave me a dirty look and told me to fuck off. I really was taking a gamble with the amount of melodies I came up with – in fact there is still the danger that I could be lynched by an angry mob of people who prefer the bootleg versions! As far as the guys' vocal parts are concerned, that's a different story – their parts were written since Day One. The only reason why we couldn't incorporate their parts during our live shows is due entirely to physical constraints. That said, having all 3 of us sing together has always been a part of our roots – we used to do that back when we were 15 during recess time in school – and if you heard early Fuzzbox we experimented with male-female vocal parts in our songwriting. Shaun Grosse wasn't a huge fan of that, so we stopped playing around with that with the later Fuzzbox songs and that has always been a sore point for me. With Lunarin I really wanted to bring that element back and am glad we did on this album.

Y : Linda has a unique voice, and when it came to the point where she was supposed to lay down vocals, we really encouraged her to come up with different parts. We are all fans of vocal harmonies. I really liked that whole perfect fourth harmonizing done by Alice in Chains.

ET : Linda really surprised me with her vocal melodies and overdubs. With our live shows, due to us being 3-piece and all, it's difficult to really bring out the delicate side of our songs. I'm so glad we pulled out all the stops with our recording. I would say that the songs we recorded were meant to sound like this all the time – it's just that they normally like to dress down for our live gigs.

I dare say quite many songs on The Chrysalis go through many transitions. This either suggests great story telling or great show-offness. I prefer to think it's the former. Take 'Ligeia' for example, the song goes through at least four distinct passages where the feel varies greatly and brings you through an emotional roller coaster ride. What are the changing states of emotion as the song progresses through its different passages?

LJO : 'Ligeia' was the first Lunarin song ever written and it's only now on hindsight that I truly understand what it's about – it's about the end of a relationship, the end of an era. So in a sense it's sort of like a summary of the Lunarin 4-step program to breaking up: Step 1 – analyze the situation and make a decision; Step 2 – overcome the doubt, and grapple with the conflicting voices in your head telling you what you should to do; Step 3 – the actual execution, the drums come in and the storm begins: and finally Step 4 – learning to let go. Of course this program can be applied to many situations – ending a friendship, losing your religion, letting go of a memory and quitting your job. Especially quitting your job. God help me.

Y : Ligeia was written in three parts. We had the first part (verse and chorus) since 2001. Back then, the song sounded like Bush-meets-Nirvana, with a clean chorus and a big chorus.

The solo a.k.a. slut riff was penned in 2002. We were supposed to jam, but ET had some last-minute matters to attend to, and I ended up at Linda's place playing with a Fender Strat through a crummy 15W amp. The riff was written in less than 10 minutes. We reworked on that in 2003, when I was back from Germany after a 6-month industrial attachment in Stuttgart.

Linda came up with the last bit when we began work on the song in early 2003. It's in odd-time to fit the vocal melody that she had. After that, we realised that the song needed a breakdown. The whole middle section came from 2 or 3 inspiring jams we had at Wee Lee Music Studios. We wanted to build up the section with clean arpeggiated chords, and ending it with big drum rolls and a heavy guitar part.

ET : I enjoy the emotional trip primarily because I have such a short attention span. Like everything in life, we are always moving along constantly and there is hardly any time to dwell much on issues. On hindsight, I think we applied the same approach to our music subconsciously. The last thing we wanted to do is to bore the listener with the same musical idea for too long. I believe that nothing is permanent and if you can see everything in light of its transience, that makes it all the more beautiful.

Eng Teck's piano resonates like the dried and crying old has-been in a dusty house. It's quite amazing that when 'Shiver' comes on after 'Ligeia', all my hair stood up. Even more amazing are the weird noises going on in the background when Eng Teck's playing. What did you guys do with this song?

LJO : Eng Teck recorded the piano for 'Shiver' with his beat-up mp3 player ('Usher', on the other hand, was recorded using a Neumann U87. Hur hur) . Hence the inherent hisses and distortion. His piano is next to his dad's angel fish aquarium so I think some of the noises were caused by the air pump. Mark Wong did a fabulous job turning it from cheesy to eerie. I think it's the perfect soundtrack to read Edgar Allan Poe to!

Y : The truth is, the demo for both 'Shiver' and 'Usher' were recorded with a Samsung mp3 player. We actually met up to re-record the two tracks. I brought along my iBook, together with an audio interface and the Neumann mic, and set out to re-record the tracks at ET's place. ET had a hard time re-capturing the feel of the original recordings. After 7 takes and many rounds of lychee-martini, we finally nailed 'Usher'. Unfortunately, ET played 'Shiver' 11 semitones higher than the original demo, so we had to stick to using the demo version for the album.

ET : I was plied with alcohol half the time so I honestly have no idea what everyone is talking about.

I can understand the effect of alcohol on you, ET, but why Ariel? Shakespeare's favourite naughty little sprite from The Tempest? Is Ariel mother nature impersonated or the elusive harlot we call fate? "You crave, You taste, But you can never call out loud her name" Or that little Ah Lian who always refused to give her number...?

LJO : All of the above plus Sylvia Plath's immortal poem of the same name. In fact, I stole the names Medusa and Ariel from Plath . Hence they are sister songs. I shan't tell you who or what Ariel is – you have to find out for yourself – but let's just say there's an element of lust in this story.

Natalie's string lines add an interesting timbre and dimension to the usual Lunarin fan favourite, 'Silverpiece'. Why and how did you guys decide to add strings to the album? Did Lounge Lizard suddenly mention, "I hear strings..." to Y?

LJO : Actually, Lounge Lizard said we should use a cello.

ET : We've always toyed with the idea of having strings in the background and it was a godsend that Natalie agreed to help us out. At the end of the day, we're all suckers for melodies and counter-melodies so it seemed only natural to add strings to the album for an extra dimension. And I must say, I still get tingles hearing Natalie's intro...

How was the process like coming up with the violin parts for Natalie to play on the album? Will we be seeing Natalie for your 'live' sets soon?

LJO : We gave Natalie full autonomy to come up with her own parts and it was just so fun having her in the studio with us. She is such a dear.

ET : And we certainly hope to have Natalie and her mojo on our live sets to come, yes.

I've always felt that The Chrysalis was a protest album. A protest to assholes from previous bands and to assholes that waste our time. The Chrysalis thematically suggests the rising of the new insect from the spent cocoon of youth. Tiscali.co.uk's Dictionary of Animals says The Chrysalis is "...essentially a static stage of the creature's life, when the adult insect, benefiting from the large amounts of food laid down by the actively feeding larva, is built up from the disintegrating larval tissues..." How much are the songs a development of the themes of release, growth, change, beginning? Or should I have more Malibu Pineapple?

LJO : You have hit the nail right on the head! That's exactly what The Chrysalis is about – we have collectively accumulated so much shit and wasted so much time in our youth and early 20s and it is only now we have learnt to strip ourselves bare and confront ourselves. I like to think that the essence of every human being is a little blue light and it is only after we get rid of the external shell (and all the elements that cause it) that we can catch a glimpse of its blue flicker...My goodness you are the first person to understand this album! Forget about the Malibu Pineapple - I've got a bottle of Pinot Noir in my room that I've been saving for a special occasion...

Fantastic! We at Aging Youth NEVER let go of a chance for free booze! ...Anyway, if Aging Youth built our own psychedelic time machine, what would you fellas undo or re-do for the album?

LJO : I would have gone for vocal lessons for at least a year before I recorded my vocals.

Y : I'd probably redo some of the tracks to make them sound tighter.

ET : I would have sat down with Y to work out all the click tracks.

I've always wanted to ask you guys this. What do you recommend the people who buy The Chrysalis wear and do when listening to it?

LJO : White gown, crucifix, holy water and a copy of the idiot's guide to self-exorcism.

ET: Denim, coffee and any Neil Gaiman.

The Chrysalis

We go track by track with Lunarin and discover the motivations and moods behind The Chrysalis.

01. Eclipse

LJO : Written entirely by Jacen Tan, who is da man!

Y : It's the sound at the beginning of the end. Great stuff penned by our good friend, Jacen. I wanted an intro for 'Dry' for the longest time. You know, something like a "chopper" sound? Then one day, Jacen showed me this clip and I nearly fell off my chair. It's like the exact same thing that I had in mind for an intro.

02. Dry

LJO : 'Dry' is actually a fusion of two separate musical ideas that ET and I had. ET wrote the outro many years ago and I had, on my part, penned the chorus, which was based on a poem I wrote years ago for a Southern Lad. We combined the two ideas together and, like all Lunarin songs, this one just grew and evolved and now it has become its own being. I had the visual image of the paperback cover art of Neil Gaiman's American Gods when I was writing the verse. Don't ask me why.

ET : Stone and dried leaves

03. Ligeia

LJO : It's our beach party song. No, I'm serious!

ET : Groovy...

04. Shiver

ET : Nosferatu.

05. Medusa

LJO : I used my Fender Mustang bass for this track. Purists have complained that the wah sounds different.

ET : Requiem.

06. Ariel

LJO : She came to me on a rainy day. I had just met the guys for coffee as we were trying to cope with issues of guilt (we were all still in Fuzzbox at the time) and had returned home soaked to the bone. It was twilight, I recall, and she flew in through the window.

ET : She's a difficult lady. Tends to make my arm hurt during live performances.

07. Silverpiece

LJO : I came up with the first two lines the day Y left for Stuttgart. I finished the rest of the song when he returned. Is it inspired by him? Gee, I dunno and I dun wanna know!

Y : This is Lunarin's ballad.

08. The Tower

LJO : I was sick at the time and was lying in bed delirious with fever. I had a terrible sore throat and couldn’t speak. By that time, ET had already written the pre-chorus and Y had the mid-section – we just didn't know what to make of these two disparate ideas. The Muse came into my room when I was sleeping and said "Get up; its time to finish the song." So I went "But I've lost my voice..." and that was how the first line of the song was written.

ET : In a nutshell: Buh-bye to bad rubbish.

09. Usher

LJO : Mark Wong messaged me on MSN and asked me in what sequence was 'Usher' going to appear. When he found out it was going to be the penultimate track, he told me he wanted an intro bit that would make the audience recap the earlier portions of the journey before we moved on to the last track, 'The Chrysalis'. I had no idea what he was talking about. When he finally showed me 'Usher', I almost died.

ET : Visually, the front reminds me of the mythical Hydra and the end reminds me of sunset.

10. The Chrysalis

LJO : This is our denouement – the closing chapter for the album. We re-wrote this song like 20 times before we were finally happy with it. If you pay attention you can hear my Mustang bass in a tiny little part.

ET : Hope.