From the Photo Archive, July 2022

Good times, explained

Recording with “Mayabob”, late 2006

Photographer: Leah Haworth

Williebob receives a fresh digital copy of this photo from Maya Williams’ mother, Leah, every Father’s Day, among other treasured pictures. This makes him happy every time, with the bonus of knowing that no picture on this planet has better backup.

This recording session took place in Gaithersburg, MD, during the making of the Dark Side of the Moon Bounce album, most likely capturing Maya’s spoken part in (I Wish We Used) The Metric System. The hi-hat was recorded too at some point, but we can’t recall what it was for!

We also recorded with Maya in this house during the making of the PINK! album, about two years after this photo was taken. Sometimes we set up instruments in other rooms, but the living room you see here was where Williebob recorded a bunch of Maya’s friends together, shouting, “It’s pink, pink, pink!” It was a giggly gig.

With just enough of the right equipment, a little know-how, and the ability to make the set quiet enough, home audio recording can yield professional quality results. Not the easiest list to achieve of course, but Rocknoceros managed a fair job of self-producing our first four albums. In 2014 we started working with Thomas Bernath. a producer, engineer and friend who runs a home studio that’s been converted for full time professional work, and the benefits were immediately apparent in every respect (you’ll see his name come up again in future Reports!) Still, our simple homemade triumphs made many fond memories, and we learned a lot for our efforts.