My really good friend (as well as one of my mentors) Sophia John called me up one day to explain to me how excited she was about a band from the Midwest that was doing it all on their own. This band was called Dirtfedd. She told me that they were putting on a special show in their hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. She knew that I was really into producing at that point, and she felt that the band was on fire and there was a real opportunity. I accepted her invitation and drove to Lincoln to check them out. I met up with Sophia prior to the show and we made sure to speak as little as possible about the band, because she felt the proof would be in the pudding during
the performance. The first song they played was “Said the Spider to the Fly” which ended up being the only song that we didn’t restructure when recording the album American Nightmare because of how hard it hit me that night in Lincoln, Nebraska.
At the last minute there was an opportunity for Dirtfedd to jump on a bill for a showcase I put together in NYC. I called them two days before the showcase. Not only did they make it, but they shared a vehicle with another band that was on the showcase. The performance was good enough to be invited back for a second
showcase in NYC in front of several labels.
We sealed a deal with Koch Records and began our plan for pre-production and the making of the record. The band wanted to record in Omaha and utilize a great studio called Arc Studios. I wanted to do pre-production away from their home so we did it in Fort Dodge, Iowa at Junior’s Motel. Pre production lasted five days. By the end of it, (drummer) Brock’s knee was swollen to the size of a cantaloupe. He neglected to tell me about it until pre-production was over. We did the album in about a month’s time at Arc. Josh Wilbur was the main
engineer and also mixed the album. Josh is amazing, as you can hear when listening to the record.
Vocals began at Arc studios, but immediately took a turn for the worse because (vocalist) Dustin found it to be a little too serious, sterile. Needless to say, there was a lot of pressure. I decided to relieve this pressure and bring him to Des Moines. We put him up in a local hotel where all the strippers stay which was a perfect environment to keep the juices flowing. Dustin likes to work early; he is in awesome shape and knows that he is best when he performs before noon, so we
recorded vocals early each morning in the basement of my house. It was one of the most amazing personal and spiritual events of my musical life doing these recordings, because I was engineering, producing and living through the reality of these characters that Dustin had come up with and portrayed. All I can say is, amazing. While we were doing vocals, Dustin was also seeking advice on art direction as he was working on the package for American Nightmare. I loved hearing his questions as well as watching him dig through the art to get to the final piece that makes the album.
Everyone in the band is a friend unto themselves and they are absolutely a real band. It’s an honor to be able to say they are my friends and to say that I’ve been able to be involved in their career. Dirtfedd is here.
DRINK FIGHT FUCK SALUTE