The Village Studios in Santa Monica, CA has been a temporary home to some of the greatest (and most eclectic) artists of all time, including John Lennon, Fleetwood Mac, Korn, Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails… and now, Midnight Divide. After a couple months of planning, we assembled for an all-day session in the iconic studio, and even had some special guests to hold down the live strings, piano, and backing vocals. Working with The Village’s team was a pleasure, and myself and the band were geeking out pretty hard at the history (and gear) we were now privy to. Austen’s colleague and fellow producer Rian O’Connell Lewis engineered the live sessions on the studio’s Neve 88R, and the two then mixed the project over a few weeks. The tone, warmth, and density of the mixes are fantastic, and Midnight Divide will be trickling them out weekly to support the release of their forthcoming EP, Weapons-Grade Amnesia in December.
Once we settled on a 4-camera shoot, we talked about doing two looks: one for the covers, and one for the originals. We liked the idea of something timeless, even vintage, for the covers, as a way of honoring the songs and the rich history of the room we were in. So, we landed on about 20 practicals, “Edison-style” vintage tungstens, placed around the studio. I wanted everyone to have their own personal glow by them, like fireflies frozen in time. We also had a couple LED panels off to the sides, providing some basic fill. For the original songs, we aligned the remaining members in symmetry, with RGB LED panels providing a cool spectrum for “Talking”, and a warm one for “Who Do You Think That You Are?”. A 12-hour day, 4 camera ops, 2 PA’s, 11 musicians, 2 studio techs, and 1 engineer yielded us what has become a personal highlight of mine so far: the final product looks exactly as I imagined in my head. Love when that happens.