-Interview- One Minute Shy (11/16/20)

One Minute Shy talks about their new lineup, dealing with COVID and much more.

www.facebook.com/oneminuteshy


www.facebook.com/oneminuteshy
From: Guelph, Canada
Sounds like: Metal



1. What can you tell us about the new album?

We're actually not doing a full length album at the moment. We're basically just writing, recording, and releasing new songs as they come about. More like singles which we may eventually put on to an album when there are enough songs finished. We're currently almost finished with one new song with another one not far behind. On our first album, it was just Scott and I and our former vocalist Leo who recorded everything. After Leo left, Josh came back to take on vocal duties again and the first couple of years with him was getting him up to speed on our tunes and playing live shows to support our debut album. We also brought Sam and Dwayne on board to complete our lineup and get out there playing shows but all three of them hadn't been on any recordings until now so we are very excited to have something recorded and released with them on it. The new songs we are writing have that One Minute Shy feel to them but they are a bit heavier and darker with great energy and melodies.


2. How did the recording process for the album come about? Who produced it?

Everything is produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by us. We basically do everything ourselves. We have a pretty sweet setup in our rehearsal space that allows us to record whenever we want. Our first album was all digital but this past summer we picked up a huge Mackie analog mixer so the new stuff is a mix between analog and digital. There is definitely a different sound on the new stuff. On the first album, Scott used his electronic drum kit but this time we mic'd his acoustic kit which was quite the undertaking and took a lot of tweaking and playing around but we managed to come up with a sound that we're happy with. My guitar amp is mic'd and then run through the mixer so my tracks are recorded that way while Dwayne and Sam use the line outs of their amps to go directly into the mixer.

Our recording process basically starts with Scott laying down his drum track while playing along to a guitar scratch track. Then the good guitar tracks are recorded separately. I'll lay down the first rhythm track and then either Sam or Dwayne will come in and record their bass and guitar tracks respectively. I will typically record my guitar solos at this point and then Josh will record his vocals. This isn't always the order we do it in since the guys all live in different cities and have different schedules so we basically just record when they're able to come. The drums and the first rhythm guitar are always done first though to have a foundation to build on. We run everything through the Mackie mixer to a Boss BR-800 digital recorder and then from there we load the tracks into our Sonar DAW program to mix, EQ, and master.


3. What was the writing process like?

Scott and I are the principle songwriters and we have so many demos of songs that we've written over the years. We basically take the song demos that really vibe with us and craft them into finished versions. All these songs came about by just jamming and playing around. We start jamming on some guitar riffs and if it sounds cool and vibes with us then we start fleshing out some arrangements and create a good flow. We all contribute ideas to the song until it's crafted into something that we really like. Oftentimes it'll just be Scott and I writing and jamming together so we'll record demos and send them off to the other guys to have a listen and get their input. Josh will take this demo and come up with some lyrics and vocal melodies and if anything needs to be changed to fit the vocals better then we will try different things until it all fits and flows together nicely. At some point we will all get in a room together and write a song from scratch. That is something we are looking forward to doing.


4. What's your favorite track(s) off the album?

Our favourite track is the one we are currently putting the finishing touches on. It's a high energy tune called "Rise of the Ancients" and it's got some great riffs, a really good groove, and great melodies.


5. How has Covid affected what you do as a band?

Covid sucks! We were on a really good run of playing shows regularly before covid hit and then everything came to a screeching halt. With quarantine and the uncertainty of everything we basically just stopped getting together to practice and everything was put on hold for a few months. I still played guitar at home and did a bit of writing but it wasn't until some of the restrictions eased up that we could get together and play again. It was at this point that we really started to focus on recording and getting some new songs released.


6. Is there plans for an upcoming single?

Yes the new single will be "Rise of the Ancients" and then we plan on releasing another single called "My Enemy" not long after that.


7. How did the artwork come about for the album? Who designed it?

Since we're just releasing singles at the moment there isn't any specific album artwork. Our main logo was designed by me and I am working on lyric videos for the new songs. All that is designed by me with Josh contributing a really cool OMS grim reaper drawing that I plan on using for the first video. Along with being a really awesome vocalist, Josh is a super talented artist and tattooist. I recently got him to tattoo the OMS reaper on to my arm!


8. What’s next for One Minute Shy?

Going forward we will continue to write, record, and release new songs and at some point we plan on maybe doing some live streams. We are really looking forward to getting back out and playing live shows again but we have to wait and see when things will somewhat get back to normal.