I have this buddy that is always preparing to do something. Preparing for tasks occupies the majority of his time while completion of tasks more often than not doesn't happen. If a vacation takes a week of his life, he will spend a year planning it, and if things are not "just right" he very well may cancel it at the last minute.
Having recently decided a career as a studio engineer was the path for him, he spent over $20,000 and about 8 months transforming his entire home into a recording studio. Once he was ready for business, he realized this would mean strangers coming into his home and having free access to all his belongings. "Maybe engineering is not for me." Time to cancel the proverbial vacation. "Perhaps I could try my hand at mixing?" That will require more money to be spent and additional preparation. Meanwhile his band is waiting for him to finish so he can produce their next album.
Across town, and then county lines, and then state lines, and a thousand miles away, at the same moment, in the sleepy little town of New York City, armed with only $500 worth of equipment and a computer program intended for editing videos, Teenage Daydream's founder Aidan Christopher Haughey was able to record, release, and promote Romance Memories: A starry eyed glance into an innocent's interpretation of the post-apocalyptic world that remains after true love fails.
With less than perfect recording quality, and white noise often associated with an amateur's product, Romance Memories is a lo-fi masterpiece that falls somewhere between Ween and The Flaming Lips. It is raw and sincere. If God ween Satan in a priest driven ambulance, this would be in the vein of that.
A lot of people argue that the opportunities that were made available to underground oddities such as Ween and The Flaming Lips are no longer in place for the next generation. The notion of artist development is dead. In the music industries' current paradigm, record labels take zero chances on new bands. The only artists that get signed to major labels now are bands that have a proven track record (Iron & Wine), or bands created by the label (The Wild Feathers). So what hope does an up and coming band have in the modern music world? I certainly don't have that answer, but that was one of the many topics discussed in a recent conversation between myself and Teenage Daydream's Mr. Haughey.
Me: Originally being from Anchorage Alaska, what led you to NYC?
Aidan: When I was considering my post high-school options either Los Angeles or New York seemed like the right choices, and I don't like the heat. After graduation I went to NYC and studied film at School of Visual Arts for 3 years. Right now I am back in Anchorage, but my intention is to go back to New York.
Me: What is the Anchorage music scene like?
Aidan: It's really pretty discouraging. There is a lot of over the top, hard core, death metal, and classic rock, or just really lame shit. Occasionally there is a decent band that people will like cuz there is nothing else here, or a super mediocre dj will pop up. Its really hard to get shows in Anchorage. When I am here all I ever do is practice with my friend in his garage. He and I have similar taste in music. We just jam and write shit and complain about how we're not famous though we should be, classic stuff.
Me: Your album, Romance Memories, how much of it did you do yourself?
Aidan: As far as engineering, mixing, and mastering, I did all of that. I played all of the instruments except for the drums on 3 of the tracks: Pink Petals, Fuck You, and Missing You. The song Missing You is actually two drum tracks rearranged.
I recorded a lot of the instruments, and mixed everything, on my Sony Viao laptop. I actually used Vegas, which is a video editing program and only allowed 10 audio tracks so I had to bounce tracks to leave room for other things. It's made by the same people that make the DAW I use, ACID, so the audio portion of Vegas is virtually the same as acid, and all the tracks have a compressor and eq already put on it, which is nice. I didn't have my version of acid on that laptop. I don't really steal programs or music off the internet and I was really poor, so I just used Vegas. I also used a Tascam digital 8 track for drums and vocals and some amp micing and a few other things, although I did a fair amount of direct in recording. I also used a little one track tape machine for a few things.
For mics I mainly used an AKG C 1000S. For the drums, I would book drum practice sessions at The Sweat Shop, a super cheap practice place in Brooklyn. I would use the PA system with some complimentary mics and a shotgun mic I have for video stuff. The sound was never full but it got the job done with some helpful mixing.
Me: It cost you $500 to make the album. What was your total cost including distribution and promotion?
Aidan: The AKG was about $200, but it was a birthday gift. It is a nice mic but you don't really need that nice of a mic. The program is super cheap like $50. The Tascam new is about $250. Sweat Shop studio costs probably reached like $100 total, I bought a small Orange amp for about $130. There was the cost of Tunecore to distribute it and musicSUBMIT to promote it. I would say my out of pocket cost was around $800.
Me: That is pretty impressive for a complete album budget including promotion. How long did the project take you from beginning to end?
Aidan: The time frame from the first song to mastering was 7 months, Sept. 2012 to Feb. 2013. Lots of bad stuff happened that delayed it. I was going through an intense depression, there was a two month period where I thought my roommate had broke my laptop and the album was lost. I got the computer fixed and finished the album and the laptop died directly after the CD was done. I mastered the album as soon as mixing was completed. It was my first mastering job ever, so I completed it and then like two days later I re-mastered it, liked it and released it.
Me: I am always curious why one-man-bands release music under a band name. For example Nine Inch Nails is really just Trent Reznor. He may pay musicians to play shows with him, but its still just Trent Reznor. What made you decide to go with a band name? Why not "The Aidan Christopher Haughey Mind Fuck?"
Aidan: Teenage Daydreams is the whole of the project. It's not a product name for easy association. It's a celebration of something wonderful. Every adult has experienced Teenage Daydreams. There is magic there. There is an aesthetic, and something I'm trying to express. It's hard to explain, and Romance Memories doesn't do it enough justice, but it shows it somewhat. I could make totally different music, I write totally different stuff all the time, stuff with no distortion either or just, completely different, but Teenage Daydreams is something specific. It's not going last forever. I only want to do like 3 albums and some EPs. I don't want it to be me, it's something else. Everyone who listens to my music tells me something different. It's about the experience and what the listener puts into it which I like a lot. The name carries certain things with it for me, so that's why I use it. I definitely don't want to be 30 and putting out a new Teenage Daydream album though, I think there is something important about being young. Being just out of my teens and still very young, I try to express that in this band, I want it to be honest and real.
Me: You abbreviate your band name as TADD. Just to be an ass I have to point out the actual abbreviation would just be TD. Have you ever heard the band TAD?
Aidan Yeah, I never actually considered it. My friend just abbreviated it to TADD, so that's what I used, TD is correct. It's not really something I really ever think about. To me, it's always just Teenage Daydreams. I am not familiar with TAD, There are so many bands. I Googled them, TAD, they seem cool.
Me: In 1989 it was believed that TAD was going to be the next big band. When their record label (Sub Pop Records) sent them to tour Europe, the executives at the label made the decision to send one of their unheard of / pee-on bands to be the opening act. That shitty band was called Nirvana. Today TAD's singer Tad Doyle runs a small recording studio and makes a modest living. His band released 6 albums on 3 major labels, and earned absolutely no revenue from the experience. Kurt Cobain has been dead for 19 years. In your mind, what will it take to make you feel like a success?
Aidan: A year ago I probably would have said I just want to blow up and become famous and lead a kick ass life then peace out. At this point, I would just like to be able to make a living off my music and not have to live in squalor. I hold my music to my own standards and don't worry much about what anybody else thinks about it. I just want to live in a big house with my babe, probably in a rural area and I want to support that with my art, that's my idea of success.
Me: So in an effort to reach success I have to ask, you rarely play live, you don't have a band, and you don't have a team of experienced professionals backing you. What is your game plan?
Aidan: Plan? I kind of just do it as it comes along. I have plans, dreams, things. I know lots of people. I already have a live show mapped out, it's cool, and interesting and beautiful. I don't know. I'm too exhausted to really think about this. I kind of do have a plan, a lot of stuff involving films and production and writing, music is not exactly where I plan to make my money, but I'd love to blow up, I'd love to show the world something who knows, I've learned all you can really do is follow your heart and what will happen will happen and what wont won't, so that's life, I'm going to try cause that's what I do.
Me: Final observation: You studied film for 3 years in NYC. Why no mind blowing videos for this album?
Aidan: Yeah... I know. I feel bad, I need to make great stuff, I was just going through so much during recording, emotionally and otherwise. It was just really hard to get anything done, and my laptop was out of commission for a long time. I was just too exhausted. At this point I am focusing on the next album. I'm making cool stuff. I do feel bad for not putting out something mind blowing yet though, I'm just waiting for the right idea.
Me: Well Romance Memories is a great album. I would have been interested in seeing your visual interpretations of the sounds you created.
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Follow Teenage Daydreams and hear their album in full on Bandcamp at:
http://teenagedaydreams.bandcamp.com/
You can also visit their web page:
http://www.teenagedaydreams.com/
but without offering hyperlinks it basically just says go to their Bandcamp.
