After 18-plus years of performing more than 100 concerts annually,
releasing eight studio albums and selling more than 3.5 million tracks
online, Umphrey’s McGee might be forgiven if they chose to rest on
their laurels. But then that wouldn’t be consistent with the work
ethic demonstrated by the band, which consistently attempts to raise
the bar, setting and achieving new goals since forming on the Notre
Dame campus in South Bend, IN, in 1997. After releasing their eighth
studio album, Similar Skin, the first for their own indie label,
Nothing Too Fancy (N2F) Music (distributed by RED), the group continue
to push the envelope and test the limits. Their brand-new studio
album, The London Session, was a dream come true for the members
having been recorded at the legendary Studio Two at historic Abbey
Road. The stealth recording session yielded 10 tracks in a single day,
proving once again, the prolific UM waits for no one. The original
Umphrey’s McGee played a mix of originals and cover songs, waiting
just eight months to release their debut album, the cheekily titled
Greatest Hits Volume III. Their initial “proper” recording, Local
Band Does OK, came out in 2002, followed shortly afterward by an
appearance at the first-ever Bonnaroo in Tennessee, selling more
albums than any other band on the bill. The 2007 double album, Live at
the Murat, earned a four-star review in Rolling Stone and a Jammy for
Best Live Album. Despite attempts at categorizing UM, the band has
devoted its craft to making their devoted followers feel as if they
are part of something larger, through such technology-fueled
innovations as fan-curated sets, theimmersive high-end audio offering,
“Headphones & Snowcones,” where the pristine sound of the live
soundboard mix is piped wirelessly through high-end personal monitor
systems and headphones, as well as making every live show since 2005
available via their live music portal UMLive.net. UM were also the
first group to launch its own single-artist streaming service.
2014’s Similar Skin saw Umphrey’s McGee aim to strut their rock
and progressive roots, with touchstones ranging from the Police and U2
(“The Linear”), the Beatles (“No Diablo”), Nirvana (“Loose
Ends”) and Led Zeppelin (“Hindsight”) to Metallica, Soundgarden
and Pantera (“Puppet String”) and even the symphonic rock of
Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Yes or Genesis (the closing nine-minute
live staple, “Bridgeless,” finally committed to record). “Every
night, we have the opportunity to play whatever and however long we
want,” says singer/guitarist Brendan Bayliss. Going into the studio,
the challenge was to be as concise as possible, to trim all the fat we
could.” Recorded at IV Labs in Chicago between tour dates, Similar
Skin was produced by Umphrey’s McGee themselves as “a coherent
vision,” featuring plenty of dynamics and contrast, with many of the
songs coming from their live repertoire. Thematically, Bayliss was
inspired by his own fatherhood, tackling such issues as living in the
moment (“The Linear”), his own mortality (“Cut the Cable,”
“Hourglass”), having children (“No Diablo”), the things that
bring us together (“Similar Skin”), the question of whether there
is a God (the Ryan Stasik slap-bass-driven “Puppet String”),
sleep-walking (“Educated Guesses”), the art of storytelling and,
according to Brendan, “unresolved psychological issues from the
past” (“Loose Ends”). Finding themselves in London for three
shows at the Brooklyn Bowl in June 2014, the idea of recording at
Abbey Road was first proposed by Umphrey’s producer Manny Sanchez, a
notion, as Bayliss recently told Rolling Stone that seemed as likely
as “being asked to give a sermon at the Vatican.” “It wasn’t a
goal,” he explains, “because it never seemed like a
possibility.” But never to be bound by what seems possible, UM
secured a coveted day at the world’s most famous recording studio
and dove in headfirst. The first songs Umphrey’s McGee recorded that
day were altered acoustic arrangements of “Cut the Cable” and
“No Diablo,” from Similar Skin. “Something we could go in and
get quickly,” according to Brendan. “Bad Friday,” a song the
band debuted live in Denver the previous New Year’s Eve and “Comma
Later,” a song described by Rolling Stone as “smooth R&B menace
with Jeff Beck-styled lead guitar” – was another recent original,
recalling the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s Wired album was also
recorded at Abbey Road under its cathedral-high ceiling. “It makes
one note just fold over and over again, coming back around,”
marveled guitarist/ vocalist Jake Cinninger, who ventured into the
original microphone closet, where he discovered all the Neumann and
Telefunken mics The Beatles used still in pristine condition. “You
can hear the echo in the room. The notes keep singing operatically.”
“Glory,” “Eat” and “Out of Order” were three set-list
regulars that had never been recorded for a studio release. With time
still left on the clock, the band decided to cut The Beatles’ “(I
Want You) She’s So Heavy,” for their own entertainment, but
ultimately ending up including on the album. Twelve hours after first
setting foot in Abbey Road Studios, just before midnight, Umphrey’s
McGee left the historic room with their own new album, The London
Session, what Rolling Stone dubs “a historical primer, an evolution
story inside 51 minutes.” “You’re looking at 17 years of
change,” says Bayliss. “We managed to capture a good
representation of our spectrum.” Umphrey’s McGee are more than
just a rock band – through nearly two decades, they have proven to
be on the cutting-edge of both music and technology, super-serving
their fans through a community that stretches from the campus of Notre
Dame to the hallowed halls of Abbey Road.
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24/08/2019 Last update