Here I sit, beer cans and dishes scattered around me, as will pile up when I am working against tight deadlines and stressful work. We have finally done it! Our masterpiece, Monteith Mania is finally in our hands, and I have finally gotten a moment of silence to ponder how we’ve gotten here, and how far we have come.

While the story of Monteith Mania begins so very long ago in comparison to how long I have been in the picture, it begins for me when I am just starting to meet the brothers. I’ve just moved back from Toronto, and a mutual friend has shown me to the Grindhouse. Ready to be allies in music, through the implicit nature of what heavy music drives us to do, I was lucky enough to have Shaun and Daniel up to my appartment to record a few rough tunes. I can’t quite put my finger on which heavy song we took on, but Shaun and I took on the Good Friend Song.

Through the moniker of the Underground Alliance, we (as in mostly they) hosted shows nearly once a month. Nothing huge, 30-40 people most of the time, but sometimes.. There were really nights to remember.

The final word in this chapter in my life, comes when me and shaun are just hanging out, and sipping at a few brews. He told me a little bit about this place out of the city, almost a farmhouse. His grandfather, Milton, a handful of years past now, had built this spot with his own bare hands, and everything in it. No one was living there now, and it was a maitnence cost to his family for the time being. He said he felt it was his destiny to take up the responsibility, and the resource.

At the time, all I heard was that this ally had a time limit on how long he’d be around. I should have been listening just a little bit closer.

At this point, I was already active in The Underground Alliance. I needed to find an appartment, and the brothers were ready to move out themselves, so we found ourselves a spot in downtown Fredericton, and the machine steamed on. Gigs, recordings, rock and roll. And then destiny called a little bit louder to Shaun.

And destiny brought us here.

I think it took us too long to start recording Monteith Mania, but this has been a difficult balancing act between preperation, due process, and truly getting to work. At the end of the day, when it comes to how the audio shakes the speakers, I have no regrets.

We tracked the drums and gutiar live off the floor. I’ve really got to hand it to Chad and Daniel, they can really put the pedal to the metal, sans-fuckups when it really counts.
And then I hand my big red record button to daniel, to let him start layering some guitar takes to taste. While I can say this about a number of factors, there is no way this album could have gotten out on time if not for Daniel taking to the recording software quickly, and building my trust in him running a session. Daniel was also the one slamming the bass.
Drums, check, Guitar, Check, Bass, check, and then we finished our vocals.
Come mix time, I have thank every god I can think of for some of Randy Ross’s help. When it comes to the quality of the master chain, and just how every instrument sits in the mix, there WOULD have been regrets if not for Randy’s expert ear.

And here we are! An album done, and us scrapping young kids are starting to get our names out there a little bit. Exciting times, and it is definitely the people around us that make us strong. The people trying to host and promote shows, the musicians, the patrons of our work, guys like Chris Waddell Randy Ross, and anyone who has screamed out at a Monteith Show. Thanks everyone.