BEFORE BRAILLE
THE RUMOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE
JAMIE WOOLFORD REMIXES

Before Braille’s debut LP, “The Rumor” was released September 10, 2002 on Aezra Records. The band quarreled with the label about choosing a date on the eve of the 1-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

20 years later, it seems many turned from the rallying cry “Never Forget,” which seemed outrageous at the time. Of course Americans would never forget. How could we?

Well, a lot has changed in 20 years. The United States is unrecognizable in many ways. It’s like the elites in the country haven’t stayed true to its core values, the essentials of a constitutional republic. E Pluribus Unum, “Out of many, ONE.”

Well, those are the principles Before Braille always strived to achieve. We were all less that the sum of our parts. We were important individually and we all played our roles to try to make the whole, well, whole. Unfortunately, we too eventual lost sight of our core values; and like our beautiful country, faith and trust was lost and we disintegrated quickly and painfully.

Having all this in our rear view, David collaborated with Jamie Woolford to tackle the album remix. We first had to locate the 2” reel to reel tape. Then, we had to transfer the tape to a more reliable file type. With the help of Spencer L’Roy, we went to Studio City Sound to digitize the files. Spencer worked there. With the help of Tom Weir, we were able to bake the old tape and transfer the files successfully. (It was a little touch-and-go for a while)

From there, Spencer created a Pro Tools session and labeled all the tracks. (A very selfless and generous act. A lot of tedious work.)

The files were finally sent to Jamie Woolford where he could start work in his home studio, broadcasting sessions remotely to David for input.

Jamie could write a book with all the steps he took to bring out the best in these old analog recordings. Technically, he did. The book is titled “The Rumor 2022.”

Jamie and David shared a nice long conversation about the approach he would take in these remixes. We were not trying to make the album sound like it was recorded in 2022. For heavens sake, the songs certainly don’t sound like they were written in this time. Long gone are the post-grunge, post-hardcore, pre-popular-emo days! Before Braille were on a steady diet of Piebald, Lazycain, Braid, No Knife, Cursive, The Shins and so on… I mean, “The Shape of Punk To Come” and “Clarity” still felt new at the time.

We simply wanted to make the record sound the way we wanted it to when we started the initial recording sessions that came to be named “The Rumor Sessions” in October, 2001. (A title given to the record inadvertently by the president of Aezra Records after the band refused Madonna’s ex-manager as a consultant. The fight produced the phrase: “I will end you. No one will have ever heard of Before Braille. You will only be ‘a rumor.’”

So, because of Jamie’s sweet, cherry-cola core, The Rumor 2022 has probably come out a little sweeter than it might have been intended in 2002, but that would have been the case then as well, with the demands of the label prognosticator and the Madonna-remains by his side. (To be fair, Aezra Records basically left Before Braille alone in the studio. They leveled no influence on the recordings at all.) Nevertheless, this record will feel so fresh to both the dullest and keenest ear!

You see, the original mix was done without automation on an analog console that we bought Bob Hoag in preparation of the album. And each and every EQ (other than those meant to be static), panning move, mutes and unmutes, fader level boost and decrease, and ever other move had to be done in a single pass, in real time. Because Bob only has 2 hands, each member of Before Braille took their turns at the board memorizing the move that had to be made on each song and exactly when to make it. If a mistake a simple as clicking a single button was forgotten, or not done in or on time, we’d have to stop and start over.

We did this for 15 songs, over a period of 28 hours, only breaking for pit stops (likely a power bar and energy drink).

This was required of us to deliver the album on time. Of course we assumed the label would accept the delivery and pay Bob the rest of the recording advance so that studio bills could be paid, but we never thought they would refuse to let Bob remix it, as he offered to do, for free, as many times as necessary until the label was happy.

Before Braille was screwed because we gave our entire recording advance to Bob so that he could have better gear to make a better record, so we we all kept our day jobs, putting in 8-10 hours at work each day and at least that many in the studio each day. Probably the most story-worthy impact of our ‘unpaid’ efforts in the studio relates to point-of-pride for Kelly Reed. You see, Bob scheduled drum tracking at a time when no one else could be in the studio. (Odd choice, but I’m sure there the timing was arrived at with a number of other considerations and conflicts.) So, Kelly actually played drums to nothingness. Thin air. He only had his memory and a metronome to guide him. Do you know what a rare feat this is? How incredible an accomplishment?? 15 songs! Well over an hour of music with nothing to guide him?! No scratch track. No bandmate for cues. Nothing to play along with at all! Yet, the songs still maintain Kelly’s patented ‘swing’ and feel, despite the white-walled robot conditions!!

It’s well documented that relations between Kelly and I (this is David Jensen narrating) went ‘North of 40,’ but I have never and could never deny this greatness. This is probably the greatest musical achievement I have ever(not) witnessed! Let’s all take a moment, pause our reading and our lives and just think about what it would take to play The Rumor in its entirety which only a ‘clickity-clack’ in your ears. And instead of being frustrated by the situation, playing joyfully and getting the most out of it.

Drummers are nuts. This is pure genius. Pure insanity. And pure love for the songs, which is the golden trifecta for tracking a record. It is my firm belief that no band and no album can be good without a great drummer. And this just goes to show that it did not matter what the circumstances were, Before Braille was going to will ourselves into making a great record—and thanks to Kelly, the foundation was laid, against all odds. (Hans’s version of this story is a little different. He is a perfectionist, and all his strumming patterns—no matter how subtle and unheard by the listener—are very intentional; and there were a couple instances where he was required to adjust. I know it caused him great stress, and without any computers or software to edit a kick drum or snare hit, Hans was forced to match the rare ‘misfire’ that was left on the tape from Kelly’s solo-sesh.

(Today, and even that that time, the engineer would just cut and past drum hits in the (ProTools) session to fit every whim of the band. But that’s not the way Bob—or the band—rolled. We were all-in on the analog experience. We were all in agreement that the increasing digitization of music was sucking the life out of the medium.)

This is another reason why it was a great regret that we were not album to track the album live, with each member contributing their parts in real time, as we recorded the demos, and each subsequent album, where possible.
*For example: The Retaliation For What They Have Done To Us session was all done live, in 1-take (sans “Trans Add Panic” which took 3 takes.) And the record took 2.5 days to track and mix. Of course, I’m speaking theoretically, because no member of Before Braille has ever admitted to being a part of that project.

One moment in particular that I remember gave Hans the greatest heartburn was the transition in “Jaws of Life” (@2:58 leading into “So, tell me what the guilt feels like…”). Hans had envisioned a different percussive pattern to bring in the next part. Something more precise and dramatic, but as this narrative continues to support—the wishful patterns of each individual has to ultimately blend into the same tapestry. At some point the thread must pass through the universal eye of the needle.

OK, enough side-tracking. That was the story of the drums. Now, back to the problem of delivering the final masters to the label, getting Bob paid, and hopefully getting another crack at mixing the songs…

We could have simply taken the masters and given them to the label to allow us to finish our recording elsewhere, but that wouldn’t get Bob paid the 2nd half of his money. We are loyal to a fault. It was more important to us that Bob be taken care of than we even have a finished record. (Remember the “I will end you,” comment before? Well, the catalyst for that was our refusal to finish the record somewhere other than Flying Blanket Recording. It was taking too long and the label wanted to go with a more established producer and studio. We figured: no matter what happens with this record; if it sucks, no one buys it, or whatever, at least there will be something to show for it. We can build a studio for our community. So, that’s what we did. Our futures be damned. Ask anyone around at that time and they will say the same thing. Before Braille sacrificed themselves for their community, 480 area core.)

Fortunately, we believe both things were accomplished. The record turned out great (sans the final mix), and Bob’s studio was built.

Now, the story is much longer than this. After the label took the mixes and the reels, they tried to remix the songs in Florida with some old guys who produced a hit Bee Gees track. Good guys. Good studio. Bad fit.

Without incriminating anyone, let’s just say those mixes done in Florida may or may not have made it to the final master that became CDs y’all purchased or iTunes downloads or Napster files you traded.

So it’s likely, 2 months of work in the studio came down an ear-bleeding session where no one was listing to the snare or cymbals or bass by hour 8, or able to discern really anything at all by hour 14, and that would have only had us halfway through the track list.

Thankfully, Jamie is a professional chap. Organized. Pensive. Exact. And over the course of a few revisions, he was able to provide what is as close to possible the original intent of the album. The Rumor in its finished form.

Notwithstanding all of that, this is a new mix. We felt it important to not take all the identify from the first. There were moves we like from the original that we chose not to make, but we do believe it was in the best interest of the songs, which ultimate matter most. Really, that’s all that matters. Each individual song.

You will ask yourself: did they record new guitar or keys or vocal parts? I’ve never heard this before, this has to be new?! Nope. It’s old. It’s original. It’s just clearly defined now and tucked into the mix in a way you can pick it out now. It’s math. It’s science. It’s ears, nose and throat stuff. Brain games. There is ONE exception. Let’s see if you can pick it out. Hint: Split Lip Envy. Reason: something annoyed Dave too much. He wrote a string synth part that Jamie played for a couple seconds. It covered up the annoyance. And now Dave likes the song again.

So that it. Everything else is Jamie Woolford mixing genius and a great mastering partner Dan Coutant, Sun Room Audio.
No, that’s really it.
You’re wrong.
I promise.
Every friend and musician (who has been given a sneak peek into the new sessions) has said the same thing: “That wasn’t there before.” “I love that part, is it new?” “What did you change?”
Nothing.
It’s’ the same record. Same songs. Same recordings. Everything tracked by Robert Dean Hoag, III.
Nothing new.
Jamie is very good at what he does.
This is why great producers get paid so much and deserve so much.


So, to the diehards out there… There might be a couple of moments that your are like “man, I kinda miss this one [guitar part] that sounded a little more like [this], or that [vocal harmony] was so loud before that I thought it was the lead vocal, and I miss it.

Well, you don’t have to miss it. It’s still available. Dust the CD off, or hop an any streaming platform in the world. It’s there.

But you know what you’ll say when you do? “Oh damn, this sounds like sh*t!”

And what you’ll realize if you’ve spent any amount of time in a studio, not only are artistic or aesthetic choices made, but usually they are sonically required in order to do what this entire explanation as inspired by: the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And sometimes brief sacrifices are made, or compromises in collaborative efforts for the betterment of all. So yeah, that guitar lead isn’t as loud in the 3rd verse as it was in the first, but that’s why you can hear the Hammond organ now, and guess what…. Since your brain already heard that part and ‘knows’ it, and your heart loves that part and has ‘stored’ it, you can quiet it and still hear it & feel it. (when the science suggests)

But it’s not science. Everything comes down to choices and actions. Literally millions of them in this case, nay, hundreds of millions were made in the process of remixing this album. And trillions prior to that by each and every member of the band preceding and during the recording session; and those who inspired these decisions.

We thank all of you. If you’re reading this you likely played a roll, big or small in the making of this album. And if you came late, well now you’re taking part, and that matters a great deal to us. We wouldn’t have made the effort or paid the price if it didn’t matter a whole lot. You help make us whole.

So now, please enjoy the whole album, in its entirety, and its most complete, intended and appreciated form.

Love,
David Jensen, for and on behalf of Before Braille & Sunset Alliance.

P.S. Thank you to Aezra Records for letting the band out of its contract when we saw that it was mutually agreeable to do so, rather than shelving us (we know would have been emotionally gratifying for you). And thank you for allowing David Jensen/Sunset Alliance to acquire the masters and rights to the record shortly thereafter. If we could go back to that time with the wisdom gained over the last 20 years…, well…, we can’t, so let’s shut up, start the record, and just listen. Peace.