Superpower
Even though they haven't released new material in years, the duo never broke up. Life got in the way of them being an active musical act with Tom and Andy living in different parts of the county.
Luckily Tom was able to devote a weekend to come up to Jersey City to record some songs, but before he arrived we had to procure a Rhodes piano. Months before we were watching Craigslist for one, but they always had issues. Finally we found one down in Philadelphia and got in touch with the seller. The listing said it was in working order along with pedal and a case lid. We drive down to Philly and pull into studio/apartment off an alley. Inside we think we're getting the bait and switch because now there's multiple Rhodes and each one has issues. The one that works perfectly doesn't have a lid or pedal so I say the listing said we were getting one that works and has lid and pedal. There's multiple people there and one guy suggests cannibalizing the multiple Rhodes to give me what the listing said. The main guy seems reluctant, but the other guys start assembling the super-Rhodes anyway. I give them the cash and we start hauling it out before anyone can start regretting the deal. One thing to note is that when you're in a hurry to get out of a back alley deal in Philly, a Rhodes piano is heavy as shit.
When Tom arrives he now has a Rhodes to use, but since we're not Rhodes players, he finds that the pedal doesn't work correctly. He's able to rig some things up though and we're ready to go. That's one of the beauties and pains of analog music. All through the time I've known Tom, he has been working on Rhodes pianos. There's always something breaking or needing tweaking. I guess it's no different with digital in that you're always upgrading software or installing patches, but there's something more visceral or immediate about seeing the piano opened up with access to all the mechanicals.
As for the recording, the EP was pretty much written and performed on the spot. Everything came together super quickly and they didn't miss a beat from not playing together for years. After Tom left, we added a few overdubs and then mixed everything. I think the recordings show that rawness and energy from creating a song, laying it down to tape and just going with the flow rather than fussing about with things.