By Phil Lederer
The Sarasota-based rock band Physical Plant has re-entered the studio and begun laying down tracks for its first full-length album. The group, which has been a rather regular sight on the local music scene, playing around town in establishments such as Growlers Pub and Cock and Bull and at New College events, previously released two EPs, entitled Wisdom Tooth and Are They Dangerous? The forthcoming album will be its first recorded in a professional studio.
“It’s really hard to get the sound of all of us playing together when it’s individually tracked,” says Caegan Quimby, keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist for Physical Plant, regarding the band’s previous recording experience in the status quo studios of dorm rooms and commandeered garages, where a lack of equipment further complicates the process and often requires each member’s performance be recorded in separate takes and later combined. “The new tracks that we got sound so much better than anything we did before. It’s been a really great experience.”
“It’s been fantastic because it’s gone so quickly,” adds Josh Scheible, the long-haired lead guitarist and vocalist, as to the benefit of a professional studio atmosphere and equipment. “Faster than we’ve ever been able to do it.” Five-year veterans of the rock scene, Physical Plant formed at New College in 2009 where Quimby and Jake Elrod (mandolin, acoustic guitar and vocals) shared a room. The two began recording music for a senior project when Scheible “elbowed” his way in and they realized, “Oh wait, we just started a band.” The trio, which remains the chief songwriting force in the group, soon picked up Dave Baker for bass guitar on the strength of his reputation, and Zack Eidelman, a late addition after the loss of their former drummer, rounds out the current lineup, which has been playing shows and gathering material for almost two and a half years. But with two EPs under their belt and the looming departure of a founding member (Elrod heads to London for his graduate studies this semester), Physical Plant members decided it was finally time for a definitive recording and time to do it right, in-studio, and let the world know what Physical Plant truly sounds like. Of course, what that sound is exactly is a little harder to fathom. Between the band’s varied influences, though decidedly rock-centric, the music defies easy or simple categorization, but in an unforced way. It’s not weird for weird’s sake. It’s rock for rock’s sake. Rock is as rock does, and rock doesn’t always follow the rules.
It’s “psychedelic-garage-folk-rock, but like doing Americana covers with all these big harmonies,” explains Scheible in a voice that says this is a question he’s grappled with before. There’s a sigh and a grin. “When we get tired, we just call ourselves a rock band.” Since June of this year, Physical Plant has met for only three sessions in the studio of local musician and audio engineer Tim Moone who spent the last year converting his house off Walker Circle into a home-studio, but in that time the group has already laid down 10 of the planned 13-15 tracks. And in this new environment, with its professional atmosphere and access to more and updated equipment, the members of Physical Plant say they’ve been able to capture their distinct sound more accurately than ever before.
Bringing a new creative force into the mix can be troubling, it helped that Moone was no stranger to the band, playing alongside Scheible in a separate local rock act called Buffalo Wizards.“It felt really natural,” says Quimby, who amongst the band is most involved in the engineering and production side of the enterprise, meaning if anyone were going to butt heads with a new audio engineer, it would be him. “We’ve never gone outside of the band, but once we heard the first day’s takes, we were sold.” Although the majority of the recording will be done at Moone’s studio, Quimby and the rest of Physical Plant will still do additional vocal work and final mastering in Quimby’s home.
“One thing we’re really excited about with this, is that it really sounds more cohesive than anything we’ve done before,” says Scheible. “Sometimes our first two EPs felt like a mixtape between three different bands, but having recorded this live, it’s a much clearer statement of what the band sounds like. It sounds like Physical Plant.” The band is looking for an early 2015 release date. The album is currently untitled. Current plans are for Elrod to rejoin Physical Plant after his year abroad. Until then, Scheible says the group “will be functioning as a four-piece.”
Original article by Phil Lederer, SRQ Magazine