Friday, February 2, 2007

Mainstay Mondays begin!


Hey everybody!

As many of you have heard, Mainstay is heading back into the studio to record our sophomore release! And as a result, we have decided to do something special - we want to give you an intimate look at what it's like to record an album. We are doing something called "Mainstay Monday" on BECRecordings.com and giving you these studio journals and videos...EVERY MONDAY! That's right - EVERY MONDAY! I guess that may have been obvious when we termed it, "Mainstay Monday" right?

Are we excited??? Yes we are! We are excited for many reasons...here are some of them:

1) We are recording here in our beloved home of Minneapolis, Minnesota! woohoo! We have enjoyed being home and seeing our families and friends so much, and it's been a great season to focus on writing for this record. The only drawback to being in Minnesota during January is that it's COOOOOOOLD! It was 15 degrees BELOW ZERO this weekend!

2) We are making this record with a hometown producer and friend of ours - a diamond in the rough - Mr. Luke Fredrickson. Luke is young, talented, and stoked to make this album. His engineering and producing skills impressed us, and the synergy between us and him has been phenomenal during the demo and pre-production phase. Now it's time to start tracking!

3) We are tracking the record in some cool places...an old, vibey church sanctuary, a killer house in the suburbs, and a great studio in Minneapolis. This album will be vibe central...which is what making a great record is all about - capturing the vibe and message behind the songs. Which leads me to my next point!

4) These songs are coming straight from our hearts. We enjoyed making our first record, and feel good about it. However, on this new album, we are pouring EVERYTHING of ourselves into it. God has been working on all of our hearts and challenging us to re-evaluate why we do music, and what our goals are in doing it. I have a desire on this record as a lyricist to let the world know how badly I need Jesus, and how I fall short daily. I struggle and I sin. I doubt and I hurt. But in the past 6 months, Jesus has been working on my heart to draw me closer to Him than I have ever been before. I want my heart to spill out in these songs, because I believe in being vulnerable and I hate facades. We hope these songs speak truth into peoples lives and we pray that the hope of Jesus Christ will be revealed in their hearts. That is what we are called to - not smiley, fakey, cheesy Christianity, but hoping in Christ through the truly hard seasons of life. Hoping in Christ that He is bigger than our sin. Hoping in Christ that "nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39) Constantly hoping in Christ, and ONLY in Christ.

SO!

You need to keep checking back on BECrecordings.com and myspace.com/mainstay to watch this record happen! We want you guys to be in on this! We are so thankful for each and every one of you that has bought a record or a t-shirt, told a friend about us, gave us an encouraging word, given us a place to stay, or supported us in any way, shape, or form - you guys make this worth it. So thank you!

Allright - keep tuning in for Mainstay Mondays - we are gonna do stupid stuff...whip "cookies" in the snow (it's a Minnesota thing)...track vocals and drums and guitars and bass and keys and harpsichords and lyres and jazz flute...all SORTS of crazy stuff!

We love you

Justin

3 comments:

yaddayadda said...

Can't wait to see what God does through you guys! I'm excited!

Unknown said...

Hi Mainstay from a Canadian fan who lives in Senegal, West Africa.

Your debut was absolutely amazing, and I am so geeked to get to hear new stuff!

I appreciate you guys keeping us up to date with your creative process (and antics) with the videos/blog.

Take care!

-Darren

Unknown said...

if i had a nickel every time ive had to say to someone 'its a minnesota thing' who knows what would happen!! we seem to have a differtent way of thinking.

Just so you know Justin, your guy's music is by far the most theolgical i have ever heard. I love it how you all arent afraid to say what is true even if it might affend their ears. Christ is working through you and your music. it has really affected me and i seriously have only had it for a little over a month. [I'm pretty sure my mom likes your music too!]
When i got to meet you all I could just tell that God was doing something cool in your lives. I want you all to know that im praying for you guys! Love you all!

YSIC Em of MN

pS- love the stories behind the songs!