Local group Danagas goes digital with second album

It seems everyone is into digital music lately. But local funk band Danagas took digital music to the next level -- the members digitally recorded and mixed their second album, Nagaphonics, themselves.\n"If you could have seen us record this thing, it would have blown your mind," said drummer and alumnus Ryan Fitch. "We should have named it 'ghetto-phonics' for the lack of money we had to record and the physical limitations of the gear we were recording it with."\nReleased last year, the band's first album, Take It With You, featured the many original funk songs that make Danagas recognizable on the local music scene. Ideas for Nagaphonics centered on the theme of alien abduction, which is incorporated into only a few songs.\n"We couldn't stop this album from being eclectic like the previous," said Bill Hauser, saxophonist and alumnus. "However, the whole sound on this CD is somewhat different."\nBand members said digitally recording the album themselves turned out to be more difficult than they imagined.\n"Over the summer, while we were in the depths of trying to figure out how to pursue this album, I was waiting for one of us to say, 'By golly, it's just not feasible. Time to yank the plug and head into a real studio,'" Fitch said. \nWith the recording and mixing process, Fitch had the help of keyboardist Ryan Lott, who also wrote several songs on the album "almost single-handedly," Hauser said. The two used the computer programs Cakewalk and Digital Performer.\n"The two Ryans gained invaluable knowledge in this process and also learned that tons and tons of hard drive space is needed in order to pull off a feat of this magnitude," Hauser said.\nFitch said the new album represents the band's ability to make the most of its resources to create its unique sound.\n"To me, this new album is a trophy of us conquering recording technology, personal deadlines and the ability to stay focused on a project even though all of us do a gazillion things," he said.\nFitch expressed concern about the downward trend in support of original local music.\n"I really hope that this album inspires people to do what we did -- tap your resources and make some music," he said. "In today's time, it's so easy to record an album for virtually nothing. I feel there's no excuse for Bloomington not to be the underground music mecca it once was." \nNagaphonics will probably be Danagas' last album, Hauser said. Because of conflicting schedules, lives and goals Danagas will not exist much longer, Fitch said.\n"The great thing about Danagas is there's enough individual talent in this group to fuel a circus, but that also means we all can't commit to Danagas as our sole priority mission," Fitch said. "And because of this, we are coming near to the end of its rope."\nFor more information about the release party, visit www.danagas.com.