For indie band Nap Eyes, the recording process is almost as relaxed as the music, lead singer Nigel Chapman said.
Nap Eyes recorded each of its two LPs live without overdubs using a four-track tape recorder. The band released its second album, “Thought Rock Fish Scale,” in February and will perform Monday at the Bishop.
“Thought Rock Fish Scale” was recorded at a small seaside house on an island in Nova Scotia, Canada. The control room was a screened-in porch, and the studio was the living room.
Chapman said he and his bandmates love recording live with tape because of the character of the sound.
“It just has a cool feeling,” he said. “I guess I like not having to go back and make changes, and not being able to make changes feels pretty good.”
This recording method affects the way each member plays the track as they try to balance the dynamics of each instrument.
“The limitation helps to just focus on the songs, I guess,” he said.
Nap Eyes could record digitally if they wanted to, but Chapman said he finds it easier to attain his preferred sound with tape rather than with digital. Plus, digital requires much more maintenance.
“It’s a little bit less concerned with getting pitches exactly right, and it’s more about getting the right vibe,” he said.
Nap Eyes’ vibe has been described as slacker rock in the past, which Chapman said is fairly accurate.
The band’s music softly forms around Chapman’s introspective lyrics, which he said he often writes alone as he plays a groove on guitar.
“It helps me to sing and write at the same time, because if I just write, I have too much time to look at what I did and feel embarrassed about it or self-conscious about it,” he said.
A big stepping-stone for Chapman’s songwriting was beginning to play with Seamus Dalton, Josh Salter and Brad Loughead of Nap Eyes, he said.
“These guys really make an amazing home for my songs,” he said.
For the first time, the bandmembers are starting to make a decent amount of money too, which is very encouraging, he said.
“We all harbor our hopes that we can have some success, earn a bit of money doing it, so that we can keep doing it,” he said.
Chapman said breaking into the United States is another good indicator that Nap Eyes will survive. He credits this success to the band’s U.S. label, Paradise of Bachelors.
“They curate their label really well, so people kind of trust it,” he said.
Still, he said he probably wouldn’t be doing any of it today without the support he’s received from his community back home, despite the fact the music scene in Nova Scotia is so spread out.
“Even though you have this vast geographical distance, people feel connected in the music scene,” he said.
