The color
Where SKINTIGHT came from
The process
How it got made
Where it started
Luke moved out of his college dorm to a busy corner of Marshall Ave in St. Paul, where he could hear the cars passing on the street. He built a vocal booth by hand out of moving blankets and PVC pipe to mask the sound of traffic outside his window, setting up the studio with the same techniques he'd used on POLYESTER.
What changed
Luke went through a period of intensity he described as feeling SKINTIGHT. Two jobs, a breakup, and short on money. Luke ate chicken and rice every night for an entire year so he could afford the sound he was looking for. Craig Bauer, a legendary mix engineer, gave him mixed feedback and recommended a better preamp and microphone.
The mix
The vacuum tube preamp and tube microphone gave the record the mean, clean, in-your-face attitude of SKINTIGHT. It was mastered by Alec Ness, who was working on similar records at the time for artists like Paris Texas. Alec had mastered the electric grunge sound, and he agreed to take on Luke's project.
Other records