Arthur Smilios (World Be Free, Gorilla Biscuits)
SPB: What strikes you as the biggest change in recording an album between now and your first few recordings?
Smilios: One word: technology. Analog tapes have been replaced by computer programs. When we were recording the GB 7" and Start Today at Don Fury's, we were using what was then cutting-edge technology: video tapes. They were apparently better at gating the noise. You also had to do a pretty close to perfect take, whereas now, if you are a tenth of a second off the beat, the producer can move your track and sync it. That being said, we all still try to record as much as we can live, because it translates in the energy of the music.