Album Review Interview: Chris Holmes (co-producer of Blink-

182 Neighborhoods)

Interview: Chris Holmes (co-producer of Blink-182

Neighborhoods)
We recently had the chance to talk with Chris Holmes, the co-producer and engineer behind Blink-182s new

album Neighborhoods. One of the goals of the interview was to look behind the scenes at how the album itself

was recorded. I know a lot of people are interested in the techniques used and what the recording process itself

was like for the first new blink songs in years. Huge thank you to Chris for doing this with us make sure to follow

him on twitter and check out his official website.

Could you outline what your role in recording Neighborhoods was?

I served as a co-producer and engineer on the whole record (along with Critter), and as a mixer on Hearts All

Gone Interlude, Hearts All Gone (album version), Kaleidoscope, Fighting the Gravity, and Love is

Dangerous.
How did you first meet the band and start working with them? Whats your background professionally,

and with the band?

I met Mark and Travis when they were just starting demos in Traviss basement for what would become +44.

Before working with them Id been fortunate enough to work with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave, AFI,

and Alkaline Trio amongst others. I also play piano and guitar and have a background programming and writing
music of my own.

We worked on demos for a month or so, and it was super fun and a smooth session, and that led into doing

When Your Heart Stops Beating along with doing a lot of Traviss remixes and beats.

Once we wrapped WYHSB I went out on the road with +44 doing some audio trickery type things for the live

shows. Mark and I worked with a whole bunch of bands (MCS and NFG most notably), did some super awesome

remixes during that time, and did the Hi, My Name is Mark podcast. We also did the song In Transit together

with Pete Wentz for the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack.

I went out on the blink reunion tour doing the same type of thing as I did with +44. and then
as Neighborhoods really got going I was a part of that. Im not out on the Honda Civic Tour due to previous

obligations, but it actually worked out better since the mixing/mastering ended up overlapping with the live show

preparations. I was able to attend the mastering sessions and help coordinate getting this thing all the way across

the finish line.

How often were you in the studio with one or more members recording during the process?
I was in the studio from the end of 2010 up until basically August of this year working on getting the record done.

Sometimes with all 3, sometimes 1, sometimes just myself. Between Critter and myself the ball was moving in

some fashion at all times.

What was the process like for the band? Theres been a lot of online talk about how some of the songs

werent written with the band in the studio together, but things being sent back and forth. How did this

work? How many of the songs were recorded this way?

Typically when you work with a band you go into pre-production before you start recording anything for real. In my

experience in pre-pro each band member has a set of ideas that they individually bring to the table, and then the

band as a whole works on a demo version to see if it fits their vision and then go from there. With blink-182 the

pre-production phase and the actual recording for real (production) phase blended together since everybody had

access to a professional studio.

So for example one way we worked was, if Mark had an idea and we had a tempo and key we liked, rather than

send a quick demo we could get the keeper bass or guitar sounds and really nail down the part we wanted before

sending it to Tom. From there Tom would listen, if he heard something he wanted to change or play differently he

would record it, send it back to us, ask us what we thought from there Travis would play drums, and then the

song would make the rounds again. This wasnt always the exact sequence of events with who did what first, but

thats typically how it would flow. Snake Charmer and MH 4.18.2011 were two that came from this way of

working.

Along with that, we worked on 4 or 5 ideas that started with everybody in the same room together. Those days

were really fast paced, and the energy was crazy. Wed get a song structure, tempo, and key pretty much set, and

then do a good demo version. At the end of the day wed make notes on what to tweak, and then everybody

would re-record their parts with the keeper sounds they wanted the next week at their own studio. To me this was

more of what a normal pre-production would have been like. After Midnight and Natives came from this way of

working.

Towards the end of the process everybody would meet once every few weeks, listen down to everything, make

notes on changes and new things to try, and wed carry on up until the tracks were ready for mix.

I think what made the situation unique, and thus talked about, was that we were in two different cities working on

the same material, often at the same time. The physical distance gave the impression of a gap in the work that
didnt exist to me. Work was getting done fast and songs were getting updated quickly.
In an Alternative Press article they mention there were a variety of sound engineers working on the album

one for each band member. Is this different than normal, and how do you think it influenced the final

product?

Yeah, I read that too. In print it sounds more disjointed than it was and I wouldnt say each member had their

own engineer either.

The majority of the stuff Tom recorded he did with Critter, and the majority of the stuff Mark and Travis did I
recorded..That sounds simple if youre assuming Tom= Guitar and Vocals, Mark= Bass, Vocals, Travis= Drums.
On Neighborhoods there are guitars that Mark played, drums that Tom programmed, and Synths that Travis

playedand in fact some of the best vocal direction on the record came from Travisso, the lines of who does

what are not as cut and dry as what I think the perception is.

In regards to Is this the norm.I dont think there is a norm for how many engineers work on a record. Ive

done records by myself, and ones where Im part of a team of 5 or 6, so it wasnt a big deal to have a few guys on

it. The major hurdle with multiple engineers is being on the same page with keeping notes and naming files in the

same system so its not confusing to find the newest versions of things super-nerdy type stuff.

When it came time for mixing, much like the last record, the guys actually wanted different mixers to do different

songs. I think that decision has a greater effect on songs sounding different than having multiple engineers

recording on a project.
What was the mood while recording the album? Did it take a while for the camaraderie to return to the

band members?

This is another thing where I think the perception and the reality are a little different.

Was everybody holding hands and chasing butterflies in a field no, but thats never the case with any band

at least Ive never seen that case.

There are always moments of tension at certain points making an album. Its a creative difference though, not the

kind of thing where people smash their instruments and leave.

Thats what makes the bands you love great. With blink-182, you have 3 guys coming at an idea from 3 different

angles, with 3 strong opinions, with 3 different end results in mind, and its that blend of the 3 that makes it

special. The thing that binds everybody together, no matter the difference of opinion is the common goal of

making a great song and album.

Was there a lot of pressure to get an album done and sent to the label?

Anytime there is a solid deadline to do anything the pressure gradually builds up, especially as the date draws

closer. My take from the get go was: the only way this record was going to go down was with it getting turned in at

the last possible moment. Its kinda the nature of the beast, and way more common than youd think. Besides,

what would we have done with an extra months time and everything turned in and set in stone?
A lot of people have commented on this being the first album in a long while without Jerry Finn. Do you

think his presence as a producer was missed, and if so, in what way?

Yeah, this was a big one for me personally. For sure one of the reasons the previous blink-182 records were so

strong was due to his ear and guidance.

Id worked with Jerry on +44 (When Your Heart Stops Beating), AFI (Sing the Sorrow), and Alkaline Trio (Good

Mourning), so I was super familiar with what he brings to the table as a producer, a mixer, and just a guy to hang

with in the studio. He was and is absolutely missed.

To that end, for me in the co-producer role, one of the tests of if a part or lyric was acceptable, or if a sound was

sonically good was, What would Jerry say about this? In my experience he never had a problem calling bulls!*@
on a part if it wasnt up to snuff, so in a way Id listen to things with my own taste, and also consider what he might

do.
Also, Mark, Tom, and Travis are all great producers in their own right, and I think they learned a lot from Jerry

when they worked with him. So we kinda pooled all of our experiences with him together for this record.
Do you think well see another Blink album in our lifetimes?

Youd have to ask the guys, but I hope so. Im curious to see what their next progression will be.
What was the biggest hurdle, in your opinion, for the band to overcome when it came to recording the

new album?

Putting all of the massive life events that happened aside (which is a component I dont want to get into), I think

just getting familiar with how everybody works again it was what? 8 years since the last record.

Even the task of making a record now versus 8 years ago is totally different. So, the process of record making is

different, you havent written music together in a long long time, and your fans know youre working on a new

album, so there are big expectations before anything is written.

That alone was a decent hurdle that I think they handled really well.
What was the biggest experimental or non-conventional technique used when recording the album?

The weirdest one for me was on Fighting the Gravity. At the beginning of the song there is something that

sounds like a shaker, but it isnt. When Mark was recording the bass for that track it rattled the control room so

much that one of the lighting fixtures was shaking behind me. I put some tape on it to get it to stop, but then I

missed it when he was playing so, I micd up the rattling fixture while Mark was playing and recorded it at the

same time as the bass.

Also on that song between the instruments and vocal effects there are as many things going backwards as

forwards. Put on headphones and go in a dark room and get your freak on.
The way the album was recorded, with members not always being in the same place, did that have any

impact on how many songs featured both vocalists?

Youd think so, but going through it I can tell you it didnt. Its not just as simple as slap Mark and Toms vocals

across everything together and were all good. We werent making a Simon and Garfunkel record (respectfully).

There was more than one occasion where Id push to have one or the other sing a part just so they were on a

track together, and when it came back it sounded like we were forcing the part in (which we were).

At the end of the day, you have to serve the song. That s the biggest thing in my mind when making a record. If

youre adding stuff just for the sake of it because there is space, or you feel there is an obligation to do so, then
youre blowing it.
You worked with Mark as an engineer on the +44 record, correct? How would you compare the two

projects? Ive read comments of some people saying the new Blink album shares a lot from the band

members other projects. With some +44 influences and Angels and Airwaves influences. What do you

think?

Yes, I did. I engineered, and did a bunch of programming on the +44 record.

I think the people saying they hear +44 and AVA in the new blink-182 record are right and I think its great that
people have strong opinions about it too. To me, its a pretty natural thing that youd hear pieces of both projects.

Its what happened in between the last two blink records, so it makes sense to me.
Id say this too, after multiple listens to Neighborhoods, I hear a lot of the different eras of blink. For example, the

guitar parts on Natives remind me a lot of the Dude Ranch era which I love (and was the first thing I said when I

heard them), but theyre packaged in this bombastic drum beat that encapsulates an urgency that I feel now. The

tempo of Hearts All Gone reminds me a lot of Josie, but the song has a more mature tone to it.

I dont think we set out to touch on all of the different eras of blink-182, but in a lot of ways, as this record ages, I

think we did.

What other projects do you have coming up?

Lots of stuff!

Ive got a few engineer/mixing projects towards the end of the year that I cant name yet. Im keeping my ear out

for a project or two to produce in the new year. Id love to just take on that role and really focus on that end. If

youre a band that you think is super-radical send me some tunes through holmeswashere.com. Im always

listening to new stuff to see what I can sink my teeth into.

Im also writing music for whats probably going to be two separate EPs since theyre so different. One is a

straight up electronic record that you can shake your tushy to, and one is more of a traditional song structured

type thing with vocals.

Along with all of that I think Mark and I are hopefully going to get back into some scoring for soundtracks. We

started doing that a few years ago, and I think we kick butt at it. Hes a great musician, and collaborator.

I also started digging into a couple of ultra-metal songs for Rob Aston so yeah, more everything always

everywhere.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into this part of the industry?

My best advice, and this goes for more than just making music is simply work hard. Word harder than your

competitors. Know that when youre fighting for the same position you are the better choice. While I do believe in

luck, I also believe in putting yourself in a position to be lucky.

For music specifically, give yourself lots of options. Theres so many different avenues doing music production

that I think its worth being prepared to do it all. Learn the right way to record. The technology now is so

widespread, which is great, but understanding signal flow and how to deal with different techniques and different

microphones and environments seems to be of less importance.

Do you have a favorite song from Neighborhoods?

It changes for me. Lately its been Kaleidoscope. That song went through a few different variations with who sang

what where, and Im really happy with where it landed. It has an endearing quality to it for me.
Now that its here how do you feel about the album, as a whole, and the entire recording process?

Im excited for everybody to hear it and live with it like I have, and Im honored to have been a part of it.
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