Both Gaynor and Daly are amicable in their replies and seemingly in good spirits, and while much praise is directed towards the studio and its staff, most other topics are dealt with light heartedly. “[Originally] we had some poppy Justin Bieber sounding songs on the album but they sounded just like Bieber’s album, so I had to scrap all those songs,” says Gaynor.
For this new recording Daly is reprising his role on Startup Cult as an engineer, producer and collaborator, something which gives him a unique insight into the process. “I think what we wanted out of the album kind of changes as we go along,” he says. “Sometimes tracks get moved to a mixtape because they don’t fit into where the album’s heading. It’s a positive – stuff still gets released, but then it takes a bit longer to replace those album tracks.”
“We’re both perfectionists. We spend a lot of time making sure we get the right microphones or the right vibe,” says Gaynor. “I think the recording process is a big part of it too. Sometimes I’m just not feeling it and I’ll go off and sulk. There are a lot of tantrums, that’s probably a big reason it’s taken so long.”
“Coming here to Salt Studios was a step up,” says Daly. “Everyone has picked their game up to make this record even better than the last. It has taken a bit longer, but we’re nearly done.”
Gaynor and Daly have been taking advantage of Salt Studio’s ‘uDrive’, an offer that allows them to hire studio time without an in-house engineer for wholesale rates and flexible time periods. The arrangement gives the guys access to a fully rigged studio almost any time they need it.
“We’ve been recording here on and off for like two years. The last album was recorded in an open room, which wasn’t soundproofed, so there was only so much we could do with the mixes. The first thing we wanted to do was to make it sonically better,” he says. “It’s just chilled, and a great environment. Everyone here is very relaxed and we always get a good sound. We come in, say ‘hey’ to everyone and they’re always in a good mood, except when Trump won the presidency the other day.”
The last four years is a testament to the pair’s working relationship, one that has seen Gaynor’s Allday moniker rise in popularity, both in Australia and abroad. “We used to like each other,” says Gaynor. “We have a level of comfort with each other, but we still get stuff done. It’s a great working relationship.”
On this album in particular, Gaynor is responsible for all the writing, leaving Daly to handle the engineering and production. But like all good teams striving for the one goal, the lines between roles are often blurry at best. “It’s funny, looking back on a lot of my song credits, Charles has performed so many different bits on them, especially backups,” sayd Gaynor. “I remember at times when [we were] recording a song, I’ll be like ‘I don’t think I can get that’ and then Charles is like, ‘I can sing that high, or low’. It’s great – my engineer’s range is better than mine!”
The last few weeks have been spent putting the finishing touches on what will hopefully be an early 2017 release. As to whether the record will follow in the footsteps of Startup Cult’s indie inspired, radio-ready hip hop jams – Gaynor’s not ready to throw the category tag at it just yet.
“I don’t really know, it’s probably less poppy,” he says. “It doesn’t really have a song that’s exciting my label. So judging by that, it might just be a bad record.”
Startup Cult by Allday is out now on ONETWO.
