29 Jan In the Studio with Wild Child

I spent a huge chunk of my life attempting to be a successful musician. In recent years, that focus has shifted to film, and I am grateful Moth to Flame has given me the opportunity to blend my passions. I hope to consistently produce music based video projects for MTF and build our recognition throughout the vast Austin music community. The latest and greatest effort in this endeavor came last Thursday when I spent a day in studio with Wild Child, a personal favorite of mine amongst local bands, while they worked on their upcoming album, The Runaround. As if that wasn’t awe-inspiring enough, the album’s producer is none other than the great Ben Kweller! I was fully expecting an amazing experience and I was not disappointed.

I love working with Wild Child. They are great people to be around, and they keep great company as well. Everyone was super nice and accommodating, from the owner of the property, the engineer, the band, even visitors like vocalist/violinist Kelsey Wilson’s parents who actually treated me to a ticket for Wild Child’s concert the following evening. Ben Kweller was especially awesome. The band all told me what a positive presence he is and I saw that from the very start. He was sincerely excited about the work they were doing, and quite honestly so was I! Kweller is the kind of producer who is always working tirelessly to get every part right, but then all of sudden, when you least expect it, he might just hump your elbow…

My one day experience in studio consisted mostly of laying down James Bookert’s banjo tracks. It was cool because most of the other parts have already been recorded, so I got a nice little taste of how the album will sound, and I am extremely impressed with it. My favorite moment was when Kweller decided to take a break from banjo tracks and lay down a track of whistling for the song “Crazy Bird.” He even asked if I was a good whistler, and trust me folks I am, but I declined because that’s the kind of magic I want to make sure I capture, and I did! Stay tuned for the product of my adventure, and if you don’t already love Wild Child, go fall in love with them!

-Jason Hatch