The National

Four years have passed since the release of Trouble Will Find Me, and to the outside world it might have seemed like the members of the National spent that long interim working on everything but new National songs. But in September 2014, two months before the band headlined the 20,000-seat O2 Arena in London, Aaron passed along the first set of musical sketches to Matt. “We really didn’t take much of a break,” says Matt. “We started working on this record the minute we finished touring the last one. The only break we took was from the constant pressure we put on each other.”

"We didn't feel like rushing it,” says Aaron, who produced Sleep Well Beast. “People thought the National went away, but we were just working on ideas." With members now living in five different cities, the band made an extra effort to get together in the same room – sometimes in studios in upstate New York, or out in Los Angeles. “We’ve always worked on demos together," explains Bryce. "But this time we were actually in the same physical space doing it.”

“When we all lived in Brooklyn we rarely did these kinds of week-long sessions” says Scott. “This time we got together for long stretches, just to mess around and experiment without deadlines or distractions.”

There are songs on Sleep Well Beast that are instantly recognizable as the National, but others are much harder to classify. The lyrics are about “trying to come clean about the things you’d rather not,” says Matt. “Some of it’s about marriage, some of it’s about my relationship with Aaron and the band, some of it’s about train tracks and dancing." Guitar solos appear like never before, yet on some songs guitars account for only a tiny fraction of the music. "It was important that we genuinely explore new territory and risk falling on our faces, or not make a record at all," explains Aaron. "This album feels complete to me.”

The National and FabFilter

"We first heard of FabFilter via an engineering friend of ours. We use the FabFilter Pro-R reverb and Pro-C 2 compressor. The reverb is warm and natural sounding, which we like a lot and the compressor is very natural sounding. We’re a big fan of these plug ins at our studio."

Links

www.americanmary.com/

www.facebook.com/thenationalofficial

instagram.com/thenational

Professional compressor plug-in with versatile side chain and routing options, high-quality sound and an innovative interface.

→ Read more about FabFilter Pro-C 3

Other featured artists

Mike Cave is a multi platinum award-winning mix engineer. He has built a strong reputation working with artists as diverse as Professor Green, Lewis Capaldi, CamelPhat, JP Cooper, KRS-One, Riton, The Coral, Elvis Costello, James Vincent McMorrow, Fatboy Slim, Rufus Wainwright, Yuksek...
→ Read more

David Catching / Rancho de la Luna David Catching is the owner and operator of Rancho de la Luna Recording Studio in Joshua Tree, California since 1993.David recorded and toured extensively with Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, earthlings? , Mark Lanegan , Mondo Generator, Mast...
→ Read more

The Black Keys are a Grammy award-winning, two-man blues-rock group from Akron, Ohio, United States which formed in 2001, consisting of singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The band name was inspired by a schizophrenic artist and friend in Akron, who used the term...
→ Read more

Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has songs on over 85 million units sold. He has produced and written with Adele, Rufus Wainwright, Twenty One Pilots, Katy Perry, Theophilus London, OneRepublic, Kelly Clarks...
→ Read more

Hardwell (Robbert van de Corput) reached musical maturity swiftly, evolving into a seasoned veteran. At the age of 25, the young Dutch titan capped off a 10-year journey when he was crowned World’s #1 DJ in the 2013 DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll, cementing his position as the electronic s...
→ Read more

John Hill, originally from Houston, Texas, is an LA-based producer and writer who first gained prominence by producing and co-writing Santigold’s debut album.His forward thinking, outside the box productions have led him to collaborate with a diverse array of artists, from MIA to Rih...
→ Read more

Charlie Crown (f.k.a. Flapo) has returned with a bold new sound, building on the success of his previous moniker. Rooted in the same emotionality and technical ability that first endeared him to the EDM community, he is now intent on proving himself on a global stage.The Magic City-based...
→ Read more

Greg Wurth is a Grammy Nominated, Gold & Platinum award winning producer. He has been Steve Vai‘s engineer for a decade with other credits ranging from Tony MacAlpine, Tracii Guns, and Mary J Blige. As of 2015 Greg has launched two new ventures: “Inside The Studio With Greg Wurt...
→ Read more

Jamie Lidell has been releasing music लगातार since his first techno 12-inch record in 1995. His discography includes seven LPs—two as one half of the cyber-soul duo Super_Collider and five solo albums on Warp Records—alongside numerous features, including a recent collabo...
→ Read more

The National and FabFilter

Links

Other featured artists

Artist overview