We’re dumbfounded on a daily basis by the immense amount of talent we experience through the music we write about, and the quirky personalities of alternative group Miniature Tigers are no exception. The band’s own Charlie Brand has created some really fun animated gifs of collaborators who helped on their upcoming album, and we’ve got them exclusively on IMPOSE.
“I was very thankful to have so many of my friends contribute to this album. When I listen back to the record, it’s these moments that bring the whole thing to life. I wanted to pay tribute to all the guest collaborators, as well as share some insight on the making of this record. These are drawings I’ve animated of my friends who helped me make this record.” – Charlie Brand, Miniature Tigers
Pictures of You – Michael Busse
This started out as a dub cover and somehow turned into a country song. I had just come out of a long relationship in Texas and was falling in love with a girl in California, all while I was living on my friend Michael Busse’s couch in New York. He was turning me on to some old school Dub music. We had some drinks and started covering one of the songs that evening. We never finished the track. Weeks later I was fantasizing about moving to California and I started writing this sad country song. I ended up recording it over the rhythm track Michael and I made for our dub song using a dulcimer. I sent it to my friend Spencer Cullum Jr in Nashville to record some pedal steel over it. I recorded the guitar solo was in a moment of pure excitement when I finally ended up moving to California
Dreaming – Jeremy Malvin / Stacy King
Jeremy came over to my house in California to work on some music for Promises. One of the ideas he laid down were these arpeggiated chords on his Juno. I ended up writing the music for Dreaming over it. I got stuck on the chorus and remembered a song I started writing with my friend Stacy, years ago. The melody from that idea fit perfectly into the chorus and the whole song came together in an evening.
I Dreamt I Was a Cowboy – Mae Whitman
I originally sang on this track but hated the way my vocals soundedt. I thought maybe layering it a female vocal would smooth it out a little. We recorded it very late at night. As soon as Mae started singing on it, I deleted my vocals from the session and never looked back. The only thing I kept was the ending but I pitched my vocal down.
Wish It Was Now – Collin Dupree
One of the reoccurring themes on I Dreamt I Was a Cowboy is treating all the organic instruments like samples. I wanted to approach the production synthetically while maintaining a natural sound. The instrumental is a layered guitar part I recorded and looped. I sent the song to my friend Collin to record some strings. When he sent them back to me, I chopped the strings up and moved them around in the song.
Wheat – Spencer Cullum Jr.
Wheat was one of the earliest songs I recorded for the album. I was staying on my friends couch in Texas. I was swimming for most of the afternoon and when I came inside, I wrote the entire song in 45 minutes. When I listened back to this song months later I loved how simple it was and it inspired me to not re-record any of the songs I had written for this album. I wanted it to be intentionally raw, to capture the emotion in my life during this period. I sent “Wheat” & “Pictures of You” to my friend Spencer in Nashville to add some pedal steel. When I heard what he did, I was blown away by the feeling it added.
I’m Awake Now – Ian Hultquist
It started with Rick sending me those synth chords that I wrote the rest of the track around. As I continued to write the album I felt like piano would bring it more into the organic realm the rest of the album was in. I went over to my friend Ian’s house to have him re-record the synth chords with piano. The very last take I asked him to just noodle around on the keys and play whatever he thought of. I didn’t end up replacing the synth with his piano chords but instead chopped up his last take into the climax of the song. This was the first song I wrote for the album (before I knew it was an album) and also the last thing I recorded for the album.
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Their album is set to drop this fall. Keep up with the band here.
