Producers Wyn Davis and Tom Keane had a hand in sculpting the album's overall sound, pushing the group to a more guitar-oriented sound. While McArthur is happy with the results, it doesn't exactly reflect the NEEDMORE aesthetic.
"I have a curse of writing pop songs, and the other guys are definitely more rock-oriented," McArthur said. "I grew up with Steely Dan and Van Morrison. My lead guitarist likes Metallica a lot, and you can kind of hear it throughout the album. To be honest, one of the producers we worked with made more of the record he wanted to make, which was unfortunate for us. I play piano on five of the songs, and that didn't even come across on the album.
"The record-making process is really great," he continued. "We worked with some phenomenal producers, and they were very helpful. At the time we were very new and unfortunately our naivete, so to speak, allowed us to take a backseat. There were definitely some things we weren't happy with, but overall it's a cohesive project at least."
McArthur (lead vocals, piano, guitar) and bandmates Danny Mareco (lead guitar), Jonathan Beveridge (bass) and TJ Hartmann (drums) are hoping to remedy the situation by revisiting the songs.
"We're in the process of recording an acoustic version of that album," McArthur said. "It will feature piano and Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer. We'll also have strings. My bass player plays upright bass as well. That will be a more eclectic spin on the record.
"We're still writing for our next record, which we hopefully will release sometime at the beginning of 2011," he added. "We're going to national radio with the single, 'Late Night Drive,' for the next two months. That's definitely going to be a big thing for us."
NEEDMORE, which was named the No. 1 alternative rock band by MTV and AOL Music's Ourstage in 2010, doesn't currently have any local shows scheduled, but plan to perform at W.O. Wright's in late spring.
Artist info: www.needmoreband.com
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