We Used To Be
Family is a post-rock quartet based out of Baltimore
which at time echos the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor and The
Arcade Fire (sans vocals). There is something insanely special
about them. Half the band is classically trained and the other half
learned by the seat of their pants. How the latter half keeps up
with all the odd time signatures is beyond me, but somehow they
nail it every time. Their music has severely dramatic cresendos
that take minutes, at times, to develop. This isn’t a pop record,
so you’ll have to give each of their songs time to settle and build
in to their beautiful swell of noise.

I had always wanted to work with We
Used To Be Family, and after their set at NoVo earlier
this year, Ruby came up to me asking if I’d be interested in
producing their debut record. I was floored. It was a dream come
true. The recording process was seamless. Alex Champagne
engineering always helps that process with his finely tuned ears
and impeccable work with strings. They were well rehearsed and were
simply amazing people to work with. They didn’t even flinch after I
asked them to track the the strings more than a 2 dozen times
complete with harmonies. It was almost like that was how it was
supposed to happen and they knew it.

The interesting thing about this band
is that there is no one person who takes the leads. They all switch
off and share democratically, which makes for an insanely dynamic
listen. Ruby Fulton, effortlessly and always with a smile plays the
violin, trumpet and Wurlitzer. Andrew Histand plays the cello
(sometimes with heavy distortion through an amp and always
shredding the hairs off the bow in to a pile by his feet), Michael
Yoon plays the Twin Peaks guitar, Michael Shank plays the guitar
that at times doesn’t even sound like a guitar and Mr. Brian Litz
plays the drums like it’s the last day on earth.

Here are my two favorite tracks from
this record. Be sure to listen all the way through. These songs
take a while to build – especially with Jerkface Shipley. Check out
that ending. The massive amounts of strings will blow your ears to
the moon.

Rose Isn’t A Better Stickball Player Than Randy
Milligan

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Jerkface Shipley

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