If you hang out in a rock band long enough, eventually you will make it into a studio. We know about DIY, home recording and pretending to make gold inside a garage, but once you hit a real studio, you realize that great records aren't made by artists and musicians. Those engineers with the big board make or break a song. Last Friday, Old Beans went along for the ride with their first recorded effort.

Here was the deal. A local compilation was made a couple years ago featuring Albuquerque rock bands called Rock Outside the Box. At that time, Old Beans was barely figuring out how to play their instruments and stepping into the late night world of playing loud gigs in dark bars. Our guitarist asked if we wanted to kick down $350 and be a part Rock Outside the Box Vol. 2. We said sure (usually we say sure if all four band mates can get together).

What song to play? Old Beans has about sixteen songs (give or take), but there was one song that stood out as fitting for our first recorded song: "Republican Girls." It was one of the first five songs we wrote, we've played it at every gig, and it represents our attitude very well, especially in Bush America. It's basically a lewd come on to all Republican girls by our dirty old man band--done in a catchy pop rock kind of way.

So a song our band has played for a year and a half should be easy to record, right? Well, yes and no. Old Beans made the hour-long trip to Santa Fe to record at Stepridge Studios. Unloading and setting up took no time at all. Those late night gigs have made us veteran roadies. The engineers were still working on mixing and mastering a different song when we got there, so we hung out in the shade drinking Miller High Life until they were ready for us. Old Beans are also skilled at waiting for their set.

Laying down the music wasn't overly difficult, aside from a few technical difficulties of wires in the wrong place. Five times through the song, and we had the music. Even Old Beans sounds like a decent rock band with tweaks from dozens of knobs on the big board.

Then came the singing. You know, it is said that outside of Tommy Lee's drumming, no one in Motley Crue could sing or play their instruments all that well. Well, Old Beans are not the best singers in the world, although we love to do it. Willy sang the lead vocals, doubled the vocals, and probably doubled them again. When it came time for me to belt out my obnoxious response to the chorus call, I thought I would have to work it a few times. I did it in one take, and they said it was fine. I'm a pro at being obnoxious (a personal victory for me). Then, we came to the harmonizing chorus with all four members. That was not done in one take, or two, or three. Engineers have two ways of looking at pieces of a track: it's either unacceptable and crap or it's something they can work with. With trials and tribulation, we eventually sang it into something they could work with.

Then came the real task of making the record. The band drank High Life and whiskey, and the engineer (a Grammy award-winner) drank Beck's beer. Over and over the song he went. Tweaking, twisting and figuring out what this band was all about. He realized our humor, our message, and our catchy simpleness. There is no way to accurately describe how he turned our basic song into something appealing. It was like watching a magician cast a spell or a medicine man offering up a prayer.

The hours went by, and we drank more. There was so much adrenaline that we didn't really get drunk. It just fueled us on into the night. We were supposed to be out of the studio by 8 p.m. but it was still going on at ten. Getting our money's worth. Another band was patiently waiting to record their song, but the engineer wouldn't stop until he was satisfied with our Republican Girls ditty. You gotta love that dedication.

It was one of the studio guy's birthday, so we ate cake, passed around beers, hung out with the studio guys, their girlfriends, and the other band, hooting with every quality turn the song took. A makeshift party ensued inside the recording booth with our song as the soundtrack. So this is how you record a record, huh? This is fun!

The engineer finally declared victory, and we walked away with a copy of "Republican Girls" for personal consumption. The compilation won't come out until some time in the second half of the year, but Old Beans has broken their studio recording cherry. Didn't even bleed that much. We still have a long way to go as musicians and singers, but it's nice to know there is a magician in the studio when we need it. We just might have to make an entire album some day.

Chris Jungle rocks and rolls.