Album Notes

Words generally don’t mean that much when it comes to music. You know whether or not you like a song (or band) when you hear it, so instead of giving you the salesman pitch with flowery words and catchphrases, I would rather you listen for yourself. For those of you interested in the background of this album and the band, here it is:

Marsellus: Our Name in Lights

We (Marsellus) went into the Jackalope Studio in Montgomery, Alabama in early 2007 to start working on a new album, which would come to be known as “Our Name in Lights.” The Jackalope Studio is owned by Andy Jackson who is known by most people as the singer and guitarist for the band Hot Rod Circuit. Andy recorded and mixed the album, as well as giving us production ideas in the studio. James Curtis also helped engineer at times.

While we were finishing up in the studio, the members of Hot Rod Circuit were in town getting ready to go on tour. “Spacey” Casey Prestwood is the other guitarist in HRC, and he made two guest appearances on our album – playing a pedal steel solo on the song “Promise and Goodbye” and the acoustic version of “Thoughts and Phrases.” If you’ve never seen someone play a pedal steel, you really should. It’s impressive. What’s even more impressive is that Casey did the work in two takes – without ever hearing the songs before.

We used a lot of different equipment in the studio. Before I go into the specifics, I should clarify that we currently do not endorse any manufacturer and this is just for informational purposes.

Most of the clean guitar parts were recorded using a Dr. Z Route 66 head and an Orange 2x12 cabinet. The distorted guitars were recorded through an Orange AD30 head and the same 2x12 cab. Lead guitars were recorded through a Crate Blue Voodoo, but not one of the new ones – this one is an old school 50 watt version. The bass was recorded using an Ampeg SVT tube head, and if I’m not mistaken, an Ampeg 8x10 cab.

For guitars, we used a G&L ASAT special, a Fender Stratocaster that has been modded with a humbucker in the bridge position, a Hamer semi-hollow, a Fender ’62 reissue bass and a pre-Fender Guild acoustic that just sounds amazing. The drum set was a very nice kit made by C&C drums.

For effects, we used a few different pedals, and I’m sure I’ll leave a few out, but some were a Line 6 DL-4, a ProCo Rat, a Fulltone OCD, a Dr. Scientist Sunny Day Delay, an Electro Harmonix Big Muff and a Boss CE-5 chorus ensemble. The keyboard used was an Ensoniq, but we also experimented with a Rhodes in the studio.

Once the album was recorded and mixed, we sent it to Jamie Uertz to master. He is in the band Hematovore and also runs Sarcophagus Studio in Auburn, Alabama. He did a great job mastering and setting the track timing to flow just how we wanted it to.

We hope you enjoy this album as much as we do.

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Marsellus: the band

In 2004, Dillon Fiore and I (Josh Carples) decided to start a band. We had previously been working with other bands that had recently called it quits. He was in a band called “Closer to Nowhere” and I had spent a few years in “12th Hour” and “Cast Iron Star.”

He plays bass; I play guitar and sing, so we decided to look for a drummer and start a 3-piece band. We found a drummer and went to the Jackalope Studio to record our self-titled EP, which we released in September 2005.

We played as many shows as we possibly could, but after awhile, we decided that we wanted more. We thought about the possibility of adding a fourth member to the band.

In late 2006, William Turner joined the band. He plays guitar and keyboard and also sings. We had been friends with Will for quite awhile as Marsellus (and 12th Hour before that) had played many shows with his former band Mazlow.

Our friend Justin Taylor joined Marsellus on drums in 2008. We had also been friends with him for quite some time, as we had shared the stage with his former band The Lunar Year. Before joining Marsellus, he was a touring drummer for Amity Lane, which was the band Kevin Palmer and Josh Moates started during the TRUST Company hiatus.

Throughout the years, we have had the opportunity to share the stage with many bands, some of which include Mute Math (Warner Bros.), Silvertide (J/Arista), The Roman Candle (V2), The Villebillies (Universal) and Baumer (Eyeball).