Check it out at http://www.downforfive.com/ and let us know what you think!

 

 

  

I have had a lot of people asking about the details involved in the recording process of the new Tulsa Oilers theme song "Let's Go!" So I figured I would give a rundown as best I can of what took place and how it all came about.

 

From the little bit of info I have gathered from the other DFF members, the whole idea came around the time that Pantera wrote and recorded the theme song for the Dallas Stars. Most of Down For Five's members at the time being avid hockey fans(Fyi, DFF is slang for a 5 min major or 5 Minutes in the penalty box) thought they should write a theme song for their favorite hometown hockey team as well. So "Let's Go!" was born.

 

The Oilers used Down For Five's theme for the '05-'06 season at the Tulsa convention center. Then when the new BOK center was built, Down For Five was approached to re-record and re-vamp the Oilers theme for use in the '08-'09 season and possibly beyond, in addition to filming a video for the opening game sequence.

 

Syke and I showed up at Armstrong Recording Studio in Tulsa on September 16th 2008 around 11am and I was introduced to the owner Stephen Egerton(who also recorded Down For Five's first album "Time Has Come.") and we immediately started talking drums. Stephen plays guitar but also loves playing the drums as well. I noticed this great looking drum set he had set up there and as I was inspecting it he started to tell me a little about it. Stephen goes on to tell me it was a gift from The Alkaline Trio's drummer! I guess the AT's drummer started his own custom drum company and after taking his first production kit out on tour he was talking to Stephen about his love for playing the drums and his need for a good kit. So the AT's drummer being a huge fan of Stephen's work as the guitar player for "The Descendants" and  "All" which were big influences on The AT, he decided to send Stephen his first production kit as a gift!

 

The first couple of hours were spent setting up drums, miking and getting a good sound. After a little experimentation we decided to use my Ludwig bass drum and toms, but I ended up using the Alkaline Trio's snare drum and a set of $3000.00 Meinl cymbals and Hi-hats Stephen had also received as a gift from another friend in the music biz! Wow, those things sound great! You can't really tell how great they sound on the compressed versions of the song on the Internet because of the low bit rate. But they really do shine in a loss-less format on a good system.

 

Once we got the drum sounds squared away, it was time to start recording! Janna and Scott couldn't make it till later that evening so Syke and I started by laying some reference vocal and guitar tracks down(complete with a guitar solo done by Syke on vocals, it was hilarious! :) so I would have something to play along with to know where I was in the song. We didn't have much time at all to rehearse the song before taking it in the studio and Syke and I had came in with some fresh ideas, so it was almost as if we were learning it as we went along. We found out later that we were both secretly afraid that when Janna and Scott showed up that we were going to have the structure all wrong. We pushed forward and to our surprise we had the drum tracks completely done, well before 5pm! We took a lunch break and resumed that evening, meeting Janna and Scott there.

 

You could have cut the tension with a knife when they were giving what we had done a first listen. It sure was a happy moment when we realized for sure by their response that we had gotten the structure correct and they were stoked about the sound we had gotten. Syke's mouth-solo sure got a laugh! We joked about how we should just keep that in there instead of having Janna do one. I'd still like to hear the finished product with it in there just for a good laugh.

 

Janna set up and got a killer guitar sound using two different guitar amps and cabinets. She used her rig and also a really nice ultra-expensive rig that Stephen had on hand(I'm guessing it was a gift from someone famous :) for the second guitar part. Janna and Scott recorded all their guitar and bass parts that evening and it all went very smooth as far as I know. I was tearing down drums, loading and separating my gear into my flight cases for the Dakotas trip while Scotty was recording. The next day Syke went back and finished his vocal parts by himself and also added the siren and whistle. That evening after Scott and Janna did their background harmony vocals they had some people from our Down For Five's on-line forum and I believe, some staff from the BOK center come out to do all the claps and chants. Unfortunately I couldn't be there. It was my birthday and I was playing my weekly gig at The Solo Club in Bartlesville with one of my other bands "Hell or High Water."

 

The next day was reserved for mixing and mastering and again I wasn't able to make that, due to my trip to the Dakota's with T.J. McFarland so I don't have any info there either but all in all that's pretty much how things went down from my point of view. It was a fun process and I'm super proud of what we ended up with! A special thanks to the Tulsa Oilers and to Stephen Egerton at Armstrong Studio for doing what he does! You can listen to the finished product at www.myspace. com/downforfive or you can hear it at all of the Oilers home games this season at the new BOK center. We'll see you there!!!