Evan Taubenfeld, singer/songwriter/guitarist and longtime Avril Lavigne collaborator, is currently celebrating the release of his Sire/Reprise solo debut, Welcome to the Blacklist Club. Waves caught up with Evan between shows to talk about the new album.

On the Album
Behind the Songs
Flight Path
Tech Talk

Congratulations on the release of Welcome to the Blacklist Club. How are you feeling?

I couldn't be more excited about the release. It's been a long time coming, so I'm glad I can finally sleep at night knowing the record is out.

What is The Blacklist Club?

That is my collective family: Basically, anyone who ever loves me, hates me, likes me, whatever. Some bands like to make “fan clubs,” but I don’t like the concept of that. To me, we’re all in this together, we’re family, and we’re The Blacklist Club.

Tell us a bit about the production process on the album.

I start almost every song exactly the same, just me in a room with an acoustic guitar, either by myself or with a collaborator. After I get the song written, I'll take it into Pro Tools or Logic and start demoing it up. I like to build a pretty strong demo before I share it for anyone, so production-wise I'm using Pro Tools HD and Waves Mercury, with top-of-the-line outboard to help me achieve the vision.

After that, I hired John Fields to take it all to the next level. Fields is a genius who basically took my original visions and templates and pushed them farther than I could have ever imagined. He and I are both huge plugin guys: The record has a lot of soft synths, amp simulators, programming, and samples, which we used to take our initial core band tracking feel to a different place. Although, on the analog side of things, it doesn't hurt having all the mics, outboard, amps, guitars, and the console we used either.

Are you getting a chance to relax now that the record is released, or is the hard work just starting?

Oh, I’m just getting started. I think the process of being an artist in today’s world is really 24/7. So while events such as CD releases and other specific announcements are sometimes pinnacle, it’s no longer “Now we work,” “Now I promote,” and “Now I’m off.”

In my mind, the easy part is behind me. I spend years grueling over making the best music possible, recording it, and preparing it to be released; now, I gotta convince you to buy it and have you tell your friends, come see shows, and get involved in me on a more intimate level. I won’t be done until the world knows me. At that point, maybe I’ll take a quick break—but probably not.

What’s the story behind “Merry Swiftmas”? Were you surprised by its success?

This was definitely a weird twist of events. I wrote the song almost as a joke to show my manager and core group of kids who’d been following me for a while online. The day I posted it on YouTube—it was written and recorded in 24 hours—I expected nothing. That night Taylor Swift tweeted about it and the whole thing kind of exploded from there. I was doing interviews for radio, press, and online by a day or two later, and the video had hit 500 thousand views by end of week. That being said, a lot of people can draw their successes back to random and strange breaks like the one I got on that.

“Boy Meets Girl” has all the ingredients for a hit song; it grabs you on the first listen. Anything you’d like to share about it? Are you using an alternate tuning on the guitar?

This was a chorus that my good friend Bleu had written and was kind of just sitting around not getting its full potential. Bleu and I had written a bunch before and I said “Yo, I need that Mister Mister chorus, it’s too good.” So I took it, messed with it with my friend Adam Richman and voilá....“Boy Meets Girl” was born. The guitar tuning is kind of insane: We tracked capo’d acoustics, dropped guitars, alternate tunings, tons and tons of weird parts. I’d take the Pro Tools sessions home every night and add even more stuff until Fields and I both realized the session was completely insane. In my opinion, though, it was perfect. I felt bad when I called Tom Lord-Alge to mix it; he told me he loved the song, but I was more scared he’d send it back when he saw it was 200 tracks we’d sent him.

What’s the story behind “Evan Way”?

It’s a real life story of a terrible car accident that almost changed my life, or even for that matter may have prevented me from even being here. On top of that, it’s a cathartic lyric, because I’d never addressed the bigger issues surrounding the crash before with those I’d needed to share it with. The street where this all happened, was strangely re-named “Evan Way” years later—unrelated to me; the developer’s son was named Evan. weird though.

Is there a song on the album you connect with more than others at the moment?

From day one and still today, it’s all about “Pumpkin Pie”.

How did you get into the music business?

My childhood babysitter and family friend had grown up to be an A&R guy, successful in his own right. I’d constantly bother him to try to sign my bands and nothing even really worked. But one day, he calls and offers me an audition for a girl he’d just signed named “Avril.” You know the rest!

How did your work with Avril shape what you do now?

It was my college. It was a crash course in everything I ever wanted to do. More importantly, I got to sit by the side and watch one of the most talented artists of our time as she sold thirty million records and toured the entire world.

Who inspired/influenced your guitar style in your early days?

Dean DeLeo, Jerry Cantrell, Lindsay Buckingham.

What bands are you listening to these days?

I listen to everything all day, but have a serious sweet tooth for Top 40 radio.

You’ve been touring as a guitarist for years. What’s on your pedalboard?

From day one, when I started with Avril all the way until today, my pedalboard has been the same: one single Boss TU-2.

Did you use Waves GTR on the album?

Definitely. I use my own GTR presets everyday on tons of recordings. You can download them on the Waves website.

I also love using GTR stomp effects on vocals & other audio I want to effect in a straightforward interface.

Which other Waves plug-ins do you use?

I own all the Waves plugs, but I’d be lying if I said I used them all. I’m huge on the API & V-Series EQs for almost everything that I track: acoustic guitar, vocal, and electric guitar. The API 2500 compressor is perfect for my drum bus and other subs. I love the JJP PuigChild compressor on kicks, snares, and sometimes overheads as well as a vocal here or there. I also love the PuigTec EQs for bass guitar. SSL G-Master Buss Compressor almost always goes on my master bus when mixing, and I love using the new CLA Classic Compressors for bass, acoustics, and certain other applications. All of the reverbs and delays are great; I even bust into the H-Delay a lot since it’s easy. Lastly, it never hurts to throw some L2 on for a touch of “competitiveness.”

I can say that my album wouldn’t be what it is today without Waves.

Any tips or tricks you want to share with home recordists/mixers?

Throw out the rules! None of that matters. Don’t worry about lights, or markers, or settings, or “rough guidelines.” Just make sure whatever you do that you use your ears and your gut for dialing things in. If it sounds good, it sounds good no matter what’s happening.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you’d give a less experienced artist/producers?

We have so many amazing tools nowadays to make tracking and editing easier, but it’s crucial that you capture a good performance. Whether or not an amp has extra tube noise or if your computer is a little loud in the control room doesn’t matter—but how good someone plays a part or delivers a vocal changes everything.

Got any touring plans?

Always! People can check out my website, www.evantaubenfeld.com, for specifics.