Photo: Dan Slane, Matt Ten Clay, Nate Scott
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Those Eighty Acres
Indie Folk Rock
myspace.com/thoseeightyacres

Skull Studio
Matt Ten Clay
Engineer / Owner
Web site under construction, but please contact:
myspace.com/matttenclay
or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
$15/hr for mixing and mastering

After climbing up the stairs in an industrial building in downtown GR and asking a few random tenants where he was, I met Matt Ten Clay at the door of his drum room. Having only moved in within the last few weeks, the décor was sparse, but there was a rack of guitars, an organ with a Leslie speaker and a fully operational control room - it felt perfectly inviting.

Sitting on the couch/sound-dampening device were two members of up-and-coming Indie/folk group Those Eighty Acres, Nate Scott (chief songwriter) and Dan Slane (drummer). Missing from the recording project roster were co-engineer Dan Vocino, bassist Kevin Fein and guitarist Jordan Griffis.

"I'm writing all the time, and about a year ago [I] started looking for guys to play with. I went through a lot of musicians to arrive at the four guys we have right now," Scott said.

Stylistically ranging from Bob Dylan to more jazz-oriented affairs, the group is working hard on their first effort together, having already forged chemistry.

"Jordan (guitar) blows me away. He has certain written parts, but mostly when we practice it's different every time we play it, which I think is so good and gives it a really organic feel," Scott said. "Dan of all the guys changes it on the drums more than anything else. The songs have more of an upbeat feel. But these guys have been great."

Hoping to release the album in late October or early November, the band has 12 songs nearly completed and sleeve art ideas are brewing.

Certainly a very friendly vibe was apparent between the band and the engineer, helped along by the fact that Ten Clay is also a gigging musician and can readily understand where the band is coming from.

In addition to loving music, Ten Clay is also very much in love with his gear.

"My API's are out right now. I'm thinking about swapping them for a more Neve-esque sound - this brand called Great River. API's are nice and punchy, but Great River's got more... girth," he said before pointing out his beloved ribbon mics.

The band's disc will be out soon - check out its MySpace for details.