Del's the first cat out of the Hiero Crew to drop a solo album independently on Hieroglyphics Imperium Records. Perhaps even more so important, his 4th studio album, "Both Sides of the Brain" will be the first Hiero release to be distributed through Red Distribution; a HUGE force within the recording industry. Whereas Hiero's past collective effort, "3rd Eye Vision" managed to find itself into a considerable amount of store-front's nationwide as an indie release, "BSOTB" will literally be everywhere.

Hiero now stands on the doorstep to a different time in their recording careers. Finally, each solo member(s) of the group Hieroglyphics, can return to their original recording practices, albeit in an independent environment; something they've never fully recorded in before as solo artists. For the past 4 years, Hiero has been in a collective, group-recording posture. "3rd Eye Vision" was obviously a "Family Album". But you must remember, everyone in Hiero started out recording solo albums. It wasn't until they left their labels did they merge as a collective unit, and go independent.

As it currently stands with the release of "Both Sides of the Brain", Del is back into recording as a solo artist, and finds himself wholly independent, with all the pluses the work and success of "3rd Eye Vision" has brought to the label. Being able to take as much time he wanted to lay vocals, or mix, for example. Not being told some lyrical content may be considered "questionable" by The Label. Del had the time and the resources to hand-craft the album HE wanted to make. There were absolutely no restrictions placed on Teren on a creative level.

To help assure this, Domino wanted Del to experience a new kind of feeling while recording this album, and made certain, as Jacob will discuss below, to find a studio that would reflect his desires for Del's expansion. 17 cuts deep, "Both Sides of the Brain" weighs in at just over 73 minutes and has songs that range from stinky people, to crack-head soopa heroes, right on down to a song about little things that peeve Del. And of course, tons of classic battle beats and lyrics. Peep the sound clips to the right to get just a smidgen of what "Both Sides" has to offer. Special guests include El-P of Company Flow, Prince Paul who produced the cut "Signature Slogans", Khaos Unique on the song "Proto Culture" which is all about video games, and Hiero stable members A-Plus, Casual and Domino who also executive produced the record.

The design of the album was done by Tre Moon & Miss Tea whose artwork is sampled in the above pictures. All photographs for the album were taken by our very own Jacob Rosenberg, who is about to provide a behind-the-scnes editorial piece on the recording of "Both Sides of the Brain".

Del the funky homosapien's, "Both Sides if the Brain" will be released April 11th 2000 on Hieroglyphics Imperium Records. On CD, Cassette & Vinyl, in stores EVERYWHERE.








Track Listing:


01. Time Is Too Expensive
02. If You Must
03. Jaw Gymnastics (f. Casual)
04. Pet Peeves
05. Press Rewind
06. Offspring (feat. El-P)
07. Style Police
08. Fake As Fuck
09. BM's
10. Skull & Crossbones
11. Soopa Feen
12. Disastrous
13. Signature Slogans
14. Catch All This
15. Phoney Phranchise
16. Proto Culture (feat. K.U.)
17. Stay On Your Toes (f.A-Plus)


Behind The Scenes
The Making of "Both Sides of the Brain", By Jacob Rosenberg

Movies


Intro. Day 1
The Mythical SP 1200
547KB, :09m


Introducing Matt Kelley
Tracking the 1st Song
2.3M, 1:00m


Matt Kelley
EQ-ing Multiple Tracks
561KB, :08m


Pet Peeves
Driggidy
997KB, :22m


Pet Peeves
Saucee Jake
1.8M, :26m


Style Police Clip 1
Practicing, Reviewing
3.9M, 1:18m


Style Police Clip 2
Officer Voice Overs
2.8M, 1:05m


BM's
Laying Vocals
2.2M, 1:00m


Skull & Crossbones
Laying Vocals
2.0M, 1:00m


Disastrous
Tracking Sounds
1.7M, :47m


Disastrous Clip 2
Laying Vocals
2.6M, 1:02m


Disastrous Clip 3
Chorus
2.9M, 1:07m


Phoney Phranchise
Laying Vocals
2.7M, 1:13m


The Skit
Featuring Domino
2.0M, :56m

 

The studio was quite a refreshing change for Del when he undertook the task of getting his next album, "Both Sides of the Brain" together. 3030 studios, engineered and discovered for Domino by Matt Kelley is in an entirely different neighborhood and proposes an entirely different setting than the previous Hiero Studio, Hyde Street. It's not that Hyde Street was bad, it was a matter that Domino felt strongly about, providing a new environment for Del to create his new album. Needless to say, Matt came through.

Leading up to the album's recording, whose momentum was gaining about Mid-November of 98, I continually reminded Domino that despite my busy work schedule I wanted to be in the studio when Del's album was going down. If not for future documentary purposes, at least to fulfill what I saw as my obligation to all the heads on the website who are interested in the same behind-the-scenes stuff that I am.

I was doing the computer thing full-time, so I had to miss a day of work when Domino gave me the traditional "night-before" notice that tomorrow we'd be in the studio. In fact, I ended up picking up Domino and Del and getting them all to the studio with Del's equipment.

Del produced all of his beats on his SP-1200 so it was just a matter of getting his machine in sync with the two-inch system at 3030. In the beginning, the space was overwhelming. Very high ceilings, with huge bay windows provided natural lighting into the room where the vocals were laid down. Immediately I felt as if the whole experience was more organic and down to earth.

It took Del and Matt a while to get things in order, but once they did, Del went into the Vocals Room and started to lay down tracks. They worked 3 days in a row and I could only attend 2 of those. They averaged 3-4 songs a day. That means that the beats as well as vocals were both laid down, including the ad-libs. That does not include the scratches which were roughly mapped out by Del, but ultimately performed by Jay-Biz a few months later.

I tried to videotape Del as much as I could. Quality was not as much of a concern as content in that there was never really any footage of Del in the studio released other than the old "3rd Eye" stuff. If you're a Del fan and you've seen a show, the studio sessions will make for even more of an amusing time. Del robotically and rhythmically nods to the beat as he BELTS out his lyrics. It is definitely hypnotic to watch and I couldn't help but smile at Del's intensity.

During breaks Del and I would shoot photos or go downstairs and across the street to a tight food spot to get some vits (giggidy, driggidy and all that). Del continued to be positive and optimistic in the studio, acknowledging that for the first time in his life he felt he was really and truly making the album he wanted. He was able to make the beats and create the feel of the album in the comfort of his own home. With his SP-1200 he could then transport the music easily into the studio. I believe he has ended up with an album that is not only very personal but very expressive as to Del in this moment.

Allow me to go on a tangent. Del's style is such that every album is different, every album has a unique appeal and flavor. "Eye Examination" seems so far from "I Wish My Brother...," but yet it doesn't exactly fit the mold of "No Need for Alarm." With this in mind I see Del as an always changing artist who doesn't embody the musical spirit of the time, but rather articulates the musical spirit of himself at a particular time. Maybe most good artists are capable of this, but Del is profoundly molded in this way. I see "Both Sides of the Brain" as Del's quintessential album which most accurately reflects the personal artist he is and the music he makes at a certain time. All of this without a substantial outside/corporate/label influence. Domino did a great thing in overseeing Del's production. He didn't restrict Del, he merely enabled Del to create a sturdy canvas and just go to work. 'Nuff said, I hope you get my drift.

Back to the studio.

After the first weekend of recording I talked to both Del and Domino often to make sure I could get more of a warning for the second time around. I did, and a week or so later we were back in the studio. Del laid more lyrics for more songs and this time brought the Dreamcast (a brand new import ala "Santa Domino") into the studio. We went head to head during the down time and when Alex was in town he made sure to stop by to check the progress and grab guest passes to Power Exchange from BIG Lee.

During that weekend shift, Pep showed up one night to lay down some vocals for a song he was going to do with Del. While that song didn't happen, Pep and I were able to contribute vocals to the "Pet Peeves" medley. So for all of you who voted in the poll for Sonic and Stinke as Del's guests vocalists, y'all slept on lite-weight Jake (aka "Flossy P" to Karen, aka yours truly). I was delighted to embody the role Del had lined up for me, so for the first time I laced up the head phones and came correct (while making a complete ass of myself--See Video "Saucee Jake").

The next time I was to be at 3030 was to shoot the middle section of the "At The Helm" video (you can see a lot of the studio from the point where Del is picked up by Tajai until he leaves the studio with Tajai). Del had finished, for the most part, the recordings he would do in San Francisco. Except for Casual's absence it was a fun day with a healthy amount of work. After the "At The Helm" video was shot I was continuously busy editing and working, then moving to Los Angeles. I missed the later sessions to touch things up, but witnessed at least 75% of the tracks recorded at 3030. I heard the stories of the recordings with El-P and Prince Paul, with Dave from De La and other potential songs that never came to fruition.

I received rough copies of the album before and after the scratches were added which (sorry, Stinke) I vowed not to dub. Some of Del's ideas and "concepts" were lost in the process, but that always happens. What remains, is an incredibly solid piece of work that embodies the music of one of my favorite artists. What sticks out most vividly in my mind is that everlasting image of Del's concentrated nodding dome. That Del, is the one who without a doubt would rather be doing nothing else than making music. RIPMT and all that. peas-- Jacob


All Media Is Copyright ? 2000 Hieroglyphics Imperium & Hieroglyphics Dot Com And May Not Be Reproduced.
QuickTime Movies Copyright ? And Courtesy Jacob Rosenberg
Artwork Courtesy Tre Moon & Mis Tea from their work on "BSOTB"

Order the album online.


www.quicktime.com

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