Behind a polished record or a stunning live performance, there's an entire team that puts in hours of love and care to create the beautiful piece of work that makes it into our playlists and YouTube video rotation. In the Philippines, one of them is Line In Records.
Considered one of the local scene's musical havens, there's never a dull day at Line In with several projects—from your favourite artist's latest EP to an up-and-comer's breakout hit—that make their way through the warm and homey studio every day. It's a complex process that runs on efficiency, collaboration, and dedication.
Nik Amarnani on making music for the soul at Line In Records: "It's all about us building relationships together."
"Walking into a project is like solving a puzzle. Something new every time. As the project unfolds, I get closer to solving it," shares Line In's Nik Amarnani.
"Making every project have a unique story is also very important, so that’s something I always aim for. With every project I work on, the best part is always the collaborative and bonding aspect of the project. Getting to know the artist even more and seeing the intention of their music unfold."
BANDWAGON TV
Bandwagon caught up with Nik to find out what went behind some of Line In's most recent projects with SB19's Ken or FELIP, juan karlos, Lola Amour, and Elise Huang, and what it was like working with them.
FELIP’s #SuperSessions Live Band Performance
What was it like working with FELIP on this?
Working with Felip was amazing! [He's] such a great singer and performer to work with!
Walk us through what the collaborative and technical process was like for this project.
All our Live at Line In sessions normally run very similarly. We first have a meeting before the session starts to know the intricacies of the sessions, then we get to setting up. My goal is to have sessions ready before the artists come in, so that they run more efficiently. After consolidating with takes and finalizing the recording, I then send out the tracks for mixing and mastering.
juan karlos’ Drop 1
What was it like working with juan karlos?
It was amazing!! Getting to work with Juan Karlos and some of the best sessionists and musicians in the country just got me inspired.
Walk us through what the collaborative and technical process was like for this project.
My workflow with juan karlos is slightly different from the other artists I work with. Sessions are always a big experiment, we always try something new and out of the box.
Firstly, we start off with the recording phase. This is either accompanied by a ready demo that he prepares before coming in or one that is made in the studio. For this particular project, recording took around a week or two to finish. After this, tracks are sent to juan karlos for clean-up and additional instruments. Once finished, this is sent back to me for mixing and then, once the mix is approved, It’s sent to Ray for mastering, in Singapore.
A record is a piece of history, which is why I opt to always have multiple people in the team. This ensures extra quality control on the record.
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Lola Amour’s ‘Click’ ft Leanne & Naara
What was it like working with Lola Amour?
It was great! Lola Amour was one of my first clients when I started Line In, so having seen their sound evolve over the past years has been amazing!
Walk us through what the collaborative and technical process was like for this project.
With Lola Amour, we normally start by recording the instruments, drums, bass, guitars, keys, and horns. Once all of the instruments are carefully recorded and laid out, we start tracking vocals. For this particular project we had Pio record first, followed by Leane and Naara. When finished, this was then sent to David Yuhico for mixing.
Recording is a crucial part of any production. This is the part where the song needs to sound like the record from the get-go. So microphone choice, pre-amp choice, instrument choice and placements are very important.
Elise Huang’s Live at Line In series
What was it like working with Elise?
It was awesome!! Elise is an old friend and seeing how she’s evolved as an artist has been amazing!
Walk us through what the collaborative and technical process was like for this project.
[Similar to FELIP], we first have a meeting before the session starts to know the intricacies of the sessions. My goal is to have sessions ready so after consolidating with takes and finalizing the recording, I then send out the tracks for mixing and mastering.
With these live recordings, cohesiveness with the video team is very important as well. This ensures that the audio is properly synced to the video and no part is forgotten.
This is part 2 of Bandwagon's feature on Nik Amarnani and Line In Records. Check our part 1, where we dive into how the studio adapted to the pandemic and their focus on making music for the soul.
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