Carter Vail - Musician, Songwriter on his new album 100 Cowboys - Music Production Podcast #376

Carter Vail is a musician, producer, and video creator. His fast-paced, lighthearted short-form songs have garnered him hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. His new album, 100 Cowboys, combines upbeat music with emotional lyrics that document a difficult breakup. Carter shares his songwriting process, thoughts on collaboration, and why he chooses to work fast and be prolific in his creative process.

This episode is sponsored by Baby Audio, makers of incredible music software. Use the code MPP15 to save 15%! https://babyaud.io 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube

Takeaways:

  • Carter Vail's new album '100 Cowboys' strikes a balance between upbeat music and sad lyrics.

  • Having fun with music is important and can bring joy to both the artist and the audience.

  • Working in a simple studio setup can be beneficial, as it minimizes potential bottlenecks and allows for a seamless creative process.

  • Carter believes in showing up and working consistently, rather than waiting for inspiration to strike.

  • Simplicity in the creative process and studio setup can lead to faster and more efficient music-making.

  •  Inspiration is fickle, and it's important to take action and create even when feeling uninspired.

  • Having a concept and direction before diving into production is important for songwriting.

  •  The proximity of instruments to the computer can affect the recording process.

  •  Collaboration can bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the creative process.

  •  Specific details in lyrics can create a personal connection with listeners.

  •  Efficiency and consistency are key in managing social media presence.

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Episode Transcript:

Brian Funk (00:00.232)

This is okay. We're good. We're off. Carter, welcome to the show. Great to have you, man.

Carter Vail (00:05.934)

Thanks so much for having me. Excited to be here. Yes.

Brian Funk (00:08.265)

You got the new album coming out? Yeah, I'm excited to have you. I've been really enjoying your work. And there's a lot of ways to enjoy your work too. The big news for you right now is you got the new album coming out, 100 Cowboys. That's July 19th, I believe.

Carter Vail (00:23.79)

Yep, July 19th.

Brian Funk (00:26.825)

Right. So I've been able to listen to that really enjoyed it a lot. I had a really funny experience today. Actually, you might get a kick out of, I was driving around, trying to get, this is a funny problem to have, but I'm trying to get a pass for my kayak so I can leave it at the beach and lock it up like a permit. Just got a kayak. I'm really excited, but they're all sold out. So they don't have any more spots. So I was driving around it and they told me, try this spot, try that spot. And after the last spot, I was like, that's a waste of time. And then.

your song when the chorus popped up. Next thing I heard was waste of time. I was like, that's so weird. Great song.

Carter Vail (01:01.614)

Hell yeah. Where are you based that you need a kayak permit?

Brian Funk (01:10.089)

Long Island, North Shore, Long Island. So we've, we've got some water around us.

Carter Vail (01:11.95)

Okay. Huh.

Okay, yeah, I like the the big issue is like

Brian Funk (01:18.728)

Yeah, but it was just this funny, like, synchronous moment, you know?

Carter Vail (01:22.51)

Hell yeah. I love that you're the big issue you're running into right now is like, where can I fricking park my kayak? Like that's a, that's a funny problem to be having.

Brian Funk (01:33.673)

Yup. I know it's a great problem to have, but it's just so you get like the idea, beautiful day driving around today, really comfortable sunny day and your record fits it so well. Just a really nice listen, very kind of like upbeat feeling, but when you pay attention, there's a little darkness sprinkled in there too.

Carter Vail (01:37.806)

Yeah, absolutely.

Carter Vail (01:59.15)

Yeah, I think so. It's like I am a big fan of making music that is sounds happy and then the lyrics kind of portray a different story. I personally don't really listen to any music that isn't, you know, over 120 BPM. Like that's kind of my my lower limit. I need stuff that's like pretty upbeat. But I love like I love sad lyrics and I think like a band that does that really well is like the National.

And so with this record, I was I feel like I was really trying to like make a breakup record But still have it be kind of like summer bops

Brian Funk (02:30.473)

Yes.

Brian Funk (02:42.505)

Yeah, it's got an optimism to it, I guess. You know, I guess breakups are like the end of something, but there's a sadness, but there's like that hint of optimism. You know, if you're not paying attention, like it's, it's kind of like when you see a person, right? They're smiling and they look happy. But then if you dig in a little, sometimes you realize there's more going on.

Carter Vail (03:03.15)

For sure, for sure. Yeah, I think I'm lucky to be mostly a very happy person. So it's a, I'm a pretty upbeat person as is.

Brian Funk (03:13.929)

That's that's a good thing. I get that impression, you know checking out some of your work on social media lots of humorous stuff You definitely have a lot of fun with music and I love that because sometimes people get so serious all the time about their art, you know, but you're definitely enjoying yourself and You know bringing smiles to people's faces

Carter Vail (03:37.39)

Yeah, I think that like the thing, sorry, I think my wifi might be a little sketchy.

Carter Vail (04:24.974)

Yeah, I think the, I think like there is seriousness in making music. Like even the funny songs, there are serious parts to them. Like I take the parts that I'm playing and like the mixing of it and all that stuff pretty seriously. But like the sum total of it, I don't think has to be serious. Like, you know, you can make it, you make it and you throw it up. But I think people like harbor their songs for too long.

and they build it up too much in their head before releasing it into the world. And I think a really fun way to go about making music is going, what am I gonna make today? Make some crap and then by the afternoon it's out in the world. I don't think that should be the only way you make music, but that's a fun way to make music.

Brian Funk (05:15.337)

I agree, I like that working fast idea, just kind of plowing through things, not spending too much time laboring over every little decision, because if you get caught up in that, you never finish anything.

Carter Vail (05:27.566)

Exactly.

Brian Funk (05:30.281)

And you seem very prolific with your work. It seems like you do that quite a bit. Is that a way you like to go most of the time?

Carter Vail (06:58.062)

Technical difficulties, hell yeah.

Carter Vail (07:09.294)

That is true. I just recently had this thing where my screen cracked for my MacBook and I brought it into the Apple shop to get repaired and my, I went back to pick it up and they were like, okay, just give us a second. We're reinstalling the operating system. And I said, why the hell are you doing that? And, apparently it was factory reset. thankfully most of the like big projects I was working on, I had backed up, but it still was a pain.

It was a big pain in the ass.

Brian Funk (07:40.008)

Yeah, like, yeah, that's kind of inevitable with this stuff, right? Like you're gonna lose stuff, you know, you need backups. You need really two backups at all times. Sorry to hear that. Well, let me ask you, how do you deal with that? I get the feeling you have a kind of lighthearted approach to it.

Carter Vail (07:51.118)

Yeah, for sure.

Carter Vail (07:55.374)

It happens.

Carter Vail (08:03.982)

Yeah, I wouldn't happen to me. I was like, dang for a second. I was like, shit, this is gonna suck. and then after that, and like that first 10 seconds of like, no, what was on my computer that I didn't back up? I was like, okay, well we're about to start a new record. Having a, you know, an entirely new computer again, maybe not the worst thing. And, you know, it's been fun to like re

create new templates and set up my system to like now I can like perfectly set up my my like filing system in my computer and like you know I hadn't ever done that and now I have like a really nice system so there's there's positives to it there's definitely some negatives but we're looking at the positives

Brian Funk (08:43.24)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (08:52.168)

Yeah, I'm like inheriting my early decisions from when I first started even on a computer. So it's like, you just deal with that and like it compounds over time. And sometimes you almost wish like, man, I could just start over, just go fresh.

Carter Vail (09:06.414)

I know. Well, if you're making that decision, it's a lot better. If like that's an active thing, you're like, all right, next week we're getting a new computer and we're starting from scratch. That's awesome. Like that is the best feeling in my opinion.

Brian Funk (09:18.312)

Right, not what it's forced upon you.

So we were kind of talking like for a second before we hit record, you mentioned like having like gear around you. And I was watching one of your recent videos where you're making, you're making beats like on YouTube, basically. I think you did like two episodes of that. And I was, I really enjoyed how simple you have everything. You had a kick and a snare and a high hat, I think next to you and guitar and maybe a bass off camera. And that seemed like all you needed to get going.

Carter Vail (09:43.662)

Yeah.

Carter Vail (09:50.222)

Yeah, for the most part, I mean, I think that I'm like a bad enough musician to where having the like lowest tier and like the simplest version of every instrument is a huge benefit. Like I'm not a good drummer, so I don't need five toms. I can do kick, snare, hi -hat, and that is probably more than enough. And yeah, so like, but my room is also like very small. Like the room I'm in right now is the one I do all my recording in.

And I like filling it up with toys, but there's a hard limit to how many toys I can have in here before it doesn't feel good to be in. But I did just get a Prophet 6 yesterday, which I'm stoked about. Hell yeah.

Brian Funk (10:33.189)

nice. Actually sitting right next to me. Yeah, that's kind of the centerpiece. Yeah, you're gonna love it. Yeah.

Carter Vail (10:39.694)

Yeah. my God. It's the best. I'm waiting for my double tiered stand to come in so I can put my Juno on top of it. but yeah, that's like a piece of equipment that I've been like itching for for a while. And then, you know, I went on Facebook marketplace and I was like, there's one for half price that it would normally be. And it's five minutes away from me. So let's do it.

Brian Funk (11:00.617)

Nice. Yeah, it's a great synth. It's got this, there's a knob on it called slop. And it basically detunes everything. It changes the timing. It makes it a little more random. Well, they updated it. There's a setting that you can turn it to the vintage knob. And now, when you play a note, it's always slightly different.

Carter Vail (11:22.382)

okay.

Brian Funk (11:27.529)

tuning, the envelopes are slightly different speed and it just like comes to life. It's like an old synth, you know, how they kind of do what they want.

Carter Vail (11:34.478)

So if you were gonna put the slop knob in like an ideal position, where on the clock is it for you? Like how high is your, really? You got the slop cranked?

Brian Funk (11:43.849)

It's pretty far. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. Well, you, I wonder if you feel this way. because you play guitar, you play real instruments and you sing. sometimes I find everything's just too in tune. And if I'm trying to play guitar over some instruments that I programmed in, it's like the guitar is never perfectly in tune. And it feels, there's this like,

at odds feeling sometimes. And I think the best way to fix that is to make the stuff in the computer a little worse, you know, and this, and like kind of fits that way.

Carter Vail (12:20.014)

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, like, I think about, you know, that's just like another example of where I think not being the best at all instruments is comes in like super handy. Like, I got my own personal slop knob on on everything I'm doing, you know, like, and it's always set to about, like, I don't know, it's set to 90 % on most of the time. But

Brian Funk (12:37.928)

Yeah

Brian Funk (12:47.176)

You

Carter Vail (12:49.262)

Yeah, I mean, I think being too in tune for sure is not a great thing. And like, anytime you're quantizing something and you put it to 100%, you listen back and you're like, what is going on? Like, it just feels crazy. In my opinion.

Brian Funk (12:58.921)

Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It gets, yeah, I agree. It's stiff. It's like, Whoa, wait a minute. It's right, but it's wrong.

Carter Vail (13:07.022)

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk (13:09.736)

That was my very rude awakening when I first got a computer to record on and I was like, finally my drumming will be perfect. There's a grid I can put stuff to. And as soon as I did that, I was like, huh, like the song. It had this feeling like it was just coming along on a conveyor belt, you know? And like everything was just dropped on the spot. It was weird compared to when you just play.

Carter Vail (13:24.43)

Doesn't sing anymore, yeah.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Carter Vail (13:33.806)

I feel like, I mean, that's why I feel like you have so many people like eating up effects like, what is it, the RC -20, anything with like a warble on it. People are like, my God, that's sick. And I think it's great that like people are experimenting with those kinds of effects, like especially producers that are coming up now, you have people freaking like, my God, sorry, I'm all over the place, but the Tommy Richmond song.

Brian Funk (13:44.328)

Hmm.

Carter Vail (14:01.326)

the million dollar baby, which is like huge right now. His second biggest song is the same song, but just like put through a VHS machine. Like it just like lo -fied to shit, which is sick. I think it's awesome. Like throw some warble on something and everyone that is like, you know, 18 years old and hears it, it goes like, holy crap, what is happening here? It's cause people don't want to hear perfect shit. They want to hear messy slop knob kind of crap, which is awesome.

Brian Funk (14:16.328)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (14:29.833)

Yeah, I have a VHS machine right here. It's all ready to go where I can run the audio onto the tape. And the only tape I have is an old Christian Slater movie called Pump Up the Volume from the 80s, sort of early 90s. I think it makes it sound better just coming onto that tape too. Some magic.

Carter Vail (14:35.182)

Fuck yeah.

Carter Vail (14:48.334)

yeah. Yeah. I remember when I was when I was in college, I was biking to class and I was I was like an audio engineer and I did a lot of electrical engineering type stuff. And I was biking and I saw someone had thrown out this double deck cassette player, cassette player recorder. And I just thought it was like the coolest shit. And the only tape that was inside of it was car wash.

I don't know who it's by, but that working at the car wash. Like, yeah, just that. And so like I would like record stuff to this tape and you know, you have to like put the little like bit of tape over the two indents in the cassette to like ensure that you can record over it. And I just thought that was the coolest thing. Having like my record recorded to car wash, like, you know, being 17, I was like, man, this is bad. This is punk rock right here.

Brian Funk (15:20.296)

That's like 70s, yeah.

Brian Funk (15:39.547)

Yeah, right. Especially that song, right? Extra special.

Carter Vail (15:45.998)

Absolutely.

Brian Funk (15:48.232)

Yeah, there's something fun about the machine, you know, the mechanical stuff getting its hands on it. You know, I even think sometimes just running stuff through wires and then back into the computer through some electronics or something can really make a big difference.

Carter Vail (15:57.934)

Yeah.

Carter Vail (16:01.678)

it's like who's that producer that producer slash engineer that runs stuff through like pickles what's her name sin yeah so yeah like i've seen videos of hers where she's like yeah and if you put it through a dill spear it really brings out the warmth and i'm like there's no fucking way but also that's fucking cool as hell

Brian Funk (16:08.905)

that's a Sillium Asi, right? Yeah.

Brian Funk (16:23.241)

Yeah, I have her book. It's great. It's, I think it's called Recording Unhinged. But it's just like all kinds of crazy experiments and stuff she did with bands, like she produced Tool and all the weird stuff they did to get their sounds. Yeah, it's great. I love that kind of like adventurism in the music making. We're like, what can we do? What kind of weird stuff will happen? Yeah, we're like running it through a pickle. Like I wouldn't even know how to do that.

Carter Vail (16:28.558)

Yeah, makes sense.

Carter Vail (16:38.526)

my God.

So cool.

Carter Vail (16:50.926)

Yeah, I think in one of her productions there was like, she shot a piano, like they put a piano and mic'd it up in a field and then they shot it. And that was like something in the song. And like, yeah, it's so cool. If you have unlimited budget and you can do that kind of stuff, shoot some pianos.

Brian Funk (17:06.12)

Yeah. Right.

Brian Funk (17:12.232)

Yeah.

It's something I've been really paying a lot of attention to with recording. It's like having stories behind the things that go into your songs. It's so easy to just like dial up plugins and even like, guitar amps and stuff. but I had a guest on the show, Jeff Leisowitz, and he's a, he's actually a storyteller and he was saying like, you know, like Led Zeppelin rented out a castle and they put the guitar amp in the fireplace and put the mic at the top of the chimney.

and they recorded that guitar for whatever song. And he's like, how many guitars have been recorded since then? And we're talking about it 50 years later. It's something different. It's kind of special. And shooting the piano. Yeah.

Carter Vail (17:57.509)

I do wonder, I feel like a lot of that sort of thing can't sound that good, but because it's such a weird thing to do, they're like, well, the chimney mic has to be in the project. But I wonder how many engineers have been like, shit, now I have to have this terrible sounding mic because the band thinks it's cool.

Brian Funk (18:12.552)

Yeah, right.

Brian Funk (18:20.712)

Yeah, just in there somewhere, dirtying it up. Making people say, who the hell makes this?

Carter Vail (18:22.734)

Yeah.

Carter Vail (18:27.022)

Exactly.

Brian Funk (18:29.192)

Yeah, but it does, it has to go in. Well, you have an engineering background, right? I think I've read you were working in Nashville for a while, had a studio.

Carter Vail (18:40.174)

Yeah, had a little home studio. We called it Happy Camper Recording. And it was just like the our we had this kind of big extended basement area. And I lived with my band, this great bass player named Reed Gaines, drummer named Garrett Frakel and my keys player named Andre Bernier. And we would track, you know, some super mediocre stuff down there. We were

20 years old and we were not very good. But it was a really nice crash course in, you know, first off, like starting a business, but also like, okay, how can people are paying us to do this now? How can I mix this record to make it sound passable? And I think I got a lot better at my craft just from like, biting off more than I could chew for three years.

Brian Funk (19:33.097)

Yes, kind of pushing yourself to that limit seems to be, it's a great place. It's like exercise, I guess, right? If you're lifting something that's easy, nothing changes, but it's not until you're at the edge of your ability where things actually start to happen.

Carter Vail (19:51.63)

Yeah, absolutely.

Brian Funk (19:52.392)

Now, as an engineer, I'm kind of surprised to see how you like to work in such simple environments.

Carter Vail (20:01.422)

You're like, I'm kind of surprised your music sounds so fucking bad.

Brian Funk (20:04.201)

No, no, no, no. Your music sounds great. And it has a lot of vibe to it in the best possible way. You know, like it's not like hyper polished, but it's still poppy. It's got soul. Like, you know, it sounds like you have a slop knob, but I don't know if it's as high as you say it is, but I wonder.

Carter Vail (20:11.822)

Thank you.

Brian Funk (20:30.472)

Do you ever get the urge to take it to like a different level or is that better for you when you work in those kinds of environments?

Carter Vail (20:38.894)

You know, I think for me, the big...

Carter Vail (20:46.173)

I'm trying to minimize any bottleneck that I have to creating stuff. And so my studio is right next to my bedroom. Like I have, like the master bedroom of my house is my studio. And going, waking up and being able to just step into my studio and make stuff means I get to make a lot of stuff. Do I want to work in big, nice studios? Yeah, I think it'd be a lot of fun. And I've gotten lucky.

in being able to do some cool sessions in some of those kind of places, but I am really really fast at working in my spot and I don't think there's any real substitute for for you know ease of use. I just want to make my bar for making stuff as low as possible.

Brian Funk (21:40.009)

Right. I'm with you on that. I try to keep stuff set up, ready to go. Templates just so I'm not setting up mics and all that kind of stuff. And cause it's like every single extra detail is like a point of failure, potential point of failure where, no, if that doesn't work, then you're scratching your head. You're trying to, you're on the floor connecting wires and not quite as fun.

Carter Vail (22:04.846)

Yeah. And I just don't have the like wherewithal to if I'm trying to write a song and suddenly this for some reason I'm not getting output from my interface. I don't have the wherewithal to go. Okay, let's address that issue and then step right back into the creative process. I have to be if I start doing making something new, I need it to be seamless. And I've set up my studio to where it always works for me.

until my computer factory resets and then it doesn't work at all.

Brian Funk (22:40.809)

Yeah, there's always going to be something to come in and find you, but you know, keeping it simple, I think is great. Actually, one of my favorite new things I've got is this zoom four track. It's, it's the fastest thing I've ever recorded on. It's got two mic inputs and it has its own like zoom field recording mic and you can record four tracks on it. it's got a couple of effects in there, like a guitar amp even. So you can plug your guitar right in and.

Carter Vail (23:00.59)

yeah!

Brian Funk (23:10.057)

You just put four tracks on and then you can bounce them and then you can do four more and you can keep doing that. And then when you put it in the computer, it's all the tracks are there. You don't like lose anything. And it's as fast as you can go. It'll keep up with you, which is really exciting. Yeah.

Carter Vail (23:25.646)

I love that. I absolutely love that. Yeah, I have a task cam for channel behind my desk because at one point it was like a part of my setup when I was recording podcasts in here. Yeah, and it's like, it's any like useful tool that is speeding up the process is like, that's the key shit. It's not the like, super intricate fancy machines. It's always the like, well, if I have this one thing, it shaves a minute off of my like setup time.

and then it's golden.

Brian Funk (23:59.753)

Yeah, that's cool, man. When you're ready to write, what's your process like? Are you waiting around for inspiration? Are you just showing up and seeing what happens? How do you like to get to work when it's time to make music?

Carter Vail (24:14.638)

I am, I make stuff every day. So I'm like writing something new every day. Or I guess not new every time. Sometimes I'm like continuing work from the previous day. And my writing process feels like smashing my head against a wall until something happens. I don't feel like waiting for inspiration is a useful tactic when trying to like be an artist of any sort.

professionally. I think you have to, you have to, inspiration is far too fickle.

Brian Funk (24:53.768)

Yeah, yeah, fleeting and not always showing up. But I do find like when you show up, when you get to work, a lot of times stuff happens. Something happens that makes you excited. You sort of have to light the spark yourself and then get that going.

Carter Vail (25:12.654)

Yeah, absolutely.

Brian Funk (25:15.624)

Brian Funk (25:19.368)

Are you mostly writing as you record? Is that the way you like to work? Or is it a

Carter Vail (25:26.99)

I typically what comes first is like, I'll have a melody and like idea of a lyric. And, you know, with melody is coming some chord progression typically. So like, on the moment of like an idea actually surfacing, it's pretty much music and lyrics all at once. And

So in that way, no, I don't think it's like being recorded at the same time. But when I start like shaping lyrics further, typically there's already some stuff tracked. But the musical idea, I think it's important for me to have a concept of melody and lyric and idea before messing around with too many toys.

Brian Funk (26:20.392)

Right, something to just jump off from.

Carter Vail (26:23.374)

Yeah. Otherwise it's like, you know, if I make a really cool sounding drum and I have no idea what the lyric is going to be, I'm too, I'm too into the, I, what the drums are doing to ever be like, this is a love song or you know, it's, it's, I'm already screwed from at that point.

Brian Funk (26:37.128)

Right.

Yeah, I hear you. I think once you get that, it's all about for me anyway, figuring out the direction I'm trying to go. I might not have that clearly mapped out, but once I have like something thematic, some kind of perspective, something interesting to chase.

Carter Vail (27:03.118)

Yeah, absolutely. So when you're when you're tracking stuff, are you typically are you playing most of the instruments when you're doing things? It's like, are you are you jumping around on a bunch of different instruments?

Brian Funk (27:15.816)

Yeah. When I'm by myself. Yeah. I also play with a band too. So then I'm playing guitar and singing. So I've got kind of like both outlets, which is a lot of fun, but yeah, I try to jump it around pretty quick. whether it's even if I'm programming stuff, I'm trying to move fast. That's, almost, almost too fast. I like that approach just cause there's too many.

Carter Vail (27:26.286)

amazing.

Brian Funk (27:45.257)

decisions along the way that maybe don't belong in the early stages when you're writing, when you're coming up with ideas, when you're creating. If I start thinking about like a compressor on my snare drum or something, it's like.

Carter Vail (27:59.63)

Yeah, it's a different part of the creative brain. And as soon as you switch to that, it's so hard to get back into lyrics or into the composition aspect of it for me. Here's a question that I feel like is always telling for People Studio. How far is your drum kit, if you have one, to your computer?

Brian Funk (28:03.624)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (28:12.904)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (28:24.296)

can you see it? see where that light is. I'll try to point like that light right there. That's the drum. So that's like 10 feet away. It's,

Carter Vail (28:29.134)

Okay. Yeah.

Okay, okay. So it's when you when you're recording drums, do you have to go to your computer hit record and then go to the drums or is it do you have a way to control your DAW from there?

Brian Funk (28:44.745)

I've done that where I have it, but usually I'm just hitting record and running back. I've got a set of wireless headphones that work well and just run to it and go for it.

Carter Vail (28:49.774)

Okay.

Carter Vail (28:57.422)

a wireless set of headphones that have a low enough latency to where you can actually record with them.

Brian Funk (29:01.512)

Yes. I don't know how they say the name there. It's like AI AI AI, I guess they call it. they're not Bluetooth though. Yeah. I don't know what, what that name means, but no, they have this special, low latency transmitter. You plug into your interface and it connects to that. They also have Bluetooth too, but

Carter Vail (29:11.086)

some bad branding.

Carter Vail (29:15.662)

They're not Bluetooth?

Brian Funk (29:28.808)

you use that other connection, I forget what they call it, but it works great.

Carter Vail (29:33.822)

it's probably what the same sort of frequency range that they're using for like in -ear packs, wireless in -ear packs for live stuff.

Brian Funk (29:41.961)

Yeah, I don't know actually could be. but it is really nice, especially when you're putting guitars on and, you know, switching instruments, you're not dealing with like that extra cable. yeah, I, I recommend them. I really do. I think they're, they sound great and they're, they're fun. Cause I am, I'm walking back and forth a lot. So there's a bit I see.

Carter Vail (29:43.822)

Hmm. Interesting.

Carter Vail (29:55.214)

I'm gonna have to get some of those.

Brian Funk (30:07.112)

in your videos you've got it where you're just like kind of sitting at the drums already and you just hit record and I think that's a really cool way to work.

Carter Vail (30:12.494)

Yeah, my setup, here I'm gonna pull this back. My setup is desk or actually, you know what, if this box is my room, I have my desk and then drum kit, synths, couch. So it's like all of it is just in this one corner and I can easily control my computer from all parts of it, which is really nice.

Brian Funk (30:31.016)

Nice.

Brian Funk (30:39.532)

Yeah, it just keeps you going, right? Is that the process you used for this album for a hundred Cowboys?

Carter Vail (30:48.59)

Yeah, yeah, it's all recorded in my room. Actually, the whole of 100 Cowboys. This was the first time I've co -written a project. And this record was co -written with my housemate Noah Tauscher, who's also a fantastic producer. And, you know, it was fun to like get to have someone else's opinions on a song for once. Like I've always just been

alone doing this kind of stuff and having him being like, what if we didn't do this thing that you do on every one of your songs? I'm like, that's a good point, maybe. And so it was a really fun experience and it was about a month long of intensively being in the studio and grinding away on this record.

Brian Funk (31:40.425)

As far as like the collaboration, is it more production style or are you writing the music and the lyrics together?

Carter Vail (31:48.782)

We're writing, yeah, we wrote music and lyrics together. We co -produced all of it, or most of it. I think there are one or two songs maybe that he didn't write on slash maybe didn't produce on.

Yeah, it's it's fun. It's a good time. I'm not used to collaboration. I also have known him since we lived together in college. So I've known him for like eight years. So it's someone I like deeply trust with my music. So that has been good.

Brian Funk (32:20.616)

Yeah, because vulnerability, right? That's a big part of it.

Carter Vail (32:24.91)

Yes, unfortunately.

Brian Funk (32:27.433)

Yeah, playing in a band and I've kind of done my whole life, but in the early days, it was before I ever had a chance to do stuff myself. So there's, you know, you're collaborating with people, but you're also like kind of fighting to get your ideas out there a little bit. And after having enough time doing it by myself, it's so nice to work with people and like not care about that at all.

I don't care if my idea makes it, like we're just trying to get an idea that's the best idea. And to have people that you can share that with and know that they feel the same way. And if they tell you some sort of criticism, they say they don't like this or that, or the other thing that you did, you know that it's coming from the place of we're trying to make the best song we can, not like you're bad, Brian. Like I don't like you because I don't like your guitar part.

Carter Vail (33:19.79)

Yeah.

Carter Vail (33:23.502)

The idea is bad. Right. The idea is bad, but separate from that, you are also bad. That's how I always take it. No, I am. Hey, I'm lucky in that I don't I don't think I've ever or at least not since collaborating more seriously in the last like four years. I'm pretty good about not taking that kind of critiques personally. Yeah, I

Brian Funk (33:27.272)

Thanks for watching!

Yeah.

Carter Vail (33:52.27)

I've always been on the, you know, other people tend to have better ideas than me, especially in like the short term. I feel like my strong suit is in coming up with a lot of ideas and other people are probably better at editing them down. So I'm pretty good at not taking that kind of stuff personally.

Brian Funk (34:15.912)

Nice. That's good to have. It's a good quality and someone you want to work with too.

In reading this bio they sent me for the album, as fun and kind of playful as the album can be, it is based on some kind of more serious subject matter, more personal stuff than you've kind of written about in the past.

Carter Vail (34:41.806)

Yeah, I think so. I mean, this I've written about serious stuff in the past. I think this one was just the first time I've gone through something and then said, okay, I'm going to make this record about that. It was the first time I've gone in with like the intention of writing multiple songs about one part of my life. And so that felt very intentional and it felt very cathartic.

Brian Funk (35:07.688)

So how does that work with a collaborator then when you're trying to do that? Because you would think if you're going to work with other people, it might be less of that. But in your case, you've actually went further in that direction.

Carter Vail (35:19.726)

Yeah, I think it wouldn't have worked with other collaborators, but because Noah has been like my best friend for so long and was a pretty key part of getting through that period, it was, it felt very natural and I feel, I feel very lucky to feel that open with someone that I can also trust creatively. So like,

talking about that kind of stuff and writing this sort of a record felt supernatural with him.

Brian Funk (35:54.504)

Yeah, that's really cool. I guess sometimes when you're around people like that, you tend to open up around them. I mean, I've had that with friends where the conversation is almost like a learning experience for me about how I'm feeling, because now I'm finally talking about it.

Carter Vail (36:10.574)

Right. Yeah. Yeah. You kind of have to like piece it together and it, you know, you kind of think, you know, what you think about stuff. And then when you, when it's put to task, when, when someone goes, okay, but what, what is that feeling like for you? You starting to, you know, you start talking and the idea becomes more fully formed. And that is a helpful, you know, that's why people have, you know, need to like sound out their ideas. That's what sounding boards are.

Brian Funk (36:41.065)

Yeah, right. Yeah. A lot of good sessions with people that I've collaborated with start with conversations, just chatting. last summer I went to a songwriting retreat in Monterey, California. You're in LA, right? So, okay. Monterey is so beautiful there. And, we're writing with people you never met before. And that's, that's kind of wild, but it was really fun.

Carter Vail (37:01.038)

yeah.

Brian Funk (37:11.624)

we started with conversation, you know, finding out about each other and then like little things pop up here and there. And those sort of become like thematic things that make it into the music. And the stuff that I probably would have never thought to write myself, but then when you realize like, yeah, we kind of both feel that same thing, even though we're talking about different situations, that universal human experience starts to come out.

Carter Vail (37:35.15)

Yeah.

and that's what music is for. It's finding those overlaps. Yeah, I do love when you have sessions like that and they go well, it feels even better because it's like, we didn't even know each other and we were able to find this common ground. And then of course, sometimes it doesn't work at all and what you write is terrible, but.

That's the give and take of those sorts of sessions.

Brian Funk (38:10.345)

Yeah, well, I think that's true really of anybody, right? Even by yourself or even with the band. I mean, sometimes you just don't get anything, you know, and that's that. You just kind of keep going.

Carter Vail (38:24.494)

That's my girlfriend. She's trying not to.

Brian Funk (38:26.76)

Okay

Very good. That was almost get away with it.

Carter Vail (38:32.974)

Yeah, until I called her out.

Brian Funk (38:37.928)

So we're talking about like that universal thing. I think it's interesting how sometimes you find that when you get very specific and you like one of the examples that in your songs, that song Nashville is very specific about this like experience of being there and like thinking about somebody's family and their dog. And you could very easily have not had that exact.

Scenario, but know what that's like and it takes you to that feeling like right there It seems like you you like to do a bit of that kind of stuff in your writing kind of these I Guess like specific things and then you kind of get to these like larger themes with that

Carter Vail (39:28.046)

Yeah, I think so. I think that's kind of like the most like gratifying part of songwriting is being able to put like very specific parts of my own life into it. And it's almost like it's it feels the same as having like an inside joke with myself, except it's not really a joke. It's more of just like, this is a thing that I

only know about and I get to put it into something that much many more people will hear and might feel something because of but for me it's like no this is something that happened just to me and no one knows exactly about the beta fish from that song Nashville but I love the idea that something that specific to myself can make other people feel a way about something

So it feels like a little secret I'm putting into my work.

Brian Funk (40:28.392)

Yeah, it's like, you can replace that beta fish with anything. There's another line. I don't remember if it was that song or not, but you mentioned like taking a picture with maybe Phil or it was a very specific Jake. It was like an actual person's name. And that's like, I don't even really know anybody named Jake, but he get the idea. It's cool.

Carter Vail (40:39.118)

Jake. Yeah.

Carter Vail (40:49.166)

Yeah, I yeah, that's that's just like when I when we were when we first got to Nashville when I first moved there there was our friend Jake Came and visited and he helped us move some stuff in and we just took this one picture that was hanging in our basement in Nashville for a really long time and it was it was one of the last things that we took down before leaving and it just felt like a really significant part of my own, you know personal lore for living in Nashville

And so then, yeah, it felt really natural to put it into the song Nashville. And yeah, people that listen to the song have no clue what that's about. But for me, I'm like, yeah, there's the Jake line.

Brian Funk (41:33.416)

Yeah. Does Jake know about it? Yeah. Nice. Nice. Those little things though, they make it more personable. It makes you as an artist come to life in the music as a person. And yeah, I guess like since you're bringing on into those like more universal human themes, it helps people connect and relate to what you're going through and what you're doing.

Carter Vail (41:36.302)

Yeah, I played it for him.

Carter Vail (42:03.982)

Yeah, absolutely.

Brian Funk (42:06.312)

I love the sound of the record, really clean sounding, but like got like a lot of character to it. It's not, I wouldn't call it slick though. You know what I mean?

Carter Vail (42:16.046)

Thank you.

Carter Vail (42:22.094)

Yeah, it's not a super glossy record, but also it's not like a... It doesn't feel like super distorted and tapey and grimy. I think if I could remake it, I'd lean it more dirty. I'd dirty it up more than it is. But yeah, it's kind of like just a snapshot of what I liked to listen to when I was making the record, is how I tried to make it.

If I made it now, it would be a totally different record, I think.

Brian Funk (42:55.849)

Hmm. Yeah, I really liked the vocal sound. I think it was even on the first track listening. Is that Arizona? I think it was called.

Carter Vail (43:03.31)

Yeah, Arizona.

Brian Funk (43:05.8)

Very present upfront vocal, pretty dry, clean. Do you remember much about recording that?

Carter Vail (43:13.774)

Yeah, the way I record vocals is, I think is gonna piss people off a little bit. I only ever do, I think the most vocal tracks I've ever done, or most vocal takes I've ever done is like five, because I just can't stand recording vocals. And I do them from this chair I'm in right here with this mic, just, you know, editing on my computer and like,

controlling the DAW just facing the computer with this mic. And I think it was going through an Avalon, which is what it's going through currently. And I like it being compressed with, I think it might've been compressed with Devil Lock, the Soundtoys plugin. I think that it's such an intense compressor, but it makes my vocals sound pretty cool. And yeah, I like tight and dry vocals. I like double tracking stuff. Yeah.

Brian Funk (44:13.512)

What kind of mic do you have now? Is it like a Universal Audio?

Carter Vail (44:17.006)

Yeah, this is the UA -SD1. I love it. It's fantastic. I also recently have been experimenting with the OMA. I don't even know if there's like a model number. It's just the OMA condenser mic. And that's been cool. The problem with condensers in my room is just I live right next to the highway and it gets super noisy. So it can be difficult.

Brian Funk (44:20.168)

Okay.

Brian Funk (44:39.848)

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can like hear my neighbor breathing on mine. You know, it's like, like, yeah, sometimes I've, I've picked up some interesting sounds in the background. It's a, it's a funny way to realize like all the noise around you. You put your headphones on, you're like, wow. I didn't notice that hum. I didn't notice like that. I can hear this and that are the coming out.

Carter Vail (44:45.998)

Love that. Maybe that makes it even better.

Carter Vail (45:05.582)

I didn't know the AC was that loud. Like that's always the big one for me. I'm like, shit, that's got some volume to it.

Brian Funk (45:08.424)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right. You're just like living with it all the time. Yeah. I've always trying to figure out a good, vocal mic, you know, just, I think I'm, I'm like you though. I kind of do like that's a dynamic, I guess, right. That you have, there's something, it's a Hile PR, is it PR 30 PR 40. It's kind of like a broadcast microphone.

Carter Vail (45:16.654)

Mm -hmm.

Carter Vail (45:31.886)

Yeah. What are you using right now?

Carter Vail (45:41.358)

Okay.

Brian Funk (45:44.617)

I like it very much. even for vocals and I do the same thing as you, I'm like sitting here at the desk and just singing or just, or, you know, turning knobs as I do it. And, it's, it's just nice. It's, rather than getting up. Yeah, it is. It's like, I'm just like doing this. I'm just getting something quick and I'm not going in the vocal booth and transforming or anything.

Carter Vail (45:55.47)

Yeah.

Carter Vail (46:01.166)

It's lower stakes. I know. Yeah.

Carter Vail (46:11.502)

I hate that. I know, I know anytime I'm doing sessions where other people are engineering, which is like very infrequently and they're like, okay, let's lay down some vocals. You want to hop in the booth? I'm like, I so desperately don't want to hop in the booth. Like that doesn't sound fun, but then inevitably I do it and we know what we come away with is bad because I'm not, I'm not a singer like that. I'm not a performer like that where I can be like, okay,

it's on now. All right, let's do this. I have to just be like, I have to in my head make it the lowest stakes possible. And then it comes out how I want it.

Brian Funk (46:47.144)

Hmm. That's probably a good way to think about a lot of stuff though, lowest stakes possible.

Carter Vail (46:53.262)

Yeah, I think so. It's a good way to operate.

Brian Funk (46:56.232)

I mean, really, what are the stakes, right? Like, what are we really doing here?

Carter Vail (47:00.622)

Yeah, we're making silly songs from our bedroom. Come on, that's the whole thing.

Brian Funk (47:05.48)

Yeah, it's about as high stakes as trying to find a permit for my kayak, right? Just making noises. Yeah, good problems to have. I'm very stressed out about this vocal part.

Carter Vail (47:12.814)

the problems we have.

Carter Vail (47:23.054)

I know, it's all silly, but it's fun. And it's a lot better than a lot of other potential jobs. And I love doing it. It's so much fun.

Brian Funk (47:33.704)

How much time are you spending with the social media aspect of it? You've got like, your thing is so on lock. I was really impressed about it. Just you've got like this, you've got the look to it. You've got the, you know, just overall vibe and one thing after another, just like really well put together, very consistent.

Carter Vail (47:51.822)

Thank you.

Carter Vail (47:57.454)

I appreciate that. Yeah, I try to be super consistent with it because, you know, for social media stuff, there she is. For social media stuff, it's important to like, you know, consistency is kind of the whole thing. I'm lucky enough to really enjoy doing that kind of stuff. Like I love making funny songs. It takes me about

Brian Funk (48:06.104)

Carter Vail (48:21.966)

The thing that takes the longest is coming up with something funny. So if I wake up, like with certain songs, I've just woken up and been like, this is a funny idea. And so if there's an idea already planted, it takes me maybe 45 minutes to an hour to record the song and then 30 minutes to shoot and edit it. So all in all, yeah, like we're coming up on two hours for putting these together and I'll make it in the morning and then put out in the afternoon for the most part. And that's just

That's part of the reason why the efficiency thing is so important for me. It's because I need to be able to put stuff out all the time. And so it's, I don't have time to be like messing with new templates and rewiring stuff.

Brian Funk (49:06.888)

Right. And I guess you probably have templates, not just for the music, but the video stuff as well.

Carter Vail (49:13.038)

yeah I have like effect like presets that I've created that you know I also have a green screen that drops down from my ceiling which is really nice like I've made the whole system very efficient

Brian Funk (49:25.672)

Nice.

Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I have a green screen, but it's such a pain in the ass to set up and it's always wrinkly. And it's like, I don't use it because of that.

Carter Vail (49:35.022)

Exactly.

Exactly. You need the look at this. I'm going to give you I'm going to fill you in on how awesome my setup is. Look at that. This comes right down. I have a little crank. Yeah, it's the best. And then my camera and light is set up right behind me and we're locked in.

Brian Funk (49:46.984)

It's right down in front of you. That's so cool.

Mm -hmm. that's so cool. Yeah. For people watching or listening, the green screen literally just came like right in front of them. And it just perfect though. Nice and easy. Yeah. Cause there's no time right for messing around. Cause that's the stuff that, for me, it's, it's like the least enjoyable, all that kind of, you know, I just want to make the stuff. I don't want to be messing around and trying to figure out how to set things up.

Carter Vail (50:07.566)

I know.

Carter Vail (50:23.342)

Exactly. Exactly.

Brian Funk (50:26.92)

it's great stuff. I'm really enjoying it. I'm really happy. I've, I've discovered it and gotten to go into your world. there's so many funny videos. The pornography one was great. I've got a kick out of that. And so much good wordplay too. very fun stuff. but the album is beautiful. It really is. It's, it's really cool to see like these two dimensions to your work and

Carter Vail (50:44.11)

Thank you.

Brian Funk (50:55.529)

There's still like that hint of playfulness on the album, but it's also got something else going on there. You can relate to like on a lonely night or a long drive or something by yourself. So that's really cool, really great work, man.

Carter Vail (51:09.07)

for sure. I really appreciate that. I'm loving making stuff right now and I'm very lucky to be surrounded by people that are very supportive and people are, I think for a long time I felt a little embarrassed by the career path I've chosen. I always felt like, man, the people from high school must be like, what the fuck is Carter doing now? Why is he making these songs about, you know?

Brian Funk (51:35.048)

Right?

Carter Vail (51:38.67)

pornography. And now, you know, people from like back in my hometown have reached out and been like, love what you're doing. Like, this is so cool. And like, my parents are awesome about being like, like, when I when I told them that I wanted to be in music, they were like, hell yeah, go do that. And so I have been super lucky in that regard. Yeah, and I love it.

Brian Funk (51:56.072)

this.

Brian Funk (52:05.096)

You can tell, man, it comes through. It really does. And that's one of the most important things I think we can all do in our music is put that passion and make sure it gets through to the listener.

Carter Vail (52:17.806)

Hell yeah.

Brian Funk (52:20.04)

So listen, I'll send people to your website. I'll send them some links to the album when it comes out. That's July 19th, 100 Cowboys, Carter Vale. Anything else before we wrap this one up?

Carter Vail (52:33.881)

no, thanks so much for having me. I had a, I had a blast. I'm, I'm really grateful to get to chat music stuff with y 'all. It's, it's, it was fun.

Brian Funk (52:44.488)

Man, anytime. If you want to come back, we'll do it again.

Carter Vail (52:46.894)

Absolutely. I'm always down.

Brian Funk (52:49.192)

Excellent. Thank you.

podcastBrian FunkCarter vail, 100 cowboys, music production podcast