Jars of Clay likes Macs; used 10 computers to create new album

When the inspiration to record an album hits you, you've just got to go with it. And when a platinum-selling band like Jars of Clay wants to record something new, it steps straight into a Mac-based studio in Nashville and lets that inspiration roll... straight to the hard drive.

The members of Jars of Clay use their studio for recording, mixing, editing and producing music, and for DVD and video production. "Yeah, we're Mac freaks," confesses Stephen Mason, guitarist. And he's not lying. The band owns 10 Macs, and has a dedicated Mac-based recording studio in Nashville.

Since Jars is so hands on with its recording process, the band decided to self-manage the video editing process as well. So the band gave the opportunity to its guitar tech, Sam Shifley, also a budding filmmaker. "Sam shot live footage from our Fall 2000 tour, studio footage from the making of our next record and interview footage using a Canon XL1, Bolex H16, Bell and Howell Super 8," says Mason. "It was edited on a Graphite iMac DVSE 500 using iMovie."

"It was very low-pressure," says Mason. "There was plenty of time for Sam to experiment, and show us 'weeklies' as he was working in the studio at the same time we were recording the record. The flexibility of using iMovie and the DV format gave us the ability to be more hands-on, and come up with something that feels personal, a bit rough around the edges, yet still high quality."

This hands-on approach also spread to the design of the band's latest record, for which lead singer Dan Haseltine did most of the photography and layout on his iBook using Photoshop, Quark Express and a 1972 Polaroid land camera, with a little help from another friend.

The new Jars record, The Eleventh Hour, is scheduled for release March 5, 2002, with a simultaneous DVD release. The record was produced by the band over the course of nine months, was mixed by Jack Joseph Puig and mastered by Bob Ludwig.

Read more about Jars of Clay's fascination with Macs at www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2001/12/jarsofclay.