Lineup
Three operators. Everyone owns what they run.
____________________________ | ☆ I D A H O ☆ | | D E V O | |__ Scenic _________ 2006 __|
Owner/operator: Eric Eaglstun. Songwriter, lead vocals, guitar — and the hand on most of the other machines too. Based in Boise, Idaho. Files everything under his own rig.
§1 — WHAT HE DOES
Writes the songs and sings them in a voice between confession and weather report. Plays guitar, synths, bass — whatever the take needs that isn’t a drum. Builds the record in the same room he answers email in. A guitar line that arrives late and apologizes for nothing is usually him.
Hear one: Echoes and Static — the first single, from LOSS LEADER LP.
§2 — THE RIG
Full-stack web developer by day, up through character animation and fine art before the code — which is why he cares how a thing feels, not just whether it compiles. Owns the instrument, operates it, rewires it when it won’t say what he means. Same move, every layer down.
The name is borrowed from the long-haul owner/operator, the kind who owns the rig he drives. His is a 2006 Suburban wearing an Idaho plate that reads DEVO. No song is literally about trucking; the highway is the metaphor and the freight is emotional. We are all DEVO. He just has the plate to prove it.
§3 — CURRENT STATUS
Hauling a recording rig into the mountains — the loft becomes a tracking room. The goal is keepers: scratch takes, room tone, a chorus sung wrong on purpose and kept that way.
Make something honest before you make something good.
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____________________________ | 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 | | K I C K / S N A R E | |__ count it in ____________|
Owner/operator: Caleb Ebe. Drums. The live engine of OWNER/OPERATORS and a full member of the band — not a hired pair of hands, a partner with a vote and a backbeat. Owns the kit, operates the kit.
§1 — WHAT HE DOES
Real drums against programmed precision. The record runs on mechanical-but-human time — locked enough to dance to, loose enough to mean it. Where the album leaned on session players, Caleb is re-cutting takes in his own hand and tracking what comes next.
A fill that lands a hair behind the grid and refuses to apologize is usually him.
§2 — FULL MEMBER, NOT SESSION
OWNER/OPERATORS started as one man and a hard drive. It isn’t anymore. Caleb is a writing member going forward — in the room when the songs get built, not just when they get tracked. The trio is the band now.
§3 — CURRENT STATUS
Headed into the record with the rest of the operators. Re-cutting drums, writing the next thing, keeping mechanical time honest.
Make something honest before you make something good.
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____________________________ | E · A · D · G | | L O W E N D F I R S T| |__ hold the floor _________|
Owner/operator: Mike Shumann. Bass. The floor everything else stands on, and a full member of OWNER/OPERATORS — not a sideman, a partner with a vote and a root note. Owns the rig, operates the rig.
§1 — WHAT HE DOES
Locked-in basslines — the part of doom-groove that makes it groove. Melodies built for dancing need a floor that doesn’t move: in the pocket, on the root, dragging the whole thing forward by the hips. Where the album was tracked solo, Mike is re-cutting bass in his own hand and writing what comes next.
A line that sits so far in the pocket you don’t notice it until it stops is usually him.
§2 — FULL MEMBER, NOT SIDEMAN
OWNER/OPERATORS started as one man and a hard drive. It isn’t anymore. Mike is a writing member going forward — in the room when the songs get built, not just when they get tracked. The trio is the band now.
§3 — CURRENT STATUS
Headed into the record with the rest of the operators. Re-cutting bass, writing the next thing, holding the floor.
Make something honest before you make something good.
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