Making of You & The Settle Down Good Music Video

By Ezra Vancil & The Congregation

The making of Settle Down Good and A Album

The album You was made mostly at Congress House Studio and also my home studio in the Dallas Texas Area. Watch this musical exploration, layer by layer, of the making of the song and the video for 'settle down good'.

In the end, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. When I think of it, though, I don't think of all the recording, or the cool gear, or of the studio ... I think of the people I made this album with.

A Dream Album

All my albums start as a 'dream album'. Many of them never get finished. Some do. Either way, they all seem impossible when I begin. Sometimes the financing isn't coming together. Other times, the band isn't coming together, or the songs just are jelling.

This album, titled "You," was by far the most challenging album I've ever made. It took a few years of constant work and re-working. I even lost the tracks at one point and had to start over. I think because it was so hard to complete, it also has become so special to me. Twelve songs that I will remember always.

Part of my vision for this album was going back into the real deal studio. And one of my favorite studios at that, [The Congress House in Austin TX]((http://congresshouse.com).

The Studio Days Compared To The Home Studio Days

In the good old times—which I thankfully got to experience a little bit of—we musicians went into the studio proper to make an album. Sometimes we lived there until we completed it.

It was an exhilarating adventure. Lots of money was at stake. Managers, producers, and musicians alike were under stress. There was clock bending schedules. There was alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and groupies.

At some point, someone in the band would crack, and there would be a big fight. Eventually, the groupies would be sent home. The cork would go in the whiskey, and you'd have to get some shit done because the budget was running out. That is when the magic happened. All before that point was a music party. At least, that was some of our experiences back then.

Nowadays, you make your album mostly at your house. And your band sometimes even works separately. It can get some stale results, to say the least.

This time around, I could do without the drugs, the alcohol, and the groupies, but I wanted that pressure cooker.
I wanted my band to feel the heat of the schedule and the time limit. And they did.

Something about that pressure brings out the brightest shine in our creative energies. I think that is what 'creativity' is anyway; a type of pressured-problem-solving. If there is no pressure from the budget, equipment, or strict time limit, you need to create tension so that creative fire can burst into sparks.

We didn't need to manufacture the pressure. It was real. I barely had enough money for the studio, and they all knew it. We didn't have enough for hotels for everyone, but that's okay; Mark, the studio owner, let some of us sleep at the studio. There were a few freakouts. At one point, the computer failed at the studio, which was a first for them. But we started back up the next day.

In the end, it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. When I think of it, though, I don't think of all the recording, or the cool gear, or of the studio ... I think of the people I made this album with and the people who helped me make this beautiful video.

Listen To The Full Album And Follow

You can listen to the full album on your favorite music app here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ezravancil/you-deluxe

Here is the finished music video for settle down good