Have a listen to Munich-based quintet Fazer’s fourth studio album, ‘Yamaha’ via Squama Recordings. The project blends indie, jazz, and psychedelic rock with humor and depth.
Fazer embraced a do-it-yourself approach and recorded and mixed the record with engineer and friend Noël Riedel at bassist Martin Brugger’s studio in central Munich. Without the pressure of a costly daily rate, the band took plenty of time to figure out the setup and experiment with sound. Brugger gives an example: “We would spend an afternoon looking for the perfect reverb for the trumpet and ended up using the spooky-sounding staircase next door as an echo chamber.” While all tracks were still recorded live with everyone in the room, there are noticeably more overdubs on ‘Yamaha’ compared to previous records.
The addition of acoustic guitars, trombones, Wurlitzer, and assorted percussion brings depth and color to Fazer’s main setup. The album title is inspired by pre-existing artwork and was created before any new music was written. The band explains, “There are several companies and products named Fazer, and friends would often send us photos of a chocolate bar or a motorbike with our name on it. Max Schachtner (of Squama) came up with a draft that combined the logos of Yamaha and Fazer, their line of motorbikes. It resonated with us so much that we decided to base the entire release around it.”
Check out Honda, from the album YAMAHA
Photo credit: Maximilian Schachtner provided courtesy of Practice Media
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