For the first Castle Collective Records compilation we asked artists, musicians, and writers to contribute tracks, images, and poetry around the theme animals. Peruse here. Jake Smith from Baked Alaska talks to us about the making of their track Dog Sense.
What was the songwriting/making process?
I approached work buddy Francis to see if he’d like to do a collaboration – I sent him some beats and bass and he sent back keyboard and guitar parts. I then put together 4 tracks from the sounds I got.
How does it relate to the animals theme?
The track on the comp ‘Dog sense’ features biologist Rupert Sheldrake who I sampled off Russel Brands Under the skin podcast. I like Sheldrake’s open minded approach to science and this sample fitted the mood of the track well.
How did you record it?
I set up loops of all the parts in Ableton and jammed a live mix using a USB controller a bit like a dub producer would have done on a mixing board back in the day. I then edited the resulting track to a sensible length and cut in the aforementioned sample.
How long did it take you to make this?
A day or so. I like to work as quickly as possible and favour a fresh spontaneous sound with errors and dirt rather than trying to attain ‘perfection’.
Where can we find more of your work?
Jake Smith | Free Listening on SoundCloud
MoonDrive71 | Moon Drive71 | Free Listening on SoundCloud
Music | RESONANT BLUE (bandcamp.com)
Memori Yobidashi | Memori Yobidashi | Spirit of Gravity (bandcamp.com)
Castle Cooperative Records 
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