BingBong started planning to record in 2015.  We originally planned on traveling to a recording studio in North Carolina but logistics got the best of us.  In early 2016 we began recording demos and really worked on our song arrangements.  The added attention to detail brought our live performance up a notch.

A couple of us had read a story in the Isthmus (the local weekly) about a new recording studio in Madison, Williamson Magnetic Recording.  After contacting them and touring their studio, we knew we had found the place.  Our goal was to record a single (two songs) over the course of a weekend and see how it turned out.

Williamson Magnetic Recording is an all analog studio nestled in the basement of an old east side Madison building.  They got their 1989 Sony console from somewhere out east, driving out and back to pick it up (it barely fits in the control room).  At the helm was seasoned professional & local legend Mark Haines.  He was assisted by the very talented Tessa Echeverria.  The trick would be to record a four piece band using only 8 tracks (1″ tape).

(Pictured is a small part of the massive Sony console and a cue sheet for Spitfire Lover).

So, one cold weekend in November 2016, the members of BingBong laid down the tracks for Spitfire Lover and It’s Complicated.  A month later, we had the rough mixes and we were so happy with them that…KaBOOM! The project that was to be a single became a full length album, Pop Restoration.