Output 111 Reveals 5 Behind the Scenes Facts About the Making of His EP Retroactive Rock Record

There are some artists you just love from the instant you first hear their music. Something about the way it touches your experiences, your beliefs, the way you feel about the world.

And then there are the artists who you can’t help but adore because of who they are. Because behind the catchy song or the moving lyrics, there’s a human being that you know feels as deeply as you do, cares about the world in a way that you’ve never really seen, and takes all that passion and joy for the music he creates and pours it into not only his craft but his fans and everyone he works with.

Daniel Janvier of Output 1:1:1 is one of those people.

Having the opportunity to see Daniel’s new EP, Retroactive Rock Record, through his own eyes and experiences, was a fantastic opportunity, and it’s easy to see his passion in this piece. Enjoy.

1. The song “Black Jacket” has at least 44 different recorded takes. The EP was recorded in either Séan’s apartment or mine, which gave us a lot of free time to record everything. In the case of “Black Jacket,” I was obsessively reworking the sound of the guitars, or redoing the vocals, or redoing the cajon beat. By the time Séan’s schedule opened up, he was able to come over and record an actually proficient part compared to the
rambling, rhythmless pounding I laid down in every other take. Within two takes, and maybe one punch-in, he got that beat perfectly.

2. Possibly as a result of playing rhythm guitar in the past, I refused to record anything with strummed chords for this EP. Some songs feature full chords struck once, or picked through, but I did not want to keep any strummed guitar chords. A few of “Black Jacket”’s first 15 takes definitely had a proper rhythm guitar over the verse/chorus structure, but that was thankfully removed from the final track. I think I used it to write everything else around it. I just wanted to imply the chords, or let the listener try to pick up on it.

3. I’ve been keeping from sharing this EP with people, including my partner, for quite some time. Séan and I finished mixing the record about a year and a half to two years ago. I sat on it for a while, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it or how to go about sharing it. I partially wanted to use it as a method to recruit bandmates (which is going well), but until I reached out to Muddy Paw, I was unsure how I wanted to share this record with people. It was terrifying to think about releasing it, but Angela and Erica have been
nothing short of supportive, hard-working professionals and I am grateful for their work on this project.

4. My partner, Emma, is in the video for “Retroactive Rock Record”. At some point in the lead up to the release, it became really important to me to be able to include as many of the people I love in this project as I could. Séan and I have been close friends since we were nine years old. For a few years, he and I were in a band with Elias, who directed our videos. Michelle, who co-produced “Issue at Track Level” is one of the first people I opened up to about my anxiety as my panic attacks were ramping up. Stefan, who did the artwork, and I are good friends from our time at the University of Guelph. We reconnected recently when he had a few galleries pop up in Toronto. Working on a project with him has been a goal for years. Having all these people (and many others) support this project in some way is something I’m incredibly fortunate for.

5. When my panic attacks were ramping up, I was working three hospitality-labour jobs. I wasn’t able to see my partner very much at the time. I may have only had a couple of hours here or there to sleep. I remember feeling like my limbs were only barely connected to my joints, and that deep concentration was required for something as moving a heavy box. I remember feeling dizzy, loose-minded, and deeply suspicious of others. I remember the constant feeling that I wasn’t doing enough of something I should be doing - could be writing, performing, practicing, laundry, groceries, saving, etc. While I know this played a large part in the overall sound of the record, it likely played heavily in #3. I felt ashamed of feeling like I was suffering, and I didn’t want the EP to be misinterpreted as some grand statement or “The Depression Album.”

Listen to Retroactive Rock Record below.