Dude Ranch (album) - Recording and Production

Recording and Production

The band entered Big Fish Studios in Rancho Santa Fe, California in December 1996 to record Dude Ranch. Big Fish was a converted guesthouse which had just survived a wildfire months before. However, the gloomy atmosphere did not faze Blink-182 at all, and what was a tragedy to local individuals became fodder for jokes for the band; bassist Mark Hoppus had just bought a new video camera and he filmed stunts with guitarist Tom DeLonge on the burnt landscape in spare time. Thanks to improved economics, the band had more time in the studio to record the album they wanted to make. The band were listening to music such as Jawbreaker, Bad Religion and Lagwagon, setting the backdrop for the recordings under guidance of Mark Trombino, who provided additional piano and keyboards on Dude Ranch. The trio picked Trombino based on his work he had done on Jimmy Eat World's Static Prevails (1996). The band spent much time trying to get Trombino to laugh at their antics, to no avail. Hoppus' sister, Anne Hoppus, described Trombino as very quiet and "very much his own person." In addition to the record, Trombino produced "I Won't Be Home for Christmas", a holiday song recorded during the Dude Ranch sessions.

Despite the creative boom while writing lyrics for the album, all three members of Blink-182 faced setbacks while recording Dude Ranch. DeLonge was having vocal problems and spent much time recording and re-recording vocal tracks, and Hoppus realized he too was having vocal problems after losing his voice during a one-off Christmas concert. Forced to cancel the final week of recording in December 1996, Hoppus realized the magnitude of the situation and quit smoking in order to take care of his voice, which was stressed due to lack of vocal warm-ups, full days of vocal tracks, and the strain of singing for "Dammit", which was accidentally written just outside of Hoppus' vocal range. Meanwhile, Raynor had broken both heels and was in a wheelchair. Raynor was well enough to record the drum tracks for the album while on crutches. Aside from the recording, the band spent time playing Crash Bandicoot and "reading the articles from the shelves and shelves of Playboys that the studio had thoughtfully provided." The band ate lunch nearly each day at Sombrero, a local Mexican restaurant namedropped in "Josie", and Chinese for dinner from Encinitas' Pick Up Stix.

It would be January 1997 until the band would be able to wrap up sessions for Dude Ranch, eventually amounting to five weeks of recording. For the final touches, Unwritten Law frontman Scott Russo donated a few vocal tracks to "Josie", and Trombino let Blink-182 record a couple of jokes between songs using his sound-effects machine. The band contacted Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise to find someone to remix a few tracks from the album, and he suggested Donnell Cameron of Track Recording Studios. The band went in to Track and re-recorded Raynor's drum tracks for several songs. Hoppus recalled "I remember when we finished Dude Ranch I was so proud. That was the first time we could take the time and whatever to make a good record." Representatives from MCA dropped by on occasion and were excited by the material they heard. "When we were in there mixing, the A&R person would come by," remembered Cameron. "I don't think the band really knew what they had but certainly the label knew they had so many good songs on the record." After production completed, the album was mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.