Grand Hallway

"Winter Creatures," the third album by Seattle band Grand Hallway, was recorded over several weekend sessions this past winter at Scenic Burrows in Portland, Oregon. The band holed up in the tiny studio (where the latest albums by Dodos, Castanets, Richmond Fontaine, and the soundtrack of “Portlandia” were also recorded) with producer Cory Gray over many rain and snow filled days, and worked into the wee hours of the morning fueled by endless cups of coffee. Sometime before sunrise each night, they would retire with a bottle of whiskey to sneak in a game of Baseball Stars 2 on NES and maybe sleep for a couple hours in the apartment (a former dentist’s office) right above the studio. The relaxed atmosphere belied the frantic productivity of the recording sessions (a couple of the songs were written entirely in the studio, mere moments before they were committed to tape), and provided a welcome contrast to the heaviness of the past year which inspired the album. The illness and death of chief songwriter Tomo Nakayama’s grandparents, the birth of guitarist Jeramy Koepping’s baby, and the closing of the beloved Seattle lan... more...