New York-based The Cringe started making music together about two years ago. The somewhat fluid membership consists of a core (a crunchy nougat center if you will) of John Cusimano (guitar and vocals), Roto (lead guitar), Matt Powers (bass) Shawn Pelton (drums).

The band recorded their debut Scratch the Surface in 2003 and released their second, Tipping Point in February 2007 on Still Listen Records. Vocalist/guitarist, Cusimano, took some time to chat with Gearwire about recording and musical odds and ends.

Instead of buying into new technology when recording The Cringe look back in time. They use vintage gear -- Plexi, Orange, Matchless and Fender amps.

"All guitars are real sweet and vintage from the 50s and 60," says Cusimano. "We are really old school-analog -- 'lets pretend like it is 1974'"

Cusimano and company do not stop at instruments and amps in looking for that analog sound. They record to a Studer 2-Inch (more accurately two of them locked together).

We record on 2 inch Studer . . . two Studers locked together running at 30. At this point you might think the next sentence will begin with the words "Then they dump it all into ProTools," but you would be wrong there. They mixed it down to a half inch. They even released a vinyl version of Tipping Point that was mastered from 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch. Obviously they could not do this for the CD release.

"You can't have an all analog CD." says Cusimano.

During the mix down there was no ProTools rig in the room.

"For the 48 track mix down it got complicated. I think he (engineer) had an automated board. He brought in protools to practice his moves then we wheeled out the computer," says Cusimano.

The board they use for recording is a Neve 8068. Until recently they have used a Solid State Logic 4000 for mix down but on their new recordings they are doing it all on the Neve.

The obvious 800 pound Gorilla question for Cusimano is; Why analog? Why go to all the extra trouble? He has a ready answer.

"There is no comparison. People who have heard nothing but mp3s their whole life -- I bring them to m house and they hear the vinyl and they are blown away by how much better it sounds." says Cusimano.

"Obviously 99.9 percent of people are going to listen on a digital format -- at some point you lose the analog but the more analog you have in the chain the better it sounds."

Online, on the band's MySpace page, people comment that certain songs sound fantastic but they cannot put their finger on it. Cusimano says it is the analog component in their recording.

But there is more than that.

"I enjoy the process of working analog. It forces you to have your shit together and your arrangements tight," he says. "It (analog) is not efficient as ProTools but it makes you a stronger band"

Typically he records his vocals through a Neumann U87-Ai but he has recently taken to recording his vocals in a more unorthodox fashion.

"I had heard that Bono tracks his vocals in the control booth with everyone around holding a 58," says Cusimano.

When The Cringe were working on new tracks Cusimano was getting input from band members and the engineer. All the chatting through the talk back became a little tiring.

"I asked the engineer if I could come into the control room," says Cusimano. "He said 'Oh so you want to Bono it?' I figure if it is good enough for Bono . . ."

They set up the 58 between the monitors to reduce bleed and tracked vocals.

"It sounded awesome. I took two versions. One Neumann and one SM 58 to absent band members," he says. "They all thought the 58 was the Neumann."

Cusimano notes tht vocal performances are very psychological things and for him the right place is in the booth where be can collaborate directly with his band-mates and engineer. Cusimano also says he has nothing against treating or manipulating vocals -- even though about 75 percent of his wind up dry. He, however, not a big fan of AutoTune or pitch correction of any sort. "The Rolling Stones . . . a lot of what they play isn't perfect but it is GOOD 'not perfect,'" he says "Can you imagine listening to Let it Bleed with pitch correction?"

The band will be on the road through the spring and will play several showcases at SXSW in Austin.