Trail of Crumbs

From an idea to release and beyond

We would like to thank James Thatcher, owner of Sky River Sound who mixed Trail of Crumbs and featured our song on his website

There are more than 200 bodies in the ‘death zone’ on Mt Everest, some unrecoverable, that climbers use as markers on the path to the top. Many of those fell and froze on the way back, recklessly pushing for the summit without rest. Some of them are left there per their final wishes.

“I read about them in a blog post. It was extremely disturbing, with photos and witness stories, and I knew that I had to write this song. I continued to research the topic until I was able to put it into words with the help of several friends, and music followed.”

~ Olga

In this song, every word, note, and harmony is very intentional. It is built almost with surgical precision to share this sad cold story.

Lyrics intentionally obscure the dark story behind Trail of Crumbs. Death is not expected and is never explicitly stated as the outcome of the journey, which is described merely as a ‘transition’. The listener is granted the freedom to fill the gaps in the story and argue about its interpretation.

It took us a while to get the right setup, more than we planned initially. We didn’t have a drummer at the time when we started the recording process, so we used drum samples. We spent a lot of time perfecting our sound and getting used to recording with each other. Recording the violin was one of the more noticeable challenges. The instrument that sounds good on stage simply didn’t work for the recording, so we had to look for another. Luckily one of our friends had a violin with a beautiful rich tone and kindly agreed to let us use it. We recorded everything at home, except for vocals which we tracked at Uberbeatz Studios

When all instruments were recorded, our search for a mixing engineer began. We considered several remote options, including famous international studios (outside of the US), until one day found James. We suspected that working with a local engineer would be easier because we could meet and discuss the song and our preferences. Luckily that intuition became fact as we began working together.

Once everything was recorded and arranged, I knew that my job as mixer would be to help this intricate story tell itself, keeping myself enough out of the way that the band’s vision could fully come through. Having been in the shoes of an artist myself, I know how hard it is to think about trusting all of your hard work to be in someone else’s hands when taking it to the next level.

~ James

James understood our vision and made it a reality. We were blown away after hearing the mix for the first time, it was the best version of the song that we’ve heard until then. It’s one way when it’s in one’s head and very different to hear it in the speakers

---

• Next Post →