Music you can touch

“This album is intended for aging art-punks who complain about bearded bands and [for] teenage listeners realizing blog culture sold them a bill of goods,” says Aaron Poehler, whose post–punk rock full-length Dietrich, co-created with frequent collaborator Ryan Tully-Doyle, drops February 18. “It’s for music lovers who still love five-inch aluminum discs, the airy highs and thudding lows of uncompressed digital sound, clear plastic jewel boxes, and pored-over art design. In short, music you can touch.”

Poehler, who used to be in an Indiana band called Daisy Glaze, moved to San Diego around ten years ago and has released two solo albums here, but he says neither gave him the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction as his newest effort.

“People excited [that] Korn’s old guitar player rejoined [the band] are likely not the Dietrich audience, nor are the country and classic-rock listeners driving Walmart’s CD sales.”

Produced by Poehler and mixed by Rob Allsopp and Larry Crane (Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith), the album was mastered by Tardon Feathered (Pinback, Brian Eno), who worked on Poehler’s previous solo releases. “He definitely had the skills to give it that final polish. Honestly, even more than poor recording or mixing, it’s poor mastering that hurts most self-released albums. It always pays to find a dedicated mastering engineer. It’s a highly refined skill that shouldn’t be left to the same person that recorded or mixed you, just because you got a discount package deal.”

Basic tracks were recorded in Clairemont with Mark Haemmerle (Starcrossed, Kitty Plague), back when Poehler and Tully-Doyle were still frequently performing around town. “We decided to push forward to bring our musical ideas to fruition. I’d trained as an audio engineer at Indiana University and worked in a variety of audio engineering and production capacities over the years…. We both had the experience and dedication necessary for producing a quality finished album that would be a solid listening experience rather than just a compromised souvenir of an ephemeral live show.”

The duo doesn’t plan to stage any live performances, at least not anytime soon, and no local release party is scheduled.

“Frankly, to us it’s more of a publicity tool and distraction from making music, and the not-inconsiderable demands of our daily lives, more than anything else.”