The name “Pat Brown” is written in Sharpee on the exterior wall of St. Paul venue Station 4.
To the passerby, this name may be inconsequential, but to someone who listens to alternative music in the Twin Cities area, the name means a great deal.
Pat Brown, a 2005 Burnsville Senior High School graduate, is the front man of Minneapolis-based band Sing It Loud, just left the studio after a month of recording for their upcoming full-length album.
For a band that has only been in existence for a little more than nine months, the completion of recording a full-length album is quite a feat.
When Brown’s former band, The Semester, came to an end in early 2007, he found himself searching for a creative outlet.
For a while, he played keyboards with a band called Gloria, also from the Minneapolis area.
However, that wasn’t enough.
“It just wasn’t the same as being able to be in a band where I was the front man,” said Brown. “When I can’t be on stage and perform and write music, I get really down.”
He started Sing It Loud with his cousin, Kieren Smith, who plays guitar for the band.
From there, they found Nate Flynn to play bass permanently and hired Dane Schmidt to play drums when they were recording, in Duluth, Minn.
Schmidt’s younger brother, Jordan, who had been an assistant engineer to Matt Squire for almost a year, produced the extended play (EP). Squire has produced CDs for Panic At The Disco, Boys Like Girls and All Time Low.
As recording of was finishing, Schmidt joined as a full member, and keyboardist Ben Peterson was added to make the band a five-piece.
Around the same time, Sing It Loud played a show with fellow Minneapolis band Motion City Soundtrack.
Motion City Soundtrack guitarist Josh Cain approached them about producing of a full-length record. As soon as the EP was completed, they sent it to Cain, who arranged a lunch date where they firmed up production plans.
The EP was released on Aug. 31, with a great response.
“I’ve been stoked on everyone’s reactions to the band,” said Brown. “I was really nervous I would never be able to be in a band that did as much as The Semester did.”
In January, Sing It Loud headed into Flowers Recording Studios, a converted florist’s warehouse in Minneapolis.
A more “poppy” sound accompanied the recording, but according to Brown, “The stuff (Cain) did with the music makes it much different from other pop rock bands that are around right now.”
He also brought along band mate and Motion City front man Justin Pierre to assist Brown with writing a song on which Pierre eventually sang backing vocals.
Compared to other recording experiences Brown has had, his time at Flowers was much more structured.
He worked from 11 a.m. until 8 or 9 p.m. everyday, six days a week.
Additionally, the experience of having Cain produce the record was a memorable one.
“I have been a Motion City Soundtrack super fan since tenth grade,” said Brown, “so the experience as a whole was very overwhelming and exciting.”
From here, Sing It Loud will tour for a solid two-and-a-half months, and have slated their CD release to late summer or early fall.