HOMESHAKE in his bedroom studio
© Bruno Destombes
Music

Go behind the scenes of HOMESHAKE’S new album, Helium

Edmonton-born, Montreal-based singer-songwriter HOMESHAKE gives us a peek into his bedroom studio where he recorded his fourth studio album, Helium.
By Max Mohenu
10 min readPublished on
Upon arriving at Peter Sagar’s cozy Montreal apartment on a dreary Friday afternoon, you can tell he’s gearing up for busy times ahead. His new record was just recently released and in alignment, he’s getting ready for his daily rehearsals leading up to the big HOMESHAKE tour. His bedroom is a perfect split between small sleeping quarters and a compact studio space with three synthesizers, a drum machine, guitars and other recording equipment. Peeking into the kitchen, the natural light piercing through the window reflects off the small workstation his partner Salina Ladha uses to create merch designs for Peter, along with her own art and ceramic projects. The space is perfect for Sagar, who generally likes his quiet time, mostly working on music and hanging out at home. “Being on the road nine months out of the year gave me all the social activity I needed at the time,” he says recalling his time spent in Mac Demarco’s band. “When it came time to regroup, it made it easy to pull back from any outgoing lifestyle.”
Sagar’s studio set-up includes synthesizers, a drum machine and more

Sagar’s studio set-up includes synthesizers, a drum machine and more

© Bruno Destombes

Easing himself into a steady schedule of writing and recording as HOMESHAKE, Sagar continues to push his creative boundaries as a producer on every release. Helium, the new album from the Montreal artist, came to be shortly after completing his last record Fresh Air. This time, Sagar puts his guitar-led lo-fi on the backburner, focusing more heavily on warmer synth chords, smooth textures and defining the hi-fi sound he’s been tinkering with over the last few releases. “Fresh Air was pretty hi-fi in comparison to other musicians around me at the time,” he explains. “A lot of this new album is done on a computer, so I’m just downloading a lot of plug-ins. It was a weird and easy transition in comparison to the stuff you deal with at shitty studios in an analog setting.”
Sagar’s album, Helium, was recorded in Sagar’s Mile End apartment

Sagar’s album, Helium, was recorded in Sagar’s Mile End apartment

© Bruno Destombes

Aside from experimental music and old Japanese records, a budding interest in producers like the late DJ Rashad, a pioneer of footwork and one of the most innovative figures in contemporary dance music, got Sagar interested in delving into faster, more beat-led production. “My bass player Brad told me to put DJ Rashad on once when we were driving and I told him I didn’t know who that was. He was astonished,” Sagar laughs while recalling the first time he heard the producer’s 2013 debut album Double Cup. “That’s really all we listened to during that tour and it really got me into faster dance music. I’d never heard footwork music before. The way DJ Rashad’s music is put together texturally is so intricate and beautiful. He was truly a great producer.”
These influences shine through on songs like “Nothing Could Be Better,” a song that begins swirling in cosmic noise, before quickly snapping into some lush, poppy downtempo. Despite it sounding like an atmospheric club track, it’s really just a song about his partner, who’s the mastermind behind the beautiful artwork affiliated with the HOMESHAKE brand. “It’s a manifestation of my love for Salina. It’s happy, it’s upbeat, it’s a love song. I don’t really go to clubs, so I can’t consciously think of it in a club setting,” Sagar explains. “It’s interesting to hear what people draw from my music when they hear it. People seem to think the first few records were really sexual, but I was actually super depressed during that time. I always find it funny and weird how people label my songs”.
Sagar’s guitar resting in his bedroom studio

Sagar’s guitar resting in his bedroom studio

© Bruno Destombes

Looking more deeply into Helium, there’s a lot that goes into making this record so expansive and beautiful. Our visit to Sagar’s studio revealed the key elements and instruments that encompass his fourth album, carefully breaking down his history with the synthesizers and drum machines he used and offering insight into his creative process.
Sagar’s studio is also filled with books and vinyl records

Sagar’s studio is also filled with books and vinyl records

© Bruno Destombes

Roland Juno-60 analog synthesizer

The seminal Roland June-60 can be heard throughout Helium

The seminal Roland June-60 can be heard throughout Helium

© Bruno Destombes

In both pop and electronic music, this ‘80s synthesizer was one of the most important machines to have moved each genre forward. Artists such as The Eurythmics, Cyndi Lauper, Tyler The Creator, Animal Collective and Oneohtrix Point Never have all sworn by this synth.
This particular Juno-60 has made the rounds in Sagar’s musical circles, dating back to when he was 19 years old living in Edmonton. “My friend Rene who’s space we’re rehearsing in sold it to me, and before him this band in Edmonton called ‘The Wicked Awesome’ had it,” he explains. “It’s crazy to think how long I’ve been around this synth and now I have it.” Sagar first became interested in the synth after watching a video of Oneohtrix Point Never talking about it.
A bulk of the tracks on Helium are built around the Juno. Sagar explains his process being very smooth and organic. “I usually sit down in front of the Juno and start playing the simplest chord progression and try to make it as fun as possible," he explains. “The arpeggiator on this synth is the best one I’ve ever played with. Another cool thing with this synth is if you hold a chord and then play another chord it stays in time and just switches the notes. I just like to fuck around until I get something I like.”
In terms of a learning curve, the Roland Juno-60 is one of the easier synths to learn. “This synth has one oscillator. It’s very different from my last synth, the Korg Poly-61, which has two oscillators. That means you can get a lot more wavy, airy sounds with two oscillators flowing in and out of each other,” Sagar carefully explains. “For beginners, I’d reset the factory settings first if you can. When I bought it, it was set that way by me, so all the memory in it is the sound it comes with. On the first memory bank, you get all these amazing analog and organ sounds.”
On top you have a few sections: The ARPEGGIO, LFO, DCO, HPF, VCF, VCA, ENV, CHORUS and finally MEMORY. Sagar urges anyone starting out to take a breath and just mess around until you get what you want. “It’s a great synth because it’s laid out so perfectly for you to learn everything. If you don’t know what any of those things mean, it’s easy to fuck around and figure those out,” he continues. “I didn’t even know what an oscillator was before I bought my first one. There’s no shame in not knowing shit. The oscillator makes the sound and then you shape with the VCF and ENV. That’s a good place to start.”

Elektron Analog Rytm MKII Drum Machine

Sagar’s Elektron Analog Rytm MKII 017

Sagar’s Elektron Analog Rytm MKII 017

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The Elektron Analog Rhtm MKII is a drum machine with larger pads and quick performance controls. Modified from the original, the MKII now has a built-in sampler, 8 drum voices, balanced inputs and in Sagar words is ‘the workhouse of drum machines’. “Not all the sounds are my favourite, but it’s the way that it samples that’s amazing,” he says.
Prior to this, Sagar was using the Roland SP-404, a go-to sampling workstation that’s well known and used by a lot of different artists. He describes this machine as a major set-up for the work he’s making now on Helium. “I was using this sampler for some time, but this one has individual outputs for all the voices,” he explains. “Now I can take kick, snare, pad or whatever else out on the computer and track them separately while playing them at the same time.”
“Most of the new record is drum samples because I no longer have access to a room where I can record live drums in. I didn’t want to go to a studio,” Sagar explains. “I wanted to be able to program drums that sound closer to live than actual drum machines do.”
“The learning curve on Electron stuff is hard. It’s like they don’t have the same workflow as other instruments,” Sagar explains. It takes a while to get the hang of it. “Before this, I bought an Electron Octatrak off a gear swap page, but it only had the studio output. When this came out I decided to go for it because I needed a different drum machine. If it’s your first Electron piece, watch a YouTube tutorial because the learning process is not very straightforward, but once you figure it out it flows really well. I really like it.” For those who might be super intimidated to jump right into this one, Sagar recommends the new Roland TR-8 Rhythm Performer, which his bass player owns and does some of the same things the Elektron Analog Rhythm MKII, and might be slightly more intuitive. “Either way I’d say read a manual or watch a tutorial. I know it sucks, but it’s worth it,” he laughs leaning back a bit.
Guitar pedals and cassettes

Guitar pedals and cassettes

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“One of the things I love about the MKII is that it’s got an analog filter on it. I’ve always struggled with making the kick drum sound good on my other drum machines. It was a fucking nightmare,” Sagar explains. “The filter on this one allows you to roll off the highs and just make the kicks sound deep and rich. I never had the chance to do that on my old drum machines.”
When asked about live drums versus programmed drums, Sagar swears by a live drum kit but admits that he appreciates the practicality and versatility of using drum machines. “You can never replace a live drum kit. Almost everyone uses a live drummer,” he says. “Programming drums can be a lot easier than mic-ing a live drum kit and you can achieve the same effect. Sampling is advanced enough now that you don’t always have to record a live drum set.”

Looking ahead

The Roland Juno-60 analog synthesizer and the Elektron Analog Rytm MKII Drum Machine are two main characters on Helium’s productions, but Sagar also used a Novation Bass Station for the more “dub-by synth sounds”.
He’s also purchased a Roland D-05 linear synthesizer, which makes a tiny appearance on the album.
Sagar’s Roland D-05 linear synthesizer

Sagar’s Roland D-05 linear synthesizer

© Bruno Destombes

Looking ahead, Sagar has bought a few more toys that will appear on future HOMESHAKE releases, including The Moog Grandmother.
This is a 32 key, semi-modular synth with a built-in arpeggiator.
The Grandmother allows players of any synth level to get involved and requires no patching experience, unlike some of the more complexed synthesizers that make up Moog’s prolific family of instruments. “I know very little about patching and all that, but it’s a really fun thing to learn how to do,” Sagar says. “I’ve never owned a Moog before and I’m learning these synths have a very different character. It doesn’t do those very deep, rich sub sounds other synths do. It’s more of a gnarly bass sound. One really cool thing about this one is you can put an instrument through it and control it with the filter. I’ve actually been recording guitar through it recently and it sounds crazy.”
The Moog Grandmother, the newest addition to Sagar’s studio set-up

The Moog Grandmother, the newest addition to Sagar’s studio set-up

© Bruno Destombes

As Sagar reflects on the growth of HOMESHAKE, he strives to continue to push his positivity, his growth and his ability to take it easy moving forward. “I don’t like to force things. I used to make a record and have only two things at my disposal, but now I have a lot of different options,” he says looking around the room. “As I'm writing and making new instrumentals, it feels like it'll be more sonically varied. I'm finding a lot of the stuff I'm working on now is not the most ideal for my voice. I took a couple of vocal lessons with my friend Kayla, who you might know as the voice from SOPHIE's record, which helped immensely. I'm trying to improve my vocals in hopes of making the new stuff more versatile than it has been. Once I get better at singing I'll be able to sing some of the weirder shit I'm writing.”