Under the watchful eyes of a Jim Morrison poster, in a brand-new practice studio, five University students are making a name for themselves.
The Terms recently returned from Los Angeles, where they spent approximately six weeks recording their first album.
The band was surrounded by the fame of the music industry while they were recording. They recorded in Capitol Studios in Studio B — the same studio where Green Day, Oasis and The Beatles have recorded.
For a band that played their first live show together just more than a year ago, their rise has been almost meteoric.
Ben Labat, lead vocalist, said the band started when he and Clyde Hargrove, lead guitarist, met up with Blake Oliver, percussionist, and the three of them started playing acoustic sets at open mic nights and bars around Baton Rouge.
Labat said after some time playing together, the trio picked up Scott Lasseigne, drummer, and Greg Chiartano, bassist, and played their first show at Chelsea’s on Feb. 11, 2004.
Maple Jam Record owner, Dane Andreeff, stumbled upon the band by accident. He was at SoGo Live to see another group called the Iguanas, and after hearing The Terms, he told his sister, Starr, to come down to see them.
Greg Laydani, the producer of the album, said after Starr saw the band she told her brother it would be a perfect project for Laydani, a Grammy-winning producer that has worked with bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Don Henley.
Laydani said he came to Baton Rouge on Halloween night and after the show he and the band met up the next day to see if they could work well together, and it was a perfect fit.
Laydani went to Andreeff and said their options were to try to get them signed or start a record company themselves. Andreeff decided to start Maple Jam Records.
Laydani said Maple Jam was started based completely on The Terms.
“Obviously, we want to do other things down the road,” Laydani said. “But, [right now] it’s all about The Terms.”
Laydani said what first drew him to The Terms was the songs.
“The band was fresh … rambunctious,” Laydani said. “But, the first thing I listen to is melody and songs, and they clearly had that.”
The band got on a fast track almost immediately after meeting Laydani. Recording started on Nov. 11.
Laydani said Hargrove and Labat flew to L.A. every weekend for six weeks to record the acoustic guitar and lead vocal tracks. He worked on song arrangements and ideas during the week, and on the weekend, Laydani would give the rough mixes to Hargrove and Labat to bring to the band in Baton Rouge where they were rehearsing and learning the parts.
Of the estimated 20 songs recorded in six weeks, 12 were picked for the record. The entire band then went to L.A. during the Christmas break.
They rehearsed in Alley Studios, next door to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, before going to Capitol Studios to record.
“We parked our rent-a-car Ford Taurus next to Rick Ruben’s Bentley and Anthony Keidis’ porsche,” Oliver said.
Laydani said there were no problems recording.
“We didn’t really go out to change what they were doing, just to enhance it,” Laydani said.
After the album was finished, The Terms returned to Baton Rouge and Laydani and Andreeff set them up in a practice studio where all of their practices, which are fiercely regimented, are recorded and listened to later.
The album, which is available now at The Terms’ shows, is called “Small-town Computer Crash.”