The Julies recorded Lovelife in a ferocious weekend at Bill Campbell’s home studio in 1995. After submitting the final mixes to Flying Tart, the label insisted on having them remixed. The recordings were sent to Dave Barbe, an up and coming engineer, most well-known at the time as the bassist for alternative rock band Sugar, which the band members happened to be big fans of.
The mixes Barbe provided were edgy and lean, often eschewing backing vocals and emphasizing the intricate guitar work of the songs. After some back and forth between the band (who were loyal to Campbell’s mixes) and the label, a compromise was reached, with three tracks being selected from each mix engineer.
The Bandcamp-exclusive Lost Mixes provides a glimpse at what would’ve been had a compromise not been reached, and a further exploration of the early engineering work of a celebrated engineer (who later went on to work with bands like R.E.M., Drive-By Truckers and Deerhunter).
