Maximum Balloon's Dave Sitek Combines Recording and Dinner Parties

Posted on Sep 8th 2010 3:00PM by Steve Baltin
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Nick Walker

For Maximum Balloon, the new solo project from TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, the musician/producer enlisted an all-star cast of guests for the band's first album, including bandmate Kyp Malone, Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O, Shivaree's Ambrosia Parsley, Dragons of Zynth's Aku and legendary Talking Heads singer David Byrne.

So, what was Sitek looking for in these collaborators? "People who could tolerate my bulls---," he tells Spinner with a laugh. "It was more about fun than anything else. Just winging it, that's about it."

The project started with the lead single, 'Tiger.' "Working on that track, I did the vocals and totally, royally screwed them up, so Aku just happened to call me while I was muscling through the vocal tracks," Sitek recalls. "I told him that he should come down to the studio and he threw down exactly what you hear and blew my mind. At that point, I was like, 'Oh, this is a deviation from what I've been doing and I like the results,' so I kept moving in that direction."

To help add to relaxed atmosphere that can be heard on the album, Sitek often scheduled recording sessions around dinner parties. "Almost the entire record was made over the course of a few months and in pretty much all instances there was a dinner party involved," he says. "At the studio, me and all the people that worked there all cook together and eat together, so whoever happens to be in the studio at that time joins us and then we just listen to the music and figure it out."

So, will there be a Maximum Balloon cookbook to accompany the album? "It's funny you should mention that because actually Benny Blanco and I are talking about making a cookbook for charity called 'More Than a Filling' and we're looking at all different kinds of recipes," he says, adding that his dish would probably "start with grilled lamb, roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus."

With the book planned to benefit lunch school programs, Sitek says he'd consider pairing Maximum Balloon gigs with charity dinners. "If I'm a true artist and honestly reflecting my life then that's the way it would have to be," he says. "There would be two turntables, a microphone and a gas range."

Watch the Video for Maximum Balloon's 'Tiger'