Brock Lindow, vocalist for hard-core band 36 Crazyfists, said having the band's guitarist, Steve Holt, produce the band's fifth studio album was a no-brainer.
"Steve's always been involved in all the albums," Lindow said during a phone interview from Detroit.
"But this is his second time having his name as sole producer, and I think that's the best thing for the album because he knows the band better than anyone.
"He knows what I'm trying to do lyrically and melodically. So it's not like a big process to explain melody (to an outside producer). We've been doing music together since we were 18. I think that comfortable relationship in the studio is good."
One reason is the fact that Lindow finds the studio boring.
"I don't enjoy the studio that much," he said. "I think it's a stale environment. So having Steve there is more fun and more challenging, as well because we get to tell each other what to do."
Lindow said of all the 36 Crazyfist albums, "Collisions and Castaways" is the most sonically brutal.
"I think all the albums (we've done) have a little something different to offer," he said.
"I think this album, for whatever reason, turned out to be, by far, the most aggressive album we have made, which I think is cool because the songs are going to be cool to play live."
When the band, which also features drummer Thomas "T" Noonan, begins work on a new album, there are no guidelines, Lindow said.
"It's always the same for us," he said. "We write. We record demos. So it's pretty set when we go in to do the real recordings. Steve and T write the music, and I just wait for the song structure to be finished before I add lyrics to it. It's been the same situation for most of the entire life of the band."
Lindow, who cited Metallica, the Deftones and New York hardcore bands as his influences, said 36 Crazyfists members are smart enough not to look to what they've recorded in the past.
"We don't put too much thought into what we did before," he said. "We get into a room, and they start writing. There are no rules.
"When I first started writing lyrics, I basically wrote things that pertained to my own life and not a grand or universal scale. But as the years have gone on, people have said the songs have helped them in certain ways."
Brock said 36 Crazyfists have been playing music for 16 years.
"I just hang on for the ride," he said with a laugh. "I don't like to look too far forward, because I try to focus on the now. But in four more years we'll celebrate our 20 anniversary, and if we do that I'll be shocked."
If you go ...
What: 36 Crazyfists, Straight Line Stitch, Dirge Within
Where: Club Vegas, 445 S. 400 West
When: Aug. 4, 7 p.m.
How much: $10-$15
Phone: 801-360-0841
Web: www.clubvegas.org
e-mail: scott@desnews.com