Steely Dan Are "Auteurs" of Recorded Music

what steely dan can teach us about filmmaking

Yes, I’m a Dan-head.

My Dad was/is a big fan as well, and passed that along to me by playing the hits during my adolescence. However, my true appreciation didn’t really start until I got into their album Aja during high school.

You’ve probably heard the hit “Peg,” but the whole album is incredible. In fact, it’s often used to test new studio monitor rigs and sound systems because of it’s impeccable sound quality.

For those who aren’t as familiar with the band. Steely Dan isn’t a guy named Dan, but refers to a songwriting duo made up of Bard College friends and jazz heads Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.

They started by trying to sell their jazzy, eccentric pop songs to other artists, but eventually found it was better to just record them themselves. They made a band called Steely Dan (named after a dildo in a sci-fi novel). What started as a typical band with your normal line up of players, lots of touring, normal album cycles, eventually lost all of that and became the Becker/Fagen duo writing songs, hiring a cast of session players, sporadic (or no) touring, and records with large gaps between them.

I think one of the reasons I’d consider them to be in my top 5 bands of all time, beyond the music itself, is because of the lore behind the making of their records. As you can most plainly hear in any track on Aja, but on many of their other songs as well: the recording is clean, the musicianship is top-notch, the lyrics are distinct, and the songs are compositionally ambitious.

I recently did a deep dive on the band, reading a pretty comprehensive biography called Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years by Brian Sweet. I wanted to share a couple of the most interesting tidbits and, even if you aren’t a Dan fan, I think you’ll find it interesting, because my biggest takeaway from the book is that these guys are the closest thing in the music industry to the “auteurs” film directors. And I think there’s a lot we can learn from that as filmmakers and/or as musicians. I hope you’ll read on!

No More “Fix It In Post”

Having gone to film school and having worked on a podcast, there are an innumerable amount of times I’ve heard people jokingly say “fix it in post,” which refers to the idea that a mistake or issue created during production can be addressed in post-production instead of dealing with it on the day.

The Dan eventually came to dislike their early material on their debut Can’t Buy A Thrill because they tried to “fix it in post.” According to Fagen, the problem was that they had tried to correct what sounded weak in the initial basic track later on in the process. Longtime friend and on-and-off band member Denny Dias put it this way:

Many times you think you can fix things in the mix, but you can’t. You have to start with a solid drum track and a lot of those songs didn’t have that; the time was strange or the performance wasn’t good or it didn’t cook, you know?

After that, they ended up moving in the opposite direction on subsequent work, opting for getting the exact right sound and performance in the studio, instead of trying to fix it later. Their engineer Roger Nichols explained:

Instead of using EQ on the board to change a drum sound, for instance, we’ll bring in 52 different kick or snare drums to try to get the sound we want. We find it’s better to make the adjustments at the instrument end rather than try to fix it with EQ and things. So we’ll try many different instrument and microphone combinations with minimum EQ or no EQ at all to get something that sounds right.

You hear that? If everyone in the stu (or on set) isn’t cooking… don’t think you can fix it in post.

Don’t Be Afraid To Delegate

Everyone knows filmmaking is team sport. If you try to make a film all by yourself, it’s going to be bad. And sure, if we’re comparing this to music-making, it’s cool if you play all of the instruments on your album… but unless you’re Prince or something, your album would probably benefit from some other players stepping in. Art making is a community effort after all. It’s a healthy thing to hear other peoples’ takes.

Just ask Steely Dan. In their later work, they became known for getting the cream of the crop studio players in on their songs. But they wouldn’t just pick one guy to play the guitar solo or one guy who’d do drums. They’d usually record the same track with multiple sets of new players, they’d have multiple guys come in to do multiple takes on a guitar solo, etc. One of their album used 7 different guitar players (that’s just on the final record, who knows how many they brought into the studio).

This session shuffling is specifically apparent in their most pristine album Aja. In my favorite music doc ever, Classic Albums: Steely Dan: Aja, of which I’ve included a clip above, you can explore the process a bit. Session guitarist DeanParks commented:

If it wasn't working on a track, the next day you wouldn't just be replaced, there'd be a whole new band in the studio.

In other words, they’d delegate. Not totally confident in their own playing ability or music theory (they even had keyboard player Michael Omartian do notation for them, or kept books about orchestration on their laps during sessions), Becker and Fagen knew that searching for the best people for each job would make the song the best song it could be. Many times, they’d find someone they loved and keep working with them because they’re so perfect. Many an auteur does this. Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman, Paul Thomas Anderson and Jonny Greenwood.

Of course, Steely Dan didn’t care about blowing money on these type of expenses for big names, at times angering their label, but I think this sentiment can be carried to YOUR filmmaking. You want the best people for each of their jobs, and you want to admit when you should step back and let them cook in their respective roles.

BACK UP YOUR WORK!!

Steely Dan engineer Roger Nichols with Wendel

Steely Dan were always on the frontier of new technology. They experimented with digital recording in the 80’s and their frequent studio engineer Roger Nichols even built them an early, custom drum machine named Wendel.

Unfortunately, they were also plagued with many tech issues during their career… Because of their meticulousness and specific approach to recording, they frequently only kept one master copy of their sessions, occasionally dragging their tapes from New York to LA and back. This, coupled with the use of new tech, and lack of industry-wide preservation practices, lead to the loss of much “legendary” lost material, including songs from the Katy Lied and Gaucho sessions. In fact, the whole Katy Lied album mix got messed up, and the final recording (while still great) has a flatter cymbal sound because the original couldn’t be recovered.

All that is to say: BACK UP YOUR WORK. Buy that extra hard drive, back up your projects incessantly, it’s ALWAYS worth it. You’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t and something unfortunate happens.

Just Because It’s In Your Art Doesn’t Mean You Condone It

I would say this is a different discussion, though similar, to the “separating the art from the artist.” While that usually has to do with an artist who does something bad and being able to enjoy their art despite that, what I’m going to talk about here is different.

This differeing idea was explored further in the Jokermen podcast, in an episode about Steely Dan’s album Two Against Nature.

Essentially, they compare Steely Dan to Martin Scorsese. Like Scorsese, the Dan made art about a lot of dark characters doing despicable deeds. And like Scorsese, the Dan made all of those things palatable and truly enjoyable and entertaining. Many people seem to confuse this type of art, which is critiquing or satirizing these warped characters lifestyles, as a celebration or condonation of it. Though it really is quite obvious: Goodfellas isn’t saying it’s cool to be in the mob, just like “Cousin Dupree” isn’t saying go start developing a romantic relationship with your cousin…

This kind of work has made interesting art for hundreds of years. The taboo, the depraved, the morally questionable— this kind of art has us asking questions and provokes us. I think it can be a healthy thing in our art making, as long as it isn’t purely for shock value.

Final Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence

Last thing. I want to talk about AI.

Maybe there are some things AI is good at, like saving previously lost Steely Dan tracks:

This one cooks.