Local musician Rudy Cerda adjusts levels behind a large studio soundboard while his bandmates take turns playing to test their mics on the other side of the glass.
Arcanedisplay singer Diana Tovar holds her guitar in the middle of the Sound of Rain Studios recording space. They apologize for the process taking so long, as they work out the kinks before recording a pair of songs.
Performing the outfit’s music with a band is relatively new for Cerda and Tovar. They began working together nearly a decade ago after Tovar sang on one of Cerda’s tracks.
Cerda’s background is more electronic, while Tovar’s vibe was an alternative or folk sound, they said.
“One song turned into three, and we just kept writing together,” Tovar said.
The vast majority of their time collaborating has been apart. Cerda and Tovar left the Valley for opposite sides of the country to study music production and audio engineering, respectively.
“We got to a point where we wanted to be as professional as we could recording our own stuff,” Tovar said.
Cerda has learned more by doing, he said, and gets that opportunity as a music production at the studio.
Now that the pair are both in the Valley, they’ve assembled a band to play live shows. While Cerda expressed a fondness for controlling the sound, they look forward to incorporating input from their bandmates into future work.
For Arcanedisplay’s recent single, “Life is a Mystery,” the group collaborated with producer Christopher Elms, who has worked with Bjork and Alanis Morissette.
Elms shared their song on his site, describing Arcanedisplay as one of the “few unsigned acts I’m particularly proud of.”
