JAKE E. LEE's RED DRAGON CARTEL: Behind-The-Scenes Look At Making Of 'Patina'

March 3, 2019

"Patina", the second offering from Jake E. Lee's RED DRAGON CARTEL, was released in November, the band is currently on tour and fans could not be happier. But what actually went into writing and recording of "Patina"?

The follow-up to RED DRAGON CARTEL's eponymous 2014 debut, "Patina" marks the group's first release with drummer Phil Varone (SAIGON KICK, SKID ROW) and bassist Anthony Esposito. The band's current lineup is rounded out by singer Darren James Smith.

That Just Happened gained unprecedented access to Obscenic Arts during the recording of "Patina" and sat down with Jake and Anthony for a behind-the-scenes look.

Watch the full video below.

RED DRAGON CARTEL's new album was mixed by legendary producer Max Norman, who has previously worked with OZZY OSBOURNE, MEGADETH, SAVATAGE and LOUDNESS, among others.

In addition to being the new bassist for RED DRAGON CARTEL, Esposito co-produced the album alongside Lee.

"Patina" marks a change of style from the debut RED DRAGON CARTEL album, featuring a more bluesy hard rock direction as opposed to its predecessor's heavier leanings.

Jake told AXS about "Patina": "On the first record, nothing was ever recorded with more than one person in the room, which was a little alien to me. This new record is more old-school and was done the same way as when I was in BADLANDS, or even when I was with Ozzy. The band would get together and I would present ideas and riffs and we would work on them together. The process makes it sound more like a band. It's more honest and organic and more presentable live. We could only do about half of the first record live because of the way it was recorded. For this new record, we'll probably be able to do almost every song on it. It really hits you harder when it's live and these songs, in particular, are going to hit hard in a live setting."

Asked about the songwriting process for "Patina", Jake said: "I always have a huge stockpile of ideas, but for this album I wanted it to be fresh. The songs on this record are just the band getting in the room; jamming and coming up with something. Sometimes inspiration can come from whatever I've been listening to that day, like 'Havana'. I'd been listening all day to a certain band and a song that had a great riff. When the band got together that day, we started out by just jamming on it. Afterwards, I sat there thinking, 'Man, I wish I could come up with something that cool.' That's when Anthony looked at me and said, 'Well, why don't you?' So, I played around, gave it a twist and then we started working on it."

Photo credit: Joseph Gorelick

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