Buddha (album) - Recording and Production

Recording and Production

Buddha was financed by Pat Secor, Hoppus' boss at Wherehouse Music in San Diego. Secor was wanting to start his own record label, Filter Records, and offered to help pay for costs. "He was like, hey, I'll front you the money, and we'll split the profits until you pay me back," recalled Hoppus in 2001.

Although the original cassette release states that it was recorded in twelve hours, several sources indicate the band recorded Buddha over "three rainy nights" in January 1994 at Doubletime Studios in Santee, California. Three nights was the most the band could book in consideration with their budget. The time was difficult to obtain considering the members' school and work schedules, and Hoppus was sick throughout recording. The trio were "super stoked" about a sound effects tape they found at the studio, and took time out to add in applause and laughter tracks because they deemed it humorous. Jeff Forrest was the only engineer for the demo.

Hoppus and DeLonge took the songwriting for their first legitimate release very seriously. The two strove for perfection writing songs that they felt would be relatable. Blink also recorded joke tracks, as they felt that, in addition to the serious songs, "it was almost as important to make people laugh." DeLonge recalled that the band spent more time at the end of production on Buddha trying to perfect the joke songs rather than their serious tracks. The band's main influence on Buddha, according to DeLonge, was The Descendents. "I was trying to emulate that band. Really punchy guitars, fast, simple and formulaic nursery rhyme love songs," said DeLonge in 2012.