Make the record they couldn't leave behind.

When Basement came to The Panda Studios in 2012, they already had a record out.

While we were making their second album, Colourmeinkindness, they decided to put the band on indefinite hiatus.

As far as anyone knew, this could be their last record.

That changed the way I approached it.

If this was going to be the final Basement record, I wanted to make something so good that people wouldn't let the band disappear.

What We Did

We made Colourmeinkindness entirely at The Panda Studios.

I produced, engineered, and mixed the record, pushing the band into a much bigger sonic world than their first album.

Drums. Guitars. Rooms. Amps. Pedals. Layers. Textures.

We experimented constantly, and those sounds became a huge part of the record's identity. More than a decade later, producers, engineers, and musicians are still referencing the drum and guitar sounds we created.

In the mix

Basement tracking at The Panda Studios · 2012

Guitar tracking

Between takes

Building the tones

The full team

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Three days after the record was announced, Basement announced their indefinite hiatus.

Then the opposite of what you'd expect happened.

The Band Got Bigger After They Broke Up

While Basement wasn't touring, Colourmeinkindness kept growing.

When the band returned, they came back to a much larger audience than the one they had left behind.

So we made another record together.

Promise Everything

In 2016, I produced, engineered, and mixed Promise Everything, continuing the sound and identity we'd established together.

From there came international touring, shows with Turnstile and Defeater, a deal with Fueled By Ramen, and eventually arenas with Weezer and Pixies.

Then, more than a decade after we made Colourmeinkindness, the record exploded again.

"Covet" went viral on TikTok, introducing Basement to an entirely new generation.

The Result

And here's what puts that reach into perspective:

Basement currently has more monthly Spotify listeners than Turnstile.

Turnstile is a Grammy-winning band headlining some of the biggest festivals in the world.

Yet more than a decade after we made Colourmeinkindness, Basement is still reaching an audience of comparable scale every month.

That isn't about saying one band is bigger than another.

It's about longevity.

The music we made didn't just connect when it came out. It kept reaching people, found another generation, and continues to matter more than a decade later.

The Rest Of The Catalog

Of Basement's five studio albums, I made two at The Panda Studios: Colourmeinkindness and Promise Everything.

Those remain the two most-streamed albums in the band's catalog.

I also mixed Further Sky, an EP that continued our collaboration with the band.

Colourmeinkindness

2012

Produced / Engineered / Mixed by Sam Pura

Promise Everything

2016

Produced / Engineered / Mixed by Sam Pura

Further Sky

EP

Mixed by Sam Pura

The record they made on the way out became the record that wouldn't go away.

Basement went into those sessions thinking they were ending the band.

Instead, we made a record that became the foundation of everything that came after.

A breakup.
A reunion.
Another record together.
Fueled By Ramen.
International touring.
A song exploding again more than a decade later.
Millions of people still listening every month.
And a sound musicians are still trying to recreate.

Sometimes the job isn't just making a great record.

It's making something that lasts long enough to change what happens next.