For Zane, the path from Southern California garage rehearsals to co-writing a new Sublime song wasn’t about chasing legacy — it was about trusting feel, chemistry, and the moment. When he stepped into the studio to work on what would become “Ensenada,” Zane found himself inside a process that prized instinct over perfection and human energy over polish.
“It was awesome, man,” Zane says of working alongside producer Jon Joseph. “I had never seen that side of John’s production — where he just mics everyone up and lets them jam.” The sessions leaned hard into live performance, tracking songs without a click and letting the band breathe in real time. “Once Bud and Eric came in and we wrote the rest of the songs and jammed it out and tracked all of it live without a click, just super raw, I was blown away.”
That rawness wasn’t accidental. Joseph, whose studio has become a creative hub for artists orbiting the modern SoCal scene, encouraged imperfection — even welcomed it. “It’s loosey-goosey with all the human mistakes that he chooses to keep in of our performances that make them feel human,” Zane explains. “It isn’t highly produced, like auto-tuned and to a grid.”
For Zane, co-writing “Ensenada” was less about stepping into Sublime’s storied catalog and more about honoring its spirit. Joseph’s approach — live takes, minimal interference, maximum vibe — echoed the DNA of the band’s classic records. “To hear him be so versatile on the Sublime record and be able to track this amazing sounding record that sounds very canonical to 40oz. to Freedom and the self-titled record, I was super impressed,” Zane says.
The experience reshaped how Zane approached his own music with Strange Case. After the Sublime sessions, bringing his band into Joseph’s studio felt inevitable. “I have to bring Strange Case in and see what it’s like recording here with my very own project,” he recalls. “It was so cool to work across three different projects now with the same producer and have completely different sounds, but all captured in a really raw and organic way.”
For an artist rooted in DIY ethics and community-building, the throughline is clear: trust the room, trust the people, and let the music lead. As Zane puts it, sometimes the best move is simple — “stay in your lane and let someone who’s extremely gifted in that bring your dream alive.”
Watch the full interview with Strange Case Below!
