Recording and production
Who came up with the album title "Some Nights"?
Some Nights
The most common creative process in the recording of "Some Nights" began with Ruess. Ruess would come in with lyrics and a melody, leading Andrew Dost and guitarist Jack Antonoff to build chord structure and instrumentation from there, or "support that melody." Dost noted that in recording, despite the composer's well-defined framework, the individuals' egos "pretty much disappear" and "everybody is happy to work towards the best possible song" cohesively together. The dynamic between Bhasker and the band in the studio was mutually inspired, as Bhasker had never worked with a rock band before and Fun had never worked with a hip-hop producer. Bhasker particularly enjoyed recording guitars with guitarist Jack Antonoff as he wasn't used to it, and Dost felt hearing Bhasker compose beats was "mind-blowing. "The emphasis for Ruess on "Some Nights" was to make the songs more cohesive, as he felt his writing was "all over the place." This meant creating songs that were concise instead of being "long and drawn out." Bhasker was a proponent of using a single instrument to provide the biggest sounds, desiring not to "over-cram songs with ideas," declaring that everything that makes the song must be well-chosen. Janelle Monáe collaborated with the trio on "We Are Young" through a friendship with Bhasker. Bhasker was credited with bringing the band a bigger sound and an entirely new sonic translation to the band not present on their debut, "Aim and Ignite". The album creates a mix of indie pop, theatric rock, and hip-hop—a sound that is credited to Bhasker. "Some Nights" as a title floated around before any songs for the album were even created and was envisioned by Ruess. It was inspired by how personalities can change on any given night. Although the album isn't a concept album, the title changed the band's ideas for the album considerably, with Dost stating, "It's really nice once you have a title to know what the parameters are of what you're working on as a whole." The band completed production on the album in October 2011. Ruess called the seven months spent recording the record the most rewarding of any in his ten years of professional music work, calling it his career highlight.