In the fall of 2013, Buzzmutt began recording what would come to be the Strange Planes of Surveillance EP, with former Mars Volta member “Ikey” Owens as their producer (recently deceased). Having finished pre-production with Ikey during the spring prior, they then found themselves in Long Beach recording in the legendary studio “The Compound” with Anthony Arvizu as their engineer, known for his work on Sublime’s 40oz. to Freedom as well as other important albums. This was certainly an ideal production line-up, with Ikey even giving a performance on the track “Noise Last Night” (a keyboard solo). The EP was recorded at a surprisingly fast-pace, being finished within 3 days of actual production, although these production days were spread out over three months. The recording of the instrumentation was done within two days during the month of August, the band performing each song with an intensity reminiscent of their live shows. The vocals were recorded within half of a day in September, the other half being spent mixing the tracks. Once finished, the mixed-down tracks were then sent away to be mastered by Tony Lash, who has worked with the Dandy Warhols and other Portland-based bands. These last finishing touches completed the album, which was released on September 11, 2014. Since then, Strange Planes of Surveillance has been steadily gaining popularity around the East Bay.