Tried and Emotional

  Evening, blogwatchers,

  A fine malaise has settled over me these last two days, which has left me in something of a reverie.  There is absolutely no reason for this to be the case, because it's been a perfectly lovely weekend, but I can actually pinpoint a thing as a cause for it - emotional residue.  (This is not a physical object, thank the heavens, I'm not sure I would have any idea what such a thing would look like, were it to exist.  Differently-coloured candlewax, perhaps?  The colour could vary depending on the emotion it represents, couldn't it?  Er, anyway, I've drifted off-point.)

  The band & I spent a full weekend in the studio, trying to get as much work done as possible on our record.  To say we were successful would be a massive blimmin' understatement.  Drum tracks, guitar tracks, and bass tracks were recorded for six songs, two of which have also had lead vocals recorded, and one has piano.  Things are coming on leaps and bounds for 'Unexpected Sunshine', and all the songs so far are surprising us with how well they are taking shape.  There are all sorts of stories I could tell you, but I shall probably wait until we're about to deliver the record to you.  That will make a nice parcel of anecdotes (or nonecdotes, as I sometimes call them).

  Anyway, Angela & Paul powered through, and we hit target by Saturday night, getting the bass & drums down for those six songs, and then on the Sunday we transferred the analogue tape reels to the computer to begin recording guitar parts, and we also crossed our fingers that we would get to do some vocals.  Sadly, Matt didn't get a great deal of a chance to do anything other than a piano part for one song, as he was needed on more urgent business, but he was with us for half the weekend, across the two days.  (It's so much fun to watch him fizz with ideas when we're playing back the takes, I think the phase of production where we're adding effects, extra vocals, and who knows what else will be the most exciting part for him!)

  The last song we worked on is called 'It Was You', and is a pretty intense song, and after a few takes in the vocal booth, and trying a few ideas to attempt making a vocal take that was equal to how it sounds when we play it live, we finally tried putting the mic in the control room, and have me sing it in a similar way to the way the guide track was recorded the previous day.

  I had sung this song about five or six times by this point, and was starting to suffer from the effects of living in the song.  When you write & perform a song that was borne of difficult & emotional times, it's initially cathartic.  You play the song on stage, and are briefly transported back to those circumstances, but the audience response helps to re-vanquish it, you play another song, and you shake it off.  The here and now takes over again, and the past becomes the past.  Not so much the case when you are recording, because you are not only striving to maintain the technical quality of your voice, but the emotional weight of what you're singing needs to be at full whack - there's no let-up, it's you and that song, fighting in the vocal booth.

  We tried out the mic in the control room, Paul & Angela stayed on the settee at the back - I needed them with me, subconsciously for emotional support, I think - and we managed it in one take (hopefully - we'll know for sure when we hear the rough mixes).  I managed to keep myself together, although there were a couple of moments I felt my throat tighten & a couple of tears make vague threats from underneath my eyes, but it sounded pretty good.

  Sadly, at that point, time beat us, and it was time to pack up our instruments, bid Dan Rowley (producer at Tremolo Studios) a fond farewell, and be on our way, but there was one thing that I never got chance to do - shake the song from off my shoulders.  Its melancholy embrace hung on me, and instead of doing something cheerful to eradicate it and leave it behind, it came with me.  And so, as I sit & write this, it remains, and I find myself feeling so proud of my band, so indebted to Dan, really pleased with the progress we are making on our record, but also - at the back of my mind - weighed down in a fugue for things that happened so long ago, and I need a way to shake it off.  We have a band rehearsal tomorrow night, so I suspect that will be done then.  We'll try and make it a garage party.

  That's all I can think to tell you for now, there are gigs coming, which will be announced as soon as is humanly possible (under wraps for now, but trust me - really exciting news!), so for now, I will leave you with a piece of video I made last night, with some footage we took whilst recording over the weekend.  Hopefully the first of several, I present 'Studio Stories, Episode One'.



Lots of Love, be nice.
John xxx