|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 14:42:28 GMT
Day One - Sat 1st October - by GAfter a seemingly endless summer of writing, rehearsals and no nights out, no nights in - in fact not much of anything else - it's difficult to fully realise that we're actually finally going to put this sucker (album numero two) to bed. Today began in my very favourite way: getting up at 5 fucking 30 to drive us and our equipment to Northern Ireland, from Bristol, via Scotland - a disappointing prospect. I'll not bore you with the details but we arrived at the port of Cairnryan pretty road-numb, only to be presented with a sea that fully fits the term 'choppy' and then some. The crossing was pretty brutal and we ended up leaving Oli to be sick quite heroically in the boys [this is actually complete fiction: Oli spent the crossing dozing in front of Swordfish in the cinema room while it was actually G who ended up feeling somewhat green around the gills - truth ed], whilst me, Richie and Ryan braved the elements and threw caution (and ourselves) to the wind with a trip to the poop deck that was nothing if not EXTREME. Shit-scared and nearly soaked, we retreated to the safety of the bar and a comforting pint of Guiness. Blah blah blah, we eventually arrived at the studio which, in true 'Challenge Anneka' style, had quite literally only just been finished about 30 minutes prior to our arrival, and I've got to say, this place is SHIT HOT. All mod cons, huge live room, isolation rooms, lots of double glazing and exciting flashing lights. We were pretty impressed, believe. Downstairs we even have our own Rock batchelor pad replete with pool table, huge entertainment centre and spanky new sofas - this place is about 600% nicer than where I live (not saying much I know...) and we are not worthy. Awesome to catch up with Neal and find out what he's been up to, and even more awesome to unpack all of our shit and rack 'em up for the first night of getting fucked up and chilling out that we've had in a very long time. It looks like we've ogt about 13 more to go before this is all over...
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 14:54:31 GMT
Day Two - Sun 2nd October - by RichThree things of note to mention today on our first day's recording: Firstly, Neal and Ry spent approximately 8 hours trying to put together a suitably cavernous drum sound - one that would make 'Equal and Opposite''s (already mighty) beats seem like a hummingbird fighting its way out of a crisp packet in comparison, and by the early evening, mission seemed accomplished. Quite simply, these drums could floor a herd of woolly mammoths from 200 yards. For the drum sound obsessives out there, it's worth stating that Ry has been aiming for a sound somewhere between Sepultura's 'Chaos AD' and The Entombed's 'Wolverine Blues'. Secondly, having sorted Ry's sound out meant that we could start on recording the first track. So, by the end of the evening we had 'Start Fighting' down. Of course, it's hard not to feel behind schedule when you've only accomplished one drum track on your first day, but we so easily forget that the real hard work is the preparation needed to get the instrument sound to where you want it to be. Finally, with work complete, the evening's festivities could begin. Let us not forget that we're in a fully soundproofed apartment, with a kick-ass stereo system, pool table, games machines (Nintendo being our long-time fave, natch) and enough beers to (theoretically) get us through 2 weeks worth of parties. So drinking to excess, pool tournaments (rhythm section currently in the lead), Mario Kart, Monkey Ball, etc ensued. This is the nearest we get to a holiday, after all... Listening material: Helmet - live bootleg CD; Helmet - Size Matters; Sepultura - Chaos AD; Sugar - Beaster; Entombed - Wolverine Blues; Unida; Oceansize
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 15:07:31 GMT
Day Three - Mon 3rd October - by RyanRight, all set up - today is a proper full day of beating my kit til it begs for mercy. First up - 'Exit Route': not the easiest to play but we've been playing this one ages so should got smoothly. It does. My kit sounds mammoth already. Neal's hardly touched the mix of it. It's great playing in a live room with all of LSB. 'Well Well Well' is next. I've been excited about playing this one. Starting to get back into playing to click too, so despite a tough chorus this one goes well too. However, my snare head is completely screwed. 3 songs, about half a day really. I must be playing harder than I have ever played in my life. Time to use 'the spare'. Plans to secure more spares are hatched. New head. 'Seven' next. Working title, this one's got some timing changes so could've been tough, but seems to be at a pace that suits me. Yes, it's a pretty slow one, but not in a Bryan Adams kind of way. Still got time for another. We've been jamming 'Blunderbuss' today, so that's up next. This one's pretty much 'hit the drums hard and simple' and the riffs do the rest. One of my favourites so far. This may have been influenced by hearing a potential mix for my drums. Crikey. 'How to make a hairy idiot happy with one microphone in the stairwell...' Down sticks at about 8pm with 4 drum tracks complete. Let's get pissed. And we do. Quickly. The lame ones in the band watch 'Hell's Kitchen USA' while the rest invent a brand new game - Gryball! I can't remember how we came up with the name now. A bit like pool but longer and more complicated. Much Tennants & many albums followed by much sleep - 10am start tomorrow after all. Listening material: Tom Petty; Old Man Gloom; Captain Beefheart; Sugar; John Paul Jones; Eden Maine; Screaming Trees
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 15:15:27 GMT
Day Four - Tue 4th October - by Oli
Day started early as me & Richie had to head into Belfast for drum supplies. Despite taking wrong turns on both the way in and out of the city, we weren't lost for too long and a big bacon & sausage bap was just reward for this early-morning expedition.
Arrived back at the studio around 11am to find the day's recording yet to begin. Things get underway and Ry sails through 'Smithereens' and 'Sayonara!' by about 2 o'clock. Next up is 'Ghost Train' which is finished in plenty of time for tea (vegetable broth for 3, microwave sausage & mash for G) and then back to the floor for the tricky 'Question' (working title, as is the case with many of the songs). Going is slower for this one and is done in small bits rather than the big chunks that Ryan usually favours. Even so, it's done by 7.30pm and the drinking can begin once again.
No Gryball tonight but the PS2 is up and running along with plenty of regular pool. Plenty more Tennants is consumed but the beer mountain remains high. We won't go thirsty for a while yet. 12.15 seems like an early night. It probably won't in the morning...
Listening material: Biffy Clyro; Clutch; Led Zep live bootleg; The Living End
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 15:27:10 GMT
Day Five - Wed 5th October - by G5 days in and today Rybo finished his drum tracks in fine style with a display of wanton drumming on 'Gas Giant' that I can only describe as 'no holds barred'. When you hear the track, let's just say I'm confident that you'll see what I mean. Looking back to them has been a pretty hilarious experience, as it really does sound like a giant using a pair of telegraph poles to destroy a small housing estate. Inside a mountain. The best gauge for us as to how well the new stuff is going is our reactions when listening back to it, and at the moment the main reaction is incredulous laughter, which is the best sign of all - if we can't believe that we've got away with a riff that hilarious then we know it's a keeper, and playbacks so far are being greeted with giggles so I am fucking chuffed. Drums sorted - now let the bass begin. We spent the evening talking with Neal about the kind of sound that we're after for the record (the words 'visceral', 'massive' and 'real' featured heavily) and Richie's bass sound was planned and set up for maximum bottom end and throbbing girth which, of course, is a very good thing. Before we packed it in for the night, our erstwhile quadro-stringsman laid down the dirt for the track that has been variously titled 'A.C.T.I.O.N.' and 'Let's Go', but may well end up monickered differently on the finished record, and lo, it sounded GOOD. Evening shenanigans were (as is becoming the norm) pool, PS2 (GTA3 rules), too much(?) booze and tunes, and a grand night was had by one and all. Listening material: Deftones - White Pony; Faith No More - Live bootleg DVD; Back To The Future soundtrack; Oceansize - Everyone Into Position; The Living End - Roll On; Blueneck - Scars Of The Midwest
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 15:51:33 GMT
Day Six - Thu 6th October - by RichDay one of recording the bass. To be honest, much though I love playing bass guitar, I get very little excitement from recording the bass parts. For me, it's a process to work through as expediently as possible...just get the shit down and move on. The thrill comes from discussing the overall bass sound we want and then hearing that in context against the drums and guitars...and this time we're going for something with significantly more bottom end that 'E&O''s buzzsaw bass twang. In theory, in the finished product you should just get a monolith of beautiful, searing distortion, and not be able to distinguish bass from guitar without having to listen a little more attentively than usual. Mind you, I will admit to having a fair few cheap thrills hearing the bass sit on Ry's piledriving beats...it's all starting to take shape [Today was also the day that, after consecutive nights of the other members of the band getting less sleep than they needed because of Ryan's violent snoring, LSB's drummer was re-located to the currently empty, soundproofed room next door to the dorm for all future sleeping - events ed]
Listening material: Reuben; Kerbdog
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 16:08:45 GMT
Day Seven - Fri 7th October - by RyanDrums finished the day before yesterday. Funnily enough, today starts with a late rise for hungover Ryan. Much white wine and Goldschlager is to blame. By the time I get upstairs to the studio, Sadlo has pretty much got 'Sayonara!' down. We've got time for one more song before Jamie & the Reuben gang are due to show up. Rich gets 'Seven' (working title - the verses are in 7/4) down with ease. Everything is down for 'Question', the song Jamie Lenman is singing on, although live guitars need re-doing. We realise that, since Jamie doesn't know the song, a guide vocal by someone other than G might be required. As I am the best singer in Left Side Brain, it makes complete sense for me to do it. I sing myself hoarse in about 8 minutes but everyone started to doubt whether or not Jamie will be required... Reuben and the road crew arrive about 2pm and after a rock n' roll cup of tea and a listen through the track (first external ears to hear it!) Jamie starts his warm up. Lots of high and lots of very low noises. The man sounds like a didgeridoo. He gets in the booth and asks Neal to crank the tune in his cans. Then crank it some more. Then asks for about ten times as much. (We try the headphones later. No-one puts them on. Fucking Loud). The idea is that Jamie trades off against G in the chorus. He does it in absolutely fine style, changing the melody of some of his parts and giving a huge range of takes, from really melodic to lung-shredding howls. He leaves without listening back but the complete song sounds ace. Harmonies we didn't consider. Awesome. It's tough re-adjusting when they leave. We haven't seen many 'outsiders' for a week or so. Neal has been particularly shaken by the incident - he operates at a different pace to Jamie! We get 2 more bass tracks done before heading out to see Reuben in Belfast. They kick mighty ass, as do The Mascara Story and Fighting With Wire (I will purchase the FWW album if/when there is one). We get 'home' about 1.30am thanks to heroic driving (nobody wanted the job) from G. We rack some pool, crank some tunes and tuck into some more booze. Reckon it might be another late start for Ryan tomorrow... Listening material: Secret Chiefs 3 - Book Of Horizons; Masters Of Reality - Welcome To The Western Lodge
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 10, 2005 16:22:18 GMT
Day Eight - Sat 8th October - by OliMe & Rich are up at 9am, despite hangovers, to make sure all the remaining bass parts are finished today. G surfaces some time around 11am. Ry is just getting up when we head back downstairs for lunch - he's really taken to his soundproof glass bedroom. Bass continues at a good pace after lunch and I manage to sneak away for a couple of hours to watch the England match at 4 o'clock. I also use this time to try and help Ry & G in their efforts to write lyrics for the second verse of 'Well Well Well'. I contribute little as my attention is mainly held by England's less-than-comfortable 1-0 victory. G & R are coming up with some cracking lines though: Ry's "Brain fucking meltdown" was a particular favourite that (to my dismay) didn't make the final version. Anyway, Rich completes the final bass part around the same time the football finishes so after a bite to eat, me, G and Neal begin the much-awaited task of setting up the guitars. This involves wheeling out every cab and head we can find and laying them out in a line to create a glorious Wall Of Rock. However, we settle on both using our Marshall TSL100 heads thorough a combination of two cabs each: G through his Marshall 1960 4x12 and an Ampeg SVT 8x10 bass cab; I go through my Marshall 1960 4x12 and a mongrel cab (more details as I discover what they are...). We get as far as getting G's sound right and then call it a night. We actually end up spending the evening watching a lot of telly but still, of course, get suitably trousered for a Saturday night. I'm first to bed knowing there's a long day of guitar-based work ahead. Naturally, G's pissed-up shrieking then keeps me awake for a good hour before he (probably) passes out in a pool of happy confusion... Listening / viewing material: Therapy? live bootleg DVD (Werchter festival, Belgium, July 2005); LSB @ Camden Underworld 07/08/05 DVD; Ugly Kid Joe - America's Least Wanted
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 14, 2005 16:31:17 GMT
Day Nine - Sun 9th October - by GFirst day of tracking the guitars and all is well. This really is just about the best part of the whole debacle for me - there's nothing quite like having a wall of brutal amplification blasting away at your mercy in the next room, and on a day like this, the very worst thing that can happen is that it'll take a while to nail the right takes, the punishment for which is simply spending more time playing guitar through a wall of brutal amplification. Hardly a chore hehehe... As it happens, we suffer no major setbacks and though it takes a while to make sure that everything sounds in tune with everything else (tougher than you'd think), we manage to get my half of the guitars for 'Start Fighting', 'Exit Route' and 'Question'. Understatement of the day: 'I am pleased with the guitar tone that we have created.' My axe is barking like a rottweiler on steroids and the cunning choice of an Ampeg SVT 8x10 bass cab to complement my usual Marshall 4x12 is providing a delightful grunt to the bottom end that is knocking my brain on its arse every time I hear it. My trusty steed (Gibson RD Standard) has never had it so damn good. Now whilst it might seem a little, well, disappointing to end up playing on the other side of a soundproofed window from your amps, there are plenty of parts on the record for which that simply won't do, so I've also been making regular excursions into the belly of the beast to bear the brunt of the full force of my amp (volume level: ear crushing) to indulge in the delights of wrestling swathes of head-vibrating feedback for those times when it absolutely, positively has to sound like you're wringing the neck of the world's biggest, loudest and most narked pigeon. To cut a long story long, I'm chuffed and having a blast, and as Neal is also a guitarist at heart, I'm pretty sure this is his favourite bit too. We spent the evening [it was actually the early afternoon - accuracy ed] setting up Oli's ampage (the usual Marshall TSL100 through the usual Marshall 4x12 and the addition of Neal's mongrel Hiwatt 4x12 with vintage 30w speakers, fact fans) and went to work on extracting the right sound from it. As it turned out, we couldn't quite get enough gain (overdrive) as we wanted from it, but a quick change of guitars from his usual Les Paul Custom to the 'number two' - a beautiful '81 Gibson Explorer - and suddenly we were right 'in the zone'. This is the first record Oli hasn't used 'The Lezzer' on, and whilst I think he secretly wishes he didn't have to, I'm loving the fact that the pointy guitar factor has been upped - always a good thing where rock 'n' roll is concerned. Evening shenanigans consisted of the usual (see every other entry so far...Rock...booze...pool...telly). More specifically, as this was to be Ry's last night with us (he has to go home becasue of a family emergency - get well soon Mrs B), we engage in a commemorative game of Gryball and knock the proceedings on the head with copious boozing and a viewing of Rage Against The Machine's final concert on DVD - bonzer. Good work, erstwhile tub thumper, and a safe journey home...
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 14, 2005 16:46:30 GMT
Day Ten - Mon 10th October - by Rich
Hungover...Sunday night was Ry's last one with us, so the taste of death in my mouth and the throbbing bastard behind my eyes are king of par for the course. The succession of grunts and groans from other members of the band suggest that they might feel similarly ropey.
Ah well. I bring myself round with successive cups of tea and a few rounds of golf on the PSP (I'm pleased to say that all this studio downtime while the guys do guitars is really improving my handicap). My next missions are to a) get Ry to the airport, and b) find myself a pair of glasses. Yes, I've spent the last five days or so in a constant state of myopia, partly explained by the large quantities of booze, but mainly due to me neglecting to bring the right amount of contact lenses.
So, after getting our Boy Drums to Belfast International, I embark on my own adventure into the city centre to find opticians. After finding one and jumping through all the necessary eye-testing hoops (including that quite frankly terrifying test where they shoot pressurised air into my bog-eyed visage...that bastard always makes me jump), I manage to escape the place without buying a pair of specs that resemble those worn by Kerbdog's Cormac Battle. Honestly, it seems as though everyone in Belfast with glasses has the exact same style as Battle's - I was nearly sucked in myself. And by God, I left being able to see stuff...so this is what Belfast looks like!
Got 'home' to find a number of guitar tracks put down by G and Ol - the remaining parts of 'Well Well Well' and all of 'Sayonara!'. I have vocal duties on the latter, which is what we spend the remainder of the day on. This is my first vocal take in our time here so far, and it takes me at least 30 minutes to shake the nerves and cobwebs away. G and I have such different vocal styles that it's hard not to feel a little inadequate when comparing my reedy whine next to his force-ten bellow, but the finished product seems to stand up okay. I'm not a big fan of hearing my own voice (especially so high in the mix when you're checking through the various takes) but I imagine that when it drops down among the riffs, I'll be pleased as punch.
Anyway, another working day over and we all race to the fridge for beers...
Listening material: Jeff Buckley - Grace; NERD - In Search Of...; Oceansize (again)
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 14, 2005 16:54:53 GMT
Day Eleven - Tue 11th October - by OliDay eleven and time starts to seem against us. More than half the guitar still to do, never mind almost all the vocals. Contrary to the panicky feeling inside us three remaining LSBers, there is still plenty of time left as long as morale and concentration levels remain high... We start proceedings by getting my guitar parts done for 'Well Well Well' before doing both guitars for 'Smithereens'. Then onto some vocals. 'Exit Route' is first up and features Rich in the verses and G for the rest. Both do pretty well but it is early evening by the time they're done. I then step up to the mic for the first time this trip - slightly worrying prospect for two reasons: 1) I'm not a big fan of singing, and 2) I've had a bit of a sore throat for a couple of days. As it turns out, it all goes pretty well and I've done enough decent takes within 7 or 8 minutes. Excellent ;D There's still time left so Rich lays down the lead vocal for 'Smithereens' before we retire once again to the living quarters for a few cold beers and a well-earned early night* (well, slightly before midnight which is early as far as the past two weeks are concerned). *G's addendum: Let it be noted that Ol and Richie went to bed - I stayed up and got wazzed
Listening material: Nothing. Just telly.
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 14, 2005 17:10:42 GMT
Day Twelve - Wed 12th October - by GI guess it's been a relatively eventful day today in a way. This morning was spent laying down the mighty riffage and tricky time signatures of 'Seven' (provisional title) and though it takes a while (as everything seems to now that time is against us), once it's done it sounds massive and marvellously tuneful into the bargain - looking foward to singing this badboy. Next up Oli spends a fair old while tracking his bits for the provisionally-titled 'Shooting Blind' (why do the slower ones always take longer? Don't answer that... ) and about halfway through, the computer upon which we are relying entirely for this recording adventure, froze. Totally. Crashed crashed crashed crashed crashed. This is bad. It took Neal a good hour to reboot, rebuild and restore it all but thankfully nothing was lost...at least it provided me witht he chance to grab some completely unneccesary kip on the sofa in the meantime though... Back to the grind. Ol finished his stuff off and it's time for the vocals on 'Start Fighting'. Now this one is one of my favourites to sing as it's a real fucking belter - my strongest (some would say only) hand in the old singing stakes, and after a bit of warm-up yelping it's into the booth for some vocal chord shredding. I've got to say that I'm nothing if not completely devoid of any proper vocal technique, and my approach to hitting a note has always been a case of 'strain harder until you get there', and singing this one was a pretty uncomfortable experience which can be summed up neatly by the typicaldialogue exchange as follows: G: "I WASN'T READY TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Neal: "OK, let's go for another one" G: "Hang on a minute, I've got another headache" I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if I'd popped a vein, but thankfully I live to strain another day (namely Thursday), and dammit if I'm not helping to dispel the politically incorrect Irish sterotype, but I ain't half looking forward to the potato soup I've got waiting downstairs for tea (apologies Ireland but I really am). More later... ----------- Well, you'll be pleased to hear that the soup kicked arse. My congratulations to Mr Heinz. After tea, Ol and Rich did the backing vocals for 'Start Fighting' and sent that sucker straight to the 'finished' corner with no supper. We, on the other hand, sent ourselves to the beer shelf of the fridge with the distinct possibilty of a packet of crisps or three before bedtime. More before bed... ----------- OK, it's finally time for bed, and I'm now on the other end of both a Cream concert from the 70s (I think) and wicked Eric Clapton docco - Brill. Hope I get a chance for a kip sometime tomorrow...
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 14, 2005 17:37:19 GMT
Day Thirteen - Thu 13th October - by RichPressure-filled though these last few days have been, whilst G and Ol have been handling guitar duties I've had the chance for a bit of down time, and film junkie that I am, this has of course meant that I've had to cram in a few movies whenever the chance has arisen. First up, Godfather parts 1 and 2: embarrassed though I am to admit to not having seen these two previously, I was unsurprisingly - given their reputation - blown away. James Caan is God. Next on the list, and the only remaining films in Neal's collection that I hadn't seen, were Secret Window (generic Stephen King fodder) and Godsend (woefully crap semi-supernatural snorefest which, quite frankly, Robert De Niro should hand his equity card in repentance for). Other than the movies, improving my handicap on PSP golf and polishing off a few novels (Marcia Marquez's 'Love In The Time Of Cholera' and Selby Jr's 'Last Exit For Brooklyn' being the highlights), these final days have been all about recording lead vocals ('Ghost Train' and 'Well Well Well' for me and G repesctively) and getting the remaining guitar parts sorted. Pressed for time though it has been, G and I seem to be finally taking the singing in our stride. G, particularly, pulled his best performance yet in 'Well Well Well'. This one's gonna be a belter, for sure. After completing Oli's backing vocals for 'Ghost Train', we call it a day. After the usual first 30 minutes of the evening where everyone is effectively silent until at least 2 beers are sunk, the usual evening's festivities can occur. For some reason, we're in a debating kind of mood - we spend about 3 hours talking philosophy, politics, psychology and, of course, football. I'm sure that we reached some conclusions but I'll be buggered if I can remember what they were. I'm sure I was asleep before my head touched the pillow, and, for the record, I keep having this dream about being the captain of the Mary Rose - trying to get the bugger back to Portsmouth harbour while it slowly sinks. Make of that what you will
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 17, 2005 15:20:16 GMT
Day Fourteen - Fri 14th October - by OliBecause of the increasing lack of time left to get everything finished, we've agreed with Neal to start at 9am this morning (usual start time is 10am), so me & G are up on time and ready to rock once again, albeit with added yawns. I kick things off with the guitar for 'Let's Go', G follows suit in good time and we move onto 'Gas Giant', the new album's (proposed) closing instrumental behemoth. After the success of the improvised 'hidden' track on our 1st album, we decided to have a go at actually writing a piece of music, as opposed to a song, for this one and, as luck would have it, we're happy, nay excited, about the way it's turned out. After the couple of hours it takes to get the two guitar parts down, the excitement level has not dropped... ;D Apart from some extra messing about tomorrow (if we have time), the guitars are now complete. Some of it took longer than it should, some didn't take as long as we thought it would, but the end result is sounding pretty massive and with the time we had available, both me & G are chuffed with the way it's gone. So, back to vocals and we really need to pick up the pace if tomorrow (the final day in the studio) is not going to be over-rushed and over-stressful. Luckily, the boys are on great form and an unprecedented 3 lead vocals are recorded before close of play - Rich puts 'Blunderbuss' to bed before G nails 'Let's Go' and 'Seven' (which has now been given the final name of 'Pay To Play' after a last minute change to a line of the lyrics). We finish at 9pm and rush straight out in the van to the off-licence. Once back, the beers are cracked open and an attempt to finish writing remaining lyrics and harmonies turns into a lengthy discussion about religion. I take my leave some time after midnight in the hope of a good night's sleep before the final, stressful day...
|
|
|
Post by left side brain on Oct 20, 2005 16:11:47 GMT
Day Fifteen - Sat 15th October - by GWell here it was - the final day of recording for LSB album numero two. The original plan had dictated that by now we'd be starting day 3 of mixing, but, true to form, as ever, we're running late, and the day proves to be more of a mad dash to finish the recording (Neal's going to have to mix it without us and we'll be mailing tracks back and forth for weeks...). Luckily we made pretty good time yesterday, so it's not quite as mad a dash as we'd been fearing, more of a gentle jog, but either way there's a bunch of shit that's got to be done before the end of the day as we're hitting the road for home at about 6am tomorrow morning... Richie hits the ground running first thing and busts out the vocals for the provisionally titled 'Shooting (The) Blind', and all goes grandly - good lad. That's the last of the lead vocals done, so we're on to the last few backing vocals that need mopping up - 'Lets Go' (provisional) is also sent to the 'finished' pile with sterling yelps from Richie and by this point I must admit that listening to this stuff over and over again is finally starting to do my nut in, so I end up retiring downstairs for a kip and quick reboot of the old sense of humour whilst O and R get bus(t)y with the "well, well, well"s on the appropriately titled 'Well, Well, Well'. A refreshed and rejuvenated me then resurfaces for a wazz through the freshly titled 'Pay To Play' (ex - 'Seven') and a manly stab at the nice little call and response BVs on 'Smithereens' (you can only sing "you get, you give, you get, you give, you get, you give" so many times in a row before the words lose all meaning and it feels like you're just making a bunch of silly noises ("yuggeh chuggive, yuggeh chuggive, yuggeh chuggive") but all goes well and it's really good to be starting to hear the songs with all of their constituent parts as we've spent a good week and a half just dealing with instrumentals - nice to remember we have singing in them too, even if it is sometimes me The fact that we've made such good time with all this means that we've still got plenty of time in the afternoon to complete our final task - recording the additional guitars for the end section of instrumental behemoth 'Gas Giant', which, in keeping with the tradition established on Equal And Opposite, is a guitar heavy riffathon that transmogrifies into a wig-out of axe coaxing, sonic battery and feedback as it rides off into the sunset to finish the record (or that's the current plan, anyway). Everything has been laid down apart from me and Oli's parts for the final section, and it's definitely one of the bits that we've been most looking forward to as we'll be able to cut loose a bit and make some shit up as we go along instead of trying to recreate stuff that has already been written, and the chance to create a bit of sonic mayhem always appeals To add to the vibe we decide that for this bit we're going to set both mine and Oli's amps up at the same time, crank them to roof-blowing levels, and both get in the live room with them so that we can play off each other and see what horribleness crops up - nice. We get in there, Neal starts the track and we commence aural hostilities. Much feedback, head shaking vibrations and delightfully unlistenable noise later we emerge, laughing heartily and incredulous of some of the noises that we managed to wring out of our poor guitars - much fun was had, and once Neal's added a bit of his own brand of axe-slinging magic (again, upholding the tradition as Neal's fretboard antics and rampant Whammy pedal abuse graced the end of the rockery-pokery that closes 'Don't Feed The Animals' - He used to be lead guitarist for 90's irish rock icons Scheer, fact fans) it's going to be a monster and no mistake (and it should finish the record off in fine style). To my complete surprise we finish up in plenty of time and by about 8:30 it's time to begin the sorry task of packing our shit up for the dreaded drive home. Hands are shaken, photos taken, and suddenly it's all over. All there is left to do is to get our arses downstairs and commence the task of getting boshed before bedtime. Which we did. The evening ended in the usual fashion for me - last man up, sleep on the sofa in front of the telly - magic. Not going to feel *quite* so magic at 5am the next morning though...
|
|