The Tired Drummer
- Written by: Paul
This post is being written by a very tired drummer – which in itself probably sounds ridiculous because we recorded the drums last month and all I've done this weekend is watch Aidy work on guitar parts. But sometimes it is exhausting just watching a musician and producer create appropriate sounds because they are working so hard and it takes it out of you even being a studio spectator.
The album is sounding great, Dave nailed all of his funky bass lines a couple weeks back and I think rhythmically it gels really nicely, so the last couple of days have been focussed on finding 'that' perfect guitar sound that compliments the songwriting perfectly. I think it's very clear that this certainly isn't a slapdash project, it's no longer a case of just playing the songs and recording them with a decent enough sound, this is a produced effort and attention to detail is pivotal if we are to create an album we are all proud of – and not just on release, but something we can listen back to in five, ten, twenty years time and still feel a sense of achievement. As you can imagine, this can take bloody ages, but it's really taking shape nicely and a majority of it sounds really brilliant already.
Typically in these situations my role is to simply support, banter where necessarily, and eat lots of snacks. During the recording the same song is obviously played over and over and over again, but perhaps the most satisfying thing of all is that I'm still very excited by all of them.
Who You Gonna Call?
- Written by: Aidy
I’ve just got my favourite guitar (A Fender Jagstang with a Ghostbusters transfer on it) back from those wonderful people at Sound Plus in Bury St Edmunds. They’ve done a great job setting it up and I’m now fully prepared for our next studio session. We’re making great progress with the album, the drums are all there, Dave’s just finished recording his bass parts and the thing is really starting to take shape.
Don’t forget if you fancy coming to visit us at work in the studio you can purchase our Studio Package from the Buy Stuff section for a mere £50, which also gets you a CD a T-Shirt and your name in the liner notes!
How I Discovered My Favourite Band
- Written by: Aidy
R.E.M. are, in my humble opinion, the greatest band ever to grace planet Earth and in light of their recent split and my emotional purchase of their last ever full studio album ‘Collapse into Now’ I’ve decided to dedicate a cheeky blog post to them. Let’s kick off with a Worther’s Original style flash back to how I first discovered that R.E.M. are indeed the best band in the world.
First Weekend at Half Ton Studios
- Written by: Paul
This weekend we started recording our debut album. Finding the right studio and suitable producer isn't always an easy thing; I personally have drummed in a couple projects over the years where the wrong decision has been made and there's a general sense that not everybody (the band, the songwriter, the producer) are on the same page. If you get it wrong, the chances are you're stuck with a recording you're unhappy with (but still having to promote), having blown the budget and not in a position to re-record elsewhere.
However, for this album, Aidy made the decision to go with producer Neil James 'Bugs' Rogers at Half Ton Studios in Cambridge and neither Dave or I disagreed given the studio's impeccable track record. As a producer, Bugs is widely regarded as one of the top guys to work with, and one of his most recent projects was the Travis Waltons debut release which we're all a big fan of.
Caffeine & Rehearsals
- Written by: Aidy
Well next weekend is our first recording session at Half Ton Studios. So in preparation we spent most of this weekend locked in a small room rehearsing new material, eating Peperami and drinking excessive amounts of coffee and energy drinks. It's all been worth while though and we've locked down ten tracks that are going to feature on the album. We're all very excited about this project, getting the album out there and playing this stuff live.
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