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The Queen Of Something New
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I am now officially off the leash! Now I won’t just be updating you and bending your ear about all things musical, but also forcing general ramblings and thoughts on the general world upon you. I probably won’t even structure my thoughts that well as some kind of mini-rebellion against the organised world, but hey, I’ll try to at least make them semi-entertaining for you in return. Ok, let’s give you the update...
The long wait is nearly over. I started writing songs when I was 13 and in a few days time I will finally have a collection of my songs on a professionally produced CD. At the moment that is only really a big deal for me and a few people around me, but hopefully in a couple of weeks time it will be a big deal for some of you as well!
You Gotta Walk Before You Can Run
In some ways I am patient, in others I am not. I would like to tour across many countries playing gigs with my fantastic band and have a bass player, a guitarist, a mandolin player and piano/keyboard player guest throughout the shows. Well that is something that could happen, but at the moment I have face up to the fact that it has to be a slow, feasible transition that deals with the reality of my day job, my musicians day jobs and the fact there are no gig fees for the band (or me) at the moment. Someone these days has decided that you don’t make money from selling CDs, which means you have to get to the next phase of either having your music appearing in films/adverts/TV shows or selling out lots of shows – so that you can get some money and perhaps make this transition a reality. For me, playing big shows, small shows, working hard, promoting, interviewing etc – none of that is scary, but the transition is. I hope I have done the first part in creating a good album but the rest will require a couple of breaks and great fans showing me great support.
‘Fan’ is a strange word. Some artists tend to collect them like scalps, but for me it is simply people who like your music enough to do something about it – whether that is tell lots of people about it, buy a t-shirt, or buy your next album. These people are special and make such a difference. I think sometimes people under-estimate the power of people power....
You Gotta Keep Something for Yourself
Everyone who makes music tends to be a bit different. Some are in-your-face and self-confident, some are shy, retiring types and some are very sensitive and a bit fragile. I don’t think any of those really apply to me but I would say I don’t feel the cathartic need to lyrically express myself. This means I don’t need to ‘let it all out’ (visions of someone patting a sobbing DWM on the back) and that after I have written a song I don’t need to walk up to a friend and say ‘hey, that line was about you’. My songs tend to:
- be about the past, the present and the future
- talk about things that have happened to me and as well as things that haven’t
- use loads of metaphors
- be about several things in one song
Throw all that together and it is a wonder people ever say ‘I know exactly what you mean there..’. If I was trying to describe something in the simplest terms, I would be disappointed if I couldn’t get my meanings across – but I am not trying to do that. As a singer/songwriter growing up in late 90s/00s London, you don’t get a great deal really. You work hard, you rehearse hard, you don’t get paid for your musical endeavours and you can generally get treated like a disposable rag doll – so for me, this is the one thing I keep some of just for myself. It has no cash value, but I suppose it is worth something to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a closed shop, when asked in interviews about particular songs I will give an answer that reveals half the truth, but I will just keep the other half for myself.
Learning Things and Writing More Songs
Making Until The Morning Light was a great experience. Contrary to popular belief it d
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Things seem to be moving pretty fast now. When I last wrote we had nearly completed all the recording. The next task caused a few days delay as were trying to book a different studio for one extra recording day (as we couldn’t get back into the studio we used for all the other recording days), but fortunately another great studio was available and we had a really productive and enjoyable day.
THE LAST RECORDING
There were quite a few guitar parts still left to record, a couple of backing vocals and the lead vocal for Act of Defiance. I laid down the remaining acoustic guitar parts first and then I got to play an amazing Fender Telecaster through a good-sounding Vox AC30 amp, which was a real treat for me. I live in a flat with thin walls and I have never had the money or space to own and play these amazing things - so to be in a soundproof room and told to turn it up loud and play was great. I laid down a bit of electric guitar on Act of Defiance that in truth I had never previously envisaged being on the song, but I tried to make the guitar confidently call out the same way the vocals do and we will see how it sounds in the mix!
From a vocal perspective I felt good throughout recording this album, as I finally felt like I knew how bits would turn out if I did them in certain ways. The last bit of the day, and indeed the final thing I had to record on the album was singing Act of Defiance. It was quite fitting really as this is often the final song in my live sets and I really have to, well, kind of trash my voice at the end of the song. Singing in a recording studio is a bit different to singing live – there is no sizeable audience, the microphone technique is a bit different and of course you know you can do most bits again if need be. When you combine all this with the fact you are surrounded by great equipment and a talented producer, it can sometimes make you feel too safe and lead to less-emotional delivery. I forced myself to be aware of that throughout the sessions and get myself up for every take – not like Rocky pacing up and down in the corner but just by remembering why each lyric was written and delivering the right emotion. You can sometimes forget that in the cold light of day, when someone plays it on their car stereo or a kitchen radio, it is only as good as the performance you give. In the last song, as my torn vocal chords delivered the last chorus, I remember thinking that I had given it all I had.
I had only ever done 3 day recording sessions before and I was determined that I was going to enjoy the whole experience. Many people would wish to record an album of their own material and to work with Tony Platt and the musicians I had around me. When I write my songs, I have always thought about what would be suitable for second and third albums but the honest truth is that you never know if this is the last time I would get to do this, or if it would be the first album of many. It will all be tied to how this album does and who shows faith in me.
The next day, Allan Burls, who some of you may know as the bass guitarist from Francis Rodino's band, came to the studio in Old Street. Happily for me, he had agreed to guest on three tracks where we wanted bass guitar to accompany the cello. He experty laid down the basslines and the final note on 'Until The Morning Light' had been struck.
THE ALBUM TITLE
The album will be called ‘Until The Morning Light’. It’s a lyric from Act of Defiance – which as the name suggests is a pretty defiant song born out of listening to a lot of opinions and also enjoying being a bit reckless and breaking the routine from time to time. I thought the name was fitting as I have kept on going through the night when I thought I would either get there or give up by nightfall. There is no rock ‘n roll story here, but I feel like I have lived, I have written, I have persevered and I have created. People have helped me to get it all put down on an album and
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The whirlwind continues and after the initial 5 recording days, another 3 days in the studio have now come and gone. The first day of the three was a lot of fun as (after laying down some acoustic guitar) I got to play the amazing vintage guitars and amps in the studio on a couple of tracks where we have elected for a bit of electric guitar. My previous band had a specialist electric guitarist, so it really was a special for me to get a chance to play them and although there was a definite ‘less is more’ approach, it has really added to the songs.
The next day saw Milo, Helen and Pravin back in the studio. First of all, the most prominent violin/viola/cello parts on the album were recorded, as Milo and Helen sat side by side and filled the big live room with their beautiful playing. There is a definite grass-roots sound in the music that has been important to me from the start. I love some electronic stuff but you sometimes get a good feeling when you have a set of musicians who are playing age-old instruments, unamplified and captured simply by microphones. You can call it what you want, but at times I definitely get a sitting-round-a-campfire feeling or a travelling-from-town-to-town-wandering-minstrels feeling, and even sometimes a playing for an ancient royal court feeling! It’s not the most complicated stuff in the world, but it just kind of feels like music to me.
After the string parts were all performed, Helen and Milo had finished their recording on the album and after the farewell Pravin set about recording his remaining percussion parts. Speaking to Pravin, you get the feeling he has enjoyed the freedom of playing in an unconventional way. Throughout the sessions he has used a mixture of sticks, brushes and hot rods (kind of half way in between sticks). On In This Fair City he plays the drum kit with his hands for part of the song and then in this session, he played an udu (an ancient clay drum) on another track. I think people associate rock and funk albums as those that are constantly built on rhythm, but even though there isn’t percussion of any kind on two of the album tracks, this album has so much rhythmic variety that listening to it in public without walking a bit erratically will be very hard!
If the first two days were days of recording rhythmic and slightly more complicated string parts, day 3 was a day of simple musical beauty. The morning saw Rosabella Gregory come into the studio and guest on two songs. A bit of funky Wurlitzer was laid down on the first take for one song, but the main event was listening to Rosie caress the piano keys for of the more poignant songs. With all the best planning in the world (and believe me I have done more planning for this adventure than I have for most!) sometimes you can’t get everything in place and you need a good break. The one person I had in mind to play this piano part couldn’t do it and it needed a speculative message to a promoter I know, a recommendation and a brief meeting in a piano rehearsal room in North-West London before the session itself. I can get bored of my own voice but I think it will take me a million listens to get bored of the playing on this song.
The afternoon was Delaney-time, as Jennifer sung one of her lead vocal parts and then sung some harmonies on a few tracks. Everyone picks out certain things in songs - for me there is nothing worse than a badly out of tune vocal harmony, and nothing better than an in tune vocal harmony performed with feeling. A couple of the latter sounded beautiful to me and I hope you all appreciate them when the album is out.
So after these three days there is now just one more recording session required and then the mixing can commence! I hope the album updates hit the spot for you - I will sign out for now, but only after my song recommendations for those of you that enjoy them!
DWM SongPoint
1000 Oceans – Tori Amos
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) – Billy Joel
1492 – Cou
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11 December 2008 at 8:00 PM |
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The Freedom Sessions @ The Cavendish Arms
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20 January 2009 at 9:45 PM |
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