We’re delighted to be able to tell you that the new album is mixed & we’re really pleased with the results. David M. Allen has done a fabulous job helping our vast mess of music & ideas & noises settle pleasingly & coherently into the songs we’d recorded. Mixing can be a pain, but the [...]
Glad to report that the squoinky organ mania recorded at Joe’s house & the bass lines recorded at mine were usable. Rat & I got plenty of editing done yesterday in the Scabies Attic, with some occasional assistance from Wilfred Millar. Neville Staple’s singing & ad-libs have worked with a special magic that couldn’t possibly [...]
It is now nearly all recorded. Yesterday we drove to Coventry with engineer James & the ‘Orchard Studios Mobile Facility’ & recorded some fabulous vocals by Neville Staple, extraordinary frontman-toaster-singer with The Specials which will feature on one track. We’re very excited because we have never recorded a proper collaboration before & Neville’s contribution is [...]
We have recorded all the drums & bass for 12 songs & almost all the piano & organ parts. Some guitar has gone down too. It’s looking like we might make it 11 songs rather than 12. We don’t want it too long, & any decent album should easily fit onto one side of a [...]
There are currently 16 songs that are on the shortlist for the new album. We’ll probably put 12 on the album. There are 5 which are just about Flipronshaped enough, (with a few tweaks,) to take to the studio. So, we have to work through 11 more & choose the best ones. Sort of. The [...]
Today in Glastonbury they were ringing a ‘full peal’ (I think) on the bells of St John’s church. ‘Ringing the Changes’ on New Years Day. A lovely English sound. I thought I’d go & stand outside to record an mp3 of the bells in the pouring rain, under an umbrella. I recorded everything as I [...]
Have a fabulous festive season! Thank you for your support, encouragement & good humour over the past year. We’ve had a fabulous time. From recording a single in the freezing February gales to the sunshine of Texas in the spring to the Glastonbury Festival mud. We shall leave you with a suitable quote from Beaudelaire: [...]
Elvis was my personal trainer. 68 Comeback Elvis. He was responsible for me being in appropriate shape for my chosen life. -Musician I suppose. We spent all our time together. We had fun & we found things funny. We were close, almost as brothers. All was well, except that Elvis was in trouble with the [...]