Archive for May, 2009
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
Forgive me, Father for I have sinned. It has been three months since my last blog.
Time is doing funny things to me. Whilst the recording seems to be taking an age, the days and weeks and months are whizzing by. I guess it’s because we’re taking such enormous painstaking care over this record, and like Frankenstein’s monster, it’s beginning to take on a life of its own, getting bigger and grander and more lush by the day. It seems we keep upping the ante, and the brilliant thing about making a second record is that suddenly, some really good musicians want to work with you. I mean world class. Really. Not so brilliant is that you start to question your own abilities, and after 14 hour sessions, singing non-stop guide vocals, you don’t sound too hot!
It’s my second cup of strong black coffee and Sounds of the Sixties on Radio 2, and then it’s down to the practice studio. I’ve started collecting vintage sheet music on eBay – Dionne, Bacharach, Sandie – that kind of thing, and apart from the scores looking really pretty and framable, I’m going to sit down with Barbara, our dusty old upright, and see if I can’t bash out a few tunes (on the proviso, of course, that reading music is a lot like riding a bike, and you never forget…). The gee-tar boys are in the big studio today and I need to keep singing.
I had a quick listen to ‘Ain’t Nothing Like a Shame’ last night, with Art Terry on keys and Steve Large on Hammond, and I got a proper shiver. Wow, I can’t believe this is our record, it sounds amazing. And really danceable – always a good sign if your feet can’t keep still. This keeps me going through these dark days of studio hibernation. It’s going to be immense. According to Andrew’s colourful spreadsheet (Andrew? Spreadsheets?), we’ll be done by the end of June, and then, dear friends it’s lastminute.com and the first plane out of here to lie comatose on a sunny beach.
Thank you for sticking with us – it’ll be worth it, really.
Right, I have a date with Burt, and I’ve now had three black coffees. I’m buzzing.
See you on the other side. Xx Ali
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Howdy y’all
Ivor here on the blog this week reporting to you direct from a hidden location deep in the wilds of North London.
We’re currently working hard on the final tracks for what will become the new album, tentatively titled “Lucky Soul’s Hoxton Electro Party Vol. 2” including the new songs which we showcased at the gig at the Camden Barfly and also a whole bunch which are so top secret and new that I don’t even know them by name just how the drums start!
As ever recording with Lucky Soul is a bit of a roller coaster experience with some tracks being nailed down in two or three takes and some other bits (like the tricky end of newbie, “Coming of Age“) which take a while to concoct the perfect mix of groove/hypnotic trance/helicopter taking off/other Andrew metaphors.
Yesterday in search of the perfect snare drum sound we went on a trip to the local music instrument rental place. This place is a bit like that scene in the Matrix where they say “we need guns, lots of guns” and then masses of shelves appear. Picture that but replace it with all manner of musical geekery. Suffice to say we had to drag Mr. Atkins away.
Other highlights of the session so far include, but are not limited to:
1. Mr Atkins claiming that “Honky Dory” is an actual phrase that is used. I think it just applies in Kiwi-Land
2. Rusty’s bass amp not blowing up (see here for full details from the last recording session)
3. Me purchasing jammy doughnuts for everybody, at the heart of any nutritious breakfast.
4. Rusty creating signs to try and portray his feelings. (Examples include “Eh?”, “WTF?” and more bizarrely “Potato”
5. Getting Pizza at 10:30 and the pizza delivery man appearing on a take by pressing the buzzer at the studio
I’m sure there’ll be more to report shortly and maybe even a sneeky video peek of the goings on inside the studio!
Till next time, adios…
Ivor
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Evening All,
Rusty here. It was while I was sitting in the studio the other day that I decided to let you all into a few secrets of how a Lucky Soul song comes together in all its glory and lushness.
From where I sit in my corner by the door, I have Art, our new ‘king of funk’, to the right of me, then Doll in her little booth (usually frantically ‘twittering’ away during verses). Next is Andrew on the Gretsch Nashville who is always sporting a well cut Fred Perry or, more recently, a Neil Young style checked shirt. Over in the opposite corner is the wall of amps known as Ivors Evil Lair, (turned up to 11 of course) which contains a host of very nice vintage Fenders and then closest to me on the left is Mr Atkins, pounding out an immovable beat on the drums. Of course, there are also the all important, even essential tea and coffee making facilities and our selection of mugs which includes alot of Mr T and Flight of the Conchords. With each rehearsal stretching to the 6 hour mark, coffee IS the only way forward.
So, prior to rehearsing, Andrew would’ve usually sent out a rough demo to us via the magic of the internet and will then present us with chord sheets upon arrival to the session. Recently, these have been a fetching yellow and provide a rough chord structure for what we’re going to play. After that, we’ll set a tempo and jam through the song, feeling our way tentatively around the more jazzier chords that Andrew has invented, listening for the magic groove to present itself. After that, its a case of playing it through until we’re happy, working on the good stuff and kicking out the bad. There is always a spark of genius in all of Andrews songs, whether thats an uplifting chorus or a killer hook or a lyrical climax and we always try to play on the strength of that magic moment. Usually Mr Atkin and myself will pay particular attention to where the groove locks in between the bass and the kick drum like the crunch of a good biscuit..Ivor will come through with a guitar line that zings in your mouth like a Sherbet Dib-Dab, where-as Andrew will play the sparsest line but the one that holds everything together, like nougat sticking in your teeth . Art will sprinkle some sweet piano over the top like 100’s and 1000’s on your favourite dessert and Doll will be the icing sugar on the top, delicate and oh so enticing..
After this, we’ll record a scratch version on Ivors iPhone which will later be mp3′d out (oh how I bet you’d love to get your hands on these) so we can listen back and make suggestions. Often, you can’t hear exactly what’s right or wrong in an arrangement until you step away so this is a great exercise. We’ll then re-group at the studio where Andrew will change the key, tempo, structure and lyrics of the song until he’s completely happy, and thats how we arrive at the version that then gets demo’d in full on our pro-tools system. Now this may all seem over the top but its just that we at Lucky Soul Ltd want you to know that we care so much about the new record that we made a test one first just to see if it was good enough. Attention to detail is crucial and we need you all to rest assured that there isn’t a single note, drum fill, harmony, lyric or string-line on this new record that hasn’t be agonised over.
We’re back into the final rehearsal tomorrow before the big studio again to record the final 11 songs for you so it’s Oh so near to completion. We hope you’ve been able to catch a taster of Whoa Billy and you like it as much as we do and hope to see you at Blow Up on the 6th June..
Till then, roll the tape and on we go..
