Greetings, folks!
We have had another productive month, kicking off with the continuation of our dusting off and adapting some old material, and a couple of covers, for our live set. We were initially focusing on four old ones but a fifth got added due to the idiocy that swept the nation at the start of the month… you can probably guess which one.
As I can’t seem to help myself, I have created a couple more mood boards. This first one represents the five GiG tracks and the two covers. See if you can work them out. Some are more literal than others.

During this session, we managed to get a couple of action shots where I didn’t look like I was experiencing digestive distress which is a bonus.

Anyway, we are at a point now where we are happy with my approach to the old material and are really excited about how they are sounding. Pete is busy adapting various guitar parts to fit in with my “angry northern man” approach.
Now that has been sorted, we have returned our attentions to the new album. We are at a point where we are going song-by-song and doing multi-track vocal recordings, adding backing, effects, etc. Oh, and samples… Pete says I can’t be trusted when it comes to samples. As someone who believes that My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s ‘Kooler Than Jesus’ is one of the greatest songs of all time, a few samples here and there is to be expected.
As you can imagine, this is a long process so we are averaging one song per three hour session. Though we did manage to get two down over four hours last time. This next mood board represents the four songs we ttacked in August.

First up, it was tinfoil hats all-round for a Lewis Carroll-inspired ditty which is coming along nicely. I’m kicking myself slightly as I changed the rhythm of one line and I’ve since decided that I preferred it the way it was before. Oh well, it shouldn’t be too much work to go back and rectify my mistake. This is one of the great things about getting various demo recordings done. I can sit in the dark with my headphones on and berate myself for my cock-ups. Still, I’m glad I tried it. Now I know it doesn’t work. If I hadn’t given it a shot, I’d be left with one of those annoying “what if” moments. This is something Pete encourages me to do. If I have an idea, no matter how ‘out there’ it may be, try it. If it works, we can keep it, if it doesn’t, into the bin it goes. In honour of the subject matter, I bought a roll of tin-foil on the way to the studio and crafted us both some natty headwear!

The following week, I was Peteless which meant that I was deprived of his seemingly-endless suply of Liquid Death. This meant I had to go old-school and break out the Buxton.
This time around, I was tackling a cheerful little number about alienation and social anxiety filtered through the lens of H.P. Lovecraft. Basically, I’m using his classic short story ‘The Outsider’ as a metaphor for what many of us in the scene, and beyond, experience on a regular basis.
I actually plkayed around with some harmonies on this one, which is something new to me. Previous projects I’ve sung in have either been recorded ‘as live’ or were so swamped in distortion that harmony was the last thing I was thinking about. On the whole, I’m happy with how it came out but I think I need to up the agression in the chorus. The first line, especially, needs a bit more punch.

Last week saw the return of my personal water carrier and us tackling two tracks. The first, a song examining the connection between nightmares and neurosis, came out really well. It features one of Pete’s ‘nicest’ guitar parts and it makes him laugh that I have chosen to bang on about sleep paralysis and dream hags over it.
The cheerfulness continued with a song inspired by the real-life tragedy of a young girl in Japan who committed suicide during a live-stream. This is an angry one as it’s a story that deeply affected me when I stumbled across it. In the wake of her demise, several internet ‘challenges’ sprung up where troubled teenagers would attempty to follow in her footsteps while a baying audience of sickos egged them on. Again, this came out really well and it felt great to vent my frustrations at the human race.

Righto. That’s enough waffle from me. As I write this I’m getting ready to hike down to the studio for another session.
Until next time, take care,
Tim.