Nine already? Phew! We are nearly getting to the end of the first phase of the recordings, basically having everything on tape before taking it back home for relistening and fine-tuning shit if necessary. It’s a good thing to do, as being too long in the studio deep into the songs can be a little blinding (or deafening, in this case), so it’s good to take a break, listen, digest, rethink before finally deciding on how the songs must sound in the end before the definitive mixing.
So we started with the two songs still missing any guitar work, namely “Follow You Around” and “Off The Tide”. “Follow” was especially fun to do, experimenting with serial switched phasers and tremolos to add a little bit of spice to the clean guitar parts. It just sounded completely specey and floaty, almost like life at half-speed. Those Small Stone phasers from Sovtek always remind me of that scene in the Beatles film
Help!, where the mad scientist switches on a “relativity cadenzer” and everyone sort of moves at half-speed and taaalk quiiteee looow and sloooow, grooouuummmpppfff brrreeeuuuoopp… Great film, by the way. Try to get it at your nearest vintage video dealer.
What was I saying? Hmm, got lost again. Oh, yes, the phased guitars, sorry. So after having too much fun doing them, we switched to “metal guitar frenzy” and plugged the Explorer into the Mesa/Boogie turned to twelve or so (fucking loud, if you ask me) and had a jolly good time acting like metal gods from a Manowar cover and watching things move everytime sound (and air) came out of the speakers at full blast. And yet another hairstyle after it, like the one you have after riding a motorbike on the highway at 250kmh without a helmet… you get it. Fucking loud, but fucking great.
And suddenly, we were facing the last guitar tracks from the last song still standing, “Off The Tide”. Although the more attentive among you might remember we had recorded it last year for the film thingy, we felt like if we’re putting it out in the album, we needed a version from the same sessions, in order to have a more integrated sound. So there we were, tracking the song again. If we were to redo it, then why not change the guitar sounds? And so we did, left the Les Paul resting and took out the mighty Explorer and the SG for the solo. It’s a rather straight in-yer-face song, so there were not many sound gimmicks to try, just bloody frog’n roll from start to finish to make you shit in your pants. Well, at least piss a little, if you don’t mind.
Anyodds, before lunch we took a try at singing a little bit and getting forward with it, so “Into The Sea” and “1976” were done, and then off to our favourite Asian bistro in Treuenbrietzen (probably the only one as well, we haven’t searched that much either).
Back at the studio we felt a little lazy and while the coffee was brewing, we switched on a Rhodes Mark I electric piano (yes, yes, a real vintage Rhodes!) and did some jangling for a break in “Scent” that we didn’t really know what to do with. And funnily, it sounded quite good, the ultimate 60s feel to the song, that was already rather vintage-sounding. It was fun to play a piano again after quite a long time, and those Rhodes pieces are wonderful instruments anyway. Even if we don’t put it in the end mix, it was a blast to do.
Coffee was ready, and the last part of the day had begun. “Stroboscope” got its vocal parts, as did “Follow You Around” and later on “No Better”, the only song we have started and finished on the same day. And suddenly gone was the day, the sun went to bed, the moon tried to shine through the rain and the little froggies all went happily to bed, to dream with vocal parts and shit.
Songs done:
“Follow You Around”: all guitars, vocals
“Off The Tide”: all guitars
“Into The Sea”: vocals
“1976”: vocals
“Scent”: rhodes piano
“Stroboscope”: vocals
“No Better”: vocals
