After the first cups of coffee it was time to start with the serious stuff. Banging on the drums for a few minutes to get warm while Timo was setting up his gear to record and I was going into my aquarium like a goldfish, we were ready for the tapes to roll. Well, actually it's not tapes, it's a hard disk system, but sounds cooler.
"Time" was the first victim of the day, and it went quite smoothly, just the usual two takes and ready it was. "No Better" wasn't that easy to nail, especially the ending that Tob always felt he should play on and on and on. Oh, and Timo didn't hit a single right note too! :o) Jürgen was shaking his head all the time and I couldn't help but laughing, so it was wrong notes by me too... thanks god I was just doing the pilot track and not actually recording anything.
Short ciggie pause and into "Into The Sea" and "Frames Of The Past", both going really easy. You could notice which ones have been played live over and over again. And Tobi changing snares and hi-hats all the time to try out new sounds depending on the songs... "If You Only" saw the first sparks of energy jump around, I wish we had recorded my screams at the end of that one, really kewl metal. Bang! Same with "Stitch The Memories", three takes and ready. And just before going for lunch, "1976" and "Peaches", both done in the blink of an eye. Especially "Peaches", which runs for exactly... the blink of an eye. We tried it at a superhuman speed at first, but sounded way too sloppy so we redid it at a simply fucking fast tempo.
The most bizarre experience of the day was the place where we went for lunch: an Asian food corner which also served döner kebap, which meant they had mixed the best (and worst) of both cuisines into a... well, funny blend to say the least. They were absolutely astonished as they saw 5 people walking in at the same time, I think after that they closed the place for the day.
Treuenbrietzen is a small place, all cobblestones, no asphalt. Probably the birth rate among bicycle riders has been steadily going down for years, but no one seems to care. Absolutely nothing to do, except recording. The TB Studio is located in a backyard where you would never guess it, and probably that is what makes it so special. In the middle of nowhere, you have this absolutely incredible studio, packed with all kinds of gizmos, amps, huge sound desks, and everything for the modern (and not so modern) musician. It's quite cozy, I must say. And no distractions too... well, what can you do there anyway except working on the songs?
Back in the place we were all lying around on the couch, not wanting to do anything but sleep a long siesta. Too much Turco-asian food can have that effect on active people like us. Tobi had to have yet another ciggie before going into the recording mode again, and to really shake things up, we started with a slow number named "Berlin" which took more than the usual takes to get done, mainly we were all snoozing around while doing the song. It wasn't such a good idea to do slow songs right after lunch, believe me... "Scent" followed and went definitely better. Afterwards, "Stropboscope" and a remake of "Off The Tide", which we had decided to re-record for the album, not using the previuos tracks from the Soja Studio in September, mainty to give the songs a sense of unity and all that shit. This was done with closed eyes, even the bass player nailed it. :o)
Before going home (it was already seven or so), we took a chance on a song called "Vertigo", which we were not so really sure about, as we had never rehearsed it before. After a few takes it was clear that we had enough songs for this album ready to work on, so we left it for the next one. A pity, 'cause it's a nice one, but perhaps not so fitting with the other ones.
An extremely productive day, I must say. We have now all the drum tracks and mostly all basses ready (with Timo trying cool things with the 5-string MusicMan StingRay, the Fender Precission and the Rickenbacker 4000/1 he borrowed from a certain singer).
Songs done:
"Time": drums, bass
"No Better": drums
"Into The Sea": drums, bass
"Frames Of The Past": drums, bass
"If You Only": drums, bass
"Stitch The Memories": drums, bass
"1976": drums, bass
"Peaches": drums, bass
"Berlin": drums
"Scent": drums, bass
"Stroboscope": drums, bass
"Off The Tide": drums, bass
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