We've ended up recording almost all the drums for the album at this ruined church by the sea. It doesn't have a roof but has still got a great lively sound to it which is hard to achieve in outdoor locations. Depending on what song we were doing, we would move to different parts of the church and position the microphones further or closer to the kit. This song is still a bit of a work in progress but I reckon the grooves that Greg has brought to the table are helping to move it in the right direction.
x
It's been a while since I last wrote here, but not due to lack of activity. We have been pressing ahead with this album that's being recorded entirely outdoors, and it has brought us to some superb musicians and a number of interesting locations.
Dara Stewart delivered a punch to the belly with his double bass performance in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park, while curious Japanese tourists asked for photos. With Herculean effort, my friends managed to drag my piano outside allowing me to record a few takes before the rain came. My Dad, my brother and his kids invited me along to a barbecue at Aberdour beach, where I promptly whipped out an accordion and laid down a quick ditty. Tim, Marcus and Phil ventured to the top of Calton Hill in Edinburgh and delivered beautiful brass and horn performances in the shadow of the National Monument. And in the next couple of weeks there's glockenspiel, Rhodes, synth bass, vocals, drums...
There are a few photos and videos kicking about on this site and of course, all these excursions have been added to the map of recording locations that can be found here.
We're hoping to have most of the recording done in the next few weeks before winter sets in and before my wife gives birth to our first baby :)
Thanks.
Dan
HaarFest is a cracking wee music & arts festival organised by Fence Records and taking place in and around Anstruther and Cellardyke (in Fife).
We're delighted to be part of it, playing on the Thursday night with Geese, Jonnie Common and King Creosote. KC, along with Jon Hopkins has just been nominated for a Mercury music prize thanks to their amazing Diamond Mine album so it's a real privilege to be sharing the stage with him.
It's really best if you can get along to the whole thing because the line up is brilliant, featuring the likes of James Yorkston, The Pictish Trail, Withered Hand, FOUND, Kid Canaveral and a DJ set from the aforementioned Jon Hopkins.
It's running from Thursday 11th August until Sunday 14th August and tickets for the whole festival can be bought here.
Tickets for just the evening we're playing can be bought here.
It's going to be total aces. Come along.
Dan
I don't know about you but I've often considered the ill-fate of bandstands. A public concert venue in a park? Brilliant idea. So when we were asked to play at the bandstand in St. Andrews, it wasn't difficult to agree to.
We're playing this Sunday afternoon as part of the On the Rocks festival, along with Amy Rayner, Kyle Cuthbert, Sarah Banjo and Julia and the Dragoons. It kicks off at 3pm. If you're a Fifer, come on over, it should be fun.
Recording an album outdoors in Scotland has its ups and downs. An unusually long and cold winter has made it pretty difficult to get out into the 'studio' and it has taken unexpected trips to Uganda and Australia to provide any real opportunity to record new material.
But this weekend, everything changed. Sun, shorts, sunglasses, two excellent singers, a ruined Abbey and inspiration from Steve Reich - all combined to produce a very fruitful recording for a new song we're working on.My friend Alastair MacGregor puts his hand to various instruments and along with Greg Bell, has been helping to write the arrangements for the album we're working on. He's in Australia at the moment so took the opportunity to record some bass lines at this spot overlooking Sydney opera house. It adds another dot on the map of places we've been recording, which you can check out here.
Had a lovely time playing at Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh last night. Very attentive crowd and some great acts. Particularly enjoyed Open Swimmer's set and am loving this song of theirs: http://soundcloud.com/eliandoz/open-swimmer-sugar-bowl-1
I've just come back from spending a very pleasant Christmas in Uganda with my parents. My recording equipment made it through airport security (a small victory these days) so I was able to spend some time working on the outdoor album recording project. More details to follow but in the meantime, here are some photos.
The M8 was closed with drifts on the road
The lorries lay down, made angels of snow
Cars formed a conga but nobody danced
All the brains and the fingers had no freakin’ chance
Of getting to work, but there was no point
The blackouts remained, the panic was taut
And up in the sky the silver iodide
Lined every cloud high, made every cloud lie*
The lines were all down, the days were all dark
Lives undone and chaos was sparked
The cables installed along ocean floors
Is where we had lived too long for sure
Animals scoffed “Inadequate beasts!”
As digital kids fought over feed
There were fires on the ridges in no time at all
Weirded out voices and bangs on the door**
So we took a boat and sailed it for years
Attacked every month by monsters and fears
Through pestilent storms and cauldrons of sea
Till one day at last the doldrums we reached
Silence of calm. Stillness of sea.
Absence of wind. Banquet of peace.
I sit and write, watch you and the child
I catch a smile, I think we’ll be fine.
* Reference to cloud seeding -a form of weather modification that manipulates the fall of precipitation using substances such as silver iodide.
** Reference to a quote from 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy.
I'm planning to record an album entirely outdoors. On rooftops and rowing boats, in forests and high streets, mountains and quarries, ruined churches and beaches, car parks and peat bogs. Anywhere, really.
I first had the idea while on a trip to Sierra Leone, but quickly realised that it's one thing to daydream of such a plan whilst in the tropics and quite another to actually attempt it back at home in Scotland. Nevertheless, I think some part of me took perverse pleasure in the thought of having to make a real physical effort to complete this project. My favourite works at most galleries are those that not only look beautiful but must also have required a particularly generous portion of excursion. The exploding shed at the Tate Modern in London. The huge tapestries at the Alcázar in Seville. Besides, it would be good to get out more often. Most of us (myself included) can easily go through a whole week and spend just a few short hours outwith the confines of buildings and vehicles. That would have to change if I was to complete this project. But thoughts of self-betterment (bordering on downright masochism) weren't all that were on my mind. In an age when it seems anyone can produce an album in their bedroom I was also interested in re-exploring the relationship between music and the environment in which it is created. What happens to a recording when you have no control over the surroundings? What anomalies and accidents may occur? By working outdoors I would surely be closer to finding out. What about noise?! What about fidelity?! Certainly, the protesting perfectionist in me would be severely challenged by this project. However, the music we listen to on our cheap iPod earbuds is constantly being assaulted by the sounds of our surroundings. Why not creatively introduce all this 'noise' at an earlier stage? Most of all, the idea sounded fun and stupid in equal measures and these are my favourite kind of ideas. Dan
So we've got a few gig's coming up...
In the last few months I have been working on some re-imagined versions of songs that my friends have written. Some Of My Friends' Songs seemed like an apt title for the project and today sees the release of the first three track EP to be birthed from this idea.
It's available for free here.
Had an ace weekend at the Big Tent Festival. Made me proud to be from Fife. Highlights include King Creosote's jumper, Brazil! Brazil!'s backflips on stage, Tunng's musical statues, a seminar on the future of forestry in Scotland and the film The Yes Men Fix the World. Superb.
The first of our world tours. We even got a caravan with grapes and stuff. Honestly though, we had a totally ace time. Very hospitable people, fun gigs in a stunning setting.