Album completion

(first, an apology for the months of silence on this blog) 

About five years after having the idea for this outdoor-recorded album, and after travelling to many, many different locations over four continents, it is now finished. And I think it's quite good. It's going to be called Benthic Lines and we've managed to acquire some absolutely stunning artwork by an American artist called Matthew Cusick. Can't wait to show it off.

The album is due to be mastered by Alan Douches (who's worked with Grizzly Bear, Midlake, Sufjan Stevens) in a few weeks time so I've been busy in the studio making some final tweaks to the mixes. I've also been outputting all of the individual stems as these are going to be released under a Creative Commons license for those interested in remixing/mangling.

In terms of dates, I've been in conversation with a local label called Armellodie Records and the plan is for them to release the album later in the year. I'm chuffed to be working with them, they're a cracking wee label. In the meantime there's design work, a video, website and press release to be working on. (If anyone wants to help with a simple static website dedicated to the album do get in touch!) I'm hoping to have local and online listening parties nearer the time (probably no balloons) so you'll get a chance to hear the album a wee while before it comes out if you're interested. Then there'll be gigs. Probably should start practising again…

Finally, for those of you on Facebook, I'm afraid I've kind of given up on it. I lost interest ever since they started asking me to pay to promote my status updates so that the people who chose to follow me could actually see them. I'm not a car company. I might persist for a little longer but generally I'm floating around on Twitter a bit more these days. If you're interested in that kind of thing I'm over here.

Love.

Dan

T-shirt sale!

Ever wanted an elephant on your chest? Well now, thanks to magic and chariots and time-travel, you can! Mainly thanks to a t-shirt actually. The one in the picture. We're having a SALE (uppercase please). These lovely American Apparel screen-printed fitted t-shirts are now only £10 and have an elephant's FACE on them, the very same one from my album Everything is Simple. You can get one here.

Enjoy responsibly. And wear a jacket if it's cold please.

Dan

Reverb recording

After recording a whole album outdoors it didn't seem right to slap on some digital reverb during the mixing process and create artificial senses of space. So, after visiting various caves and tunnels, we evenutally settled on this cannal tunnel near Falkirk...

Singing in the rain

It was raining a lot. We didn't really want to go outside, especially not to record some singing. However, this bandstand helped us out considerably. Thanks bandstand. Thanstand.

Old stump new song

It was hot. Very hot. My phone told me it had to cool down before I could use it again. We found a clearing in Pattiesmuir woods and after sitting on this tree stump, started hitting it. Well, Ali hit it and I pointed a microphone the right way. All the little bugs and creatures were running around. Dancing, I like to think, but probably just terrified.

Outdoor piano

It took some serious effort to get the piano out of our flat but with the help of my friends Ali, Dunc and Nico we managed it. Thankfully it didn't rain. Why I chose to record an album outdoors at the same time as writing more piano based songs than I ever have done previously will remain a mystery.

Drums by the sea

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 that what Greg has brought to the table are helping to move it in the right direction.

x

Recording update

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!

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

Gig with the Fence Collective

If you're in the area, this is just a quick note to say that we're playing with the Fence Collective this Sunday night at the Oran Mor in Glasgow. King Creosote, The Pictish Trail, Withered Hand, Kid Canaveral and others will also be playing and it looks set to be an ace night. 

We're delighted to be part of it and would love to see you there! More info can be found at the Fence site and I believe there are a handful of tickets left.

By the way, the outdoor album recording project is going really well. Feel free to check out the photos, videos and growing map of locations where we've been recording.

Lots of love.

Dan