On Wednesday 27th June, Kate, Claire, Max Mike and I (Simon) hit the studio to record the horn parts for our brand new new demo CD! Great fun was had by all, and thanks to strawberries, wasabi peanuts, a good deal of terrible humour and seemingly infinite energy and patience(!), we powered through from 9:15am to 6pm and layed down some serious trumpaxophone. It really was amazing, listening to the playback, to hear how much the band has come on in the past couple of years, since we were last in the comfortable and classy technical wonder-house that is The Limehouse Studios! We have re-recorded a couple of the same classic tunes as on our previous demos, and the difference in the sound of the band in groove, style and musicality is truly unrecognisable. Seriously exciting.
The rhythm clan (Mike, Amelia, Steve and Rich) had been in on Tuesday and worked wonders (Rich's drum solo in Sing Sing Sing is something sweet to anticipate, folks!) and Nicky's smokey, sultry and soulful vocal offerings distracted the less business-minded of the brass on the odd take (!) - but with such a tight base I think we've given Katie, plus Kate, Claire and Steve (now doing backing vocals) something tasty to work with.
Joel Davies our technician was a total star, brilliantly efficient and creative with all the (frighteningly expensive) gear - it's baffling how he got it all done, finding space between the ruinous 'gangster' banter and fits of inconsolable giggles at our childish pranks. Thanks Joel.
So, take a peek at these exclusive behind-the-scenes studio snaps, and wait with baited breath for the finished result - I know I will!
