SC2 kicked off in march 2008 - before we'd released Whiskey Talkin. Go figure.
In Feb/March we laid down twelve guide tracks with Jim Finn (our illustrious producer). He suggested we demo a couple of covers, so Paul and I picked one each and then gave it a shot. I butchered the crap out of The Stealer (Paul loves that song, and digs Paul Rodgers) - I can’t make the vocal range work so I spent my time goofing off (no one is ever going to hear that recording!), but we got a good version of Dirty Work down (my pick. Yes, I am a stinker) + 12 other tracks.
As we were getting 3 set gigs, we needed the material.
The new stuff had to go through an even more rigourous process of review from Mrose, Groover and…Mal.
Mal has a knack of ending discussion about a song. When I tried to bring a Little Walter song into the set that he didn’t think was right, he simply said ‘none of that yibbidy yip hee haw shit’ and that was that.
So in intervening gigs, several of the original demo tracks have been quietly taken out the back and ‘disposed’ of, their riffs harvested, licks recycled. ‘Hi Cost of Lovin’ was one early such casualty, but like some crazed blues seeking Zombie, its back as ‘Hi Cost 2.’. It’s still fighting its way into the set. Will it make it? Won’t it? Who knows.
For those songs spared by the crowd at live gigs, today was the start of getting the rhythm tracks down.
Whiskey Talkin' (SC0801) took us about 12 from start to pressed CD. SC2 is estimated at about 6 months in production, then allow another 1-2 for mastering and pressing, so its going to be a process.
As we go, i'll be adding bits and pieces from the various sessions, and little snippets like this one: Mal getting ready to lay bass over the swamp monster guide track;
This may mean you will hear some big changes between the early recordings and the finished product. Lord knows that happened last time, so don't get too attached to anything...
We have about 18 tracks in guide form (some of which I may release in the members section) that we're working through - we added a few between the initial SC2 guide track recording and now - whatever doesnt fit onto SC2 has a second chance when we look at our next scheduled item, which is an analogue recording session EP (live), currently labelled as SC3 and planned for a January/February recording date. The chances are, SC3 will come out before SC2...again, go figure.
BTW - Thanks Nan - I got a new nifty camera and I am videoing as much of our stuff as I can - the vids here are from my phone cam (not bad stills but vids are a bit awful). The new cam is very schnazzy but I need the correct cable to connect it to the PC, so there will be more to come.
In fact, I have a heap of new stuff to post up here, but I gotta get some sleep. Cheers to Lachlan for being a crazy person and being awake in the wee small auckland hours to sort out my embedded youtube issues.
2008 has been a foundational year for us and 2009 has a schedule of gigs, releases and other bits and pieces already. Holy crap!
Until Tomorrow When I Upload Da Rest of This Weekends Activities...
Rgds
MJEB
Oh, here's mark getting ready to do stuff: Note my sudden impulse to find my earplugs. When that door shuts, its time for the music to start!