Album Update #2 ~ Pre-production.

After a year of thinking about making an album and over five years of living with some of these songs, we officially pressed go on this project last Thursday. Iain caught an early morning flight and train from Glasgow to Norwich for two days of pre-production. It’s the first time we’ve met in person, but it felt like catching up with an old friend. Iain is an extremely humble and professional guy with excellent musical insight and a knack for attuning his ears to the sound I’m trying to make.

After a whistle stop tour around the city to scout potential string recording venues we landed at my home studio, squeezing ourselves into the packed creative space. We spent time carefully listening through demos and bouncing ideas around about each song. My extensive list of reference and inspiration tracks was added to by Iain’s catalogue and we spent time appreciating the sounds of bands like Lord Huron, Athlete, Family of the Year and The War on Drugs. I call this taste bud alignment, as we seek to find an original sound within the sphere of our collective interests and musical experiences.

It was an incredibly valuable time to get to know each other as well. On the Thursday evening we joined with the band for chilli and a run through. Iain met Sarah, my longtime friend and collaborator, her son Jack, who’ll be playing drums and Joe, our groove master on the bass. Iain was able to get a feel for our live sound and how that might impact the way we lay down drums in the studio. We experimented with new ideas and had fun trying to remember all of the different parts.

Friday started with a breakfast meeting, planning for our first trip to Glasgow next week and then we headed back to my studio to continue working through the demos. I can’t thank Iain enough for his encouragement and input into this project. He’s jumped right in and I am certain that this record will sound fantastic with him at the helm.

Onwards to Glasgow.

Keep on moving.
~ Ben