Although “Encroaching Meadows” was the album’s starter track, it has been noted before that it was the last song on the record to be composed, in early March 2013. The idea came about during a Saturday evening jam, and I immediately recorded a rhythm guitar demo to the song and shared it with the band mates. Over the ensuing weeks, the decision to leave the original rhythm guitar track on the final version of the song was made due to its distant-sounding reverb levels and its powerful and bluesy tone which was well suited for an opener. All forms of crackle from the demo track were removed during the EQ process. In addition to being the last track to be composed on the album, the song also received the last recorded tracks, with the harmonica being taped just two weeks prior to the album’s release. Matt’s lead guitar submissions arrived only a few days later with eight days to go for the release, although only one of the two tracks made it to the final cut. The track that didn’t make it to the album version was a harmony guitar take that was intended to enter towards the end of the song, but it was left out in preference of what I thought produced a stronger ending to the song, with a more prominent harmonica build-up. This alternate version includes the harmony guitar and also contains a previously unheard “lost bridge”, which is a guide vocal take that has been slotted into this track to give an idea of how the song may have sounded with it.

Encroaching Meadows (Alternate Take)

Bas and I struggled for a while to come up with a definite set of lyrics and a title for the song that would later become known as “This Jar”. We had discussed it would be nice to explore a different theme that had not been discussed in our lyrics before, and so Bastián decided to go with the issue of drugs and alcohol. After he came up with a set of lyrics that were tacky in places, he asked for my help to change them around to make them better suited for the song. Around this point, I suggested using the image of a pill jar as a whole extended metaphor, and the lyrics all fell into place, eventually becoming one of the best songs lyrically in our album. Midway through the process of renovation for the lyrics, however, Bas recorded this lo-fi demo on his phone, with a completely different last verse, and with a few other differences to the final version. Also featured is an interesting falsetto segment that we occasionally joked about, which is quite nicely done. This is perhaps the roughest sketch of a song that exists of Frozen Coco’s catalogue, in terms of recording quality and development, which makes it all the more fascinating to listen to.

This Jar (Phone Demo)

I’ve mentioned this several times before, and I’ll say it again: “These Erstwhile Walls” was positively the song in worst shape throughout the bulk of the pre-album production process. The reason for this was that it contained an out-of-sync bass track and a downright awful drum track tone-wise. It was not helped by the fact that the tones on Matt’s and my own respective guitar parts seemed to clash terribly with the other instruments. However, come the EQ process, and the song reached the fine level the band had set with the production of the other songs in the album. Indeed, it went on to become one of the best received songs on the album, and is a sentimental joy for me to listen to, given what had to be done throughout the production process. This track over here showcases some of the pre-alpha stages of the song’s production, just as its sound was starting to show signs of improvement. The harmonies are also noticeably louder in this mix. Watch out for the whacky phased guitar solo, which funnily found a fan in Bastián. The many pan cycles were minimized to just one switch from the left to right ear, mid-way through the solo in the album version. However, the extreme tremolo was kept on the solo to suit the liking of Bas in the end.

These Erstwhile Walls (Take 1)

This demo of “Out of the Possible” is the first ever raw mix of the song that exists. I received this track in an email from Bastián in the summer of 2012, and I remember we were both excited to see what we could do with the song, following the success we enjoyed with the release of our EP earlier that year. I had just consulted Mari around the time, and I forwarded the email she sent to me with the vocal track as Bas was yet to hear it. Soon after, Bas produced this demo, which noticeably contains a thinner piano sound and no chorus backing vocals by him. Although the single version of the song contained backing vocals by Bas, this was notably removed from the album version of the song since he and I agreed that it sounded somewhat of a misfit against Mari’s emotive lead vocal track. This demo, as is the case with the single version of the song, also features a shoddy sounding drum kit which was replaced with a more appropriate one in the album version.

Out of the Possible (Raw Mix)

“The Valediction” was written specifically for the purpose of closing out the band’s career. During the latter part of November 2013, several repudiated contact attempts with the one other remaining member of the band convinced me to end Frozen Coco, as track submissions for the next album had already been delayed by half a year. When approached on the last single’s release day for the possibility of getting on track again, I had decided to move on. Nonetheless, it was really great to have Mari on board and work with her again, over a year after I first got her to record our first double single. The idea to bring her in came about as I didn’t want a finale where only I performed, which would have made it seem somewhat of a solo act; Mari fit the bill perfectly as she was always kind of the unofficial “Fifth Coco”. Mari’s time constraints for recording — coupled with my eagerness to end the band before the start of the New Year so that 2014 would signify a new musical start — meant that the song was immediately released the moment I received her vocal track. At the time, she had not included all four vocal takes she did in the email that was sent to me, so I contacted her on Twitter months after the break-up and asked her if she could send the remaining three ones for this project I was working on, and sure enough she did. The result is a much fuller sounding lead vocal than the original, as it is quadruple tracked. This is a version of the song that I’m particularly fond of, and it is one I often come back to.

The Valediction (Alternate Take)

This song was a longstanding idea by Bastián, but the band only set to work on it shortly after the release of our EP, and in turn, this was never released until several months later in the album. Because of this, “Waiting So Long” was in the works for a long while, but it was developed sporadically during that time interval which meant the song was not completed until April 2013. For example, Matt’s acoustic rhythm track featured in this demo was recorded in summer 2012, but later it was scrapped to accommodate an electric track since that had been planned from the start. The final rhythm track, of course, made up one of the most catchy and instantly recognizable guitar riffs by Frozen Coco, in part due to its resounding, overdriven electric guitar tone. However, this demo’s acoustic track provides a great contrast to a song that ended up sounding very different to where it started out. The whole of the third verse is missing in this version as the song was of shorter structure at the time of initial recording.

Waiting So Long (Take 1)

This song was recorded during the latter stages of the band’s career, and frankly, was not deemed as good enough for single release at the time. With the absence of both Matt and Bas during this period, there was a noticeable shift in the band’s sound, a direction that did not take to my fancy due to the two remaining members’ styles being so different. This meant the main songwriting duties that were earlier shared by Bas and me were now rotated between the two remaining members, which didn’t quite hold the dynamic of the old partnership. This previously unreleased song was pressured for release as a B-side to the single “Liars and Thieves”, but I don’t think it was ever planned out that way in my mind, seeing as the song contained an off-sync bass track that needed much salvaging to get to the state it is in this mix, which was only fixed during the last few days of Frozen Coco. I added the orchestra to suppress the otherwise bland nature of the instrumentation, and although it is not something I come back to, it seems about the right time to release this song for public listening.

And I Can't Take It Anymore

I distinctly remember it was a Friday night when I taped this demo, with just me singing and playing on an acoustic. The demo was meant to be a taster as to what could be expected from the final version, as progress on it had been halted since initial production started for the song in September 2012. Although I handled all the vocals in the demo, from the very first moment I penned the song, it was intended as a duet for a male and female vocalist. We figured Mari would later do the female part as I was already in discussion with her about the song. Minutes after uploading the track and sharing it with the band mates, however, Mari contacted me to say that her commitments to other matters were too great at the time, and that she was not going to be able to submit her vocals for the song. Thus, the band had to change up the song to an all-male number, and from this moment on, the rock quartet image sustained till the album’s release.

Blissful Rapture (Live Acoustic Demo)

This version of “7700” contains three different split takes of the main guitar part, of which only one made it to the album cut. What can be heard on the album is Matt’s track, and the other two were demo takes taped by me weeks prior to the final one’s submission, in order to establish a rough idea on how the song would eventually pan out when fully mixed. The lead guitar solo at the end can be heard in its entirety, and this mix contains some licks towards the latter part recorded by me that were not present on the album. The solo has also been given more prominence — as have the other instruments — most of which kick in only towards the last refrain, much unlike the album version which features the progressive entry of various instrument parts. The orchestra, however, is noticeably subdued in this mix. Being a rough edit, the rest of the song does not fade away to leave the signature orchestral ending on the album, but instead ends with just the electric guitars, bass and drums.

7700 (Take 1, 2 & 3)

Following the release of our debut album, the band gradually approached its demise. This song, the first to be released in the post-album era, was always considered a weak track for a lead single to the planned second album — that was before Bastián came up with this vocal demo. Despite the band being in its twilight months at the time, this demo epitomizes Frozen Coco’s work ethic, and it is a great representation of how the band built upon rough sketches and turned them into fully resonant numbers. In the months to follow, Bas would distance and eventually separate from the band. Seeing as Matt (our guitarist) had also been inactive since just before the album release early on in the summer, this left the two remaining members to record the song. Thus, against my own preference, I took over vocal duties due to lack of personnel. Although I personally feel the overall song result was sort of “run-of-the-mill” due to the general direction some of the music was heading in after a change of hand in songwriting (following the absence of my writing partner, Bas) the making of the band’s debut music video was still an interesting experience. This is curiously the only instance in the band where the lead vocal roles to a song were swapped midway through production.

Liars and Thieves (Vocal Demo)

"Put It in Your Head" by Diyath Yavin was played on eagle3's Local Showcase broadcast from 9-10pm on September 3rd, 2014, becoming the second single back-to-back to receive radio airplay.

Put It in Your Head - The Local Showcase (eagle3)

Diyath Yavin's last single "Just Like the Marshal Said" was played on The Local Showcase by eagle3 shortly after 9pm on 2 March 2016, a couple of days following its release.

Just Like The Marshal Said  - The Local Showcase (eagle3)

Yes, you may say this performance was recorded using a sweet potato, but this year the Inter House Music competition was held outdoors for a change, on a rain driven and wind-cast day, thus the sound crackle at certain points. This was recorded via a handheld digital camera, but the outcome turned out good anyway. The group song category was won by our House (Hillary) for this performance, and we even ended up winning the overall music competition. My brother and I play bass and acoustic guitar on this track. Three acoustics, a bass and a violin were used in this live unplugged, creative rendition and mash-up.

Just thought I'd upload this track to launch my new SoundCloud account, after its predecessor @DIYmit ran out of space. The rest of the junk you'll find around this account are miscellaneous recordings and demos for the online band I'm in, Frozen Coco.

Hillary Group Song - Inter House Music 2013

I'm a rhythm, lead and bass guitarist, pianist plus vocalist. Massive Beatles fanatic. Also listens to Simon and Garfunkel, Rolling Stones, Queen and many more rock/ballad-y acts.

This account was created with the purpose of containing some of my raw recordings/demos that would have eventually made it into Frozen Coco's second studio album, but following the group's disbandment, this account is rendered somewhat obsolete, with perhaps only the occasional "bootleg" or raw mix from the band days being uploaded a-new.

You can check out my ongoing solo music act below.

Diyath

Popular tracks