We started recording this album in February during the worst snow in some time. Gary said we could use his space for a week but, only after 7pm and until 8am. We figured our sleeping patterns would change and it’d be fine, but by 2 or 3, it way too cold. Stoned and tired, we plodded through the ice with various tiny, useless heaters and tried our best to block the hole in the window. Harry drove all the gear down and the rest we carried from The Lodge. Once again, I’d conned a bunch of people into lending me their stuff. I needed some of Jay’s gear, I needed to be surrounded by the stuff we had at Big Noise, the Pianette on No Life and the SK10 on Green Eyes.  I got a bunch of effects pedals together the best being a loan from Andy that heavily features, a digital Space Echo pedal. Canny lent us all his mics and Connor, his interface. With Pad’s Mac, we couldn’t fail. 

I mean, that place is a warehouse. It’s a big room with no sound proofing. I wanted that, but I didn’t realise how much I’d get. I think I stupidly put a condenser on the snare and even the wrong way ‘round! The bottom mic didn’t seem to get a great sound either. There’s a lot of cymbal there but hey, what can I, alone, do? We cut all the drums with me standing in front of the kit, singing and playing a guide. Eight channels, Kick, Snare, Rack, Floor, OH, Room, Vocal, Guitar. It was a struggle to hear it back right and we kinda rushed and just took what we had. 

I played mostly everything but drums on this, simply because it was a lot to ask of Phil or Nic to come and hang out in a cold room all night and they had jobs and not a week off of work. Bass obviously came next, the rest of the evening Pad would have to freeze and get bored of hitting record. I think he took his Mac home every day so he HAD to be there!

I wanted to make use of the room so I could turn the guitar amp up. Those poor suckers on the street man, single pained, original windows and no sound proofing whatsoever. We tried to record drums before 11pm but, I swear the guitar was just as loud. I’d always been restricted to basements or plug-ins and again missed Big Noise and being able to get that natural, overdriven sound out of an amp.  Some vocals were done there, Jay came and hung out, Henry swung by a couple of times amongst others. We went the Lamplighter one Friday and Jay and I recorded the Some Of Us Sleep lyrics half cut, afterwards. It was nice to do that again.

We packed up and (slowly, sorry Gary) got our shit outta Serious Space and moved back into Pad’s bedroom where I added keys to everything while he was at work and I was living on his sofa. Keys, guitar, vocals, endless weeks mixing and going insane. 

And then I moved to London. It was left at that really. Some sort of “Jesus Christ I need to get my shit together” moment. Moving there wasn’t the answer but I knew I couldn’t have done it in North. Pad accidentally deleted everything apart from the very basics of the songs and I pulled these, fortunately, off of dropbox after thinking they were only compressed versions on soundcloud. So ‘ere. ‘Ave ‘em. We might record one of them one day but for now, that’ll be all. 


Coke Can

Fix What I Broke

Green Eyes

Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Champagne and Reefer version)

I Gotta Get Home

Intro

It's Good To Go Slow

Sleep

The Drapery

This Is No Life

DPGEP