On the way in to the studio i get a text from neil saying he is heading back up north to get home. We really are reaching the finish line.
The last day is always filled with mixed emotions. This time around these are, relief, delight with the results and sadness that such a good time is coming to an end.
I arrive and nick is packing away the gear. The live room is emptying rapidly and becoming just a room.
The kooks are in the studio across the hall and come in and say hi. We met at rock am ring last year. It is luke's birthday and they are trying to record an acoustic record in one day. lovely boys.
We get to work and do the last little bits on quite free. A high strung guitar and a little tambo go on and Emery does a rough mix. Done.
Nora and Clay pay a visit and clay has a lot of fun with the mixing desk. We record his first vocal. The boy is a natural.
Emery does a mix of "before you were young" this will be the last song on the record and we want it to end very intimately after all the fireworks before it. So Emery spends a bit of time pulling all the reverb of the vocal to make it very dry just at the right point in the last line. this is a good example of the little things that make all the difference.
We move on to broken mirror and fran gets a fairly authentic big bell tolling sound out of his telecaster.
Claes heads of to the airport and the studio gets emptier and emptier. We have our last supper and then move on to last words.
Andy and I do our harmonies. Then more bvs on get up. F does a touch of tambo. All these little things take a long time and it is after midnight when F moves on to vox on "song to self". There are a few tough big notes on there but he nails them.
Emery puts down rough mixes of everything.
We all open a beer and have a toast. It is around 2 or 3 am and it is done.
A bizarre and brilliant 14 consecutive days in the studio.
What with earthquakes, arctic monkeys, visits from beatles, ancient technology, choirs, whisky, latin, lots of songs, lots of fun, lots of work, and lots of things i couldn't possibly tell you about. It feels simultaneously like no time has passed but that so much has happened.
In the midst of it all I think we have made an amazing record. But that's not really for us to say is it?
It'll get mixed in New York in april and then we'll be with you as soon as we can. Now I'm off to enter the new world of parenthood.
Get Travis Blogs via RSS (RSS?)
