New album completed

News at last. If you've read my previous post you'll be aware that I completely scrapped an almost finished album a couple of weeks ago. Luckily, some of it was salvageable. For the last 2 weeks I've been re-making the album from scratch, taking it in a very different direction and making something worth hearing. Working title Absentia has become Absent Son. Over the next few hours I'll be doing some editing to the recordings and it will be uploaded to the online stores by tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I've upoaded a video to youtube with the earliest demos for Trinity to give you an idea how the album developed. You can find it here: Trinity Slideshow.

Thanks for reading,

Barnaby J. Tremayne.

PS Happy new year everyone.

Salad Days 2.0

5 years ago today (a Saturday if I remember right) I was sat on my bed, guitar in hand, trying to figure out how to use a four track recorder. I had the house to myself for a few hours and I'd promised to record a demo to show the people I worked with what kind of musician I was. This seemed like a good idea until I realised that I actually had no idea how to record it properly. I had some very basic equipment, a karaoke microphone from Poundstretcher, a second hand set of bongo drums I bought from the local market which were (actually still are come to think of it) badly in need of repair, an acoustic guitar that I was given for my 17th birthday and a hired Tascam 4-Track recorder which recorded on to standard cassette tapes.
I put on Bill Bailey's Bewilderness for background noise and got to work. First I had to learn how the recorder worked (not that easy without a manual). Second I had to learn how to do overdubs, and also how long it takes to do overdubs if you don't know what you're doing. After about an hour I was ready to record some songs. This was when I learned that it really helps to decide what you want to record before you start recording. I chose 5 of my favourite songs (that seemed easy to play) and finally pressed record. Take 1 didn't go so well. Lesson 4: turn on the microphone if you actually want to record anything except silence. Also, it helps if the microphone isn't muffled by bedsheets. I remedied this by resting the microphone on top of a milk crate (it made sense at the time). Take 2 went better, well sort of, it recorded at least. Lesson 5: microphones record everything, including the sound of Bill Bailey in the background.

I recorded 5 songs that day, only 4 were complete, I didn't have time to record the vocals on a cover of Babyshambles' I Love You (But You're Green). The other 4 songs were: Perfect Day by Lou Reed, Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground, Norwegian Wood by The Beatles and I Feel Fine by The Beatles. I wanted to record more, including an original song called Dove and a cover of Albion, but there was no time and the 4-track had to be returned.

Salad Days took about 6 hours to record, everything took multiple takes as I missed my cue or played out of time and had to start over countless times. Still it was worth it to have something to prove that I really was a musician (to myself as much as to other people). I had just started writing the songs for the original version of Bletchley and I needed something to encourage me to finish them. They got finished eventually but that's another story.

Fast forward 5 years and I'm sat in another bedroom typing this next to a different guitar and a 4-track recorder. Over the next few hours I will be recording a new version of Salad Days. Hopefully it won't take as long as last time and I can get it finished and online by Sunday. Times have changed, now I've got better equipment (did I mention that I used a milk crate as a mic stand? Yeah, money was tight at the time.) and I know much more about recording than I did back then, so it should be much easier this time. The plan is to record the same songs but there may be some additions if the mood takes me.

That's the end of this ramble.

Til next time,

Barnaby J. Tremayne.

High Fidelity

I just finished watching High Fidelity. Even though it was only made 10 years ago, it's become sort of time capsule of a way of life that just doesn't exist anymore. Do obsessives still spend years searching out a rarity? That single that only four people bought when it was new? The Japanese issue of an album that no one else liked in the first place? Of course we do, we're obsessives, but now we just google it and look around various websites til we find it then download it for free. But double clicking on an mp3 just isn't the same as placing that slab of vinyl on the turntable. And does anyone make mixtapes anymore? The delicate art of conveying your thoughts and feelings with another person's lyrics and music. Then filling out the (always too small) insert, writing each letter carefully in your best handwriting and trying not to make any mistakes.

I got to thinking that working in an indie record store would be the perfect job for me. Then I realised that there aren't any indie record stores anymore. Now we all just set up our own stalls online and sell just one artist. Usually ourselves. Like this or this (yes I know it's self publicity but who else is going to advertise them?) The real indies just faded away, leaving a hole in the high street that HMV can never quite fill. It's just not the same.

Maybe we obsessives need to find a new obsession.

Barnaby J. Tremayne.