26 September 2006
There can't be much more can there? We're about to go on tour opening for The Fray in the midwest of America ("Helloooo Milwaukeeee!"), which means we really have to start learning how to play some of these songs. The 'we' in question is Matt, I, Dave and Jim, this time in his 'Dr Bathesis' guiseas in, a conjunction of the words 'bass' and 'synthesis',uninterestingly, although we imagined Jim would play a lot of bass on the synth, as this is the sound on the record, it proved more effective in a live situation to use the electric bass, although often using the fuzz and volume pedals to emulate the synth's envelope. rather than 'scholar of bathos', as it may appear to mean. Although, given Jim's habit of following anything anyone says by honking his nose and farting, it's still valid..
It's very strange to go from the world of the songs on Strange & Beautiful, which we are very adept at playing, and move on to these ones. It feels a bit like trying to do mirror writing - you can see what you're doing, but nothing happens quite where you expect it. It's not as simple as everyone just playing the part from the record, because everyone's parts tend to be made up of several other parts. It's a good way of distilling what is really important from the recorded arrangements, but distilled or not, there is a limit to the amount of music four people can cover, and I fear we're approaching that limit.
After we've finished, secure in the knowledge that all we have learnt today will be forgotten by tomorrow, Matt slips into the studio to sing a vocal and add final touches to Human Shield, which we're hoping Eric will mix along with Blood on our Hands as a B-side.
