Studio - Day 20

Since my last update, I have stressfully spent two weeks finishing all the recording. Continuing on from my last post I started by laying down the acoustic guitar and bass tracks. I played an old Rickenbacker through a Fender Bassman amp using the occasional pedal, notably a cheap chorus and a Big Muff Pi for fuzz.

Next up it was time for synth. I used a MicoKorg and a Roland synth from the 80s, not sure of the model name. I played most of the sounds through a crazy effects unit that a friend of Magnus had built. In between the synth recording I did electric guitar overdubs as well as some ukulele.

By Thursday of the second week, with the songs coming together in terms of basic tracks and arrangements, Magnus and I decided it was time to start recording vocals. From the end of week two to the end of week three vocals took priority. In between the vocal takes I finished all the remaining guitar parts and Magnus recorded percussion. I also recorded Wurlitzer electric piano and piano.

On Friday night with a sigh of relief the recording was complete. Magnus started to mix yesterday morning and will continue doing so until I go home. It is sounding great!

Max

Studio - Day 6

I arrived in Umeå, Sweden, last Sunday night to spend a month here making my debut album. The album is getting produced at Tonteknik Recording with Magnus Lindberg. Out of the 15 or so songs I have written for this album, 10 will get recorded.

Magnus spent Monday morning setting stuff up while I got some rest in my hotel room. On Tuesday we spent the morning listening to my home demos and discussing what the best drum sound would be for the songs. We decided to go for a vintage dry sound using an old Gretsch kit. Magnus and I jammed through each of the songs while discussing drums parts and arrangements. After lunch we started recording

We finished recording the drums on Friday afternoon. They sound great!
After a couple of cups of coffee we started setting stuff up for electric guitar recording. I spent an hour or so testing different guitars, effects pedals and amps. I'll probably end up using a lot of different combinations.

For the past 3 days I've mostly been using my Gibson ES-330 and playing through an amazing little 8 watt Philips amp from circa 1950. The amp sounds incredible. I've also been using a Traynor head - both amps are going through a vintage 4x12 Marshall cabinet.

It's pretty cold here and it starts getting dark at about 2pm. It has been -4°C all day and the ground is covered in frost. I'll post a couple more updates before I go back home to London to let you know how it is going.

Max

17 September

Skate & Create 2009

We played a headline show at Bush Hall two weeks ago and premiered some new songs from our upcoming album. The new songs seemed to go down very well. We also played "Winter" for the first time in a while.

Our next show will be taking place on the 17th September at The Lexington in London. For more details about the show please visit http://www.aircastlesmusic.com/

As I mentioned in my previous post - DVS Shoes used "Broken Watches" in their Skate & Create video 2009. I feel very honoured that they decided to use an Air Castles song and I'm very pleased with the outcome. Below is the video for your viewing pleasure:

Summer

I'm home in Sweden at the moment enjoying summer and working on lyrics for the album. Some rough instrumental demos were tracked before I left London which are sounding good. I'm really excited to hear how the album is going to sound once it's recorded.

We are playing a one off headline show at the wonderful Bush Hall in London on the 20th August 2009. Information about the show can be found at http://www.aircastlesmusic.com/

The set will probably consist mostly of songs from the forthcoming album, as well as a couple from "Night and Day". It will be a good chance to hear some new songs for the first time.

The US skateboard shoe and clothing company DVS Shoes has licensed "Broken Watches" for use in one of their upcoming videos. As soon as it is aired I will post a link to watch it.

I hope you are all having a good summer.

Max