Blog: Return of The Plinths

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On Sunday I was up bright and early (for a Sunday anyway) to head South to distant WALLINGTON, where John Dredge & The Plinths were booked in with Mr Andy Brook to do some more recording at The Brook Recording Studio.

It took me AGES to get there due to a) TRANE connections and b) getting slightly lost in Wallington. The Brook used to be a studio AND a vegetarian cafe, but the vegetarian cafe has now moved to Hackney, so when I searched for it on my phone it kept trying to give me directions back to EAST LONDON again!

When I finally arrived I was greeted by Andy B and found that Mr Andy Harland (DRUMS) and Mr John Dredge (ARTISTIC STYLINGS) had already got set up, so we were able to leap straight into ACTION. As with the last batch of songs we recorded, we had had no rehearsal AT ALL and, in fact, had not even been in the same ROOM with the songs together, let alone played them. I'd recorded all the guitar parts at home and sent them to John, who added vocal medleys and lyrics before sending the LOT to Andy H who practiced them in his house. The whole process of writing and recording songs this way has been VERY interesting to me, not least because John puts CHORUSES and LINE BREAKS in places I didn't expect, but it's a bit nerve-wracking when you arrive to record them and realise that none of you have you have ever played them with other people before!

Despite all that it went REALLY well! The first song had a vaguely complicated structure but we did it all in ONE take, and then the others (which were all SHORTER and mostly verse/chorus) were all finished in two or three. It was PEASY!

We recorded FIVE songs - four for the EP and then a special EXTRA one that is to be unleashed next year to mark an OCCASION. I am under EMBARGO so cannot say WOT occasion, but the idea is it's like doing a Christmas Song or one to mark a sporting event, but neither of those. The EMBARGO is so that nobody else NICKS it and e.g. records and releases their OWN Whitsun Anthem.

With all the basic tracks recorded we then did John's vocals and my Guitar, all of which was again a DELIGHT due to Andy B's CALM and CALMING nature. As we discussed at the time, most Studio Engineers are REALLY nice people who are EXTREMELY patient, probably because if they WEREN'T like that they would go absolutely BERZERK having do deal with idiots in bands all the time!

The whole thing was done and dusted in about four hours, leaving us to return to our homes and see how much I can SPOIL it all by adding BASS on top and mixing it. The plan next is to get the songs all done and do some VIDEOS again, much as we did last time - there will be more news on this as soon as it occurs!

posted 4/9/2018 by MJ Hibbett

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