Last Minute

Wow, lucky my last post said the 'almost final' tracklisting... seems the decisions don't stop being made until the very last moment with us! I'll explain...

So the 4 of us (Darren is in the USA visiting his lady) are sitting in my car, with the mastered CD in the frontloader, listening to the album we've spent the past 9 months working on, when suddenly it dawns on us - we've come up with the wrong track listing! The first 2 songs just don't work as, well, the first 2 songs on an album. Why you ask, is this such an issue? Well, other than the fact that we're on a ridiculously tight deadline and can't make any real changes at this stage (think artwork), the first few tracks on your new album need to make a statement - they need to introduce the new you to the world... plus the kids get bored so quickly these days that if their attention isn't grabbed in the first few tracks you've lost 'em... gone forever.

So yes, we hit a bit of a panic. Luckily we all agreed on the problem so it wasn't like 1 of us was always going to say 'I told you so!' further down the line (well Darren might still!). We threw out a few options for first tracks, called our producer (who luckily never sleeps), sms'd the record label boss (who was asleep), and finally narrowed it down to 2. And I tell you - it feels kinda exhilarating changing things like this - when I throw the CD in now, it feels like a different record. It works!

So that's my little story for the night :) I've yet to tell you about our little London trip... in short, it was pretty amazing getting to meet Mr. Cenzo Townshend. He was a really great guy - your typical witty Brit with the a dash of English charm! Sitting in those studios and seeing the walls lined with the channel strip tape of U2, Snow Patrol, Editors, Bloc Party; getting to hear stories about recording 'OK Computer' in Jane Seymour's house, tales of band's with 700 vocal takes and 80 rhythm guitars for 1 chorus... it felt unreal at times. But in the end, as ridiculous as it felt being there, we focused and came out with a great sounding record. Cenzo is a genius behind the desk. His mixes are unconventional and far from the over compressed, clinical crap you hear so much of these days. Each song has its own character and personality. He treated each as its own creation, but at the same time saw the bigger picture of the album and how it all should fit together.

In the end, we're really happy with what we've achieved on this record. It doesn't feel like a 'scene' record, it feels like us - our sound. It tells the tale of our lives over the past 2 years and its a stepping stone in our career. I feel like we finally came together as a band and we now work as one. Whether the people love or hate it, whether the critics praise or slate it, I'll always be proud of it, as will the rest of the guys. We poured all of our hearts, souls, minds and bodies into making this...we spent every penny we had, and loaned a crapload more to make it happen - so we hope you do enjoy it! We can't wait to get out on the road for the live shows and make that final connection - the one between band, fan and song.

Laters Alligators... Greg.