Stop Mother !

Stop Mother !

We open the studio doors that lead straight into the courtyard and it rains and it rains and it rains. A very British summer, but nothing could rain on our parade as the music pours out from indoors.

And with every tune we approach I find myself thinking ‘Great! This is my favourite! And then we move on to another and I think ‘Hold on… this is my favourite!’ And that is how it goes with each individual tune we attempt to lay down. Ed and Mel steady as granite rocks and when needed always inventive.
Charlie and I sit it out, keeping relatively quiet for the most part while Jez Coad orchestrates most moves on the studio floor.  Arjen – who did such a fine job when we recorded our last album in Hilversum – makes it all technically possible, like the good and solid Dutchman he is. Ideas flow constantly and everybody gets the chance to promote the routes they believe the arrangements the songs should take. Duffy – tired of trying to explain – spontaneously playing drum overdubs on the coda of a track that reminds me of ‘Burning Down the House’ by Talking Heads.
Great bands should get better and better still. Rise and fall maybe, and then rise again. Some say of course that we are wasting our time as no one really cares after a certain point about the new stuff that classic artists produce.

Is that so? In that case try telling that to Led Zeppelin should they decide to visit a recording studio some time soon. And while you are it tell it to Dylan, Springsteen, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, Morrisey, U2, Depeche Mode, Phillip Glass, Robert Wyatt, Peter Hamill and so many others.
And try telling it to me in particular on the eve of any new release from Kraftwerk, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, Mark Knopfler, Joni Mitchell, NIN, Sakamoto, Grace Jones, Leonard Cohen, Massive Attack, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Cure, Chrissie Hynde, Al Green, Robert Plant, Youssou N’Dour, David Bowie, David Byrne and of course Brian Eno. And should John Fogerty ever record again as Creedence Clearwater Revival…now that would be too much.
Interestingly enough in the few days alone since we have been here, wars have started in some parts of the world while people have won gold medals elsewhere. A beautiful beached whale gave out it’s last breath on the Scottish sands, and at least one national President is on the edge of impeachment.

Through it all and not for the first time Charlie Burchill last night came up with the funkiest of riffs imaginable, played on a guitar entirely hand built earlier this year by his technician – the multi talented Mr Hilko – who also knows how to make the very best Chinese ravioli to be found outside of Hong Kong. ( Hell! Charlie certainly knows how to pick the best technicians as well as all the right riffs )
Simultaneously, back home in Glasgow my dear mother has learned how to use Skype on the MacBook that my brother bought for her birthday last week. Funnily, she only has one contact in her Skype contact list and that is for our bassist Ed Duffy. Don’t ask me why!!!
But as a result she has been calling Duffy, like an excited kid who cant believe the amount of fun to be had with a new toy. All of which is so sweet, except she calls every bloody hour or so it seems, and therefore I will need to have a word if we are to be allowed to get on with laying down some more rhythm tracks. ‘Stop Mother!’
And all through it all the rain keeps falling, the rain keeps falling down!

Jim Kerr