Recording in our Haus

We decided to audio record a KlangHaus show... put some microphones around and capture what was happening. A natural thing to do, we knew folks who had seen the show would want to listen back somehow, make sense of things. Maybe even take away a vinyl with beautiful artwork. Recording was a good experience and working with producer David Pye, we captured an essence of Klang. We then decided to take 4 key songs from the most recent KlangHaus: 800 Breaths show and record them in a studio in Stockport. Eve studio was like an actual house of sound, an old vicarage full of instruments and old music gadgets and gear. 800 Breaths was performed in the Royal Festival Hall and we were excited to recognise cast-off RFH carpet through-out Eve Studios...it felt right. We loved recording there. Sal did lots of filming. Again we worked with the wonderful skills of David Pye. We came away from the session excited. We listened to the songs and mixes were created. Usual doubts crept in. But something deeper was happening. We kept working and working, listening and listening. I was project managing and pushing things forward. We sent the masters to press for making into vinyl. That day SF, listened to the songs and gave feedback. It galvanised our gut feelings. STOP. In a dramatic turn of events, we stopped the vinyl being cut. Through no fault of David Pye, we realised that the songs did not communicate what we wanted to say. What did we want to say? The song writing was not strong enough...honest enough. SF 8.11.17 It’s not the calling card.’ ‘I can’t hear it on the radio’ Pulse Addict sounds like another song 2/3 of the way through. Ball in the Hole is my least favourite Reason is beginning to sound really good. 9.11.17 Emergency Meeting The Bicycle Shop 10pm: J,K,M J: What are we trying to say? What are we trying to communicate? We don’t want to be mediocre ‘What do the chords mean?’ M: Some great ideas Neither one thing or the other. It’s not extreme enough or not conventional enough. Something incomplete You feel unrewarded by listening to this. K: We will stand up at a conference and say this is a turning point. Over complicated Not direct enough The meaning is lost. Authenticity is desirable… We went back to Sal, shared our doubts. Two things happened, we realised/remembered that KlangHaus is of course, both audio and visual... the songs started to work again when played alongside the film... as if we had split the heart of the show in two... one needs the other.... this alongside digging down into the song writing itself felt like the next step. The career changing moment....or at least the beginning of a new journey. ACTIONS: Do we need a song doctor….is this us? Collaborate with other musicians in our home city. ask for help. We make an album in the house. Use the entire house to make an album. We involve our musical community. We learn from each other to find a way to enjoy the flow of recording. ‘Look at what’s happening in this place’ Start date: 21.12.17 And it began.