The not so serious bit
“What musical adventures are you bound for?” I hear dedicated MuuMuu readers cry. And the answer?? Merely the remixing of the 4th song on our difficult 2nd album by no less than Mr. John Parish!
For those who may not be aware, John is P.J. Harvey’s musical director & her collaborator on the Grammy, NME & BRIT award winning album “Let England Shake“ (amongst other multi trophy winning musical projects).
And so it came to pass that I found myself whisked from one side of London to the other, on the astonishingly efficient & shiny Elisabeth line ‘tube’ train. Paddington (the station, not the bear) was my next port of call for Great Western train service to Bristol Temple Meads. There John & Michel greeted me with the warmth I would expect from friends & fellow musicians who have known each other for over 40 years. Unfortunately, their cat was less sure of my bona fides & the dog even less so.
Earlier in the week, Eric had sent John all of the individual tracks we had recorded for “Hiding History”. John and I spent the next day in analogue production heaven, stripping out unnecessary bits & deftly accentuating the necessary. At the end of the day, “Hiding History” was “reborn”, revealing some of the goodies that had been hidden in our original mix. We couldn't be more pleased with the results. A geek's list of production details and photos are provided below for those who are into such things.
The serious bit
It means a lot that ‘Hiding History’ was the track that my long term chum and musical supremo John Parish chose to remix; the subject is both geographically & emotionally close to us both.
The song’s lyrics (inspired by an island’s colonial past) were crafted after Eric & I visited the Isle of Nevis, a spot was recommended by a musical promotional genius & long term good guy, Oliver Gray. The fact that I am friends with Oliver, John and Eric makes this story even sweeter.
The percussive groove was created in Eric's studio, located not far from Boston’s Long wharf. The melody and music were further augmented and compiled in London & the song was then mixed in another notorious slave centre, Bristol, UK. In fact, the statue I refer to in the lyrics is none other than that of the slaver Edward Colston, whose likeness tumbled into Bristol docks in 2022 - much to the horror of many Whitehall politicians & to the delighted of the locals.
I hope you enjoy listening to the completed track as much as we did, writing, recording, remixing and reflecting on the millions who never had the right to listen to popular music let alone write or record it.
“Hiding History in plain site, we’re all players!”
Geeky Studio bits
The mix was through a 1990 Cadac ‘J’ Series board via a thermionic Culture ‘Swift’ valve EQ & an Alan Smart C2 Compressor with lead vocal compressed through a Summit 1000A. Guitars were processed with an Echo Guru delay (as John’s cat wouldn’t stop playing with rotating tapes on the WEM valve Copycat). In the end, compressors were compressed, levels were leveled & the great British spring reverb was sprung (yes it’s a bloomin' great spring inside a drain pipe laid on the floor. Quite a remarkable thing to have ones vocals put through).
And the results? Listen for yourself on our Bandcamp site - coming soon! (www.ditchthemuumuu.bandcamp.com).
Tim
23 February, 2023
London
