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We managed to make two trips into the recording studio, with mixed and
indifferent results. The first visit was back in 1999, when vocalist
Ivor Richards managed to persuade some free studio time from a friend of
his. We spent two days in Running Frog Studios in Windsor, and slept in
the worst B & B known to mankind. Because time was short, and we needed
to get a lot of tracks recorded, we decided to mess around doing as many
keyboard and guitar overdubs as we could think of, then got a horn
section in for good measure. All this wasted huge amounts of time we
didn't have, so we decided to rush the recording of the vocals and then
mix it in a haste, much to the detriment of the finished product. Ivor
and I decided to remix it at a later date, but after several hours spent
in the back of a van outside his workplace, we could no longer be arsed.
The remixes weren't that good, and there was so much stuff just bunged
onto the tapes in a random fashion that finding all the 'better' takes
and muting all the crap would have taken weeks.
Our other foray into the
studio, in early 2004, was at Steve Marshall's Studio Eleven, located on
a sheep farm just off of the A4. Despite much background bleating, and
the constant sound and smell of horses, this was a more leisurely affair
which allowed us to make a balls of things at our own pace. I recorded
several of the keyboard tracks at home and added them in later, and we
had more than enough time to do some decent vocal takes, but then we
remembered that Olly was 'singing', so we didn't bother. Some time later we
emerged with thirteen tunes recorded and mixed to a satisfactory
standard. The total running time was just over thirty minutes though, so
hardly warranted the description of 'album'. We decided that we should
record some more songs to pad the thing out, but then Steve became too
busy and we were too lazy to hassle him for time. Consequently the album
was abandoned, like pretty much everything else we did. As time passed,
I would occasionally revisit the tunes, opting in the end to correct
some of the things that were bothering me and attempt a remix. I think I
did most of it, but then either got bored or ran out of time. Anyway,
whilst putting this stuff together, I managed to find or bodge together
a reasonable version of each of the songs, and they've been added here.
So, for the first time, the complete recorded works of Pants are
presented here. |
