As you may know, The Soviets are recording three tracks with Loft Productions at the moment. Yesterday was the first day of tracking, and that usually means drums. Recording was done at Base HQ with Richard and Gav, two guys who know their studio so well that nothing in the session felt like work at all. We recorded 3 takes for each track (No Love, Turned On, and an as-yet unnamed new tune) in a couple of hours, then spent at least the same amount of time talking about the specifics of Star Wars.

For geeks like me who are interested, the kit was a Pro Mapex Kick and Floor Tom, which stay in-house at BHQ, my Ludwig400 snare, and the usual Zildjian/Paiste/Sabian cymbal mix I use live. Most importantly though - my pride & joy LP Rock Ridge Rider Cowbell. In terms of microphones, at (producer) John's request the live room was full to the brim with technology I've never seen before (even in books), meaning we have some great sounds to play with.

For all the normal people who aren't interested in all that, it sounds great and the parts I put down are (hopefully) a decent bed for the rest of tracking - starting with the bass next Monday.

It's a bit like this:

There's a sound that opens up the room.  You hear notes that seem - to your own imperfect ears - as new as the smiles and the chests on a red carpet.  The guitar that two minutes previously was just wood and metal suddenly mutates into the friend who would never let you down.  The one who laughs and glosses over the fact that you got pissed and fell straight through the table nearest the bar. You string together the eight chords you know and decide that, since you're not playing in The Eagles or Queen, the first two you used are good enough.

Then the doorway between your brain and your mouth comes off its hinges, as the words pour through like too much rainwater over the barriers that some clever fucking engineers put so much thought into.

And it's there; the story you always wanted to tell.  Well, a toned-down version anyway.  Enough for people to get the message hopefully.  Not so much that you sound like a politician.  Or a preacher. Especially a manic one.

You sit back. Maybe you light up a cigarette. Maybe you drink a toast. You love this and you crave it and you hate it and you need it. It's passed now anyway.  You can only hope it comes back. Because you wouldn't change it for the world.

As I said, it's a bit like that.

Occasionally you come across articles and news stories that really make you think about what you do and why you do it.  Sometimes you come across articles that make your blood boil.  Thanks to Elliott, yesterday I came across an article that managed to do both.  The story in question (Found on The Gen at thegen.org.uk/) focuses on the sale of ‘patriotic’ compilation CDs by the British National Party.   The issue lies in the fact that the BNP have been able to produce and put on sale compilations of various bands music without the prior consent of the artists.  Normally, this is not an issue – someone wants to put a compilation together, the artists involved all get a nice slice of the profits and everyone goes home happy.  However, does this not in fact simply point to the unfortunate truth that the individual artists involved have, as stated by the MU, a “low level of moral rights” and extremely limited control over who may use their music – from Levi wanting to sell jeans to the BNP wanting to sell hate. 

Indeed, it is the Musicians Union (MU) and the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) who are leading the fight in this area, and whom certainly deserve our support.  I feel it is the right and responsibility of every musician to be able to ensure that their music does not get used in such a fashion without their prior consent.   However, I do not believe that a blanket ruling stating that no political party may use music without the consent of the artist would go far enough.  This issue really centres on just what rights we have to control the use of our own image and our own music.  Unfortunately, I feel that whilst there is still money to be squeezed from an artist they will never enjoy any major degree of editorial control.

Although I do not want this thread to be centred on the BNP rather than musicians rights, fascism is a deplorable, odious evil that is currently a very real threat in this country.  This in mind, I would urge you to swing by www.uaf.org.uk on your way out, and also to my blog (which will be up this afternoon) at www.andymackin.com which will point you in the direction of more anti-BNP and anti-fascist links.

Love Music, Hate Racism.