Day Fifty Five : Friday 29th July 2005
Midday and a quick check of the mix of ‘Be Still’ and it is sounding fantastic. It’s the final day today and Liam turns up to pick up all the equipment to take it back to Wales. We have agreed to play at my friend Richard’s wedding. I have known Richard ‘mod’ Jones all my adult life and am his ‘best man’. The fact that the wedding is local means that all my friends and family will be there and we all know ‘mod’. (You readers will know him as he is also the infamous quizmaster at The Gathering). James and I have to record the guitars of ‘Few And Far Between’. It takes a lot longer than we thought. I think it is because we are all feeling the pace of the sessions catching up with us. James cuts a great solo for the end which helps to lift the mood. He tries to do a few more which turns into a lot more but still the first take is the best. By late evening the mix is still going on and I’m not too happy with it. It’s not the sound it’s the arrangement. When Steve and I first talked about recording this song we simplified it and dropped the original middle eight and instead added the end from ‘My Defences’ which works great. When we were rehearsing with the band we were persuaded by James and Craig to keep the middle eight in as well. I just felt that now, after seeing the album unfold and take shape, the song sounded too long winded. I asked Martin to perform some major surgery to the arrangement. I asked him too take out the middle eight and the third ‘chorus’ that went with it. I also asked him to take out the fourth chorus that was part of the ‘my defences’ section of the song so that the guitar solo kicks is as soon as I sing ‘You only get one life’. All in all we took about a minute thirty out of the track and it didn’t half sound better for it. George was reenergised and go the mix down by about 1:30 am. As far as we and The Doghouse Studios are concerned the album is finished. I decided to drive home through the night rather than wait ’til the morning and have to fight the traffic. It’s a good feeling going home. I decide not to take a listening CD, that can wait for another day.
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