Part 14 of 18 serialised by Nuance, New Straits Times
2nd November 2002
We continued with lead vocals today, including that for ‘Rhapsody In Blue’. Of all the song on the album, this is the song that has been altered most from its solo acoustic guitar beginnings. It is now a stalking, growling, blues-influenced groovy stomp accompanied by the Erhu playing a Middle-Eastern sounding riff. It’s really good fun, but undeniably weird.
With ‘Rhapsody’ in the can, we got John the assistant engineer to play Rhodes for ‘Marianne Called’. Despite a dodgy start to the project, John has turned out to be a quietly efficient assistant for Ronan and everyone’s gotten really fond of him. He took two passes at it and each was well nigh perfect. Unfortunately, I was by then convinced that the song was awful. Whereas I had always intended it to be a quiet little number, the overly simple guitar part we recorded earlier was making it come across like a clumsy mope. If the song stays like this, there was more than a fair chance that it’d be dropped from the record.
Ronan and I discussed it afterwards. I played him some new guitar parts and the problem seemed to go away. I was happier. For the first time in ages, ‘Marianne Called’ became the song that I had hoped it to be. It’s not quite there yet – but it’s getting closer. We decided to give the new parts a try in the next few days.
3rd November 2002
I woke up in a panic. The realization hit me that there were only 3 days left to cut 4 main vocal tracks, re-cut some of Sherry’s guitar parts and one of mine, sort out a couple of problematic songs and add Gambus parts to a few songs. That’s a lot to do in 3 days. I hadn’t expected things to be this tight at the beginning of the week. I guess we had more to do than I thought.
We got into the studio and started with some Erhu, guitars and lead vocals. By 3.30pm, Eddie Marzuki the Gambus player arrived and laid down some really good stuff. But I had already begun to feel strangely weak by then. Perhaps I was coming down with flu? Then Sherry called to say that his car had been broken into so he couldn’t make it today. Things were weird and slow. We only managed to complete lead vocals for one song by the end of the day. Not great.
Anyway, Ronan and I bought some takeaway and called it a night without our customary post-session drinks. Both of us were tired and under the weather. Perhaps it was something we ate. I got home, wolfed down my food and was asleep on the sofa by 11pm. Then I woke up at some strange hour, showered and finally stumbled into bed. I felt terrible. Something wasn’t right.
I woke up again at dawn with my tummy rumbling. I immediately jumped up and charged to the bathroom. Great. I had diarrhea. Actually, I was almost relieved it wasn’t flu. It took me an hour to get back to sleep purged and weakened. At least the sniffling and coughing had stopped. I felt weak though. ‘Just hold on for two more days Pete – at least until you’ve done all your vocals’, was the last thing on my mind before I fell asleep again.
4th November 2002
I woke up feeling weak. My tummy remained unsettled but I’d already decided that it’d take more than tummy upset to stop me from singing on my record. Besides, I just needed to hold out for 3 more songs…
Ronan was very concerned about my condition. We took a leisurely lunch and chatted about everything under the sun. He asked whether I was excited about the record – I said ‘yes’, and asked the same of him. He replied that if he didn’t cock it up in mixing, it would be one of the best records he’s ever made. I was relieved to hear that. If the guy was to be overworked and underpaid, at least it would be for a record he is proud of.
Anyway, we resumed recording vocals by 1pm. It took one and a half hour to finish 2 songs. Then it was time for ‘Arms Of Marianne’ – an important song because it’s regarded as a potential chart hit. But this was also the song I’d been most worried about singing – it starts at the bottom of my range and goes all the way to the top – not a song to attempt in my weakened state. But surprisingly, it only took an hour to complete. My vocal condition was surprisingly good too. It is thus that, much to my surprise, we finished recording vocals for the entire album before 5pm.
To be honest, I had expected drama and stress on this day, and was slightly taken aback by the fact that it ended almost unnoticed. Still, I was so relieved that when Sherry arrived to re-cut some guitar parts, I promptly fell asleep on the sofa.
It’s odd to think that the recording part of my adventure is coming to an end. One more day in the studio left. We’d do a few overdubs and tie up some loose ends. Then we’d pull up rough mixes of all the songs to double check everything. Then we mix the record in 5 days at Synchrosound Studio, the most well-equipped studio in the country. Then we’ll send the stuff off to be mastered in Hong Kong. Then we’ll have a record.
I’m almost home now. It’s been quite a ride.