This may sound completely out of character, but I am a complete cynic when it comes to ideas or offers outside of my band and my bandies. I believe the term Paul & Mannie use is 'Ice Queen'.
For good reason. I love this band fiercely. I love what we have built, what we have achieved, how far we have come. I am incredibly protective of everything we have. So much so, that after performing at Dougie MacLean's concert in Colo, when a nice cameraman called Martin gave me his business card and told me he managed a record company, my first thought was, 'Yeah, sure, Sparky!'. This has happened to us before, and nothing ever came of it. Folk bands don't get signed to labels - especially high-profile ones.
Well, as you have probably noticed from the dervish of activity from Sunas HQ of late, I have been proven rather deliciously wrong. The amount of support and enthusiasm from Martin regarding this project was nothing we had ever encountered before. Recording this album has been an undertaking that none of us expected. Apart from a collection of 'classic folk songs' (a term used loosely at best) there wasn't a general idea or plan that was adhered to for the 'Sunas ABC Project'. We had complete choice of what songs we wanted to capture and 'Sunas-ise' for this album. The only plan was to capture the 'live' sound that Sunas is known for. Everything else revolved around throwing ideas at the wall to see what would stick. Martin hadn't heard our versions of any of these songs until we were actually in the recording room laying the tracks down for the first time.
This showed how much faith Martin had (and still has) in Sunas!
We were recorded mostly as a four-piece, literally laying down the songs as though we were gigging or jamming. The other times there was two and two, mostly Mannie & Paul recording their parts simultaneously and Bridget & myself laying down vocals and harmonies or flute & fiddle lines together. Very rarely did we record alone. Even when I was singing solo, someone always made sure they were there for support and to capture the moment with photographs.
Our recording sessions were dream-like. I believe the term is 'in the zone'. We knew our songs were good, but for whatever reason, be it caffeine, humour or Mannie's barking spider, our fingers were tingly and the magic was flowing. We would finish each day looking at each other and asking, 'Did that really happen?' It also helped having Martin and Geoff behind the desk. We could not have asked for two more easy-going and honest supporters for guidance. Sunas has a very high work ethic - so much so that after a particularly fruitful session, Martin called time because he was afraid we would push the magic and lose our momentum. Even so, the majority of our songs were knocked over in two hours.
I absolutely loved every aspect of these weekends. I was living and breathing my dream of being a fulltime musician, something I thought would be a really cool thing to do when I was five years old and singing into a red plastic maraca (I still think it would be a really cool thing to do!). After three weekends blissfully oblivious to the world outside, locked cozily in a big room and sporting fresh midnight tans, we had finished our album and the live concert recording beckoned the following weekend.
And next month, we release our little project, Celtic Road, to the winds. Aptly named, really, because this really has been the most amazing journey for us. Interestingly, because although I'm still a cynic, I think some ice splinters have melted internally, just a wee bit!
No comments:
Post a Comment