are we done yet?

evening all! back to the mastering today as we had to tweak a few things, but Wonderland and its B-side Teardropsfall is done and dusted, since Mark decided at the eleventh hour to add in a whole lot of orchestration (sounds amazing tho..!) And the rest will be in the bag on Monday! But of course you musn't hold your breath (i can hear gasping and spluttering from you all) because after all this is The Mummers which is synonymous with 'nearly done but not quite lets change sum stuff no sod it lets start again'. So well lets just wait till monday eh?
Anyway heres a pic of me practising in the studio with my toy piano which was going on whilst said orchestration was happening ( i never play adult instruments as you know) with my new red-indian jacket i'd just found in the lanes and am very proud of even tho my good friend jess who likes to give me good style advice says it makes me look like a sack of potatoes with a pin-head on top. Nice! Thanks! As you can see i've overdone the blusher on this occasion but never mind, at least it covers up my "sallow skin" as my mother always told me..
Hope you're all good, i think i am..
x

Salut! Had a good rehearsal just the three of us today with Paul trying out new guitar sounds and Mark playin 3 keyboards at once (dont ask me how) these being the rhodes + space echo, the moog (wikid analoguey sounds), and the old classic Korg M1 (which was the first keyboard i discovered how to write music on..) And me on Glocks! We're preparing for tomorrow's full band rehearsal with our new line-up which includes Pete davison and Charlie buchanan on trumpets, and Tessa Gilles and Maddy Rix on violins. we are trying to play EVERYTHING live this time and therein lies the challenge!
Then we has a meeting with a friend of ours who may make a short film of Wonderland, and then we had a meeting with the manager who gave us all smacked bums for being so slow finishing our album.. but art is art we cried, and cannot be rushed!
Bon nuit. x

Its 11pm on sat night..

.. and i just got in from Brighton. Have spent every day in the studio for weeks and now i keep forgetting what day it is, i haven't seen the news, i havent had a meal that isn't sandwiches for longer than i can think, and everyone back home has forgotten who i am. But I'm sure its going to be worth it because our album the first is very nearly finished! We've been doing loads of last-minute recording of our live players - a totally amazing new trumpet solo on the end of 'Nightbus' and 'Lorca' - his name is Pete Davison everybody and he is awesome, as is our Joe Giddey on cellos... Only two things to do tomorrow - vocal production on 'Nightbus' and revisiting a mix of 'Somebody Said' and then hey presto off to the mastering suite it is! Well just upstairs really because our trusty Edz who does alot of our sound is going to be doing it as he has the full gear in his control room.
So anyone who was wondering what happened to our EP that we were working on last year.. well its turned into this mini-album because we just couldn't decide what tracks to leave off but this way we can have just what we want on there so thats much better!
On the live side we've been ripping everything apart and have now Pete on trumpet for the next few gigs which is soo coool, and trying to refine everything a bit so it might sound a little different to you if you've been to the others.. but in a good way i hope!
Love to you all, i gotta go and do something else and check out the trains to Brighton tomorrow cos i've heard theres going to be a BIG STORM tomorrow so you know what that means - the whole of England will come to a stand-still..
PS o yes also i want to say sorry to all u myspacers who've left us such nice comments recently.. i'll get back to you all after this bizness is over and my eyes stop popping out of my head! Love u, Rxx

*new plan*

ok so sorry y'all for not writing more regular like.. we got deadlines! Its been manic in the studio as we have 3 new tunes to finish by next week including recording all the live instruments - brass, strings, harmoniums, pianos and saxes. This is because we have a new plan now for Wonderland as a single not an ep, closely followed by... ALBUM! And there is more to this plan but i'm not allowed to tell u yet but its good good good! And at last we can get our sound out there and send it ringing into the ether..yo yeah yes yeeees!

rehearsing in a brixton pub before the Slaughtered Lamb gig..!

heal me sun

amazing gorgeous day today and so warm! I've been stuffing myself with vitamins and anti-cold medecine to try and get rid of this streaming cold so decided sun was the next best thing and took myself and the boys to Brockwell Park in Herne Hill. this is THE BEST park in London I swear, you always bump into somebody, the crowd is so mixed and chilled, and you can sit outside the caf at the top of the hill on a bench and look across London in 360 degrees. Its quite something especially when youre soaking up the rays whilst eating the most delicious (and CHEAP) home-cooked food.. i believe the chef is quite well-known now. Anyway i think i may be beating this cold now thanks to this miraculous bee nectar called Propolis one of my friends gave me which is good cos i've alot of singing to do in the next few days.
O yes and we'll be doing a little pre-gig gig on tuesday in a pub in Brixton at 3 O'clock just cos we couldnt find anywhere to rehearse, so if you are one of the 6 regular drunks in there u might be in for a surprise..
and finally paul just sent me a vid clip of us backstage(in the corridor with 4 bands coming in and out all trying to store gear whilst we get changed) at Monto when we were just about to go on stage. So i'm posting it up just for my own amusement. Oh the glamour of it all!!

the quiet life

Its a beautiful sunny day and I got up late today for the first time in sooo long and feel great! I've been running on about 5 hours a night recently and yesterday when i got up i had no voice (much to the joy of everyone around me) and after a rehearsal in brighton that ended at midnight last night and a horrible drive through the fog back to London i thought i deserved a little treat! Aah the peace in the morning as the rest of my house left at 9am and i lay there with the sun streaming through the window dreaming and just letting my mind wander.. then waking up again after a dream in which my car got towed away in brixton an i got ANOTHER 3 points on my licence which means i'm banned cos i've already got 9. Well nothing wrong with a good dose of reality i guess..
Anyway rehearsal was quite lovely- its for the unplugged gig at The Slaughtered Lamb on tuesday and its just with 2 violins, cello, rhodespiano and me on vox! And as its just us we rehearsed at Marks tiny but perfectly formed top-floor flat with cups of tea and candles and no loud stuff to contend with and i must say its great to actually hear the parts for once! So i'm very much looking forward to tuesday and trying out The Mummers songs in a very different way..o yes and we're also gonna do the new ones we've just written..
So heres to sleep and sun, quiet music, and life..!
x