Feeling much better by the time I left for Alicante on Monday. I was met at the airport by J.T. from
Oh, Libia!. We dropped the things at his family home by the beach, and then went to
Monophonic Studios, where we'd be recording for the week. Monophonic is in the back of a tiny music shop/pawn shop/repair shop...and is itself tiny, just a little bitty control room and a little bitty recording room. There's an 8 channel Studer desk, and an 8 track Studer recorder, 1 inch tape, an A80 VU MkIV. Similar to the 24 track I used to have and sold to Fleet Foxes. The studio is run by a wonderful guy called Bola, who also runs a bar (called Mono) and plays in a band Los Carnivoros--go to the myspace of the studio and you'll see the bar and the band in the top friends. Bola repairs gear, and this allows him to have a high maintenance baby like the A80--in a place like Alicante, where summer temperatures hover around 90, and the AC can't do much about it. So, we went to the studio, and did a little set up, sort of mapped out what could/would/should happen in our 5 days.
Each morning we had a wonderful routine--up at 9, and straight to the beach, which is just across the road from the house. Swim in the sea, then walk over to a beachside bar called 'El Popeye' for a cafe, and maybe a pastry or a bit of tortilla. Then walk back to the house and rinse off with a swim in the sun-heated pool. Shower up and go, by car or a tram that stops right by the house, to the studio. Work noon-midnight. That was the routine. In between, we recorded 12 songs in lightning fast mode.
The band was four people when I saw them in Paris this winter--J.T., who plays guitar and sings; 'Frus' who took on many names--Fruswell, for his alien-like qualities, 'Frussi' for fun--is 18, plays guitar and sings. Great. Born in 1991, he loves 90s music the best. Elena, 18. Plays tambourine and glcokenspiel. Born in the Ukraine, she's lived most of her life in Spain. Oscar, the band's Bez! He dances. But actually he plays keyboards too. Computer programmer by day. Since then they have added JuanJo on keyboards, he's more of a piano man, where Oscar makes synth noises. When I saw them, their delicate mix of guitars and synth blips and glockenspiel made sense to me to record live, but another new factor came in to play, a really great one:
J.T. works in the network of tourist offices, offices that help people living here--like the thousands of British expats in the area--get their paperwork done, change money...all kinds of services. One day, a fella walks in to change money, a British guy, and he and J.T. start talking and turns out he's a drummer. Trevor Morell--born in Barbados, moved to UK as a teenager, picked up the drums, and in starting in the 80s, became one of the most in demand session drummers in Britain--playing with Wham!, Kim Wilde, the Bee Gees, Sade, and many many more. So, Trevor agreed to play drums with this little psychedelic band from Alicante. Of course he brought more gear than could fit in Monophonic, but quickly got what the scoop was and rolled with it. Played on the studio's vintage Ludwig kit, and helped the band get organize (OK, *how* many bars is this bridge?") and played wonderfully. He hits HARD. But it worked, and the live sound of all the people crammed in this tiny room, was really cool. Crazy little weird factoid: not 3 months ago, I was in the studio of Trevor Morais. Trevor Morell, Trevor Morais. Both born in the Caribbean (Barbados/Trinidad); both emigrated to UK and started playing drums, both moved to Spain and settled here...both hit the crap out of their drums and even tho they can play jazz and funk, do something really great--play a kind of John Bonham thing that works against softer music--electronic, this kind of psych folk of Oh Libia!. Both very kind people. We spent two days tracking drums, then the next three doing the few overdubs (vocals, mostly) and tracking songs without drums. Bola engineered, and I concentrated on musical direction, English pronounciation, and occasionally playing a part on guitar or bass. We had to work fast, 12 songs in 5 days is quite ambitious and it's not 2 guits/bass/drums rock & roll. Bola was really great at anticipating my needs as the process to switch between recording and listening back was a bit cumbersome and the tape machine was across the room. So I ran the machine and Bola the desk. Bola set up mics and we both checked levels. We had a few old mics, a couple of modern ones. Some old Ampex mic pres, and one cheap DOD compressor, which we used for vocals or whatever needed it. I'm really excited about the sound. The live, bleed in all the mics sound is really important. It adds a lot.
Each night we took dinner at the cafe side of a great neighborhood restaurant, the Pacha. The restaurant side was always empty as we were there from 9-10pm. Too early for ALicante folks. We ate sardines and anchovies and brochettes and little sandwiches and all kinds of wonderful things. Tinto de verano to wash it down. And back to work. On the last day, we finsihed, made an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the tapes to digital (this will have to happen later, and Bola had to leave to play a gig). And now, on Sunday, we're at the beach house, listening to vinyl LPs (which seem to be in abundance, reiussed versions of everything you can imagine), having barbecue, swimming and taking sun. Amazing times.
Love
KS
Alicante (Muchavista)
