2/6/26

it's Tuesday and you know what that means.

There's been a big back and forth in the group chat about the latest changes to our live show, we're working to fully utilise some pieces of equipment that we've only been using about half of what it's fully capable of. We should have something to share about this soon, and think it'll be transformative for immersing people in to our live show. We've got a practice scheduled in on Thursday where we're hoping to see how everything fits together. I never thought I'd be one of these guys that's adding fluorescent tape the back of their guitar neck, but here I am out of necessity having to do it.

We've been making some steady progress on our latest batch of demos, trying to get an idea of what we're going to spend our time making in the future. Plenty of cutting and pasting to make arrangements due to the back and forth nature of the writing process just now. Jackwan has sent through a drum take for one of the more fully formed jams. It's been interesting to piece songs together as different sections on a grid and seeing how it's affecting the songwriting. Little things like dropping in an acoustic guitar where we wouldn't normally put it, or adding some distorted bass where we'd normally lean in to something more atmospheric has been freeing.

I'm working on some different vocal production techniques. I've got the interface to send outs to guitar pedals again, something I haven't done in a while due to the perceived hassle. There's something really cool about a vocal going through a EHX Memory Boy that just adds that special sauce. Jo has sent through some interesting vocal takes that have taken songs off into interesting directions, the collaborative process is making me think about the songs differently as they come together as a whole.

I think it's important to take stock and look at what you're working on regularly to be sure you're happy with the direction. More importantly I think you've got to see something in what you're doing. At this point I'm convinced that 90% of all the demos probably won't see the light of day, but the ones that make it out to finished songs will be something we're proud of.

What's on the Spotify -

Editors - Weight of the World. Just a stellar example of album composition, I've listened to this at least once a day for the last 5 days and really enjoying it. A friend reminded me about this album a few weeks ago and I forgot how good it was.

The Dale Cooper Quartet - Parole De Navarre. This has been my go to "tune the world out" play during admin at work, just something to concentrate on when the numbers start blurring.

Haven't had a chance to check out the Idiotix album yet, but I'm sure I'll get round to it. Another set of local lads. I really like to hear about the Inverness bands putting out substantive releases that will live on beyond the lifetime of the band.