Studio time with Ferocious Dog..
Back when Ferocious Dog were recording From Without I remember Ken telling me I ought to have popped in to see them, and I always wished I had – so I definitely wasn’t going to miss my chance now The Red Album is underway. I hotfooted it to Electric Bear studios last week and rang the doorbell. The flaw in that plan was it wasn’t audible with not too many people in attendance – luckily Dan was nipping out and found me loitering!
Inside I found Phil behind an imposing mixing desk, a screen full of soundwaves infront of him, and Ken through the window above laying down some vocals. Whilst I have a basic grasp of what recording music entails, I’ve never really sat and witnessed it – it was pretty fascinating. Ken would sing a verse or a chorus, Phil would give immediate feedback whilst simultaneously chopping up and reordering the recordings he’d already captured (one take Ken, my arse!).
Passages that sounded great to me had tiny flaws quickly identified – and soon enough were being re-recorded. Occasionally lyrical adjustments were needed, these songs are ridiculously hot of the press (the last one I saw Ken recording had only been written lyrically the night before, and was one hell of a wordy one). Tweaks and adjustments were needed – it’s quite hard work on Ken’s voice, so he needed a quick break and some hot water with squash and honey.