One cover and one remix

[GregB]

I'm slowly emerging from emptiness, the creative black hole that (for me) seems to follow an album.

 

First off the ranks is a cover of "On an Island" by David Gilmour, which will be ready in a few days after a 6-month gestation. The delay is testament to so many other fun demands on our time and also an increasing propensity for being lazy!

 
Martin Hale was a complete stranger when we first met in 2013/14.  After aimless but enjoyable jamming for a year, we suddenly embarked on an album together ("Prescient", 2015). While everything was attributed 50/50, we wrote, performed and home-studio produced our own songs.  We've maintained a good friendship and Martin has kept popping up with his cover projects ... the latest being a collaboration on Cream's version of "Crossoads"  (mentioned in this Forum, Jan 1, 2022).  I'm so fortunate to have found someone on the same wavelength ... not only do our Venn diagram circles overlap a lot, but he is the only person I know who can do great lead-guitar solos.

 

I've always wanted to have a go at 80's synth, and this was rekindled listening again recently to Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds".  Specifically The Spirit Of Man (DubUlladub) which uses the original vocals mixed in a new dub-step groove.  The musicality and execution blows my socks off.  As a result I'm now working on a remix of "Running from Red" from our 'Prescient' album and, if it works, we'll tackle the other tracks.  However, my intended EDM/electronic approach has proved to be beyond my ability. After days lost in the wilderness, I've backtracked and am doing a more mainstream re-interpretation.

 

It's strange re-opening and listening to the old ProTool sessions on which we cut our production teeth. SO MANY poor edits, dodgy EQ and compression settings. It's a miracle that the results got through our vetting process.  Just goes to show that you have to work hard to completely f*ck up a recording/mix     Now, applying experience from 52 subsequent tracks, the new sketch version already sounds cleaner and punchier using just the original guitars and vocal.  It will also be an exercise in using my upgrade to EZ Drummer 3. 

 

I hope to post a finished track by late July along with the original for reference.

 

Greg