Shops & Comedy Geniuses

By Tommy Banana

The whole recording music thing is dead weird. It is something to do with the difference in how music sounds when you are inside it and playing compared to when you are outside of it and listening to it. As a recording musician you initially hear the music as if you were inside it and playing it (ie as if zoomed up close, focussing on your own instrument mainly, and hearing every tiny flaw)and then you have to somehow move to hearing it like anyone else ie as one sound from a distance. If you imagine listening to a Beatles track or something you know really well and concentrate on the drums or the bass to the exclusion of everything else you can simulate the transition in reverse. 

Our first and until now last album "Late Show" was recorded in the highly tip top and expensive Castle Sound in Scotland over three days. We had been playing the music on a lot of gigs over 18 months and it was sounding fantastic at gigs ( at least to our ears). When we hit the studio we started making loads of silly mistakes and having to do lots of takes and despite lots of giggling and hilarity there was also an undercurrent of  a doubtful negative (kind of we're fucking this up) head space and  I remember I left feeling we had blown 3 days in the studio.

BTW The moment I think this band became a band was around 2001 /2 when we were rehearsing in my then unconverted attic and we had a massive fit of the giggles while rehearsing for the first time the tricky bit in the tune 'Tom Tom Tom" which was on our first album. We completely lost it and were all weeping with laughter. I have never been in a band which laughs as much as this one. BTW that's not even getting on to mentioning the reaction of audiences and critics... not to mention our wives.....

Anyhoo..

I usually am massively involved (running the label Caber Music and all) in mixing  projects I am in  but dave didn't seem to want me anywhere near the mix (don't know why...:) or maybe I was trying to prove i wasn't a control freak or something(;)),

by the way I am realising that putting text emoticons eg ;) inside brackets  (;)) can get very confusing ((;()) or maybe look like multiply-chinned yet in wooly hats people having emotions - not that that is in anyway relevant to the dave milligan trio , no!! ( We dont wear wooly hats...er....)

But anyway a few weeks later a cd was dropped off. I remember listening to it with my eyes clenched shut, a rictus michael grimace on my face, and my hands over my ears  waiting for the horror story t unfold and then halfway through the second track I went "actually this is not too bad" and by the end I was almost smiling and thinking "actually it is pretty good". Now I think it is a really really nice record.

Well doing 'Shops' was very different in the sense that the music was brand new and the studio was wonderful but not exactly state of the art. However when we heard the unmixed roughs we all wondered if we had anything and we dead unsure about it.

Anyhow I had to stay absolutely entirely out of the whole mixing and mastering process mainly because.... er....dave didnt seem to want me to have anything to do with it 

((((; o))\>>%-

     .

      .

      .

    x

well actually because I am building my house.

Anyhow just listened to it tonight again kind of fearing the worst and....

 I really loved it and want to listen to it again. 

There is one wee bit I would have changed but that is between me and dave and tom but I think it is really great and they (along with gordon) have done a great job mixing and mastering and all.

I texted them saying "Loving Shops" and got this reply from dave.

"They're good aren't they? 

Especially the ones you get food in. 

And i like the gadget ones too. 

X"

Life around a comedy genius.....

It's no picnic.