Hello Hello my dear reader.

Day 9 of the Album recording was an extraordinary day. Instead of recording at Pinligtavshed, Aske and I went to record in my appartment in Vesterbro. Here we did three small songs: “Eveningsong”, “Cocoon” and a brand new song called “Who can make a woeful heart to sing”.

We took a much more lo-fi approach to these recordings. Aske put up his Neumann mics in the middle of the room, and then I played the songs – guitar and vocal, that’s all. The idea is, that the listener will be able to go into different “soundrooms” when listening to the album.

/Jonas

My beloved reader.

Welcome back! As you might know from my previous blogpost, tuesday was a diffucult day. It was a bit like the picture above, out of focus, a blur. And as i mentioned, we listened to the things we did yesterday, and they weren’t bad after all. But we also spent some time on deciding what to do now. We aren’t the place we thought we would be by now. These things (often) happen when you make an album.

The old plan was to chose 5 songs at the time and finish them one song at the time. This plan didn’t work, so we decided, that we from now on, everytime we meet, will work on one new song and one song we already have begun recording. I think it will be a more dynamic process and the songs can “communicate” with each other. Hopefully this will also result in a more homogenous record. The focus is sharpened.

2 PM: Today is different. The first thing I did this morning was to bake a bananacake. That is a good way to start the day. Got to the studio, where Andreas Brixen (lead singer of Bodebrixen, who is in fact a very talented drummer) had gotten ready to play drums on So mournful and Selma. I am not that good with drums, but I like the drums on The National’s fantastic album Boxer, so we will try to aim at that drumsound. Later today my brother in law, Mads (of upcoming band Monkey Face) will come and do some electric guitar on the two songs. I’m looking forward. 5 PM: Andreas just left. He ended up doing a lot of different stuff, including some crazy, stumbling outbursts on the drums with no beat what so ever. Mads has come and is currently doing some simplistic one-note things on Selma. Yeah! 6 PM: Done for today. The things Mads did, made me get some ideas, I wouldn’t have got if he wouldn’t have come. Mads also did some outrageously distorted guitars on So mournful – Aske was a soundwizard here. So mournful is developing into an orchestral thunderstorm. We’ve decided not to do anymore on this song for now – we could go on for ever! So – now I have some days off. Aske and the rest of Bodebrixen is going to London to play some gigs. If you happen to be in London the next couple of days, be shure to go! /Jonas

9 am.  Woke up in a rainygray copenhagen. Heavy eyelids. Excited about what is going to happen. Don’t really know.

10 am. Arrived at Pinligtavshed. Coffee! Lovely.  Aske and I discuss what we should do with the ideas we got yesterday. Aske says: Let’s start all over. I say: OK. But I’m outside my comfortzone here. Aske says: Yeah, I can feel that. Let’s begin with the piano.

10.25. Aske sends me outside so he can concentrate on writing down technical stuff. So here I am. Outside. Smoking. Drinking coffee. Waiting for the magic to happen:

11.00. Aske records the pianopart for So mournful the elegy so comforting the hymn. It is b e a u t i f u l.

12.00  I try to record the guitarpart for So mournful, the one, I couldn’t play yesterday. I did it! Aske had an idea for an improvement, and I did that as well – turns out that they can easily function alongside each other. So now we have two different guitarparts. Hurrah!

12.30 Aske chops up the doublebass so it fits in the new tempo. Still sounds great.

13.00 We search for some good sounds on the JUNO, and Aske makes a loooooooooooooooooong, high pitch tone on the outro-chorus. Sounds like a large swarm of mosquitos inside a cathedral.

13.30 Aske and I simultaniously get the idea, that there should be a pounding bassdrum on the outro chorus. Not too techno, though.

14.00 Caspar stops by and listenes to what we’ve been working on. It is nice to get a fresh pair of ears on something, when you’ve been working with it all day. Fortunately, he likes, what he hears. I think, we’re done on So mournful.. for now.

15.00 I call it a day – it has been a good, but tiring day. Still got heavy eyelids. It might sound as if Aske has been the one who worked the most today, and that is very true – my job today was to think and to approve and to make coffee.

Now I’m off to Aarhus for the weekend – Sunday I will join my sister’s band at their releaseparty for their coming easter-album.

Have a nice weekend.
/Jonas