New York Part 2

Alright, so now it's time to talk about the day in the studio with Tommy Allen and Paul Carbonara.

The studio was bang in the middle of manhattan at a place called the 'Movie Centre Building'... sounded intriguing. I was a little bit early so I had some breakfast in the diner next door and then grabbed a coffee in an Internet cafe and sent a few emails.

The Movie Centre Building is a huge silver skyscraper that is basically made up of casting agencies, model agencies, record and PR companies and of course, there are rooms used as recording facilities.

Anyway, in my coffee shop, I couldn't help noticing two cool looking black guys sat on the sofa, who had a steady stream of stunning models coming in to meet them with their portfolios! It was very pleasant. Obviously they were casting for some kind of shoot... nice one.

So at noon, I headed into the building and made my way to the seventh floor and to Paul's studio. I had met Tommy the night before when we saw that incredible band, but it was the first time I had met Paul. Both guys are awesome, really down to earth, friendly and made me feel really welcome. Paul has a 'Jeff Buckley' look about him and is incredibly talented.

The first thing we did was listen to the instrumental version of 'Sold' that Tommy and Paul had been working on before I arrived... it was amazing.

Below is Paul Carbonara (seated) and Tommy Allen. They had an amazing chemistry in the studio, they really worked well together. Paul is an amazing musician and sound engineer, not limited to guitar playing. When you hear the track you will see what I mean. Tommy has an incredible ear, he claims he is not a musician and is 'just' a drummer, but don't believe a word of it, he is a perfectionist and knows exactly what he wants to hear, whether it's coming from a voice, a guitar or a weird twangy sound effect low in the mix... it was awesome to work with these guys.




Below is the view out of the studio window, every time Tommy and Paul turned their back to tweak something or listen to a take, I would whip out my camera and snap something lol!

So, down to business... it was time for me to put up or shut up. The guys played the new backing track a few times to let me get a feel for the new structure... first of all, the entire tune is in a different key now (half a step down), the structure is tweaked and there is a really cool key change at the end for the grand finale!

One thing that was new to me, was being 'directed' by a producer as I am recording... I guess it is similar to an actor receiving direction. It was an interesting process, Tommy would say things like 'can you sing the word 'moon' the same way as you sing the word 'away' in the first verse?' and 'instead of singing the word 'neck' could you try maybe the word 'skin'?' it was cool and I was open to it... it's a very creative process and of course it helps when you respect the guys you are working with.

So we did a few 'takes' of each verse and chorus, trying different things until Tommy and Paul were happy that they had enough to work on, then I would sing exactly the same melody so they could 'double up' the vocals to give more depth and feel.

Then it was on to harmonies, which was great fun as we experimented with different variations and again doubled them up.

Then Gary popped-in to see how the session was going. Gary Wassner is the man responsible for all this happening, a published author and great guy, he arrived just as we came up with the vocals for the key change and final chorus.

In the photo below, If you look to Gary's left, you will notice a Blondie flight case and to the right of that, a nice row of PRS guitars in their cases *weep*, and there was me with my battered, dented tanglewood lol!


I was really happy with the key change vocals and I can't wait to hear them back... in fact I can't wait to hear the whole song, I only heard it in segments as I was singing my parts or harmonies.

Anyway, Gary had to get back to his office and for me, it was time to record my acoustic guitar. Now, with vocals I can get up and sing in front of anyone, no problem... if Robert Plant had been sitting there I would still have sang my heart out but I must admit I was a little intimidated playing guitar that day, with Blondie's and Mudlarks' guitarist, Paul Carbonara sitting there!

Anyway, apart from a little fiddly bit to emphasise a drum piece, it was okay. I had to play it slightly differently to how I normally play it as obviously it is a different structure, different key, slightly faster and with all the other instrumentation you have to play it a bit plainer, otherwise it is overkill.

So... the masterpiece was complete. I am now waiting to hear Tommy and Paul's mix. One pretty cool (VERY cool) possibility, is that the guy who mixes the Coldplay albums may mix the track for me if Paul can call in a favour... holy shit.

So, my work was done, I then had the pleasure of hearing another Project Paul is working on for a country singer called Mary McBride... VERY good stuff, sort of Shania Twain in feel, GREAT vocals and Paul's playing (guitar, fiddle, piano... you name it) is also brilliant.

What now? Who knows. It would be pretty cool to go to a record label and say 'Tommy Allen produced this (Maroon 5), and Paul Carbonara plays on it (Blondie) and the guy who mixes the Coldplay album mixed it... do you want to invest in an album's worth of this stuff?'

We shall see.