Quote from the studio wall…”They’ve all got something wrong with them. And that’s a well known fact.” — Tony Doogan on Belle and Sebastian fans (he produced, recorded, and mixed several of their albums). Another studio tale. When Mogwai was here recording Rock Action, they got back late from BJ’s and decided that it would be a good idea to shoot at the windows of their photographer’s rental car. Things escalated to the point of the band completely trashing the car causing $6-8,000 in damages. Part of the plan was to drive the car down the road a ways, set it on fire, and claim that it was stolen, but things never progressed that far.
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The Saxons have finally put up a bit of studio journal here and have also added a new front splash page to their main site. So take a visit, there are plenty of photos of the band in action. Matthew started the day out with Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks which seems to capture the feel of the cool, overcast morning. Mary went and got bagels for breakfast. I made another batch of cookies and did a round of dishes. Matt is adding some more guitar parts today and then Matthew will add additional guitar parts. Dave showed up with water softener salt, more shuttlecocks for badminton, and circus peanuts. When I was a kid, circus peanuts were my favorite treat. We keep destroying all of the birdies during badminton and are grateful to have more. Hopefully the weather will get a bit nicer so we can play. The control room is filled with racks and racks of equipment. There are things which look like they’re from the ’40s and ’50s with crazy knobs and meters and thick metal cases. There is one box with a bunch of vacuum tubes to warm things up. There are other things which look…
We’re out here in the middle of a nice wooded area, far from any big highways or cities. Matthew, Willis, and I shot some BB guns earlier and Matthew’s been so good at it, he’s been able to shoot down badminton birdies from the trees when they get stuck. It’s a nice place to be together creating a record and it’s times like these when I understand why I have this record label. Here is the birth of something beautiful into the world, even though it’s called The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore. I often sit on a red couch at the back of the control room watching Dave work and listening to the record being made as parts are added, changed, and removed. Shall I speak of the legend known as Excouchlibur? Legend holds that Sir Alan of Low was sleeping on said red couch and unable to fall into a deep sleep. He tossed and turned and tossed and turned, deeply disturbed by something. The next morning, he looked through the couch, found a toy sword under the cushions, and dubbed it Excouchlibur.